Sun Tzu, Peter Drucker and Steve Jobs

Sun Tzu , Peter Drucker and Steve Jobs (April 22, 2012)

If one were to google Sun Tzu, one would find that his writing is older than Christianity and though his work is principally predicated on the art and science of war, the practical applications of his writings is also applicable in business.  And after going through his works again, what strike me most are pre-conditions before one sets off and declare war on an opponent.  Accordingly, one only goes to war if the following conditions are met:

1.       You only go to war when there is no other alternative.

2.       You only go to war when there is an advantage to be gained.

3.       You only go to war when victory is assured.

4.       You only go to war when your defense is in play.

Personally, the acronym is AVAD, so that I wouldn’t forget these important elements of war.  And being an element, if one or two criterions are missing, then common sense dictates that the act of war would have to take the backseat.  As Sun Tzu was saying, the conduct of war is an art and science as well.

Peter Drucker is considered the father of modern management and among his many quotable quotations; I always recall this particular piece, “the first purpose of business is the creation of a customer”.  No business, whether in the selling of goods or services will ever thrive or survive without a customer.  So at the risk of sounding redundant, any business is best served by the function of customer creation.  He is also credited for the first writer ever to coin the word “knowledge worker”.  If there is no need for a particular goods or services than by god, you create a need and find a customer.

The application of this mantra in psychology is far-reaching.  This mindset of customer creation is palpable in the realm of business psychology, industrial psychology and consumer psychology.  Just think of a particular science dedicated to the prediction of consumer behavior, interpretation of customer, description of a particular consumer, understanding of the many needs of the customer and the manipulation of their behavior.  Now that wouldn’t be so bad for business and psychology as well.

The talent here is how to connect Sun Tzu with Peter Drucker and if we could connect this two immortal dots then the world is ours for the taking.

Prior to the untimely demise of Apple’s Steve Jobs, it was reported that Apple as a company has more cash on hand than the US government; the figure is estimated to be around 76 Billion dollars (for Apple) as opposed to the 73 Billion dollars of the US government.  Now why is this possible?  This was possible because Apple has consistently innovated and created customers from the production and selling of I-pod, to I-phone and recently, to I-pad.

Psychology as a science and as a discipline should innovate and create new customers and consumers of its outputs.

The world is full of naysayers and it is our job to prove them wrong…

Future of the Sun

The Future of the Sun (April 23, 2012)

Typically, the life span of an ordinary sun is around 12 billion years.  Our sun is estimated to be around 4.6 billion years old.  Earth is the third rock (or planet) revolving around the sun and in terms of distance, it usually takes eight minutes before the sun rays reaches our planet and that is in terms of light speed.

Currently, our sun is burning hydrogen, hence the yellow rays but 1.1 billion years from now, our sun will burn 10% more and as a consequence, it would destroy the Earth’s atmosphere.

3.5 billion years from now, the sun will be 40% brighter and hotter and in this scenario, all of the Earth’s ocean will boil and Earth will be like Venus – a scorched planet.

In 6 billion years, the hydrogen in the sun will run out and instead of burning hydrogen, the sun will shift to burning helium and typically will become a red giant.  The sun will grow in size, swallowing Mercury and Venus.  Earth will be the nearest planet next to the burning Sun. 

Helium will run out and instead, the sun will now burn carbon and oxygen.  The sun will be a white dwarf and will eventually cool down and all of these will happen in the short span of 12 billion years.

This common fact was sourced from universertoday.com but what caught my fancy in researching sun’s future was when I was cable surfing and caught a short documentary about our sun.

Now, what does these facts tells us?  Humans are meant to colonize space.  If we want to survive as a specie and avoid extinction, we need to jump into space so as to escape this certain destiny.  Space travel needs to become a reality.  Similar to the early travel of sea explorers (e.g. Columbus and Magellan) a radical and dramatic jump into the business of space travelling needs to become a reality and not just a purview of science fiction.

And these radical shifts will entail a change in the way man perceives himself and his environment.  Everything that we are doing today is wrong and requires a change in the prediction of human behavior, interpretation of human behavior, description of human behavior, understanding of human behavior and manipulation of human behavior.

Our behavior must change intrinsically and extrinsically.  There will be a new mode for everything, from a simple worship, to the continuance of relationship of man with other man and with the environment at large.

Considering that we are talking of billions of years, a minuscule of a couple of decades seems impertinent and irrelevant but we must make our mark and relevance, the option is extinction of the human race and though this is still in the future, the baby steps must be taken now…

Transgender 1

Transgender Contestants (April 11, 2012)

The biggest folly just occurred yesterday.  The very prestigious Miss Universe contest just recently changed its most important rule – starting next year, they are going to accept transgender contestants.  I might sound narrow minded but there is a reason why the contest is called a “Miss Universe”.  It is strictly for women only (and beautiful women at that).  Opening the door for transgender changes the very nature of “Miss Universe”.  It is no longer a “Miss Universe” contest; it is now an open transgender universe contest.

But since the die is already cast, it is really very possible that in the next decade or two, we might have our first transgender “Miss Universe”.

Now if such a thing does occurs, then the very fabric of reality as we know it will finally be changed for something that we are not totally ready.

Truth be said, if the transgender contestant just want a psychological validation, he or she could just simply join a transgender beauty contest.  Why destroy the “Miss Universe” contest?  I am a tolerant individual but there must be a delimitation for tolerance.  And allowing a sexually changed individual in an operation join a contest just ruin the cake and the set-up altogether.

A woman is not a man, regardless of its desire or sex-change operation.  Pitting a man in a contest exclusively for women is just not right.  It is like pitting a women’s basketball team against men’s basketball team.  It is just not right and besides, if the organizer did it for media mileage, nobody in his right mind would watch it.

Before, any or all beauty contest was a travesty, with this current scenario, it has mutated into the level of pornography.

No to this brand of pornography and no to this brand of stupidity.  If they are seeking validation for their mutation then let them find it somewhere else other than the “Miss Universe” contest.

Somewhere, somehow, someone will have to pay for this kind of stupidity.  And I am glad that it is not me…

Transgender Contestants 2

Transgender Contestants (April 11, 2012)

The biggest folly just occurred yesterday.  The very prestigious Miss Universe contest just recently changed its most important rule – starting next year, they are going to accept transgender contestants.  I might sound narrow minded but there is a reason why the contest is called a “Miss Universe”.  It is strictly for women only (and beautiful women at that).  Opening the door for transgender changes the very nature of “Miss Universe”.  It is no longer a “Miss Universe” contest; it is now an open transgender universe contest.

But since the die is already cast, it is really very possible that in the next decade or two, we might have our first transgender “Miss Universe”.

Now if such a thing does occurs, then the very fabric of reality as we know it will finally be changed for something that we are not totally ready.

Truth be said, if the transgender contestant just want a psychological validation, he or she could just simply join a transgender beauty contest.  Why destroy the “Miss Universe” contest?  I am a tolerant individual but there must be a delimitation for tolerance.  And allowing a sexually changed individual in an operation join a contest just ruin the cake and the set-up altogether.

A woman is not a man, regardless of its desire or sex-change operation.  Pitting a man in a contest exclusively for women is just not right.  It is like pitting a women’s basketball team against men’s basketball team.  It is just not right and besides, if the organizer did it for media mileage, nobody in his right mind would watch it.

Before, any or all beauty contest was a travesty, with this current scenario, it has mutated into the level of pornography.

No to this brand of pornography and no to this brand of stupidity.  If they are seeking validation for their mutation then let them find it somewhere else other than the “Miss Universe” contest.

Somewhere, somehow, someone will have to pay for this kind of stupidity.  And I am glad that it is not me…

Weekends

Weekends (April 14, 2012)

Weekends is a double edged sword, it gives you time to catch up with your life, with your family or whatever pursuits you are chasing.  A weekend also is a time for depression because in this window, you get to realized just how shallow and trivial your life is.  After all your hard work, you still amount to nothing.  All your material possessions seems to depreciate and even your relationship tends to depreciate over time and in a stand still you are back where you started, from nothing.

Maybe nothing is not that bad, maybe when you embrace your nothingness, something would come out of it or maybe one is just jaded and is just feeling the usual threshold of depression.  Clinically, depression is extreme sadness – but you are not sad, just tired.

Maybe that is the purpose of weekends, to unwind.  To take a casual assessment of your life and to rest.  To recharge your energy and to gather your depleted fortitude to plod along and survive another work week so that when you reach the weekends, you are back where you started.

Or maybe, you need to find a diversion, a hobby, that is far different from you work week pursuits to keep things in balance and in perspective.  Now I know why so many people are into gambling, they have nothing better to do.  They are bored with their life hence they are gambling their lives away.  To them, that is the thrill, the thrill of losing everything regardless of the cost to the people around them.

But our time here is limited; we do not even know when the day of reckoning is going to come.  Carpe Diem, seize the day.  It is precisely because of the unknown day of reckoning that we need to strive and make the most of our day.  To make an impact on the lives around us and to make a dent in this earthly plane.

I have been in the academe for almost a decade now, assuming that under me I have personally educated a thousand students a year, that is around nine (9) thousand students educated so far.  And nine thousand individuals is not something to sneeze at.  Not all of them will be a success but some of them will achieve more than I could possibly imagine hence a casual assessment of one’s life is supposed to be a joyful occasion.  So instead of feeling down and low during weekends, we need to celebrate life, that we are privileged to make a contribution and that we really need the extra boost of energy to survive another day, another week, another month and another year.

Weekends (April 14, 2012)

Weekends is a double edged sword, it gives you time to catch up with your life, with your family or whatever pursuits you are chasing.  A weekend also is a time for depression because in this window, you get to realized just how shallow and trivial your life is.  After all your hard work, you still amount to nothing.  All your material possessions seems to depreciate and even your relationship tends to depreciate over time and in a stand still you are back where you started, from nothing.

Maybe nothing is not that bad, maybe when you embrace your nothingness, something would come out of it or maybe one is just jaded and is just feeling the usual threshold of depression.  Clinically, depression is extreme sadness – but you are not sad, just tired.

Maybe that is the purpose of weekends, to unwind.  To take a casual assessment of your life and to rest.  To recharge your energy and to gather your depleted fortitude to plod along and survive another work week so that when you reach the weekends, you are back where you started.

Or maybe, you need to find a diversion, a hobby, that is far different from you work week pursuits to keep things in balance and in perspective.  Now I know why so many people are into gambling, they have nothing better to do.  They are bored with their life hence they are gambling their lives away.  To them, that is the thrill, the thrill of losing everything regardless of the cost to the people around them.

But our time here is limited; we do not even know when the day of reckoning is going to come.  Carpe Diem, seize the day.  It is precisely because of the unknown day of reckoning that we need to strive and make the most of our day.  To make an impact on the lives around us and to make a dent in this earthly plane.

I have been in the academe for almost a decade now, assuming that under me I have personally educated a thousand students a year, that is around nine (9) thousand students educated so far.  And nine thousand individuals is not something to sneeze at.  Not all of them will be a success but some of them will achieve more than I could possibly imagine hence a casual assessment of one’s life is supposed to be a joyful occasion.  So instead of feeling down and low during weekends, we need to celebrate life, that we are privileged to make a contribution and that we really need the extra boost of energy to survive another day, another week, another month and another year.

The Neurotic Need to be Right

July 6, 2011

The Neurotic Need to be Right

Karen Horney and her theory of personality talked about the 10 neurotic needs of man:

1. The neurotic need for a partner.

2. The neurotic need for affection.

3. The neurotic need to restrict oneself within narrow borders.

4. The neurotic need for power.

5. The neurotic need to exploit others.

6. The neurotic need for recognition.

7. The neurotic need for achievement.

8. The neurotic need for admiration.

9. The neurotic need for self-sufficiency.

10. The neurotic need for perfection.

Now, these are classified as a neurotic need because they are irrational, illogical, unreasonable and superficial. To make a long story short, they are not that important. The fixation or the mindset of the individual to artificially accomplish the abovementioned is what makes it a neurosis.

Over time, there appears to be a creeping neurotic need that is plaguing man’s behavior. Such is the title of this article, the neurotic need to be right.

People tend to believe that they are right - that what they are doing, that their advocacy is infallible. They seem to be under the delusion that they are right and therefore cannot be wrong. And taken to an extreme, people afflicted with this neurotic need tend to be fanatics. And just like any fanatic, they have no qualms about shedding literally and figuratively – some blood to get their way.

The sad reality is that people commit mistakes, and that more often than not, we are wrong. The redeeming part about being human is that we can mend our ways. We can change. We can alter our current scenario to correct what was previously perceived to be an infallible path.

Truth be said, humans are prone to commit mistakes. To be wrong however is not a deplorable situation, because from our mistakes, we learn and take corrective actions and remedies. From our mistakes, we become a better individual.

To err is glorious because after such, we evolve into a better person.