Forever Grateful

 I have stopped celebrating my birthday long time ago.  I am not saddened by that; it is the way it is. For some reason, this morning, I decided to blow out imaginary candles and make a wish as I did so. The only thing that came to mind was continuing to ship my writing out regularly.   It has been five days since my last blog.  Everyday life seems to get in my way regularly and let the days march by without shipping out anything. As I blew those imaginary candles (two candles: one in the shape of 5 the next in the shape of 4) I make that wish to be able to do whatever it takes to post a blog regularly.

 I thrive in the autonomous environment that my job provides me with. Working as a continuous improvement specialist, my days are blissfully unpredictable.  I may find myself spending a series of days developing an app (using PowerApps, a low-coding platform) for one of our departments.   Other days, I am walking the floor, interviewing frontline personnel about their workflow.  Based on these interviews, I would develop process maps visually depicting these workflows.   Less frequently, I end-up collaborating with upper management to develop data visualization tools that help them with their decisions.   On some very rare occasions, I find myself modeling products using 3D CAD software.  I would also create drawings based on these models. I am grateful that my career has afforded me to pick up multiple skillsets.  Listening to the audiobook The Art of Work , by Jeff Goins helped me understand the value of investing on multiple skil...

I despair and simultaneously get elated when I hear mantras like "love what you do".  This particular mantra comes from Seth Godin's The Practice.   In that book, Mr. Godin writes:            "Do what you love" is for amateurs.            "Love what you do" is the mantra for professionals. I despair when I read words like those because I often find myself stuck on what Brian Tracy called "Someday Isle".  At that isle, I sit and dream about publishing a major work and enjoying the perceived glory that comes with it.  While living in that enchanting  isle, I envision myself spending my days doing what I love (writing), while back on Mother Earth, days are slipping by with minimal shipping (Mr. Godin's expression for sharing our work with the world). On the other hand, I get elated by the advice because it describes my journaling experience.  I often get up early in the morning and start typ...

  Listening to Tai Lopez’s Ted talk Why I Read a Book a Day, got me started on a unique reading journey.   In that video, Lopez persuades us to view both living and departed authors as our sherpas.   We should read (or listen, depending on the media) their works as if they are engaging us in enlightened discussion. We should not work our way through books and set them aside once we are done.      We should have the pick them up now and then because with each reading we learn something new. It is sage advice.    If we follow this advice, with each reading, we will discover new qualities embedded within ourselves.   Books can indeed serve as mirrors that enable us to evaluate and assess both our cognitive and character development.

 A few years ago, I came across an interesting term - functional illiteracy.   The concept it represents is easy to explain.  Despite undergoing education, if I stop reading books (the most condensed form of knowledge), I have become functionally illiterate.  I am neglecting to cultivate my critical thinking that lets me become a more effective knowledge worker. What do I need to read, though?  I have gone through You Tube videos of accomplished authors recommendations.  As I listened to these lists, I was gratified to learn that some of the books I have worked on are on these lists. The more I followed on such authors, the more I realized that they are leading us by examples.  Although most of the recommendations are sound, they are waking us up, making us aware that we need our own lists that dovetail into our goals and values. By sampling books based on these recommendations, we have built a repertoire of what our world has to offer.  With...

 Working as continuous improvement professional, I work diligently to enshrine the benefits of kaizen as a vital continuous improvement tool for our business unit.  Kaizen is a proven continuous improvement methi that uses small incremental changes to eventually compound into major changes.  Many businesses, especially companies like Toyota, have used kaizen effectively as they positioned themselves to be leaders in their respective domains.   Reading Mauer, however, made me realize I am missing out a lot by not embracing kaizen in my personal life. Mauer, through producing one striking evidence after another, convinced me that I need kaizen in my personal life. Kaizen provides a way to tiptoe past the amygdala, the small. almond shaped part of the brain that helps detect danger.  Major changes trigger this fear center in our brain, causing resistance even pain.  Small changes fostered by a kaizen mindset, however, make it past the amygdala without tri...

We were at the Ruby for Good event at Shepherd's Spring Camp and Retreat Center.  This is an event whereby volunteers gather to provide IT solutions for non-profit organizations. This year's event started on the afternoon of May 30, 2024 and wrapped up on the noon of June 2, 2024.    Four ad hoc teams were formed based on pitches from leaders that represented non-profit organizations who required web based solutions.  Ruby on Rails was used to build these web based apps, hence the name for the event - Ruby for Good. The organizers were careful to avoid calling this four-day event a hackathon.  Although the days' sessions were dedicated to working on coding and presenting results, the evening sessions (with the exception of the last day, which ended at noon) were dedicated to socializing. People played board games, sang at a karaoke, and sat around a fire making smores while engaged in conversations.  Balance of work and socialization was important to the or...