weekend TODAY • August 25 - 26, 2007 31
Knowledge can be a bad thing, if others are taking credit for it
DR MANOJ THULASIDAS
TECHNICAL knowledge is not always a good thing for you in the modern workplace. Unless you are careful, others will take advantage of your expertise and dump their responsibilities on you. You may not mind it as long as they respect your expertise. But,they often hog the credit for your work and present their ability to evade work as people management skills. People management is better rewarded than technical expertise. This differentiation between experts and middle level managers in terms of rewards is an Asian phenomenon. Here, those who present the work seem to get the credit for it, regardless of who actually performs it. We live in a place and time where articulation is often mistaken for accomplishments. In the West, technical knowledge is more readily recognised than smooth presentations. You don't have to look beyond Bill Gates to appreciate the heights to which technical expertise can take you in the West. Of course, Gates is more than an expert; he is a leader of great vision as well. Leaders are different from people managers. Leaders provide inspiration and direction. They are so realy needed in all organisations, big and small. They are not to be confused with middle-level folks who keep harping on the "big picture", the "value-chain" and such, and spend all their working hours in meetings. Why should they get such hefty salaries when they know and do so little?Technical experts are smart cookies. They can easily see that if they want to be people managers, they can get started with a tie and a good haircut. If the pickings are rich, why wouldn't they? Going the other way is a lot harder, though. For a pure people manager to become a technical expert, it takes a lot more than losing the tie. But why would anybody want to be an expert in the current corporate climate here? Slim pickings, really. Is it time to hide your knowledge, get that haircut, knot that tie, and become a people manager? It comes down to your personal choice. Knowledge gives you technical authority and a sense of indispensability. But it also sets you up for a stunted career progression. So, the choice is between fulfilment and satisfaction on the one hand, and convenience and promotions on the other. I wonder whether we have already made our choices, even in our personal lives. We find fathers who cannot get the hang of changing diapers or of household chores. Is it likely that men cannot figure out washing machines although they can operate complicated machinery at work? We also find women who can not balance their accounts or estimate their spending. Is it really a mathematical impairment, or a matter of convenience? At times, the lack of knowledge is as potent a weapon as its abundance. Yes, knowledge is a double-edged sword. Use it wisely.
The writer is a scientist from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern), who currently heads OCBC’s Quantitative Analytics team. His internationally-acclaimed book, The Unreal Universe, is available in local bookstores and at www.TheUnrealUniverse.com
Monday, August 27, 2007
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Three Pillars in Your Life
As per subject “Three Pillars in Your Life”, I would like to elaborate it to you. It's a bit philosophical.
Ad 1) Destiny, --> totally out of your controlThis pillar is originated from heaven. Each person has his own destiny either considered good or bad. Some is born to a rich family and some other to poor parents; some born in a developed and neat country like Singapore and some other in developing or even underdeveloped and troubled state like Afghanistan. Along your way you may desperately wish something but you never get it. On the other hand you get something you've never expected. Some incidents are not causality. That's destiny. You can't change it. Nothing you can do about it. Let's call it “luck” factor.
Ad 2) Harmony, --> some under your control; some not
This is about the level of suitability of relationship between you and your environment. You must live in a way that create and maintain good harmony with your surroundings. Good harmony will give you positive supports, mentally and psychologically, in whatever you do. This is important for your spiritual well being that may also affect your physical condition. Not all you know about harmony you can practice it. There is some disharmony you can't avoid or some good harmony you can't implement. There are quite a few of occurrences you might not understand logically but you feel it, witness it, or even experience it. Normally the more your age and life experiences the more mature you are in achieving your harmony.
Ad 3) Effort, --> totally under your control
Your effort is totally under your authority. You are the master of your mind and action. You can practice and implement it in your daily life. Good effort must have the qualities of diligent, expend, flexible, trustworthy, passionate, perseverance and if possible resourceful. Do your best whatever under your control for it is your opportunity. Otherwise you would regret yourself later since you didn't make your maximum effort that actually you could. Those properties are centralized in the quality of your creativity.
Ad 1) Destiny, --> totally out of your controlThis pillar is originated from heaven. Each person has his own destiny either considered good or bad. Some is born to a rich family and some other to poor parents; some born in a developed and neat country like Singapore and some other in developing or even underdeveloped and troubled state like Afghanistan. Along your way you may desperately wish something but you never get it. On the other hand you get something you've never expected. Some incidents are not causality. That's destiny. You can't change it. Nothing you can do about it. Let's call it “luck” factor.
Ad 2) Harmony, --> some under your control; some not
This is about the level of suitability of relationship between you and your environment. You must live in a way that create and maintain good harmony with your surroundings. Good harmony will give you positive supports, mentally and psychologically, in whatever you do. This is important for your spiritual well being that may also affect your physical condition. Not all you know about harmony you can practice it. There is some disharmony you can't avoid or some good harmony you can't implement. There are quite a few of occurrences you might not understand logically but you feel it, witness it, or even experience it. Normally the more your age and life experiences the more mature you are in achieving your harmony.
Ad 3) Effort, --> totally under your control
Your effort is totally under your authority. You are the master of your mind and action. You can practice and implement it in your daily life. Good effort must have the qualities of diligent, expend, flexible, trustworthy, passionate, perseverance and if possible resourceful. Do your best whatever under your control for it is your opportunity. Otherwise you would regret yourself later since you didn't make your maximum effort that actually you could. Those properties are centralized in the quality of your creativity.
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