"You don’t always get to choose what you work on, but you can choose how you
work on it." – Jason Fried
This blog post is an
annual review
of what happened in my life in 2019, what went well and what went wrong. Hope we
can learn something from here.
Sunset at Lapasi Beach, Lakoakelamo (West Halmahera)
Intermezzo: Google Year-in-Search is my most favourite year-in-review
video in the last few years. Check it out!
January
I spent my new year's eve in Seminyak, Bali in a spontaneous end-of-year
vacation, which I booked few hours before. I think it's a good idea to start a
new year in a relaxing place, so we can think strategically what we should do in
the upcoming 365 days.
"You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The
secret of your success is found in your daily routine." – John C. Maxwellhttps://t.co/IVBsk3K0k8
At work, we finally had outing for the both business units together in Lembang,
Bandung. It was two-days company gathering to know more about each other since
we separated into two units. I learned that communication, collaboration, and
good habits
are very important for our growth, not only in professional life but also in
personal life.
Podcast merupakan salah satu format konten yang sedang naik daun beberapa tahun
terakhir. Kepopulerannya pun semakin meningkat di tahun 2019, antara lain
ditandai dengan akuisi Gimlet & Anchor oleh Spotify. MacOS Catalina pun
mem-breakdown aplikasi iTunes menjadi Music, Apple TV, dan Podcasts.
Bagi yang belum familiar, kata "Podcast" sebenarnya berasal dari kata "iPod" +
"broadcast". Awalnya, sekitar tahun 2004, Podcast memang dipopulerkan oleh
pengguna iPod yang mendengarkan konten audio dari sebuah website. File-file
audio ini disindikasi dalam format RSS, sehingga umumnya berisi beberapa eposide
yang biasanya di-upload secara berkala. Pendengar bisa men-download podcast per
episode, atau langsung semua episode sekaligus.
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds
discuss people." – Eleanor Roosevelt
Kali pertama saya mendengarkan Podcast mungkin sekitar tahun 2009. Saat itu
37signals
(web development agency di US) baru launching podcast nya, obrolan seputar
teknologi. Selain itu, saya juga beberapa kali mendengarkan podcasts buatan
orang Indonesia, yaitu Teman Macet.
Topiknya pun juga seputaran teknologi. Sayangnya, Teman Macet sudah tidak update
lagi sejak 2011.
Saat itu mobile Internet belum secepat sekarang, jadi masih jarang orang yang
streaming podcast secara mobile. Berbeda kondisinya dengan sekarang, di mana
akses Internet jauh lebih baik, sehingga orang-orang sudah terbiasa streaming
audio (Spotify, Joox, dsb) bahkan streaming video (YouTube, Netflix, dsb) secara
mobile. Hal ini juga membuat Podcast kembali dinikmati.
2. User Engagement Relatif Lebih Tinggi
Orang-orang cenderung mengonsumsi konten lebih lama dengan podcast daripada
dengan media yang lain. Ada banyak podcast yang memiliki durasi lebih dari
satu jam per episode, dan surprisingly banyak juga yang mendengarkannya selama
itu! Hal ini tentunya jauh sekali dibandingkan tulisan di blog yang umumnya
cuma dibaca sekitar 2-3 menit, atau video di YouTube yang umumnya ditonton
sekitar 4-5 menit.
3. Cocok untuk Multi-tasking
Podcast cocok dengan audience yang memiliki kesibukan dan mobility tinggi.
Kita bisa mendengarkan dan belajar sesuatu dari podcast yang berfaedah, sambil
mengerjakan hal-hal lainnya. Saya biasanya mendengarkan podcast sambil
beres-beres apartemen, sambil sepedaan di CFD, atau sambil berkendara di
tengah kemacetan Jakarta. Hal ini tidak bisa atau sangat sulit kita lakukan
jika kita mencoba belajar dari YouTube karena ada unsur visual yang biasanya
menyita lebih perhatian kita.
4. Melatihan Kemampuan Komunikasi
Podcasting membantu melatih kemampuan komunikasi saya, mulai dari persiapannya
sampai ke proses produksi. Saat persiapan, saya harus melakukan research
terlebih dahulu terhadap topik yang akan saya bicarakan. Saat produksi, saya
harus melatih diri untuk memperbaiki diksi, alur cerita, artikulasi, dan
intonasi suara saya. Menghilangkan "hm.." atau "eee.." dalam berkomunikasi
adalah hal yang tidak mudah bagi saya, jadi ini harus sering dilatih. Selain
itu, podcasting juga membantu saya meningkatkan relasi pertemanan saya, di
mana saya akan mengundang teman-teman saya sebagai narasumber yang
inspiratif.
"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" is a classic self-help book that I
read for the first time when I was a high-school student. Back then, I just read
it without fully understanding the context of Stephen Covey's principles. I
still remember all those seven habits, but didn't realize how to apply it
optimally in the real world until I re-read this book again recently.
This blog post is my collection of paragraphs from Stephen Covey's "The 7
Habits" as a reminder. I also add some other insightful talks that I learned in
my life, which also related to these seven principles.
THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
The P/PC Balance – P stands for production of desired results, the golden
eggs. PC stands for production capability, the ability or asset that produces
the golden eggs.
Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best
customers. When people fail to respect the P/PC Balance in their use of physical assets in
organizations, they decrease organizational effectiveness and often leave others
with dying geese. There are organizations that talk a lot about the customer and
then completely neglect the people that deal with the customer — the
employees.
You can buy a person’s hand, but you can’t buy his heart. His heart is
where his enthusiasm, his loyalty is. You can buy his back, but you can’t buy
his brain. That’s where his creativity is, his ingenuity, his resourcefulness.
PC work is treating employees as volunteers just as you treat customers as
volunteers, because that’s what they are. They volunteer the best part — their
hearts and minds.
Effectiveness lies in the balance. Excessive focus on P results in ruined
health, worn-out machines, depleted bank accounts, and broken relationships. Too
much focus on PC is like a person who runs three or four hours a day, bragging
about the extra ten years of life it creates, unaware he’s spending them
running.
#1 - Be Proactive
Principles of Personal Vision
Reactive vs. Proactive – Reactive people are often affected by their
physical environment. If the weather is good, they feel good. If it isn’t, it
affects their attitude and their performance. Proactive people can carry their
own weather with them. Whether it rains or shines makes no difference to them.
They are value driven; and if their value is to produce good quality work, it
isn’t a function of whether the weather is conducive to it or not.
It’s not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that
hurts us.
Proactive people are still influenced by external stimuli, whether physical,
social, or psychological. But their response to the stimuli, conscious or
unconscious, is a value-based choice or response.
Listen to your language and to the language of the people around you. Our
language is a very real indicator of the degree to which we see ourselves as
proactive people.
Reactive Language vs. Proactive Language
Review the situation in the context of your Circle of Influence.
Proactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence. They
work on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is
positive, enlarging and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to
increase.
Reactive people, on the other hand, focus their efforts in the Circle of
Concern. They focus on the weakness of other people, the problems in the
environment, and circumstances over which they have no control. The negative
energy generated by that focus, combined with neglect in areas they could do
something about, causes their Circle of Influence to shrink.
Source: thensomehow.com
The problems we face fall in one of three areas: direct control (problems
involving our own behavior); indirect control (problems involving other people’s
behavior); or no control (problems we can do nothing about, such as our past or
situational realities). The proactive approach puts the first step in the
solution of all three kinds of problems within our present Circle of
Influence.
I read "Tribe of Mentors" book by Tim Ferriss two years ago and I found it's interesting because you
can extract unique insights from various succesful people by giving them the
same questions.
And I wonder if the same eleven questions were thrown at me, what my answers
would be. It's also a good exercise to understand the weight of each question
before I try to adapt this style of interview to numerous successful friends of
mine. So here they are..
"Tools of Titans" and "Tribe of Mentors" by Tim Ferriss
1. What are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?
Almost all books that I read are non-fiction which around personal development,
psychology, business, and economic books. So I have two categories of books that
influenced me.
2. What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in
recent memory?
There were so many books that I need to read but I didn't have enough free time.
So, I've subscribed
Blinkist for $40 /
year since two years ago and just read the book summaries first. If the summary
was interesting, then I read the whole book. This way I can learn more things
faster.
3. How has a failure set you up for later success?
I went to a mediocre high school in Bandung, and I felt it was a failure.
However, it helps me build my mindset not to compare with others, but to compare
with ourselves. We don't need to be better than others, we just need to be
better than our previous self.
As a startup founder, at some point you will meet potential investors.
First-time founders usually don't really understand how to choose investor and
how to prepare themselves before meeting them. This article summarized some
books and articles about investing in tech startups, and hopefully it helps
founders to make better decision.
Not all people who have a lot of money to invest are good investors.
There are five qualities of good investors:
1. Money. Good investors provide you more than enough money to scale up
your business, so you can focus on executing your vision and strategic plan.
2. Time. Good investors will always have time with the founders to
discuss very important issues. Moreover, it would be great if the time horizon
of their investment suit your growth plan.
3. Network. Good investors provide meaningful customer and more investor
introductions.
4. Expertise. Good investors give actionable advice that saves the
founders time and money – or keeps them from making mistakes. They should know
your business model and industry.
5. Chemistry. Good investors are good partners. Do the "airport test",
whether you'd be able to handle being stuck in an airport with the investor for
an extended period of time.
Sukasada, sebuah kecamatan di Kabupaten Buleleng, Bali, di mana puluhan relawan
Kelas Inspirasi Bali meluangkan waktu dan tenaganya pada hari Sabtu, 4 Mei 2019.
Mereka menuju ke enam sekolah dasar untuk berbagi cerita tentang profesinya
sambil memotivasi adik-adik di sana untuk berani bercita-cita setinggi langit
dan bekerja keras menggapainya. Mereka datang dari berbagai daerah, tidak hanya
dari Pulau Bali, dengan tujuan yang sama, berkontribusi pada pendidikan anak
Indonesia.
Relawan KI Bali 6 beserta Guru-Guru SDN 2 Pegayaman | 📷 by
@riswandedik
Saya dan empat belas relawan lainnya akhirnya bertemu untuk kali pertama secara
lengkap sehari sebelumnya. Interaksi yang tadinya hanya sebatas percakapan di
dunia maya, bersambung ke percakapan nyata secara langsung. Tidak lama bagi kami
untuk menyadari bahwa kami beruntung mendapatkan kelompok yang berisi
orang-orang baik, yang terinspirasi untuk menginspirasi, dan rela memberikan
usaha yang lebih untuk berbagi kebaikan. Meskipun tidak lama waktu kami untuk
bersama berbagi ke adik-adik di SDN 2 Pegayaman, rasa persaudaraan itu terasa
erat bagi kami.
Tulisan ini merupakan dokumentasi dari apa yang kami rasakan sebagai relawan
Kelas Inspirasi Bali yang bertugas di SDN 2 Pegayaman. Semoga bisa menginspirasi
rekan-rekan (calon) relawan lainnya untuk sedikit berkontribusi bagi pendidikan
Indonesia.
After "Getting Real"
(2006), "Rework" (2010), and "Remote" (2013), last year Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson published new book
titled "It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work". Both authors are the co-founders of Basecamp, previously
37signals, and the creator of the infamous
web application framework: Ruby on Rails.
Like their all previous books, there are a lot of great insights about how to
run a company from them, although I don't agree at some points. This post is the
summary lesson learned of their last book, which contain
practices that are very insightful and also good reminders for me to run
Suitmedia as a calm profitable company.
It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
A company is like software. It has to be usable, it has to be useful. And
it probably also has bugs, places where the company crashes because of bad
organizational design or cultural oversights. When you start to think about your
company as a product, all sorts of new possibilities for improvement emerge.
When you realize the way you work is malleable, you can start molding something
new, something better. Whether you own it, run it, or “just” work there, it
takes everyone involved to make it better.
Curb Your Ambition
You can absolutely run a great business without a single "goal". You
don’t need something fake to do something real. And if you must have a goal, how
about just staying in business? Or serving your customers well? Or being a
delightful place to work? Just because these goals are harder to quantify does
not make them any less important.
"For years, my only metric of success was building a billion dollar company.
Now, I realize that was a terrible goal", Gumroad started to thrive once the
VCs left, the growth-uber-alles mentality faded, and the founder just
focused on doing good work.
https://t.co/6dC554sIxk
Your time in the office feels shorter because it’s sliced up into a dozen
smaller bits.
Most people don’t actually have 8 hours a day to work, they have a couple of
hours. The rest of the day is stolen from them by meetings, conference calls,
and other distractions. So while you may be at the office for 8 hours, it feels
more like just a few.
The myth of the collaborative wonders of the open office debunked in new
study. A tyranny of interruption, distraction, and stress for workers that
require uninterrupted time for creative work. A way to squander the
attention of highly paid workers to save money on real estate.
https://t.co/IqywDJewFX
When you cut out what’s unnecessary, you’re left with what you need. And
all you need is 8 hours a day for about 5 days a week. You can’t expect people
to do great work if they don’t have a full day’s attention to devote to it.
Partial attention is barely attention at all.
Effective > Productive. When people focus on productivity, they end up
focusing on being busy. Filling every moment with something to do. And there’s
always more to do! Being productive is about occupying your time—filling your
schedule to the brim and getting as much done as you can. Being effective is
about finding more of your time unoccupied and open for other things besides
work. Time for leisure, time for family and friends. Or time for doing
absolutely nothing.
I really do regret ever using the word “productive” when referring to my
efforts or anyone else’s efforts. Being productive is not a noble goal or
pursuit. Being effective is. That’s not a function of output or time, it’s a
measure of impact.
"The person passionate about what he or she is doing will outwork and outlast
the guy motivated solely by making money." ― Reid Hoffman
Sejak tahun 2011 salah satu kegiatan yang saya lakukan hampir setiap minggu
adalah melakukan rekrutmen pegawai baru. Dari sekitar 10 orang di tahun 2011,
Suitmedia bertumbuh secara organik
menjadi sekitar 120 orang di tahun 2019.
Sebelum kami memiliki tim HR, saya dan co-founder lainnya turun tangan langsung
membuat iklan lowongan kerja, mempublikasikannya ke berbagai channel, melakukan
seleksi CV, mengundang kandidat, sampai dengan menguji kemampuan teknis dan
interview mereka. Setelah ada tim HR pun (sejak tahun 2013), masih ada beberapa
hal yang saya turun tangan langsung, khususnya terkait kandidat yang akan sering
berkomunikasi langsung dengan klien.
Dari pengalaman tersebut, sering kali saya menemukan fresh graduates yang
clueless (tidak tahu apa-apa) tentang kehidupan setelah lulus kuliah. Ada yang
tersirat tidak mengenali dirinya sendiri. Ada yang tidak bisa membuat CV dan
cover letter yang baik, bahkan tidak punya
netiket yang
baik ketika menghubungi perusahaan melalui email. Dan terakhir, ada juga
beberapa yang messed up ketika proses interview.
Berawal dari coret-coret di notes yang saya upload di Instagram Stories beberapa
bulan lalu – yang ternyata mendapatkan sambutan positif – tulisan ini sengaja
ditulis dalam bahasa Indonesia (mixed with English ala millennials) untuk
membantu teman-teman fresh graduates dalam menghadapi tantangan dunia kerja.
Tidak jarang saya menemukan kandidat yang tidak jelas dengan dirinya. Tersirat
dari resume-nya, mereka banyak meluangkan waktu di bidang A, tapi kuliah di
bidang B, lalu melamar kerja di bidang C, padahal punya potensi di bidang D.
Oleh karena itu, hal pertama yang harus dilakukan oleh fresh graduates adalah
kenali diri sendiri!
Carilah apa yang menjadi 'ikigai' dalam hidupmu. Ikigai lebih dari sekadar passion. Ikigai merupakan alasan
mengapa kamu hidup dan bermanfaat (memberikan value) bagi orang-orang di
sekitarmu. Ketika kamu sudah menemukan ikigai, hal ini akan menjadi salah satu
energi pendorong ketika kamu bangun di pagi hari untuk segera berkarya.
Rabu pagi, 20 Februari 2019, saya bersama 11 relawan dari berbagai latar
belakang berkumpul di SDN 2 Wangunsari, Lembang, Kabupaten Bandung Barat dalam
rangka Kelas Inspirasi Bandung 7. Pada hari yang sama ada ratusan relawan yang
berbagi dengan ribuan anak-anak di 29 sekolah di Bandung Raya. Kami datang dan
berbagi inspirasi kepada anak-anak di sana, memberikan pengalaman yang berbeda
dibandingkan yang biasa mereka dapatkan sehari-hari.
Relawan KI Bandung 7 & Guru-Guru SDN 2 Wangunsari | 📷 by
@kautsarsgr
Tulisan ini merupakan dokumentasi atas apa yang dialami relawan kelompok 24 di
Kelas Inspirasi Bandung tahun ini.
SDN 2 Wangunsari sangat antusias menyambut para relawan
@ki_bdg.
Bahkan, ketika saya tiba di sekolah jam 6.30, anak-anak kelas 5 sudah
latihan angklung untuk menyambut kami, padahal belum ada guru yg datang.
#KIBdg7pic.twitter.com/J9XBomkweK
"You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The
secret of your success is found in your daily routine." – John C. Maxwell
According to James Clear, the author of
Atomic Habits, there are
four-step loop that underlies our behaviour: cue, craving, response, and reward.
When this loop is repeated, it can form new habits in our life. To build or
break habits we need to modify each step of the habit loop. This blog post is
more or less summary of Atomic Habits.
James Clear's Habit Loop : Cue, Craving, Response, Reward
James' work was actually heavily influenced by Charles Duhigg's
The Power of Habit, which uses three-step loop: cue, routine, reward. Both James and Charles are
great author. Charless' framework is simpler, but James' explanation is more
systematic.
The key to building lasting good habits is focusing on creating a new identity
first.
Our current behaviors are simply a reflection of our current identity.
Start with changing the identity (what we believe we are), then changing the
process (what we do), then changing the outcome (what we get).
Good habits will bring positive compounding for our life especially in
productivity, knowledge, and relationship. To build good habits we need to
emphasize all four steps in habit loop in a positive way.
Cue: Make it obvious
Craving: Make it attractive
Response: Make it easy
Reward: Make it satisfying
In the other hand, bad habits will bring negative compounding such as stress,
negative thoughts, and outrage. To break a bad habit we need to emphasize those
four steps in a negative way.
