The one thing that excites me about being a millennial is the same thing that scares me. That is…change. The concept in itself is not a new one but has been around from creation or evolution depending on your outlook on life (I believe in the former) but the speed at which it occurs or seems to be occurring is both frightening and exciting. Though still a child while my parents were coming to age (obviously) the world seemed to have taken a slower pace in the way things were orchestrated. Presently though before you can construct a proper tweet or instagram upload, the stoplight is changing (#firstworldtechnology problems). It all appears to be happening so quickly that before you have grasped the concept of the tipping point Malcolm Gladwell is coming up with something new …Elite Institution Cognitive Disorder…..) At the same time before you can finish your coffee in the morning Dr. Oz is telling you why coffee is bad for you and why the pants you’re wearing will reduce your chance of having children, or why ginger is the new super fruit but two weeks ago it was garlic and the week before that kale… all before walking out your front door.
What intrigues me though is how all this ties into our jobs and how we make a living. As fast as you land a job after graduating (fast here being relative as for some persons 9 months may be pretty quick while 9 days seems like eternity for others), you see the headlines flashing “10 ways to increase your productivity at work”. Before you have a name plate or have established your place in the proverbial food chain, you’re already being bombarded with ways to improve before having even set a standard. For those (self included) who have started the journey and making the “almighty dollar” (could be mightier if you ask me) you begin asking yourself; what am I doing? How can I do it better? Should I do it better? How long before I’m promoted? And most importantly why do we do things the same way just because that’s the way we met them being done and no one ever asked the question why?
For my generation, being stuck between a younger generation that is changing at the speed of light and behind a generation just waiting to retire is by all means intellectual and motivational purgatory. I speak not of the developing world as I imagine their plight to be much different than ours in the Caribbean. I do speak of being raised in an era where pen and pencil were the way of life and human interaction took place without middlemen (i.e. laptops, tablets, smart phones etc.). Here I had the distinct impression that this was going to be the way of life until the end of life. But all this changed so suddenly it’s as if you woke up using ios6 not realizing ios7 has been launched and already running for 24 hrs while you took a 1 hr nap. Now you’re plugged into the matrix trying to learn the basics. But we do what we must cause ours is a generation of thrust. We will and must go forward at any cost. Though we have come to enjoy the peace and tranquility of our forefather’s way of life, the current demand for change keeps us motivated. As your boss will accept nothing short of blood for not seeing that BBM was vastly becoming antiquated, so will they accept nothing less than constant innovation. Whether it’s in the way algebra is taught or mosquitoes are caught (those handheld zappers pack a mean punch) what they thrive on is what we must provide, and today that thing is change.
Hopefully by then pigs will actually be able to fly and we will have a chance to say like generations before us, we did it! Not for us, but for you.
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Jobs : the man, the legend, the ideas
So I came across this article via a family member. Needless to say that it hits home in more ways than I can imagine thus I am reposting it for those who may have missed it.
12 lessons for us all from the life of Steve Jobs Commentary: What Apple co-founder’s achievements tell the rest of us
The death of the Apple AAPL -0.25% co-founder has dominated the news from Cupertino, Calif., to Kuala Lumpur. Many are focusing on the way his products and services changed our world. Others are talking about Jobs, the man. But this was the most successful business leader of his era, and one of the greats. Few have achieved so much, so quickly, and so publicly.
It got me thinking: What are the lessons we can all take away? What do his extraordinary achievements tell the rest of us? Here are 12 lessons from the life of Jobs:
1. Yes, you can make a difference Anyone trying to achieve real change — in life, in a company or in any organization — probably feels the urge to give up half a dozen times a day. The naysayers and seat polishers will do everything to slow you down. No one is suggesting that what Apple achieved was the result of Jobs alone, but his career is proof of just how much one individual can change things.
2. You need a vision It’s not enough to conduct opinion polls and customer surveys, and rely on consultants’ projections. Those are all based on the conventional wisdom and the world as it is today. Jobs imagined things — most obviously the iPod, and the iTunes services — that didn’t yet exist and for which the market was uncertain. While his competitors were still building the products of yesterday, he was imagining, and building, those of tomorrow.
3. It’s not about you It’s horrifying how many business decisions are still made on the assumption that “well, we have to do something with the XYZ division, so let’s give them this project” or “Buggins has seniority, so he’s in charge.” Do you think the customer cares about Buggins or XYZ? Jobs built Apple into a streamlined operation, focused on the output, nothing else.
4. Focus, focus, focus Hard to believe, but mediocre managers everywhere like to keep their staff “busy” because they think that’s “productive.” It isn’t. (Ask them what their top priority is, and they’ll name two things. Or four. Or 16.) Apple sure was “busy, busy, busy” when Jobs arrived. And it was going bust. One of the first things he did was ax about 90% of the company’s activities and focus — first on the iMac, then on the iPod.
5. ‘OK’ is not OK Look at the way Apple’s competitors keep putting out mediocre or unfinished products and thinking they’ll get away with it. Are they for real? The days when you could get by with second best are so over. Jobs was famous for a fanatical perfectionism. It was a core element of Apple’s success.
6. It’s not about the money Steve Jobs’s life was a thumping rebuttal to all those who are obsessed with cash. The guy had billions: far more than he could ever spend, even if he had lived to 100. Yet he kept working, and striving to achieve greater things. Money? Bah. Something to think about the next time a CEO demands another $20 million a year as an incentive to show up.
7. It ain’t over till it’s over Fifteen years ago Steve Jobs appeared to be a has-been in Silicon Valley. And Apple was circling the drain: plagued with losses, executive turnover, reorganizations, desperate asset sales and research cuts. Apple’s stock hit a low of $3.23 in 1996, and hardly anyone wanted it even at that price.
8. Give people what they really want Sounds obvious, right? But most companies don’t do it. They simply produce what they’ve always produced, or what’s comfortable, or what Buggins thinks people want. For years the computer industry churned out ugly, clunky beige products with complicated operating systems. They all did it, and they all assumed that’s what people wanted. Turns out it wasn’t at all. 9.
Destroy your own products — before someone else does Jobs made sure that Apple kept innovating, and rendering its own products obsolete. Creative destruction came from within! That’s why Apple is a $354 billion company, and, say, Palm has vanished from Earth, even though a 2004 iPod is just as out of date as a 2004 Treo. How rare is this? Jobs knew full well that his $500 iPad threatens to cannibalize sales of $1,000 laptops. But he moved forward nonetheless. Most companies wouldn’t.
10. We are all spin doctors now Critics point out that a lot of what Jobs achieved at Apple was put down to hype and hustle. But that was the point. And Jobs was a master at it — the product teasers, the showmanship on stage, even the black turtlenecks. Truth be told, we live in a superficial age of infinite media. We are all in the spin business. Deal with it.
11. Most people don’t know what they’re doing It takes nothing away from Steve Jobs to point out that he couldn’t have done it without his competitors. Microsoft, Palm, Nokia, Dell, H-P — the list goes on. They missed opportunities, stayed complacent, failed to innovate and generally mishandled the ways their industries changed. It’s normal to assume that the people around us — and in power — know what they are doing. As Jobs proved, they often don’t.
12. Your time is precious — don’t waste it Steve Jobs was just 56 when he died — a comparatively young man — and yet during his short spell on Earth he revolutionized the way we live, several times over. What are we doing with our time? It is the resource we waste the most — and it’s the one we cannot buy. Make the most of your short spell on this planet.
Make each day and hour count.
12 lessons for us all from the life of Steve Jobs Commentary: What Apple co-founder’s achievements tell the rest of us
The death of the Apple AAPL -0.25% co-founder has dominated the news from Cupertino, Calif., to Kuala Lumpur. Many are focusing on the way his products and services changed our world. Others are talking about Jobs, the man. But this was the most successful business leader of his era, and one of the greats. Few have achieved so much, so quickly, and so publicly.
It got me thinking: What are the lessons we can all take away? What do his extraordinary achievements tell the rest of us? Here are 12 lessons from the life of Jobs:
1. Yes, you can make a difference Anyone trying to achieve real change — in life, in a company or in any organization — probably feels the urge to give up half a dozen times a day. The naysayers and seat polishers will do everything to slow you down. No one is suggesting that what Apple achieved was the result of Jobs alone, but his career is proof of just how much one individual can change things.
2. You need a vision It’s not enough to conduct opinion polls and customer surveys, and rely on consultants’ projections. Those are all based on the conventional wisdom and the world as it is today. Jobs imagined things — most obviously the iPod, and the iTunes services — that didn’t yet exist and for which the market was uncertain. While his competitors were still building the products of yesterday, he was imagining, and building, those of tomorrow.
3. It’s not about you It’s horrifying how many business decisions are still made on the assumption that “well, we have to do something with the XYZ division, so let’s give them this project” or “Buggins has seniority, so he’s in charge.” Do you think the customer cares about Buggins or XYZ? Jobs built Apple into a streamlined operation, focused on the output, nothing else.
4. Focus, focus, focus Hard to believe, but mediocre managers everywhere like to keep their staff “busy” because they think that’s “productive.” It isn’t. (Ask them what their top priority is, and they’ll name two things. Or four. Or 16.) Apple sure was “busy, busy, busy” when Jobs arrived. And it was going bust. One of the first things he did was ax about 90% of the company’s activities and focus — first on the iMac, then on the iPod.
5. ‘OK’ is not OK Look at the way Apple’s competitors keep putting out mediocre or unfinished products and thinking they’ll get away with it. Are they for real? The days when you could get by with second best are so over. Jobs was famous for a fanatical perfectionism. It was a core element of Apple’s success.
6. It’s not about the money Steve Jobs’s life was a thumping rebuttal to all those who are obsessed with cash. The guy had billions: far more than he could ever spend, even if he had lived to 100. Yet he kept working, and striving to achieve greater things. Money? Bah. Something to think about the next time a CEO demands another $20 million a year as an incentive to show up.
7. It ain’t over till it’s over Fifteen years ago Steve Jobs appeared to be a has-been in Silicon Valley. And Apple was circling the drain: plagued with losses, executive turnover, reorganizations, desperate asset sales and research cuts. Apple’s stock hit a low of $3.23 in 1996, and hardly anyone wanted it even at that price.
8. Give people what they really want Sounds obvious, right? But most companies don’t do it. They simply produce what they’ve always produced, or what’s comfortable, or what Buggins thinks people want. For years the computer industry churned out ugly, clunky beige products with complicated operating systems. They all did it, and they all assumed that’s what people wanted. Turns out it wasn’t at all. 9.
Destroy your own products — before someone else does Jobs made sure that Apple kept innovating, and rendering its own products obsolete. Creative destruction came from within! That’s why Apple is a $354 billion company, and, say, Palm has vanished from Earth, even though a 2004 iPod is just as out of date as a 2004 Treo. How rare is this? Jobs knew full well that his $500 iPad threatens to cannibalize sales of $1,000 laptops. But he moved forward nonetheless. Most companies wouldn’t.
10. We are all spin doctors now Critics point out that a lot of what Jobs achieved at Apple was put down to hype and hustle. But that was the point. And Jobs was a master at it — the product teasers, the showmanship on stage, even the black turtlenecks. Truth be told, we live in a superficial age of infinite media. We are all in the spin business. Deal with it.
11. Most people don’t know what they’re doing It takes nothing away from Steve Jobs to point out that he couldn’t have done it without his competitors. Microsoft, Palm, Nokia, Dell, H-P — the list goes on. They missed opportunities, stayed complacent, failed to innovate and generally mishandled the ways their industries changed. It’s normal to assume that the people around us — and in power — know what they are doing. As Jobs proved, they often don’t.
12. Your time is precious — don’t waste it Steve Jobs was just 56 when he died — a comparatively young man — and yet during his short spell on Earth he revolutionized the way we live, several times over. What are we doing with our time? It is the resource we waste the most — and it’s the one we cannot buy. Make the most of your short spell on this planet.
Make each day and hour count.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Caged Lion
For some people they’re 401k might keep them up at night or the prospect of retirement might scare them into cold sweat and panic attacks but for me it’s the opposite. The here and now scares me to the extent where I feel like the neck tie I wear to work every day is choking the creativity out of me. Maybe it’s my innate nature trying to tell me something. Maybe it’s the lack of intuition to turn my ideas into creative unique realities that I can immerse myself into for hours on end before coming back to reality. Or maybe it’s a lack of infrastructure in the island where I presently reside. Whatever the issue may be I sometimes feel like my purpose is not being fulfilled. Wanting to learn more and ensuring a better quality of life in the long run lead me to university to pursue a tertiary education. Hands down it was a great escape from reality for me and I would do it again on any given day. But now I find myself feening for a change of environment, scenery, and overall experience. I now know how those lions in the zoo in Port of Spain feel behind that 16inch think glass. The saying goes “it’s a jungle out there” but have we ever stopped to think that some people are born to be wild (no pun intended). For some the open plains are their fountain of youth. It is what keeps them up at night with the wheels of creativity going a hundred miles down the high way of dreams heading to the promise land where dreams become realities and passions become pay checks.
To add perspective to my wandering thoughts I’ll relay a story from “What the dog saw” by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell wrote about an executive who had a position of notable mention in a company of high esteem who quit in order to pursue a career as a writer. Equipped with only the experienced garnered from a few creative writing classes in college, he sets off on a whirl win adventure to pursue an ideal that was far removed from his area of expertise. If one were to only see the beginning of this story and the successful end it would seem like a walk in the park. However Gladwell goes deeper into the processes that lead to a best seller and reveals writing routine that was rigid and involved numerous trips to Haiti to explore plot points for a work of art that seemed to change ever so often. What may have seemed like an instant hit was a labor of love, time and experience but it was a decision that some may have thought two, three or four times about. Mention was also made of two famous artists, one who peaked early in life and the other was a late bloomer. Both have their names etched in the walls of history despite the fact that their journeys were as different as could be. Needless to say for some its an instant hit, while for others it’s a painful process but doing what we loving and loving what we do is the main goal.
At the end of the day I have to ask myself, “Self, are you a caged lion or a wandering elephant?”
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