Giggers on F-I-R-E

 Hello everyone! Started Monday nicely mai ka?

 

These past weeks, I've heard several terms that my generation...in fact many in this group are in BB ka:))..... should see how the trend goes.

 

Two terms are what I'd like to touch on first ka:

 

The first is 'Gig workers', which seems to be synonymously used with freelancers in our country. Now, I understand better how it's a little different from 'freelancers', from a podcast entitled, 'Single Being' ep 156, shared by two co-founders of Talance, a tech company that has got a pool of freelance developers ka.

 

Gig is a slang meaning work. It started with Jazz bands who performed briefly here and there. Gig workers get to work through digital platforms like Grab, content creators, etc. so there’s no need to try to look for customers so they can choose if they want to do it or not.

 

On the other hand, freelancers have to find their own customers and manage funding all by themselves. They are owners of their ‘business’.

 

In any case, both tracks need people with disciplines in order to have enough earnings as wished ka.

 

The second is, ‘F-I-R-E’, which stands for “Financial Independence, Retire Early.” I got the description from ramseysolutions.com which reads as follows:

 

The goal is to save and invest aggressively—somewhere between 50–75% of your income—so you can retire sometime in your 30s or 40s. That's right: You need to save at least half of your income just to have a chance to make this happen.

 

Kids these days love to determine their own lives so from listening to the podcast episode about ‘Gig workers and Freelancers’, and The Secret Sauce ep#351 make me think that  some kids will work like crazy in some different forms from our time…definitely with more than one job.

 

I thought of one American Fulbright alum who holds one full-time job and has about 2-3 other part time jobs ka….frightening to me. The person still told me more would be needed for the family to be stable! OMG!

 

Freedom and flexibility are what our younger ones go after. I only hope and pray that their hard work and smart investment to retire at the ages of 30-40 means they are still fit enough to enjoy their retirement as they must think and plan carefully how they want to spend it in a sabai yet fulfilling way na ka.

Bonded with caring

 Happy Friday ka, everyone.

After having got back from Rayong, I decided to change my egroup message to share with you about this trip ka.

Almost 50 years ago....yes, that loooooong..... my karu friends and I went to our friend's house in Rayong and the first trip has become our frequent visits to follow after all these decades ka.

Why so?

First, it's their caring hearts of my friend's siblings that touch us in every way, not just their willingness to welcome us and not simply the ways they feed us, but it's their happy smiles and endless kindness ka. 

We've been spoiled rotten every time and I couldn't help but feel we turn into our younger selves like how we behaved decades ago! 

Second, we've been inspired by the ways they take care of their own family members. Their family ties are solid and sweet for us to feel the warmth from how they tend to their family members in good and sick times. 

Learning!

My friends and I discussed our invaluable long standing relationship and agreed that it could be hard for younger gens to understand about:

- why we've been so bonded and how warm such relationship has been to our hearts

- how to sustain relationships with other families beyond one's own

- how to have the sense of gratitude and how to express our appreciation

- how to become role models for future generations

With the speed of development and the urge for individual independence, we see that it's harder and more challenging to build such strong bonds in younger generations. They sure have their own ways of expressions and appreciations. Yet, how we wish we could really share such deep, delicate, and gentle feelings with them!

Enjoy your weekend with lots of love ka.

Motivation moves the world?

These days, I enjoy listening to Eight-half Podcast (แปดบรรทัดครี่ง) as he's brief and can explain complicated issues within a short time so a slow learner like me can go back and listen without feeling it could take up too much time ka.

Khun Tong Kaweewut is the podcaster of this program and he's now CEO at AISCB (joint venture of AIS and Siam Commercial Bank to offer digital financial services).

In a very recent episode, he talked about intrinsic motivation. In fact, we've heard quite a bit about it but what caught my ears the first time I listened was that the AMP model (Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose) proves effective, especially as he has been working with the talented ka. The word, 'talent' made my interest jump ka.

I researched a little further to find that the AMP factors are in the book, 'Drive' in 2009 by Daniel Pink. It could be something a bit too early for our country then when talent pool wasn't mentioned much na ka.

For the AMP, the short description given by Khun Tong is as follows ka:

1. A- Autonomy -- as against 'micro-management' ... autonomy means respect and giving our team freedom to plan and finish assigned projects independently. This could also lead to more creativity. Daniel Pink puts it as 'trust' ka.

Immediately, I thought of two situations from my own experiences ka. 

One was 'healthy autonomy'. I owned the project and had some guided instrutions even my boss didn't know how to do it but she told me how to learn more and where to find resources....the rest was my responsibility to finish it. Definitely, I could go back to seek her advice.

The other was, 'unhealthy autonomy'. I only refer to my own self as this style didn't fit me ka. A huge project was dumped on me as a newbie without any guidance even though my boss knew all the processes. I was left on my own and I was too scared to seek my boss' advice.

You know I sure love the first type to feel safer with some guidance or at least to feel the support....insecure me:))!

2. M- Mastery ....our team gets to excel further through our guidance we offer, environment we create, and the talent pool we have. Once they feel they know they've learned and grown intellectually, they'll strive harder to reach their full potential.

I can't say I've managed a talent pool. Well, working with highly capable people like many professor dr.'s and Fulbright grantees and alumni helped shape my thinking from seeing how they encourage/are encouraged to the road of improvement. Opportunities mean a lot especially in today's world... for people to try, see what they are really good at, and keep learning including some of the new skills they may find match with their own preference ka.

3. P- Purpose.... this is repeated more and more loudly in today's world of climate change and the world of living a meaningful life na ka. Younger gens seem to feel stronger to do things for the better tomorrow and many will go for that directions. 

One little thing I learned from my Fulbright alum when we went shopping ka. Over a decade ago, I saw him choose to buy orange juice that contributed some profits to an organization. These days, such urges and actions are stronger to buy things from decent companies that offer products that are friendly to the environments ka.

The AMP model is even more valid today and again it brings hope to think that people are motivated to sharpen their potentials for the good cause ka.

Reflections from a monitor

 Happy Monday ka, everyone. After a long weekend for those who're still working full time, hope this isn't a blue Monday na ka.

Some may know that I've been working as a 'Monitor' for the Spearhead on Khon Thai 4.0. (แผนงานคนไทย 4.0), led by Prof. Mingsarn Kaosa-ard. After my first draft of my final report was done, I came up with these three words ka: Relieved, Pleased, Joy. 

To me at this stage, I could use the first two, Relieved and Pleased, as I feel I can complete my report before the deadline.

Then I talked to myself when I would feel the joy. In fact, I did feel the joy during the process of gathering the input from the views of people I interviewed ka. It was the learning I got from quite a few key people under this Spearhead and let me share several things ka:

1. It could prove to me that the Law of Attraction exists ka. Ajarn Mingsarn has the strong desire to groom younger talents on research. She was able to welcome new and younger researchers to this huge research project. The younger ones that I talked with were so smart with research passion to learn and enjoy conducting studies. The wide age gaps between her and younger ones don't seem to matter at all. Many said they felt quite comfortable discussing with her.

2. Ajarn Mingsarn's extensive experiences helped loads ka. Besides being one of the most prominent researchers in social/human sciences of our country, her management skills from being a senior leader in national/international organizations enhanced her capability to see the macro picture, to link across human/social to sciences and technology, and to advice on both research processes and management of sub-projects.

3. Repeatedly, I heard my interviewees talk about these following qualities (most are soft skills) of hers ka:

- the power of asking questions to sharpen the findings

- her listening skills to pay close attention to what she knows well and doesn't know much at all

- her kindness เมตตา to offer time and advice generously

- her authentic self to admit that 'she doesn't know' some of the subject matter

- her matchmaking skill through widened networks

- her sense of humor

Obviously, to lead one huge project successfully, there are other key factors. Yet, after I reflected, I feel some of the things I couldn't possibly include in my report as it could seem to be 'strange'. For example, I realy wish to point out that the joy from talking with her researchers and their leads happened to me almost every time I conducted my interviews. For me, this could be one of the best indicators to identify qualities of the researchers and their passion. Agree mai ka?

Even though I wasn't trained as a monitor, this exercise has taught me a lot about the research world of management. Putting the technical side away, it sure showers my heart with happiness and hope about our country's social/human science research ka.

Want to 'clone' many more of her kaa!