Let's NOT milk our youth
I ran into a junior of mine from long ago. They seem so happy to meet me, they reminded me of how it was back then when I was with them. Those were my glory days. Going further back..I once managed a project, in this my team was composed of neophytes and I didn't have a senior person to help me. So I had to babysit them all. In another end, there was another project manager, with a group of elite and senior people. I really wanted to get a couple from there but I've been dealt this hand.By some freak miracle we managed to meet the dealine of delivering a service, while the other team with those really good people delivered late. When the post-mortem of each project came, it was discovered....that it wasn't a miracle. The other team, their manager had worked them off so late into unreasonable hours and even into both weekend days. Whereas I, never had my team work a single day in overtime, except when they absented themselves. My rule was simple. 40 hrs in a week - no more, no less. It was realized that my team was very happy to work each day, motivated and with refreshed morale. The other team however, had their manager going home before their team does, and their mandated work schedule imbalancing their lives, in effect destroying their morale and motivation. I don't know where the core problem lies.. either I negotiated the deadlines very well or the other team kept on committing to an unreasonable deadline for the sake of having a project.I really hate it when things like that happen.. finishing a project on time at the cost of your non-work aspects of life being totalled.
Little things vol. 1
UncertaintyIf there is anything about human behavior that I want to bank on, it would be the element of uncertainty. It makes us appreciate what we have more, because we know at any time in our life, gifts, things, people might be taken away from us.I stare at pictures recently taken on the computer.It's pictures of friends who are almost non-existent (the ones who I wanted to keep). They became so because of distance.. and probably due to consistent neglect of communication. Not that I believe that communication is enough to keep good friends. Distance IS A FACTOR. Anyway, not that I didn't value them when they were around. It's probably because we grew complacent with the idea that we would be friends for life - there was an element of certainty. And it is exactly what caused us to drift, take each other for granted, and to finally grow disinterested in each other's company.The bottom line would be to accept the fact that nothing is ever certain in life so people shouldn't really look forward to anything that's sure AT ALL. It don't matter whether it's love, health, insurance, or financial security. And because of this we should always appreciate what we have now for it could be taken away tomorrow.DepartureDuring the past weeks, a couple of Korean friends have left Manila back to their own country. And a few more will be leaving soon. As they are gone now, I look back at how I ended up being their friend. It was a really good thing for me. I never felt insecure being around them. Most filipinos would be. If you weren't raised in the crab mentality culture by your parents (yes I blame parents for it, as they have the power to change this when their children are young). Other filipinos don't take very well towards Koreans (for real) because they envy them at being a first world country now when Korea was such a poor poor country before - and when you look at Manila and where it is now, you just shake your head in disgust.
