Finding the rock on which to build our careers

Millennials have been infamously branded as job hoppers. Supposedly, we cannot stay in an organization for long. But there is a reason why we are also called Gen “Why.” This is because we are the generation thrown in between transition eras. We got to see the dawn of the internet before its current omnipresence. Therefore, we cannot help but ask why and question norms or things we may take for granted or accept as a given.

I wonder how Gen Z and Alpha would fare? Are they (you?) as confused and misunderstood as the Millennials?

As someone who has gone through my share of dilemmas and quarter-life crises, I have three books to recommend to the next generation, and these books significantly shaped my perspective on building a career.

1. The Dip by Seth Godin. This book helps put into perspective whether a challenge is something worth gritting or quitting. The lesson: find a space where you are willing to pay the cost of being one of the best in that space. (Find a rock you’re eager to climb and build on.)
2. So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport. This book critiques “passion” as something overrated. To find a stable rock is not to find your passion. It is to discover a set of skills that you can build a career on and learn how to fall in love with. Passion is temporary; discipline is long-term.
3. How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen. This book puts into perspective how we define success and elaborates on how we can apply Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation to our careers. The best kind of space is where our hygiene is taken care of (comfortable material resources) with the opportunity to maximize our potential and pursue self-actualization.

The context has changed compared to my batch and those who came before me. I hope that the new batch can still find ways to experiment and explore the rocks that they can build their career. Maybe the role of schools should be to encourage more career experimentation before students graduate so that when the real world comes knocking down on their doors, they could have built a solid foundation on solid rock.

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Matthew 7:21, 24-27. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 335: DECEMBER 1, 2022]

The responsibility of the one who gained insight is to share it

Insight is such a transcendent and transformative experience. Thus, to complete an insight experience means to share a new perspective or understanding with others so that we may collectively work on making our organizations and society a better space. If the supposed insight turns out to be wrong, at least further dialogue and communication can still allow for correction and improvement.

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Luke 10:21-24. Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for many kings desired to see what you see but did not see it.

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 333: NOVEMBER 29, 2022]

What does it mean to be prepared?

The implication of preparation is that we have examined our weaknesses and areas for improvement within the context of external forces. If we are not capable of being humble or sober, we are also not capable of proper preparation.

Preparation also requires both courage and faith. Without courage, we remain stuck; without faith, we remain anxious. Thus, to be fully prepared means to reasonably anticipate what could happen and to faithfully believe that there are opportunities that we can seize.

But to me, the prize of preparation is not necessarily “winning”, because to win requires so many things to go in our favor, even those that we cannot control. The prize is peace – knowing that at a particular moment, we were most present and giving all that we could. No regrets, no what ifs. Outperforming the competition is just the icing, but truly winning means outperforming our previous selves.

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Matthew 24:37-44. The unknown day and hour

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 331: NOVEMBER 27, 2022]

Insights make pieces of us immortal

Maybe what makes artists “immortal” is the insight and meaning they have managed to articulate in their works. Is that a glimpse of what eternal life could look like? Maybe eternal life is eternal insight — a complete understanding of all things that transcend time and space.

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Luke 21:29-33. My words will not pass away

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 329: NOVEMBER 25, 2022]

Basketball, flowing, and being in the zone

I’m always amazed by basketball athletes playing at the highest level. Basketball is so fast paced and requires so many improvisations — it is not a good game for the overthinker. Teams who play the Beautiful Game build a chemistry that seems so unreal — imagine your teammate sensing what you’ll do even before you think you’re going to do something.

In this context, optimal performance of an athlete does not necessarily mean having pre-ordained plans and following them to the letter. Optimal performance means the moves and reads have become second nature that the player does not need to “think” it. Like how we breath or how we walk, those who enter the zone are those who are fully and truly present in the moment.

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Luke 21:12-19. You are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom…

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 327: NOVEMBER 23, 2022]