I arrived at airport and found out there is an earlier flight so I asked the agent if I can change. He looked at my check-in monitor and said changing option didn’t appear. There might not be seat left but I could ask the gate agent. I went to the gate and the agent told …
Category Archives: Creativity
Special Trip
A special trip to visit aunt who has been through chemo, explore Iowa (a new state for me and getting close to achieve 1 of my bucket list to visit all 50 US states), and stay overnight on a tree house (another bucket list item). Aunt seems skinner, thinner-haired, yet in good spirit. As always, …
Work Around
In the first meeting to discuss the new initiative ‘code name’ and structure with key stakeholders, we encountered strong resistance (A expressed the objection and B walked out of the meeting). Later, I talked to A, a senior executive, privately to seek her support and advice before gathering the core team. I didn’t get a …
Happy Teacher’s Day
Happy teacher’s day to mom and all the great teachers around the world! Your life lessons have changed my world: be genuine, generous to others, and curios about life. Mom’s motto ‘誠樸’ (honest & humble) says it well and she lives it, 27 years as a teacher and lifetime as my role model. I have …
Roller Coaster Ride
A roller coaster ride this week for the A initiative. We achieved the milestone target ahead of schedule. Before having time to celebrate or take a break, we ran into system performance and capacity issues, on top of that, accidental system shutdown. No question of the stress to teams and long hours of works yet …
Change Management
I started the new role as a key initiative lead this week, learning, discussing with teams, and preparing for the executive meeting on Friday. It started well, I had good conversations to form/ continue the partnership with 3 key players. My manager initiated a meeting to share/ discuss the new structure/ plan for the initiative …
中秋節Mid-Autumn Festival
A different day today! Not only it’s Mid-Autumn Festival, 1 of the top 3 celebrations in Chinese culture but also a big moment/ transition at work… I’ll be leading a big project/ system development forward. It’s highly visible, highly anticipated, and what colleagues called the ‘most technical complex and changes-involved’ initiative the company has ever …
New Month Exercise
I did a monthly experiment – between 7/21-8/20, intentionally chose something new or did differently. I tracked and wrote the experience in ‘Open Mind’ and ‘1 Month Anniversary’ posts. It was fun and expanded my comfort zone. For September, I’d like a new exercise to get to know 3 new people or acquaintances more each …
Feeling
My manager and I had a meeting with the group president to confirm I’d be the product lead of a high priority project. I started right away to put together the vision, scope, and requirements, consolidate prior works, and gather team inputs. A few days later, I was told the project would be led by …
New Month, New Home, New Life
September started a new chapter: new home, new roommate, new life! I signed a 1 year lease and will be settled for a while (vs. moved 5 times in the past 2 years). I’m grateful for the different experiences (beautiful small towns with 3min walk to trail and farm stands on road side; bustling city …