Friday, December 28, 2018

The year 2018 in review


Among the key events of the year, Donald Trump mets Kim Jong Un, Facebook's growth slowed as Apple's market cap hit $1tn and the trade war between the US and China weakening the global economy - the year 2018 here

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Feedback is not enough (says Gallup)


Great managers inspire independence and ownership in pursuit of high performance. That only comes through frequent, open-ended conversations where people feel like their honest opinions will be valued and respected.
This is the way to move forward, says Gallup.

Whilst few managers give feedback that is helpful to employees, managers who do give feedback  need to shift from past-focused feedback to future-oriented coaching, because great coaching conversations are a two-way street for true development.

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Making Meaning is not the same as Making Sense

The brain remembers more effectively information and makes connections when an experience is meaningful, hence, when a given experience has clear relevance to a person's own life.  

In the same line, learning takes place either by connecting new information to old or by having a brand-new experience. And because new real-life experiences are sometimes hard to come by, making meaning through prior knowledge is easier.

As a leader and/ or people manager, it is important to understand that new employees and older ones are not able to connect on the same level because the new ones experience more novelty and finding ways to present meaningful information and to create meaning is key.

Making meaning and Making Sense don’t provide the same response.  If I tell you that I’m traveling from a town to another that is 2,5h away and that I am going to drive rather than fly, that will probably make sense to you - but is it meaningful?

Because the situation doesn’t concern you, you probably won't care that much to save it in memory because your brain works in different levels of understanding:

  • Sense: Understood, but not relevant or necessary
  • Meaning: Understood and related to something else you know
  • Personal meaning: Understood and related to a personal experience


Making sense is how we exchange and gather knowledge about our world, how things work, how to use them, their purpose. Meaning making and seeking meaning however are inherently human processes at the heart of our humanity.


A good reading on this:
https://illuminateddandelion.com/2015/11/06/making-sense-or-making-meaning/

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

5 critical steps to fearless confrontation (or, How to Address the Elephant in the Room)


Regardless of people's reluctance to confront tough issues or challenging people, the fact is we need to. It is difficult to advance, succeed, or grow without confrontation. 

Engaging in productive confrontation paves the way for diversity of thought, developing healthy boundaries, arriving at new, innovative approaches, better decision-making, and challenging the status quo, all of which are essential if we want to thrive in our lives and work. The question is how can one make confrontations as productive, healthy and effective as possible? 

Here's a fine article from Forbes with 5 key strategies for facing confrontation not as aggressive or angry conflict, but as the act of facing something or someone that needs to be addressed head on – directly and proactively (also known as "the elephant in the  room").

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

More than intelligence needed for success in life

Research carried out at the University of Adelaide and the University of Bristol has examined long-held beliefs that success in school and careers is due to more than just high intelligence. Non-cognitive skills are also important.


The study, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour is the first to systematically review the entire literature on effects of non-cognitive skills in children aged 12 or under, on later outcomes in their lives such as academic achievement, and cognitive and language ability.

"Traits such as attention, self-regulation, and perseverance in childhood have been investigated by psychologists, economists, and epidemiologists, and some have been shown to influence later life outcomes," says Professor John Lynch, School of Public Health, University of Adelaide and senior author of the study.

"There is a wide range of existing evidence under-pinning the role of non-cognitive skills and how they affect success in later life but it's far from consistent," he says.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

To do nothing, except to accept

April, 4 - about 10 am; I am finally relaxing in vacations. Taking in deep breaths of pure air from the mountains covered with snow, somehow makes me feel even more thankful and joyful for the good life I have despite the less good things of the last years. "I am a lucky girl, so so lucky to be here, alive and enjoying" - might have been one of my thoughts when, sliding on the snow on a sunny morning, suddenly something scares me and makes me react. A strong and rapid twist to the right and the next microsecond I'm down. Damn!! What a bad (bad, bad!) falling... such an explosion of energy on the right knee... I automatically realize that something has gone wrong...

Fast forward; n
ot as expected in initial prognosis, this is not an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture; this is a fracture of the tibial spine, an uncommon injury specially for adults, requiring an open reduction surgery with stainless steel wires to repair an avulsion fracture of the tibial spine eminence, the extension of the bone for attachment of muscles, involving the ACL insertion site.  

Yes, I have had pain in my life; but not this kind of pain. 
3 weeks in total immobilization with all-day deep pain, forced to be stopped, to stand still, to do nothing  - accepting there's nothing I can do, except to accept, to feel the pain. All of the pain. My mind elaborating deeper an deeper while reading and learning about recovery time. 

Pain and frustration. Feeling bewildered. It takes 5 weeks 'til I am able to use my yoga mat for some mindfulness to help me overcome these fellings I adhere to all instructions of my orthopedic doctor (Dr. Ricardo Antunes) and finally get release for total weight bearing after 8 weeks of surgery

4 months after the falling and week 10 after surgery;  back to one of my favorite running tracks where a simple 2km walk took me more than 30 minutes and amount and mix of feelings - from tears of pain to tears of contentment. 
Stay strong, life goes on. 

"Recovery is a game - pain resistance and endurance will support you."  - thank you Ricardo Paulinofor teaming with me.  

This kind of pain forced me to stop, to stand still, to accommodate pain without complaining. To wait, to be patient, to be resilient. To focus on springing back after bending. 

Surrounded by love and care, my anxieties have been listened and I have found a way of establishing a sense of self-worth and purpose without feeling depressed or angry. 

Yes, pain continues and is difficult still to think about  the long way ahead. 
Still, acceptance has become a way of being in my power - a way of being inside my strengths. 


Thursday, March 22, 2018

All it takes is 10 mindful minutes

Mindfulness expert Andy Puddicombe, former Buddhist monk, is co-founded of Headspace, a project to make meditation more accessible to more people in their everyday lives. 

In this Ted Talk, Puddicombe refers the benefits of mindful thinking for healthy living and why is important to make meditation accessible to everybody: for a happier, healthier you.


Sunday, February 11, 2018

Your silence serves no one

How do you see yourself? A typically cautious or an assertive person when it comes to stating opinions or speaking out about facts?

I am one of those who firmly believe that people deserve to know and hear the truth and so, a firm believer that silence serves no one when the intent is good. This applies from from saying to someone "there is a green thing in your teeth"  or to letting co-workers know about their inability to collaborate. 

However, in some cases, saying the truth or speaking out becomes a major challenge as we are humans who depend on relationships to survive -  choosing deliberately to speak out even when all the good intent is there, is not sufficient to assure that that it will return to your favour.
 
My choice has been based on the fact that I prefer to live with the consequences of speaking up rather than living with fear or in the shadow of the truth. So, while choosing to be courageous enough to speak out I continuously seek for ways of learning because the good intent can not only live in my mind; it is key that while 


Most of the times, your silence serves no one.
This is the message in this vivid TED Talk by Luvvie Ajayi (a Nigerian author, speaker, and digital strategist born in 1985) with remarkable take-away points about why one should seek to leave this world better than what is found and why choosing to effect change by speaking up can be a way to being the first and to provoke the "domino".

Saturday, January 6, 2018

9 Life Lessons (by Tim Minchin, from 2013 and always good to remember!)

Back in 2013, Tim Minchin, Australian comedian, actor, writer, musician and director gave a 9 life lessons speech worth to review and to think about as the a new year is beginning.

Here you can find the full video and below the full transcript:

"1: You Don’t Have To Have A Dream. Americans on talent shows always talk about their dreams. Fine, if you have something that you’ve always dreamed of, like, in your heart, go for it! After all, it’s something to do with your time… chasing a dream. And if it’s a big enough one, it’ll take you most of your life to achieve, so by the time you get to it and are staring into the abyss of the meaninglessness of your achievement, you’ll be almost dead so it won’t matter.

I never really had one of these big dreams. And so I advocate passionate dedication to the pursuit of short-term goals. Be micro-ambitious. Put your head down and work with pride on whatever is in front of you… you never know where you might end up. Just be aware that the next worthy pursuit will probably appear in your periphery. Which is why you should be careful of long-term dreams. If you focus too far in front of you, you won’t see the shiny thing out the corner of your eye. Right? Good. Advice. Metaphor. Look at me go.

2. Don’t Seek Happiness. Happiness is like an orgasm: if you think about it too much, it goes away. Keep busy and aim to make someone else happy, and you might find you get some as a side effect. We didn’t evolve to be constantly content. Contented Australophithecus Afarensis got eaten before passing on their genes.

3. Remember, It’s All Luck. You are lucky to be here. You were incalculably lucky to be born, and incredibly lucky to be brought up by a nice family that helped you get educated and encouraged you to go to Uni. Or if you were born into a horrible family, that’s unlucky and you have my sympathy… but you were still lucky: lucky that you happened to be made of the sort of DNA that made the sort of brain which – when placed in a horrible childhood environment – would make decisions that meant you ended up, eventually, graduating Uni. Well done you, for dragging yourself up by the shoelaces, but you were lucky. You didn’t create the bit of you that dragged you up. They’re not even your shoelaces.

I suppose I worked hard to achieve whatever dubious achievements I’ve achieved … but I didn’t make the bit of me that works hard, any more than I made the bit of me that ate too many burgers instead of going to lectures while I was here at UWA. Understanding that you can’t truly take credit for your successes, nor truly blame others for their failures will humble you and make you more compassionate. Empathy is intuitive, but is also something you can work on, intellectually.

4. Exercise. I’m sorry, you pasty, pale, smoking philosophy grads, arching your eyebrows into a Cartesian curve as you watch the Human Movement mob winding their way through the miniature traffic cones of their existence: you are wrong and they are right. Well, you’re half right – you think, therefore you are… but also: you jog, therefore you sleep well, therefore you’re not overwhelmed by existential angst. You can’t be Kant, and you don’t want to be.

Play a sport, do yoga, pump iron, run… whatever… but take care of your body. You’re going to need it. Most of you mob are going to live to nearly a hundred, and even the poorest of you will achieve a level of wealth that most humans throughout history could not have dreamed of. And this long, luxurious life ahead of you is going to make you depressed! 

But don’t despair! There is an inverse correlation between depression and exercise. Do it. Run, my beautiful intellectuals, run. And don’t smoke. Natch.

5. Be Hard On Your Opinions. A famous bon mot asserts that opinions are like ass-holes, in that everyone has one. There is great wisdom in this… but I would add that opinions differ significantly from ass-holes, in that yours should be constantly and thoroughly examined.

We must think critically, and not just about the ideas of others. Be hard on your beliefs. Take them out onto the verandah and beat them with a cricket bat. Be intellectually rigorous. Identify your biases, your prejudices, your privilege.
Most of society’s arguments are kept alive by a failure to acknowledge nuance. We tend to generate false dichotomies, then try to argue one point using two entirely different sets of assumptions, like two tennis players trying to win a match by hitting beautifully executed shots from either end of separate tennis courts.

By the way, while I have science and arts grads in front of me: please don’t make the mistake of thinking the arts and sciences are at odds with one another. That is a recent, stupid, and damaging idea. You don’t have to be unscientific to make beautiful art, to write beautiful things. If you need proof: Twain, Adams, Vonnegut, McEwen, Sagan, Shakespeare, Dickens. For a start.
You don’t need to be superstitious to be a poet. You don’t need to hate GM technology to care about the beauty of the planet. You don’t have to claim a soul to promote compassion.

Science is not a body of knowledge nor a system of belief; it is just a term which describes humankind’s incremental acquisition of understanding through observation. Science is awesome.
The arts and sciences need to work together to improve how knowledge is communicated. The idea that many Australians – including our new PM and my distant cousin Nick – believe that the science of anthropogenic global warming is controversial, is a powerful indicator of the extent of our failure to communicate. The fact that 30% of this room just bristled is further evidence still. The fact that that bristling is more to do with politics than science is even more despairing.

6. Be a teacher. Please, please be a teacher. Teachers are the most admirable and important people in the world. You don’t have to do it forever, but if you’re in doubt about what to do, be an amazing teacher. Just for your twenties. Be a primary school teacher. Especially if you’re a bloke – we need male primary school teachers. Even if you’re not a Teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don’t take for granted your education. Rejoice in what you learn, and spray it.

7. Define Yourself By What You Love. 
I’ve found myself doing this thing a bit recently, where, if someone asks me what sort of music I like, I say “well I don’t listen to the radio because pop lyrics annoy me”. Or if someone asks me what food I like, I say “I think truffle oil is overused and slightly obnoxious”. And I see it all the time online, people whose idea of being part of a subculture is to hate Coldplay or football or feminists or the Liberal Party. We have tendency to define ourselves in opposition to stuff; as a comedian, I make a living out of it. But try to also express your passion for things you love. Be demonstrative and generous in your praise of those you admire. Send thank-you cards and give standing ovations. Be pro-stuff, not just anti-stuff.

8. Respect People With Less Power Than You. I have, in the past, made important decisions about people I work with – agents and producers – based largely on how they treat wait staff in restaurants. I don’t care if you’re the most powerful cat in the room, I will judge you on how you treat the least powerful. So there.

9. Don’t Rush. You don’t need to already know what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. I’m not saying sit around smoking cones all day, but also, don’t panic. Most people I know who were sure of their career path at 20 are having midlife crises now.

I said at the beginning of this ramble that life is meaningless. It was not a flippant assertion. I think it’s absurd: the idea of seeking “meaning” in the set of circumstances that happens to exist after 13.8 billion years worth of unguided events. Leave it to humans to think the universe has a purpose for them. However, I am no nihilist. I am not even a cynic. I am, actually, rather romantic. And here’s my idea of romance: You will soon be dead. Life will sometimes seem long and tough and, god, it’s tiring. And you will sometimes be happy and sometimes sad. And then you’ll be old. And then you’ll be dead.

There is only one sensible thing to do with this empty existence, and that is: fill it. Not fillet. Fill. It.

And in my opinion (until I change it), life is best filled by learning as much as you can about as much as you can, taking pride in whatever you’re doing, having compassion, sharing ideas, running(!), being enthusiastic. And then there’s love, and travel, and wine, and sex, and art, and kids, and giving, and mountain climbing … but you know all that stuff already.

It’s an incredibly exciting thing, this one, meaningless life of yours. Good luck.

Thank you for indulging me.”