Insights

Getting it right vs Not getting it wrong

Both might sound the same but I think they are really two entirely different approaches to learning and solving problems. The natural approach to learn about something is to experiment and try out new things. You might not get it in the beginning but eventually and hopefully after a few tries you'll get it right.

However, there are some that are so worried about failing and getting it wrong, their approach is instead to not make any mistakes. I'm all for minimizing mistakes but this doesn't work if you don't even understand how something work.

Man greatest inventions and innovations are found through countless experimentations and relentless trials and errors. Thomas Edison tried thousands of times before he finally got it right and invented the light bulb. Imagine if he were to worry about getting it wrong.

Lose small, win big

In many situations, you'll noticed that all you need is one big break that pulls you out of a string of failures. The huge win that wipes out all your losses. You see this in investments, businesses and games. But of course, it also works the other way round more often than it should. You probably know someone who lost everything in a bad bet. After all, losing is part of the game so someone got to take the hit.

It is best to expect losses and aim to reduce its damage but Nassim Nicholas Taleb took it a step further and used the inevitability of losing as his strategy to win big. He planned his investment strategy around the fact that sooner or later a financial disaster would occur and aims to cash in on that.

He used a financial instrument known as options where you can make bets against the future of the stock price. You can obtain options to buy or sell stocks at a certain price. He systematically purchase options to buy stocks at a price which is most likely higher than it will be during a market crash.

Obviously the market doesn't crash that often, so most of the time he is slowly losing money. (due to the transaction cost of trading options) But when the day comes, he will exercise his options to recoup his losses and more. He limits the money he can lose while leaving the opportunity to make a much larger amount.

I think this is probably the best strategy you can ever adopt. You should try apply it not only to your investment portfolio but to everything in your life. We can't prevent failures and losses. So losing is fine as long as it's small but remember to leave the door open for yourself to win big.

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Teamwork

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As someone who prefer to do something by myself, I tend to avoid working in teams. The reasoning is that if it's something that matters, you can only rely on yourself to get it done. Obviously, I need to embrace teamwork and understand the value it brings. It's good to be independent but there are times that you have to realize that you are going to need help from others. The most obvious reason is the scale of the task at hand. Hosting a party at your house can be a solo effort but organizing a fund raiser event is entirely different. Whenever you feel like you want clones of yourself to get things done, that's when you need a team.

Some environments have a preference for teamwork. If you played any multi-player game, you will realize that some stuff simply can't be done alone. Players plan and organize to meet up in game (sometimes skipping sleep/work) to raid dungeons. A well planned and executed raid can be very fulfilling and addictive. Teamwork is fun when done right.

Teamwork is also critical when everyone have something at stake. Each member is accountable for the performance of the team. The most common issue here is that in real world situation, it's virtually impossible for everyone to have the same stake. This lead to situation where only those who care about the result doing the bulk of the work.

Although sometimes working in a team can seem to slow down progress with unnecessary procedures, meetings and conflicts, teamwork is invaluable for tackling tasks thats too big for us to handle alone. If you think you can do everything by yourself, maybe the things you do are too small to matter. And if it matters, others will volunteer to join your team.

Stay low while you can

The first thing most people do when they are starting out on a new venture, idea or project is to tell the whole world about it. It's not bragging or showing off. They are genuinely excited about the whole thing and wants to share with the rest of us. I think talking and discussing about your new idea with as many people as possible is the right approach. You want to find out everything you can about it and rarely anyone is going to steal your idea. It comes down to your execution anyway.

But there are some advantages to staying low profile when you are starting out. First is that it gives the ability to fail without being noticed. You can try a million different approaches in obscurity without worrying about what your neighbors think of you. To the rest of the world, it is as if all those failures had never happened.

When no one knows about you, you can make mistakes quietly. Learn at your own pace. Fail without the fear of failure. Failing in obscurity helps protect your ego and you’ll need your ego later on when you are successful. - Embrace Obscurity from 37signals

The other reason to work on the sidelines is to allow you to improve it until it's ready for the limelight. You get to decide when to reveal yourself to the world and your competitors will have less time to react. It's hard to prepare for something when you don't know what's coming.

New early-stage start up trend: get big quietly, so you don’t tip off potential competitors. - @cdixon

Businesses and ideas that appears to be overnight successes aren't what they appear to be. Most of them been through countless iterations and difficult times before anyone noticed them.

So, if you aren't famous or popular yet, that's fine. Work on that idea first. Being in the spotlight can wait.

A better way

Too often we think some things can't be improved or changed. There are millions of excuses to keep things the same. It's been that way since the dawn of time. Why change something that works? You can't do this because no one ever does that. Akshay Kothari and Ankit Gupta obviously don't agree with that and created yet another RSS news reader for iPad. It made reading news on the iPad more visually appealing and fun. News are presented in a scrollable mosaic with images extracted from the post.

Cultured Code, a software firm from Germany decided to build a better to-do list management software even though there are probably thousands of them out there. Things for Mac, their version of to-do list, won multiple design awards and are now available in iPhone and iPad. You can check out this video to see how it works.

We built Showtimes.my believing that there has to be a better and easier way to present movie showtimes. The site highlights show that is coming up next and de-emphasize those that are in the past. It makes it easier to spot the upcoming showtime. It's probably better than most movie showtimes out there but definitely not the best yet. After all, there's always a better way to do it. You just have to keep pushing the boundary.

An hour a day

Everyone is busy. Busy with work, busy with assignments or just busy having fun. No matter how pack your schedule is, I'm quite sure you can at least reserve an hour daily for a little me time. Use this hour to do something that will get you closer to your goals. You could start blogging to improve your writing skills or pick up some dancing lessons to impress your partner.

Sixty minutes daily is long enough to do something significant yet short enough to be easily allocated. I used the time I spend watching TV series to blog instead.

Once you get used to it, you got yourself a healthy and productive habit. You might even decide to spend more time in improving yourself. Start with an hour and see how it goes.

Asking for help

As someone who is rather shy when it comes to talking to strangers, asking for help can be quite an unpleasant experience. Often, I choose to just skip asking for help and attempt to solve whatever issue I have by myself. In trying to not look stupid, I did probably the most stupid thing you can ever do when you need help. Not asking for it. Think of the time and effort I could have saved if I opened my mouth and ask.

Most people are willing to offer their knowledge and expertise if you ask nicely. We inherently love to share things with others. Those that don't are often shunned and avoided. It's okay if someone refuse to help you. You just need to ask someone else.

The most important about getting help from others is that you get to learn from their experience. There's no reason to make the same mistake by yourself to learn from it. You can learn by asking too.

You want to learn from experience, but you want to learn from other people’s experience when you can. - Warren Buffet

Obviously, you can't rely on others all the time. At the end of the day, you still have to do the hard part yourself. But it can make things easier and it doesn't hurt to ask. Just remember to show your gratitude and offer help to those who need them.

Some thoughts on iPad

I finally got my hands on an iPad thanks to John. After using it for a while, I figured I'll let you guys know what I think about it. 

  1. The form factor is awesome. The screen size is just big enough to enjoy reading, movies and games. Coupled with a touchscreen interface, you have an easy and fun to use device.
  2. It's all about the applications. Like the iPhone and iPod Touch, the App Store is the most important feature. Thousands and thousands of applications at your finger tips. Also, the new iPad specific apps like Mail and Calendar is so much better than those in the iPhone.
  3. Great for travelling. If you are looking for a device to keep you connected and entertained, this is it. It might not have all the functionality of a laptop, but you can get most things done on it. And it will probably do it better too, as long as you aren't trying to access something on a thumb drive.
  4. Useful for presentations and demo. As a web developer, I can see this being used as a device to present keynotes and live demonstration of web applications. Apple released Keynote on the iPad (their Powerpoint competitor) that allows to not only view but create presentations directly on the iPad.
  5. Needs to lose some weight. I find the iPad a little too heavy to hold for long periods of time. The 3G version could be even heavier. Most of the time, you'll want to rest it on the table or some other surface. A cover that can tilt the iPad is a must.
  6. Getting stuff into the iPad isn't easy. You'll need to either sync through iTunes or use applications like GoodReader to transfer files to your iPad. And hopefully the reader can open it. Another way is to use Dropbox and sync files between multiple computers. The reader in Dropbox crashes often though.

Overall, it's a great device that can only gets better as more and more applications are developed for it. It's definitely not for everyone but if you are planning to get one, try it out first before taking the jump.

Be a starter

This is one of my favourite essay in the book REWORK. Many people thought that only entrepreneurs get to create and start something. The rest that doesn't have the qualifications, the resources, the talent or the risk appetite wont be able to make it.

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The thing is, you don't have to be identified as an entrepreneur to start a profitable company or create a remarkable product. All you need to is to start doing it. Start executing the idea you have since you were a kid.

So let's replace the fancy-sounding word with something a bit more down-to-earth. Instead of entrepreneurs, let's just call them starters. Anyone who creates a new business is a starter. You don't need an MBA, a certificate, a fancy suit, a briefcase, or an above-average tolerance for risk. You just need an idea, a touch of confidence, and a push to get started. - Excerpt from "Enough with entrepreneurs" from REWORK

Everyone should be encourage to start something on their own. You might not have all the "prerequisite" skills yet but you just need the most important one. The ability to start something. The ability of a starter.

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Thirst for knowledge

Do you have the urge to find out more about something new you learned about? The curiosity to know how and why things work. The drive to learn more about the world which we all once possess as kids. With power of Google and the vast amount of information found on Wikipedia, it's never been easier to satisfy your thirst for knowledge. You can even learn stuff they teach in school online through the Khan Academy.

As I've said before, everyone needs googling skills and there's no excuse to not learn something new everyday. The web is the best teacher you'll ever have since you can control the pace and the topic of your study.

The best way to secure your future is to invest in increasing your own personal value. Turn your thirst for knowledge into your motivation for a brighter tomorrow.