tag:albara.me,2014:/feedFrozen Thoughts đ§ â âď¸2020-06-19T01:03:51-07:00Albara Alohalihttp://albara.mealbara@me.comSvbtle.comtag:albara.me,2014:Post/measuring-systems2020-06-19T01:03:51-07:002020-06-19T01:03:51-07:00Measuring systems<p>Defining success, a topic that is recurring a lot to me these days. <a href="https://seths.blog" rel="nofollow">Seth Godin</a>, a <a href="http://albara.me/seasonal-inspiration" rel="nofollow"><em>seasonal inspiration</em></a>, writes this short yet profound idea on <a href="https://seths.blog/2020/06/measuring-systems/" rel="nofollow"><strong>measuring systems</strong></a> touching on the feeling we get at times of not fitting in, or not being successful according to faulty system measurement. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I tried to recharge the lithium battery that works with my drill. After twenty minutes, the charger said the battery had failed.</p>
<p>Fortunately, I have a second battery. I put that into the charger and it also showed a failure.</p>
<h2 id="neither-battery-had-failed-the-charger-had_2">Neither battery had failed. The charger had. <a class="head_anchor" href="#neither-battery-had-failed-the-charger-had_2" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h2>
</blockquote>tag:albara.me,2014:Post/collaborative-inquiry2020-06-18T04:01:59-07:002020-06-18T04:01:59-07:00Collaborative Inquiry<p>How do you get a group of people collaborating to solve a problem?</p>
<p>The answer to this question is called <strong>Collaborative Inquiry</strong>, according to Warren Berger in a conversation on <a href="https://fs.blog/knowledge-project/warren-berger/" rel="nofollow">The Knowledge Project</a>. Itâs the idea of getting people collaborating on answering a particular question together. This is evident in the start-up culture where founders and innovators start with a question or a problem and collaborate together on developing the solution.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/More-Beautiful-Question-Inquiry-Breakthrough/dp/1632861054/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" rel="nofollow">A More Beautiful Question</a>, Warren Berger cites the revelatory questions that inspired a number of successful innovations. These are a few:<br>
<strong>What if we could map the DNA of music?</strong><br>
<em>Innovation: Pandora</em><br>
<strong>Why canât everyone accept credit cards?</strong><br>
<em>Innovation: Square</em><br>
<strong>Why arenât football players urinating more?</strong><br>
<em>Innovation: Gatorade</em></p>
</blockquote>tag:albara.me,2014:Post/mission-statement-or-mission-question2020-06-17T00:24:15-07:002020-06-17T00:24:15-07:00Mission Statement or Mission Question?<p>Building on <a href="http://albara.me/questioning-is-seen-as-inefficient" rel="nofollow">yesterdayâs frozen thought</a>. Many other related-thoughts started to surface. A particular one came while I was studying the <em>design aspects</em> of lifestyle, a recurring theme was about <strong>asking</strong> as a designer, <strong>what problem am I trying to solve?</strong>.</p>
<p>This could go beyond this particular domain into other places, whether personal, in relationships, or business. It encourages the âstep back and looking at the big pictureâ type of thinking, raising the awareness of what actually matters, and what can be done effectively at a given moment.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://fs.blog/knowledge-project/warren-berger/" rel="nofollow">the conversation with Warren Berger</a> he talks in his insightful book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1632861054/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?imprToken=QS8qGgzNhUeqbCcKPZ-8eQ&slotNum=0&ie=UTF8&tag=farnamstreet-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=w61&creativeASIN=1632861054&linkId=1263cb72ab01b7a086383d7acd8e625d" rel="nofollow">âA More Beautiful Questionâ</a> about the concept of changing <strong>Mission statements â Mission Questions</strong>, and the profound shift in thinking that will happen once a statement becomes a provocative question. </p>
<p>So next time you are heading to start your work, start with this question:</p>
<blockquote class="short"><h1 id="quothow-might-wequot_1">âHow might weâŚ?â <a class="head_anchor" href="#quothow-might-wequot_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1></blockquote>
<p>And see where that thought will take you next.</p>
tag:albara.me,2014:Post/questioning-is-seen-as-inefficient2020-06-16T05:26:58-07:002020-06-16T05:26:58-07:00Quality outcomes = quality questions<p>If we feel like we know something, we are less encouraged to ask questions. Thus, more than ever before, and after listening to this inspiring conversation <a href="https://fs.blog/knowledge-project/warren-berger/" rel="nofollow">on The Knowledge Project Podcast,</a> I came to believe even more now, in the power of asking good questions. </p>
<p>While I highly recommend listening to this episode, here are a few key ideas from the episode that reshaped my understanding of questioning and how to improve the quality of it. I would like to share (freeze) them here while attaching my current thoughts to them.</p>
<h1 id="1_1">1. <a class="head_anchor" href="#1_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1><blockquote class="short"><h1 id="quotquestioning-is-seen-as-inefficientquot_1">âQuestioning is seen as inefficient.â <a class="head_anchor" href="#quotquestioning-is-seen-as-inefficientquot_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1></blockquote>
<p>There is this stigma that started from school and continued into the business world, where questions are seen as inefficient, a waste of time, uncool, and often asked by the nerds or people who want to look like they care. That is true, though, when the quality of the question is poor. </p>
<p>But what makes a good question?</p>
<h1 id="2_1">2. <a class="head_anchor" href="#2_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1><blockquote class="short"><h1 id="quota-good-question-is-a-question-that39s-roo_1">âA good question is a question thatâs rooted in curiosity.â <a class="head_anchor" href="#quota-good-question-is-a-question-that39s-roo_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1></blockquote>
<p>And of course, the more informed you are, the more informed your question will be. Thatâs why when in a group setting, people will perceive a question to be a good one when itâs rooted in curiosity, and the level of the group knowledge about a particular idea is approximately comparable. </p>
<p>This is also why we donât consider childrenâs questions as â<em>stupid</em>.â As they are <strong>less informed, but rooted in curiosity</strong>.</p>
<h1 id="3_1">3. <a class="head_anchor" href="#3_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1><blockquote>
<h1 id="quotquestioning-is-a-tool-that-enables-us-to_1">âQuestioning is a tool that enables us to organize our thinking around what we donât know.â <a class="head_anchor" href="#quotquestioning-is-a-tool-that-enables-us-to_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1>
<p><a href="https://rightquestion.org/" rel="nofollow">The Right Question Institute</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Awareness of <strong>what you donât know</strong> is one of the real measures for intelligence. As less intelligent people are generally unaware of what they donât know. Thus, they donât care about trying to understand what they donât know.</p>
<p>Thatâs almost the starting point of good questioning, <strong>1. awareness of the limits of knowledge 2. caring to know and expand that limit (curiosity).</strong> And what the question will enable you is to push forward in the face of the unknown.</p>
tag:albara.me,2014:Post/movement2020-06-15T22:29:23-07:002020-06-15T22:29:23-07:00Movement<blockquote><h3 id="aristotle-thought-life-was-defined-by-movemen_3">Aristotle thought life was defined by movement. What does not move is <em>dead</em>. What has speed and mobility have more possibilities, more life. <a class="head_anchor" href="#aristotle-thought-life-was-defined-by-movemen_3" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h3></blockquote>
<p>A recent self-check-in question I ask on my review sessions while writing in my black book journal, âWhat movement have I done today?â that includes physical, and mental. </p>
<p>Development, progress, toward the desired outcomes I look forward to. I then rehearse what Dumpa says:</p>
<blockquote class="short"><h1 id="a-hrefyou-have-to-movea_1">
<a href="" rel="nofollow">You have to move.</a> <a class="head_anchor" href="#a-hrefyou-have-to-movea_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1></blockquote>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/408393352?color=ffffff" width="640" height="360"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/408393352" rel="nofollow">Dumpa's Way</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/rakudalife" rel="nofollow">RAKUDA</a>.</p>
tag:albara.me,2014:Post/the-three-zones-of-reality2020-06-14T00:00:51-07:002020-06-14T00:00:51-07:00The Three Zones of Reality<p>This nugget kept processing in my head from listening to this morning to a great conversation on <a href="https://fs.blog/knowledge-project/robert-greene/" rel="nofollow">The Knowledge Project titled â Alive Time vs. Dead Time with Robert Greene</a> here is a summary of this idea.</p>
<h1 id="1_1">1 <a class="head_anchor" href="#1_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1><blockquote>
<h2 id="the-greatest-power-any-human-can-have-is-the_2">âThe greatest power any human can have is the power to ask questionsâ <a class="head_anchor" href="#the-greatest-power-any-human-can-have-is-the_2" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h2>
<p>Ask questions about yourself â Why do you like what you like? This isnât something we usually think to ask.<br>
When we do this â âWe uncover a little bit of the reality about ourselves, and the power of that is immenseâ</p>
<h1 id="strongknow-thy-selfstrong_1">
<strong>âKnow thy selfâ</strong> <a class="head_anchor" href="#strongknow-thy-selfstrong_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1>
</blockquote><h1 id="2_1">2 <a class="head_anchor" href="#2_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1><blockquote>
<h2 id="reality-is-also-understanding-other-people_2">Reality is also understanding other people <a class="head_anchor" href="#reality-is-also-understanding-other-people_2" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h2>
<p>âYou can be married to someone for 30-40 years, and you might not even know themâ</p>
<p>âThe other people in your life are just projections of your own emotionsâ</p>
<ul>
<li>STOP â think about them, try not to project, try to get inside someoneâs skin, and understand things from their point of view</li>
<li>Then, youâll be ever so slightly connected to their reality</li>
<li>âEmpathy is an immense human potential that people rarely tap intoâ</li>
</ul>
</blockquote><h1 id="3_1">3 <a class="head_anchor" href="#3_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1><blockquote>
<h2 id="reality-is-also-about-the-culture-were-living_2">Reality is also about the culture weâre living in <a class="head_anchor" href="#reality-is-also-about-the-culture-were-living_2" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h2>
<p>âIf you donât understand the times weâre living in, itâs very hard to create the book or business that taps into where people are right nowâ</p>
</blockquote>tag:albara.me,2014:Post/experts-vs-average2020-06-13T22:28:08-07:002020-06-13T22:28:08-07:00Experts vs Average<blockquote><h1 id="the-difference-between-the-expert-and-the-ave_1">The difference between the expert and the average in any field is the speed at which they <em>adapt to reality.</em> â <a href="https://twitter.com/shaneaparrish/status/1263773939643355136?lang=en" rel="nofollow">Shane Parrish</a> <a class="head_anchor" href="#the-difference-between-the-expert-and-the-ave_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1></blockquote>
<p>Itâs amazing how this is more evident to me today than anytime before. Even though â<em>adapting to reality</em>â is not straight forward action, there are many nuances in becoming <strong>1. aware of what is reality</strong> because itâs so easy to be sunk in ones delusions or disbelief. <strong>2. having the wisdom to differentiate,</strong> when to adapt with such reality or when to resist and fight that change.</p>
tag:albara.me,2014:Post/the-happiest-one2020-06-12T11:49:40-07:002020-06-12T11:49:40-07:00The Happiest One<p>Sipping coffee, munching on cheese croissant, while mindlessly checking a stream of social media feed, passing the time, I asked him,</p>
<p><strong>Who do you think is the happiness living being?</strong></p>
<blockquote class="short"><h2 id="i-think-it39s-the-one-who-wants-nothing-in-li_2">I think Itâs the one who wants nothing in life. <a class="head_anchor" href="#i-think-it39s-the-one-who-wants-nothing-in-li_2" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h2></blockquote>
<p><strong>Do you want to be someone who âwants nothing in lifeâ?</strong></p>
<blockquote class="short"><h2 id="no-i-don39t-want-to-be-the-quothappiestquot-t_2">No, I donât want to be the âhappiestâ; thus, I want things. But not <em>too many</em> things. <a class="head_anchor" href="#no-i-don39t-want-to-be-the-quothappiestquot-t_2" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h2></blockquote>
<p><strong>Where does one draw the line for too many?</strong></p>
<p>He munches another bite. And flicks another scroll drawing back into his world.</p>
tag:albara.me,2014:Post/the-duty-trap2020-06-11T11:03:01-07:002020-06-11T11:03:01-07:00The duty trap<blockquote>
<p>Every education system rewards duty and tends to encourage us to forget our true desires. After years of school and university, we often canât conceive of asking ourselves too vigorously what we might in our hearts want to do with our lives; what it might be fun to do with the years that remain. Itâs not the way weâve learned to think. The rule of duty has been the governing ideology for 80% of our time on earth â and itâs become our second nature. We are convinced that a good job is meant to be substantially dull, tedious, and annoying. Why else would someone pay us to do it? </p>
<p>This dutiful way of thinking has high prestige because it sounds like a road to safety in a competitive and alarmingly expensive world. But, in fact, success in the modern economy will generally only go to those who can bring extraordinary dedication and imagination to their labors â and this is only possible when one is, to a large extent, having fun. Work produced merely out of duty is limp and lacking next to that done out of love. In other words, pleasure isnât the opposite of work; itâs an essential ingredient of successful work. </p>
<p>Yet we have to recognize that asking ourselves what we might really want to do â without any immediate or primary consideration for money or reputation â goes against our every, educationally-embedded assumption about what could possibly keep us safe â and is therefore rather scary. It takes immense insight and maturity to remember that we will best serve others â and can make our own greatest contribution to society â when we bring the most imaginative and most authentically personal sides of our nature into our work. </p>
<h2 id="duty-can-guarantee-us-a-basic-income-only-sin_2">Duty can guarantee us a basic income. Only sincere, pleasure-led work can generate sizeable success. <sup id="fnref1"><a href="#fn1" rel="nofollow">1</a></sup> <a class="head_anchor" href="#duty-can-guarantee-us-a-basic-income-only-sin_2" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h2>
</blockquote>
<div class="footnotes">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn1">
<p><a href="https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/career-therapy/" rel="nofollow">The School of Life - Career Therapy</a> <a href="#fnref1" rel="nofollow">âŠ</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
tag:albara.me,2014:Post/work2020-06-10T09:33:39-07:002020-06-10T09:33:39-07:00On Work<blockquote><h1 id="what-you-choose-to-work-on-strongsup1supstron_1">What you choose to work on <strong><sup>1</sup></strong>, and who you choose to work with <strong><sup>2</sup></strong>, are far more important than how hard you work â <a href="https://twitter.com/naval/status/738857029108797440?s=20" rel="nofollow">Naval Ravikant</a> <a class="head_anchor" href="#what-you-choose-to-work-on-strongsup1supstron_1" rel="nofollow">#</a>
</h1></blockquote>
<p><strong>1</strong>: That is working <strong>effectively</strong>. Choosing the right problem to work on, the right task that will lead to the desired results.<br>
<strong>2</strong>: The co-founder, co-workers, or organization culture and team.</p>