I read Rebel Talent book by Professor Francesca Gino at Harvard. She described different rebel talents that bring joy and meaning in life. For example, Massimo Bottura is the owner and chef of Osteria Francescana, a Michelin 3 star restaurant yet he hasn’t been to culinary school (dropped off law school). He has 2 sous-chefs …
Category Archives: Inspiration
Listen More, Talk Less
When I came to US to attend business school, I was shocked that students raised their hands ‘before’ professor even finished the question. How could people ‘think’ that fast? At first, I thought it’s my English (to understand) or classmates were ‘smarter’ than me. As time went on, I realized that it’s a strategy (as …
A Strong Closing and New Beginning
July marked one year anniversary for me on several fronts: at current company, UncoverSpecial blog, and 1 year book project… At work, I enjoyed performing a variety of roles and activities, from community management learning, platform analysis and proposal, to cross-functional collaboration in software development and deployment. We’re leveraging technology to increase team productivity, reduce …
There is Always Hope
Last summer I moved to Boston area and I was busy enjoying its variety of offerings, e.g. concerts, festivals, startup events while exploring restaurants and museums. This year, with Covid-19, a different summer, I’m finding alternatives online… I came across Honeyland, a documentary about Hatidže Muratova, a wild bee keeper’s life in the remote mountain …
Be the Cause, Not Because
Can’t remember where I saw or heard the phrase, Be the Cause, Not Because, yet it immediately became my mantra. Instead of making excuse or waiting on others, it’s our responsibility to take action to make what we’d like to see and a world we want to live in. Using data/ fact to make decision …
Failure
Job placement fail has been a constant topic/ team concern as we’re rolling out the new (software) function, though in reality, it’s a very small % and failure happened before the function release as well. I understand people’s ‘risk-adverse’ nature yet I want to cultivate/ encourage a failure-learning-growth culture. If there is no failure, we …
Journey is the Reward
I completed ‘Dynamic Leadership’ path from Toastmaster Pathway and gave a reflection speech about the journey. I shared 3 lessons, not typical from the communication and leadership skills people associated with Toastmaster. What I have learned is to focus on one thing at a time and don’t be too harsh on myself (progress will come …
Story Worth Telling
I came across SheNYC Arts, showcasing women writers and theater artists across the country, out of curiosity and love/ support of art, I got the All-Access Pass. My first show is Fort Huachuca which featured five African American women enlisted in the army to train as nurses. Simple story with complex issues of racism and …
Building Our Strength
A friend shared about 2 incredible friends: One only in his 30s but already an executive in a hot startup that is going IPO, who is a doctor and Harvard graduate with influential classmates in politics, on top of that, an impeccable speaker. The other is a fast raiser, moved from manager to partner of …
Back to Basics
My boss asked me to support customer research. Before deep-diving into customer interviews and competitive landscape analysis, I’m thinking of the end goal and how to conduct the research. If we don’t ask the right people the right questions, we’ll not get to the right answers. People say ‘less is more’. It only tells half …