Lets suppose that...
1. My self esteem is an indicator of how well I am doing.
2. I am doing well if I add value to my community.
My self esteem can be expressed as the quotient of the value I have added to the community divided by the value that I reckon I should have added. If I am as good as I can be, my self esteem is 1.00 (or 100%). If I did not make my best effort to prepare my class, then my self esteem is hurt, and I may get 0.95.
Self esteem (aka conscience) is the measure of what I do compared with what I should do.
Subjective? You bet!
If my Project-to-Live includes respecting others, and I don't respect them, my self esteem lowers.
The late Mr. Alphonse Capone's Plan-to-Live included zero tolerance for people who did not pay on time. Late payments would have affected his Plan to Live, and his self respect (and his self esteem) would have lowered.
Fungus
Monday, June 29, 2009
Kindly refrain
In a recent conversation, a good friend suggested that if we carried one random act of kindness, the result would be wonderful, and it set me going ...
Somehow, this idea of kindness seems to me to be less than it takes. Also, the idea of acting randomly, when we are equipped to act intelligently does not make much sense.
Kindness does not happen among equals.
It's done towards the weak, the poor, the lower chastes. The lord may be kind to the serf, but the serf cannot be kind to the lord.
I suggest that we should carry all our actions with respect. And be consistently kind to our pets, baby seals and whales.
That would not bring Heaven on Earth, but would make for healthier communities. Which is the reward I would expect.
Fungus
Somehow, this idea of kindness seems to me to be less than it takes. Also, the idea of acting randomly, when we are equipped to act intelligently does not make much sense.
Kindness does not happen among equals.
It's done towards the weak, the poor, the lower chastes. The lord may be kind to the serf, but the serf cannot be kind to the lord.
I suggest that we should carry all our actions with respect. And be consistently kind to our pets, baby seals and whales.
That would not bring Heaven on Earth, but would make for healthier communities. Which is the reward I would expect.
Fungus
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Mirror
A good friend asked me what are my top three pain points, and how do I deal with them.
I've never read Schiller, but Isaac Asimov in "The gods themselves" quotes him as saying that: "Against stupidity The gods themselves Contend in vain."
My nominees are:
Third place: Stupid peers that are so stubborn to open their eyes (and ears) to understand my point of view. Stupid peers that don't support my hidden agenda.
Second place: Stupid bosses that do not express themselves with enough clarity that I understand what they want me to do. Also stupid bosses that freely (of their own free will) believe that I want to do what they want me to do.
First place. Me.
How can I get around the pain point which is me?
By looking inside and laughing at what I find.
Once I solve this small problem, I'll tell you what to do about the other two pains in the neck.
Fungus
I've never read Schiller, but Isaac Asimov in "The gods themselves" quotes him as saying that: "Against stupidity The gods themselves Contend in vain."
My nominees are:
Third place: Stupid peers that are so stubborn to open their eyes (and ears) to understand my point of view. Stupid peers that don't support my hidden agenda.
Second place: Stupid bosses that do not express themselves with enough clarity that I understand what they want me to do. Also stupid bosses that freely (of their own free will) believe that I want to do what they want me to do.
First place. Me.
How can I get around the pain point which is me?
By looking inside and laughing at what I find.
Once I solve this small problem, I'll tell you what to do about the other two pains in the neck.
Fungus
Monday, June 15, 2009
Fitness
Some people want to find an exact match for an ill defined job. That's a problem, but not a new one.
The classic recruiting process is based on the assumption that recruiting can be done by a junior clerk who does not understand the organization's vision, mission and objectives, and may not even care either.
That kind of HR specialist wants to have it easy, and he uses a process that is based on the complete description of the job that has to be done. Emphasis on complete.
By complete job description, I mean a form filled with the kind of data that Frederick Winslow Taylor used to work with: How many steps are there from coal pile to loading platform? Does the job require lifting heavy boxes from the floor? Is the job holder under frequent stressful situations?
Remember Charlot in Modern Times? You get the picture.
He'll be proud to know that he's looking for a square peg to fit a square hole.
Happily, there are other HR specialists who understand that jobs are not round or square holes anymore and people are not pre-shaped pegs. They still need to know if you fit the culture and the task at hand, but more than anything, they want to know if you are ready to learn new tricks and how can you add value.
Fungus
The classic recruiting process is based on the assumption that recruiting can be done by a junior clerk who does not understand the organization's vision, mission and objectives, and may not even care either.
That kind of HR specialist wants to have it easy, and he uses a process that is based on the complete description of the job that has to be done. Emphasis on complete.
By complete job description, I mean a form filled with the kind of data that Frederick Winslow Taylor used to work with: How many steps are there from coal pile to loading platform? Does the job require lifting heavy boxes from the floor? Is the job holder under frequent stressful situations?
Remember Charlot in Modern Times? You get the picture.
He'll be proud to know that he's looking for a square peg to fit a square hole.
Happily, there are other HR specialists who understand that jobs are not round or square holes anymore and people are not pre-shaped pegs. They still need to know if you fit the culture and the task at hand, but more than anything, they want to know if you are ready to learn new tricks and how can you add value.
Fungus
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
