Stories from senior leaders

Hello to all on Thanksgiving Day ka!

I wish to share what I learned from one and a half days at EdPEx National Forum where guest speakers are senior leaders of basically universities, talking about their paths to get awards TQA -Thailand Quality Award/ TQC -Thailand Quality Class and Thailand Quality Plus- TQC, TQC+. The keynote was Khun Chatrachai Sirilai, President (Manager) of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) who led this bank and his previous one, the Government Housing Bank (GHB), to get TQA ka.

Most, if not all, senior leaders are storytellers who amaze us, not only with their thinking and actions, but also their sense of humor (and their sharp tongues) ka. So, instead of focusing on what each said, I'd like to tell you some stories/lines that I remember or like ka:

- Organizational culture is whatever the staff do when the boss isn't around...or when they have a new boss.....like queuing up to clock out to leave right after 4.30 pm. But would be later, following the bosses' styles.

- Resistant to change? 'If you don't want to change to more digital ways of work, give me back your ipad.'

- Ranking: Take it up but not hold it tight!

- Different pride: 'When I introduce my team, I can proudly say my name.... who comes along with my 'group company' (บริษัทในเครือ)'. This was shared by a dean of a public university ka.

- In one particular faculty, the acronym EdPEx is a taboo as it's considered 'rude'!

- When the team opposed to the boss' idea to issue a special savings lotto for depositors to get a chance to win a 1 million baht prize once a year, he asked, 'anyone of you here has a bank account with over 1 million baht?', meaning that the staff weren't the target group ka....cruel mai ka?

- Need to cut ribbons: 'I only decided to implement projects that could see the success within my term!' ......similar to quite a few senior leaders in our higher ed institutions and honestly, I disagree even though it could show that the person would have more determination to get it to the goal ka.

- Mutelu: One faculty produces 'amulet from its faculty emblem' for its community to 'rent' like การเช่าพระเครื่อง ka! One good laugh loei ka!

- Universities are national assets! Love it so much since it reminds universities why they exist kaaa!

Understanding brains

 Hello all. I just skimmed through an article from LinkedIn on Neuroscience discoveries written by Daniel Pink, which was posted 11 hours ago ka.....love to share it right away.

The author mentions three discoveries we should know and so I cut and paste most of them with as usual, a little addition of my own views ka.

1. Your brain has two modes of thinking. This is from the Psychologist Daniel Kahneman who called them:

System 1: fast, emotional, automatic
System 2: slow, rational, deliberate

It helps us realize how we make our decisions as we could tend to go too fast with our 'system 1' ka.

Daniel Pink says 'The skill is knowing when to slow down — and let System 2 take over.'.....slow down to think more clearly with sound reasons and justifications before deciding ka.

I've heard about Daniel Kahneman's book from a few podcast shows and for me, knowing these 2 systems work dee ka. Sometimes, it makes me think about going slower.

2. Neuroplasticity is real. Our brains don't stop changing after childhood ka....chaiyo for many of us as elders ka!

He points out that, 'Experience reshapes your neural connections at any age.' so we need to learn a language, a new skill or change our habits as our brain literally rewires itself. 

I have yet to think of what skill to pick up na ka.....at least some little things I learn from using AI could help my brain to rewire, hopefully ka.

3. Dopamine isn’t about pleasure — it’s about anticipation.

We get stuck with dopamine as we feel good after some successes but the discovery shows that 'It isn't the reward itself — it’s the chase that keeps dopamine flowing...That’s why countdowns, cliffhangers, and goals hook us.'

I like his ending to say the following ka: 'Your brain isn’t a machine to control.It’s a partner to understand.'

What do you want to do after reading this message ka?

Learning from Hokkaido

My friend and I just went to Hokkaido on our own. Glad my friend managed the trip by researching from Youtube and others and using ChatGPT and Google Maps all the way ka.

As always, there are many things to observe and learn ka. Here are a few to share, which to me, have become what I think as 'strange', 'touched', and 'worried'.

1. Strange but don't get to know 'why'!

- I've never seen that many crows in my life.....big and plump mak! They had signs for us to be careful of the crows too....this city should be called, 'Hokกาdo!

- After some meals in different types of Japanese food restaurants, my friend and I found it unusual to find that most put on Western music or songs in the '80s.....what I could sing along to be curious why the restaurants chose them ka.....didn't get any chance to ask any about it yet.

- Sapporo and Hakodate are tourist cities but it caught my eyes to see many go with their luggage, large and small. I also think that only some were tourists....again, not clear about it ka. We only met some Chinese and Koreans....a few Thais too.

- Taxis were everywhere.......felt it must be quite popular and normal to take one!....and we saw one female cab driver kaaa!

2. Touched!

- While we were trying to find a restaurant chosen, our unsure faces must have shown clearly! One lady in her 30's approached to offer her help. She then led us to the elevator and the right floor even when we told her we should be able to do on our own.....out of our feeling grengjai.

To some of you, nothing is new as it seems to be a Japanese way of kindness But for me and my friend, this meant a lot for our social media era where people can be so very independent by using apps available. Out there, there's always someone who is observant and spots those who may need help. They go out of their way to ask, offer advice, and lead the way. Being a younger person made us hopeful for our society to have more caring too. That lunch was filled with great food and smiles kaa.

- When we decided not to strain our back and shoulders using a train to the airport, we learned that the taxi fare was at 11,000 yen+ highway fee. Our cab driver had his meter on to show that it went like 16,000 yen. In the cab, there was a sign saying that' the flat rate is 11,000'. But my friend said if we were charged as metered, we could do nothing but pay as asked!

Know how much we ended up paying? Exactly the same as guided earlier ka!

My friend and I discussed what could happen in Thailand as we've heard so much how dishonest our Thai cab drivers have been....none in Japan ka....how I wish we could nurture this type of integrity from Japan jing jing.

3. Worried

- A few small kids I met were given an ipad/phone to play while traveling or waiting for the food......only a few....unlike Thailand as it seems to be much more common.

- Many Japanese elders live and manage lives by themselves. Thais have to learn how to be more independent ....before then, more effort to stay very healthy and to learn what they like to take up when getting much older....working as volunteers, going out to enjoy different events, or learning something new?!?