How to best learn?

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here! 

Learning is a vital aspect of our lives, and it is a never-ending process. Whether you are a student, a professional, or an individual seeking self-development, learning is essential to achieve your goals. Here are some tips to help you learn better and more effectively:

1.Set “SMART” goals: To learn efficiently, you need to know what you want to achieve. Set “SMART” goals to keep yourself motivated and focused: 

• Specific (simple, sensible, significant).
• Measurable (meaningful, motivating).
• Achievable (agreed, attainable).
• Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
• Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).

2.Choose the right learning method: Different people have different learning styles. Some may prefer visual aids, while others may prefer hands-on experience. Determine your learning style and choose methods that work best for you.

3.Stay organized: Keep your learning materials organized and accessible. Use a planner or a digital tool to track your progress and set reminders for important deadlines.

4.Stay focused: Distractions are a significant hindrance to effective learning. Find a quiet place to study and limit distractions by turning off your phone or other devices.

5.Practice, practice, practice: Repetition is crucial for learning and applying what we learn. Apply what you have learned to real-life situations and practice regularly to reinforce your understanding.

6.Ask for help: Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Seek assistance from teachers, tutors, colleagues, or online resources. Having someone to discuss and review your work with can be incredibly helpful.

7.Take breaks: Regular breaks are crucial to avoid burnout and to keep your mind fresh. Take short breaks every hour or so, and engage in physical activity, such as stretching or taking a walk, to recharge your batteries.

8.Stay motivated: Learning can be challenging, but the rewards are immense. Stay motivated by setting achievable goals and rewarding yourself for reaching them.

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In conclusion, learning is a lifelong journey, and it takes effort and dedication to become a better learner. By setting goals, choosing the right learning methods, staying organized, and staying motivated, you can achieve your learning objectives and reach your full potential.

Till next time!

“Being a manager means you cannot always be the nice guy you want to be”

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here! 

“Being a manager means you cannot always be the nice guy you want to be”

I have been told this a while back. But I kind of refused to accept it.

So I have been trying my best to deliver quality results while being nice, even though this often means I have to work extra hard and even though sometimes I do not even get the recognition/understanding for my good intention.

But just as all people who do not accept reality, I come to the pivotal point.

I start to push harder and demand more, while knowing that this is still within the reasonable range.

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I know it is the right thing to do.

After all, the success of the team depends on every member of the team doing their part. 

Otherwise, the team wont be as efficient or effective as it should be, even though some members are willing to take the extra load.

Just imagine when such a team goes head to head against another team which has a manager who can ensure everyone in his/her team does their part.

The first team will lost, no matter how hard the manager works.

And when that happens and everyone in that team loses their jobs, it is hard not to pin the manager on the failure board. How hard he works does not matter.

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Again, I know that is the right thing to do, but what surprises me is team’s reaction.

There is no tough resistance. Some of them are even more motivated and happier.

They feedback that they have clearer idea on the expectation and what to do and are learning more. They have to work more, but it is worth it.

The outcome is that delivery improves and I work less.

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To ensure team productivity, there has to be someone in the team pushing the boundaries of possibility.

As the manager, there is no excuse.

A manager’s job is not to be a nice guy, but to lead the team to success.

To us all!

Till next time!

Keep trying, and success is not guaranteed

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Contrary to popular belief, I now realize that keep trying and trying harder may not increase our chances for success.

There are two reasons:

1. We might be on the wrong track or just in an environment that would not support our success. Maybe we are doing work that we are not good at. Or maybe some factors just prevent us from realizing our full potential. Take for example the former team member in my previous post.
2. We might be doing the same things over and over again without improving. 

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Compared to the #1, #2 might be more common and dangerous.

Being in #1, we will be miserable and we will find ways to get out sooner or later.

Being in #2, we might have the illusion that we are making progress. And worse still, we could really be deep in our comfortable zone and do not want to get out.

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To counter #2, I think 3 things are important:

1. We need to master the effective and efficient way of learning in whatever we do. Different ways of learning might work for different domains and definitely for different persons.
2. We need to keep practicing and improving. 
3. We need to keep high-quality thinking all the time!

Do not ask me how to achieve the above 3 things. I do not know yet.

Let’s work and let’s figure it out.

 

Till next time!

Result Oriented — Not moving forward is a waste of time

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

I say I am result oriented in almost all interviews. But I never knew what it really meant.

Recently, my understanding got into a deeper level, under the pressure of work.

Result oriented means getting things done no matter the cost.

This means Not moving forward effectively is a waste of time.

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To me, among many things, it means leaving behind all “enjoying” or “self-appreciating”aspects of work.

Sometimes, my interests would push me off the tangent to look at something not directly related to work at hand. I need to stop that.

Sometimes, I stop to appreciate my work, be it a great slide, a smart idea, or just some words I said. I need to stop that.

Sometimes, I got into tasks that are not important and spent too much time on it, just for “completeness” or “perfection”. I need to stop that.

Sometimes, my mind is absent on a task, even though I am physically on that task. I need to stop that.

But worse of all, sometimes, I convince myself I have enough time to do this slowly and I can afford to invest my spare time into work. I need to stop that.

It is critical to get rest and recharge if I am to stay for the long term. Or at least, that time can be spent on more important tasks.

• Learning new things and skills is more important than getting the minor formatting correct
• Thinking about what else we can do to further our proposal is more important than thinking back and forth on whether a slide should be included or not
• Talking to people is more important than getting some unimportant work done. They are best left undone anyway.

…..

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So be result-oriented means getting things done! 

Done, not necessarily perfectly, not necessarily using up all the time I can squeeze out, not necessarily on paper, not necessarily making myself feel good.

Think about the end goal and go directly at it. And then get some rest and recharge, or continue the next task or learn new things which will be invaluable in the future for me.

 

Till next time!

Slow is Fast — never just do something when asked

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Past week has been stressful for me at work.

Not only because of the work itself, but also because of the additional hours resulted from my failure to understand before actions.

One typical example:

• One partner asked me to do something and I thought it would be a quick change so I just did it to get it over with. I did not care about that change and did not bother to find out why.
• Then another partner asked me to undo the change. When he asked why I did the change in the first place, I looked like an idiot who could only respond that the other partner asked me to do it.
• Most of the time, I had to undo the change and needed to explain to the other partner
• …

Another typical example:

• I was asked to do something and I thought that was a lot of work with not enough benefits.
• I became very reluctant to do it and I showed it. And I pushed back using that.
• The partner explained and even argued why it had to be done. 
• I just would not listen and just could not get myself out of the thinking that this would be a lot of work and now I would need to protect myself and push back.
• Most of the time, I had to do what I was asked anyway after spending the time “arguing” and sometimes irritating the partners.
• …

This resulted in iterations of work, which are never a good thing, especially under high-pressure situation with tight deadline.

And I looked like an idiot, which are never a good thing either.

And I gave the negative impression that I would avoid work, put myself before the client and team, and therefore, do not have enough commitment to client, project and team. Definitely not a good thing.

And I do not learn why the partners would ask for or reject the change, which is a good reflection of the way or work and also his own experiences. Absolutely a bad thing.

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When I reflected, the key element missing in the process was my own judgement based on the right rationale.

Without my own judgement, I could not prove or disprove the merit of the change, to justify or defend the action to either make or reject the change.

Without my own judgement based on the right rationale, I appeared selfish and could not get my point through.

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My lack of judgement based on right rationale could be caused by a few underlying reasons:

• My lack of commitment — I did not care enough about the client, team and project
• My failure to understand the reason and significance of the change — I did not know the reasons why partners asked to do something or not do something. Neither did I see the implications of the change to the client and project.
• My under-estimate of the value of my ideas — These guys have their skin in the game for many years. Why would my ideas or judgement even matter?
• My laziness to just complete something for the sake of completing it — I am more concerned about ticking the box, rather than focusing on the impact the box would bring. This is actually laziness.
• My wrong inclination to accept or push back a change request based on the amount of work I perceived — if I thought it was easy to do, I will just accept the request and make the changes. Why wasting the time to discuss? If I perceived more work was required, I would push back. This was wrong. It should only be based on merit of the change first and only then discuss implementation.
• My wrong perception of work needed — sometimes, the change was easier than I anticipated and other times, it was harder and took longer time.
• My lack of enjoyment and motivation in the work — I did not really enjoy the work and did not really appreciate the meaning of the work
• …

None of these is good. I need to work on all of them.

If not, why would I step out of my comfort zone and take this challenge anyway?

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Going forward, when I am asked to do something, I will follow below 5-step process until it becomes a habit:

Ask—Discuss — Judge — Decide — Act

1.Ask

I will force myself to ask why and understand the reason behind, so that

• I learn
• I do not look like an idiot when asked
• I do not feel frustrated when doing the work
• I increase my investment in the project and become more committed

2.Discuss

Voice out my reasons and concerns and actively discuss with an open mind on why or why not the proposed change might help the client and project.

• I learn even more
• I practice my discussion skills
• I understand what I am doing and why I am doing it.

3.Judge

This is purely my judgement after discussion. It could be:

• This is the right thing to do
• This is just his preference
• This is the wrong thing to do

4.Decide

My decision. It could be:

• Agree and do it
• Disagree but do it, to be a team player
• Disagree and keep pushing back on merit of the request; need to immediately go back to discussion

5.Act

Act accordingly, knowing very clearly why I am acting the way I am.

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Breaking an old habit is hard. But it can be done if we have the commitment and right way of dealing with it.

To us all!

160Hours — What I gained from the Novel

 

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Dear readers,

Thank you for coming here!

I finished the long Chinese novel at 3:17am today, with ~160 hours of reading time.

It is a really good novel. (I would say it is one of the best I have read, but I have read very limited number of novels. So I will settle with “very good”)

Having no time for a comprehensive review and just by closing my eyes, I could gather that I had gained in below 4 areas.

1. Mindset
2. People interactions
3. Management
4. New knowledge

Allow me to briefly elaborate.

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Mindset

1. Capabilities are the basis and pre-requisite for everything 
2. Devil exists in the details. People who remain elegant after a long day of hard work says many things.
3. There are no fairy tails. People’s behaviors are subject to many constraints and they are shaped by those constraints themselves.
4. Taking initiatives always matters. Being lazy and passive ruins the most talent people.
5. There is no shortcut.
6. Bottom-line is a must, no matter under what circumstances.
7. One’s potential can be astonishing if one really really wants to accomplish something, very often with consequences later on.
8. Focusing too much on one’s own benefits can override all smartness and diligence and prevent him/her from achieving anything significant.
9. For most people, they have not made the mistakes only because they have not been exposed to high enough pressure.
10. What is shame? There is no need to look it up in the dictionary. You know it when you experience it.
11. Sufferance and endurance is not shame, but a skill.
12. There are so many causes and effects through one’s life. The chances of identifying the root cause is low, if possible at all.
13. Everyone has their own fate after all.

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People interactions

Novels can be more real than biography.

They bring us into the scene of the interactions, including what they say and do and how they think, and break them down for us to see and understand.

So that we know when we are in similar situations.

And we can reflect on ourselves if we have been in similar situations.

Novels are a great way to learn about people.

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Management

1. Right attitude and solid actions, with a kind heart.
2. Never let your team stay idle. That is the start of all distractions.
3. Being passive or giving up is almost never a good strategy in competitions. No leverage = no respect/power/benefits.
4. Build leverages and do not be afraid to use it, smartly.

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New knowledge

We can learn real knowledge and see them being applied in novels. Of course, expect only entry level.

In this one, I have learned in below areas which are new to me:

1. Ways to gather capital
2. Difficulties to run a factory
3. Incredible operations in the area of financing and investing

Till next time!