Now Discover Your Strengths

#192

Few notes from Marcus Buckingham's Now, Discover Your Strengths Audiobook:

1. 'Strength' is the predictable part of your performance
2. Something you must be able to do consistently
3. It's a specialty that energizes you
4. And you can fathom doing it repeatedly, happily, and successfully
5. Learn to distinguish your natural talents from what you can learn
6. Practice does not necessarily become perfect
7. Talent is recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behaviour that can be productively applied
8. While skills help you perform, they will not help you excel
9. Discovering your strengths is the process of self-awareness that your strength is a combination of your talent, knowledge, and skill
10. Focus on strengthening your strengths, not fixing your weaknesses

Eye exercises

#191

Given that most of us are spending more than 8 hours in front of the screen every single day, consider spending literally just 3 minutes every morning and every night on these eye exercises:

1. Blink normally, consciously, mindfully for 30 seconds
2. Rotate your head slowly while staring at one point for 30 seconds
3. Rotate eyes slowly for a total of 30 seconds - 15 clockwise and 15 counterclockwise. Close your eyes for 2 minutes after this exercise
4. Make an 8 with your eyes slowly for a total of 10 seconds
5. Close and open your eyes for 3 seconds each, thrice
6. Push your temples for 3 seconds, thrice
7. Close your eyes and look up and down while closed for 5 seconds
8. Focus on a near finger for 10 seconds, and then a far away object for 10 seconds

Productivity Styles

#190

Productivity styles based on 4 personality types:

If you get into analytical intricacies yet you're focused on your goal

If you're competitive in the sense that you always back the point you make with compelling data

And you get energized every time you clock yourself when running through routine tasks to get better and better

And you streamline things at work by setting up email templates, or at home by cutting vegetables a week prior

You're a Prioritizer

If you're detail-driven and hyper-organized

If you get things done by grouping similar tasks, which help you achieve 'Flow' state

And you thrive on creating to-do lists for things that can be done in less than 15 meetings to squeeze in-between meetings and get done

You're a Planner

If you love creating colour-coded calendars

If you enjoy facilitating and talking to others to pave the way to make things happen and put mechanisms in place

And you easily intersperse solo work with group work

You're an Arranger

If you are a 'Think Big' type of person

If your primary tools are post-its and whiteboards

And you're not a fan of structure

And you're a sprinter rather than a marathoner

You're a Visualizer

Toxic Habits

#189

How emotionally intelligent people reframe toxic mental habits:

1. Avoid being caught in the addictive downward spiral of unproductive thinking
2. Instead of desiring to be validated by those around you, become aware of the unrealistic thinking and check to see if you're happy with what you're doing
3. Allow yourself to be okay with failing and making mistakes. Remind yourself that no one is perfect and that not making mistakes does not deem someone worthy
4. Instead of punishing yourself for doing a stupid thing, learn to forgive yourself and do better next time
5. Make your mind understand that sometimes things go wrong and it's okay
6. Change the 'I've always been this way' attitude to a 'People can and do change if they work at it and I can try to do the same' mindset
7. Instead of depending on others to make you happy, decide what's best for you
8. Rather than avoiding facing problems in the hope that they'll go away, face the problem, accept your role in it, and look for solutions to better the situation

A World of Difference

#188

Recently, I booked a one-night stay at a 5-star hotel followed by a 4-star hotel the next month. What a world of difference! The 5-star hotel had way better customer service, rooms, room layout, restaurants, food, spa, and more!

It may be possible that these 2 are very specific examples of the 5-star hotel raising the bar while the 4-star hotel could improve in a lot of ways. It'd be good to gather sample data on both by visiting more 5-star and 4-star hotels for better metrics to compare.

Delving a little into the details of the difference, the first thing was the location and size of the bath tub. The 5-star hotel, which we'll call Hotel A had a much bigger tub situated right in the middle of the big room with a sliding door separating the bedroom from the bathroom while the 4-star hotel, Hotel B, had a smaller tub squished to one corner of a small bathroom with a regular door. The price difference between both rooms was less than 2k.

Another thing I observed was the omelette at breakfast. Hotel A had a beautifully wrapped professional masala omelette while B served with a home-made-like ordinary-looking one. Maybe because I was biased, the taste seemed different too, but I don't really recall now.

On entering the room in B, there was water on the floor and the power kept going out. Though someone came to fix it, the resolution was to ask for another room and move there. The beds and pillows were fluffier in A and the in-room amenities also differed a tad.

Finally, the spa experience with A was customer-obsessed as opposed to an unenthusiastic, uninviting experience received in B. However, B scores brownie points for having a steam room, a great first-time experience.

Overall, might be too harsh a judgement on B since it was a one-time visit. Will I go there again? Nowhere in the short-term, for sure. Long term, maybe, who knows? I reckon I'd rather spend a bit more for an experience I know for certain is going to be more enjoyable.

Have you had a good vs not-so-good hotel experience you'd like to share?

[Poem Spree] Focus

#187

Focus on your life, your work, your goals

Hustle to see yourself fill the empty holes

Actively take on many different roles

And perhaps, inspire a few souls

Put on blinders, adopt tunnel vision

Keep reminding yourself what's your mission

Free your mind from any inhibition

You are your own competition

Them 'Boosters' - happy pics and a T-Swift song

Soothing instrumentals or a sing-along

In these things, there ain't no right or wrong

Pick whatever works, find where you belong

Play to your strengths, achieve more and more

Till your body's tired and your brain, sore

Make you forget who and what you were before

Focus on the present and future, till the days of yore!

[Poem Spree] Comfort zone

#186

Step outside your comfort zone

Find the rhythm, find the tone

Encourage yourself every day

You've got a hundred things to slay today!

Give your body the rest it needs

Continue doing for it, good deeds

Great things will happen in due time

Sleeping more is not a crime!

See what's important, mind the urgent

Keep a log of all the time spent

Create a process and a framework

Responsibilities, you're not one to shirk!

You can do it all buddy

Set aside time for serious study

Hustle hustle hustle, girl

Let your talents and strengths unfurl!

[Poem Spree] 8-liners

#185

Challenged myself to write at least 8-line poems on random topics, whatever pops to mind:

TBBT

The big bang theory

Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj

Binge watch till our eyes become weary

A show that never gets too old to rewatch

Penny enters in the Pilot

Bernadette 3 seasons later

Amy in season 3 final cut

Ladies galore, fun was greater!

Fights, arguments among discoveries

Rom-com, thriller all-in-one

Later seasons made recoveries

So much laughter, so much fun

Shakespeare

Shakespeare the Great

The Bard, the Poet, the Playwright

Ever wonder what he ate?

Be surprised - you just might!

Left brain, right brain, what a conundrum!

Read all about it, and then some

Use one, use both, the time will come

Where you're adept at everything, old chum!

Psychology

Welcome to the world of psychology

Where I try to explain terms via analogy

Anchoring, framing, confirmation bias

In reality, it's utter chaos!

Poor, poor Kitty Genovese

The killer stabbed her with ease

Onlookers did nothing as if having a brain defect

Thus was born the bystander effect

Little Friend

Under the mistletoe

Dressed in a little bow

Was the littlest, prettiest puppy I'd seen

How lucky, that day, I'd been!

Took him home, fed him too

Who'd left him there, I'd no clue

Together we played

Together we stayed

OTT

YouTube, Prime, Netflix

Thrillers to chick flicks

Could there be any more distractions?

All around us abound subscriptions

What a crazy two weeks it has been

Times I'm awake no one has ever seen

Slackened, deviated, lack of time

Responding only on messenger named Chime

Didn't read or write outside of work

Other responsibilities too, I did shirk

It's been so hectic, what can I say?

Can't differentiate night from day

[Poem Spree] Monotony

#184

Day after day

Hours go by

Life finds a way

To simply get by

Whether you wonder

Or be immersed in a task

Time will pull asunder

To bits, your task

Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Afternoon tea - we can give it a miss!

But you're a smooth spinner

Got nothing under duress

Toastmasters, doc reviews

Office work, then some blogging

Multitasking may seem like a clever ruse

Until for an hour, you go jogging

We all crave for change

At some point or the other

Let's turn the page

And help one another

Could this poem be any more random?

I think not, but it's okay!

I will not abandon

Myself or the things I say!

Writing is fun, so are poems

Rhyming, wordplay, shrewd puns

Confined within the walls of our homes

I prithee, try this once?

[Poem Spree] VUCA World

#183

Sharing a few more shorter poems written on a whim!

Consumed by inaction

She helplessly lay there

Wanting to gain traction

She urged herself to dare

To venture into the unknown

Enter into the VUCA world

Determined to achieve, all alone

Her arms quivered, her head twirled

Scared but focused, tense yet happy

Step by step, one by one

Svelte, shrewd and scrappy

So many hearts she eventually won!

Continuing the Poem Spree

#182

On Math

I was in grade one

They taught me to add

It was great fun

And not so bad

In grade two we had more

I learned to multiply

How easy to score

I was quick to comply

Grades 3 and 4 went by

I entered secondary school

It made me wanna cry

O how uncool!

'Cause grade five was abound

With fraction and decimal

My head spun around

Nothing seemed normal

Grades six, seven, eight

Algebra, math, geometry

I thought it was fate

Until came symmetry

Akin to freehand drawing

Making mirror images

Not at all annoying

Filling up these pages

Grade nine math was unique

Something uncommon, so unusual

Chances of scoring so bleak

I couldn't afford to be casual

At last came the final grade

Ten grade, Oh my God!

Math was now a game I played

What a happy ending, please applaud!

Lean six sigma training

#181

Back in college third year, KPMG offered a 2-day workshop on Lean six-sigma training. Here are some of the things I learned about:

Day 1:

1. Systematic, data-driven approach - problem-solving
2. Convert business problem and solution to statistical problem and solution (infer from business)
3. Problem - chronic/long-lasting: addressing it will be impactful
4. D: Define or identify problem statement
5. M: Measure or identify factors influencing barriers to achieving the goal
1. Factors: people, technology, environment competitors, past experience
6. Assumption - all people using the process produce the same results
7. A: Analyze - regression analysis
8. Bell curve - depicts average 
9. Y - lagging indicator - CTQ - critical to quality (people: skill, process: variation, tech: compliance)
10. X - leading indicator
11. Bill Smith - production engineer - came up with MLAC
1. Michael Harry + Bill Smith - evaluation of six sigma
12. Six sigma: 3.4 maximum defects per million opportunities
13. Requirements -> design -> developments -> validation (CTQ)
14. Paradigm shift:
1. From quality being the effect to being the cause
2. Presence of process mandatory to maintain consistency
3. As-is -> to be: comply with ISO
15. Role of management: change process in lieu of people
16. Six sigma approaches (2)
1. DMAIC - existing process
1. D: customer expectations
1. Select performance characteristics critical in meeting customer requirements
2. M: defects frequency
1. Create + validate measurement system
3. A: why, when, where
1. Identify sources of variation from performance objectives
4. I: fix
1. Discover process relationships + establish new procedures
5. C: stay fixed
1. Monitor implemented improvements to maintain gains
2. DMADV - for new process
17. Affinity diagram
18. Kano model
19. Project scoping tool - in/out frame
20. GRPI checklist - goals, roles, processes, interpersonal relationships
21. VOC - voice of customer - customer comment, issue, critical requirement
22. SIPOC - supplier, input, process, output, customer
23. Levels of process mapping

Day 2:

1. Deliverables
2. Fishbone diagram
3. 7Ms - machine, method, measurement, man, mother nature, material, money
4. 5Ps - promotion, price, people, processing, packaging
5. Cost-benefit analysis
6. Control impact matrix
7. Data collection plan, sampling
8. MSA - measurement system analysis
9. Fleiss’ Kappa
10. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance 
11. Minitab, box plot, run chart, rolled throughput yield, pareto chart, work-value analysis, cycle-time analysis, hypothesis testing - t test, anova, chi-square, TRIZ - theory of inventive problem-solving
12. Process management system
1. Documentation and standardization
2. Monitoring
3. Response plan
13. Control variables
1. Mistake 1 - tampering
2. Mistake 2 - under-reacting
14. Effectiveness of implemented solution 
1. KPI - key-performance indicator
2. KRA - key responsibility area
15. Retrospection - project closure