Category: Thoughts

Your 9-5 isn’t killing your dreams. Wasting your 5-9 is.

paschmann

Some interesting quotes from Alex Hormozi (Co-founder of acquisition.com)

Your biggest threat isn’t your competition: It’s the mediocre version of you that you’ve accepted as good enough.

Rich people buy time. Poor people buy stuff. Ambitious people buy skills. Lazy people buy distraction.

Your 9-5 isn’t killing your dreams. Wasting your 5-9 is.

You must first become consistent before you can become exceptional.

Alex Hormozi

“The least you can do …”

paschmann

During a recent Diwali event at SAP, a speaker shared an intriguing story about Lucila Takjerad, an Algerian who was fortunate enough to be the recipient of someone’s help, and later graduated from Harvard. Below is the speech she gave at her commencement.

Lucila Takjerad
“The Least You Can Do”
Lucila Takjerad
English Graduate Commencement Speech
May 20th, 2019
The Least You Can Do

As Harvard graduates, you will be asked to go into the world and do the most you
can do. I am here to ask you to do the least.

I was born in Algeria. Every Friday, my sister and I had our weekly shower at the
public baths. We didn’t have running water at home. On winter nights, we cuddled against the cold because our heat was cut off. And, on some days, we hid our hunger in order not to worry our parents.

When I was seven years old, my country plunged into a bloody civil war. Every night, I prayed to God that tomorrow, there would not be an empty seat at our dinner table. read more

Inspired: Stephen Wolfram

paschmann

I just came across a super cool implementation, and now inspiration, for all the data and insights I am collecting on my personal site. (NB. I am not suggesting my life is even remotely unique or insightful and valuable to science versus Wolframs).

I do hope that one day I can look back and quantify the memories, experiences and insights I had the opportunity to enjoy.

The Life and Times of Stephen Wolfram: TimelineTimeline of significant events in Stephen Wolfram’s life, from birth through school, awards, publications, starting his company, major projects. The Personal Analytics of My Life—Stephen Wolfram WritingsUtilizing data analysis capabilities in Wolfram|Alpha Pro, Stephen Wolfram looks at his quantified self based on his large collection of lifelogging data.

Situational Leadership – Dr. Paul Hersey

paschmann

I once took an interview for a role that was well above my skills, experience and background level, during one of the rounds, the interviewer gave me some constructive criticism and suggested I read this book. To this day it sits on my shelf, and think back to at the lessons I learned from it, and the experience it has now given me to manage teams and people more effectively.

If you have or don’t have a leadership role, looking to advance your career or simply understand a workforce better, I would highly encourage giving this a quick read.

OKR’s, Initiatives and Examples

paschmann

Initiatives and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are both strategic management frameworks, but they differ in their focus and purpose within an organization.

Initiatives:

Initiatives are specific projects, programs, or actions that are undertaken to achieve a desired outcome. They are concrete and actionable steps that contribute to the fulfillment of broader objectives. Initiatives can be short-term or long-term and are often cross-functional, requiring collaboration and coordination among different teams or departments. Initiatives provide a structured approach to implementing strategies and achieving organizational goals.

OKRs:

OKRs, on the other hand, are a goal-setting framework that helps define and measure objectives and their key results. Objectives represent the desired outcomes or goals that an organization or team aims to achieve. Key Results are measurable milestones or metrics that indicate progress towards the objectives. OKRs are typically set on a quarterly basis and are designed to align and focus teams, providing clarity on what needs to be accomplished and how progress will be measured. read more