Twenty Six
I turned twenty-six a couple of weeks ago and find myself at a bit of a crossroads – as the saying goes, every beginning has an end and every end is a new beginning, but it’s not always clear which way to turn when faced with life-changing decisions. I don’t usually get introspective here but today I want to share with you a couple of stories from my formative years which had a lasting impact on my life today…
Jeonju Photo Walk – Part 1
During my two-and-a-bit days in Jeonju, South Korea I spent most of my time in the traditional Hanok Village and managed to snap a sizable number of pics which I want to share over the next few days in a three-part series. I’ll keep my notes short but should be enough to give you a flavour of what you can find there. Read more
Redesigning Randomwire
Apologies for the site downtime yesterday – it appears the server was having a major panic attack but hopefully things are stable for now. We’ll be moving to a new server in the near future which should hopefully improve matters.
On a related note I’ve been thinking about making a few changes to Randomwire to make old content more accessible and better highlight interesting things to new visitors. Read more
Things That Interest Me
To get a sense of what you want to do in life a good place to start is to look at what interests you (and conversely the opposite). This is exactly what I attempted the other day when I basically made a long list of stuff I like. To make things a bit more visual I then thew the list into Wordle which generates pretty “word clouds”. Read more
2010 More! More! More!
Looking back at 2009 I’d probably characterize it as my year of travel and exploration in China – I took 24 flights and was privileged to visit and stay in many amazing places I had never been before. Along the way I’ve learnt a huge amount about Chinese culture which continues to fascinate and bewilder me in equal measure. Having become familiar with where things are and how things work, life in Shenzhen has become fairly routine. Given my list of goals last year I thought it was about time to review them and set some new ones for the coming twenty ten:
2009 goals in review:
- Gain basic fluency in Mandarin – failed (while my vocab has improved grammar is still non-existant)
- Improve photography skills – achieved (although I’ve still got a long way to go I’m quite happy with my results recently)
- Get fitter through more regular exercise – moderate improvement (but need to schedule more regular activities)
- Cook more – achieved (and learnt a few new dishes along the way)
- Stay focused and filter out distractions – failed (I read more than ever and have way too many projects on the go)
- Redesign blog template – achieved (you’re looking at it now)
3.5 out of 6 isn’t too bad in my book but the language part is rather frustrating.
2010 goals:
- Create and stick to a schedule for language learning and fitness
- Start a business of some sort and see it through (more on this later)
- Improve writing skills and user participation in blog
- Create more video content and how-to guides
- Visit Japan – something I’ve wanted to do for many years
- Learn how to cope with stress better (and sleep more!)
Finally I’d like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who reads RandomWire – this year traffic has nearly doubled and my only wish is that I had time to write more content for it. In an ideal world I’d love to be able to do this full-time in some capacity but for now it’ll continue as a labour of love blissfully free of ads (although if anyone is interested in sponsorship do get in touch).
As with last year I’ll leave you with an appropriately titled track from the ever-manic Capsule:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEj7cErgXas
A very Happy New Year to all 
A Surprise Christmas
Having spent Christmas 2008 in China it seemed a bit of a pity to miss out on the festivities for a second year running so I decided to make a last-minute surprise visit home without telling anyone I was coming.
After nearly 20 hours of travelling I flew into Norwich via Amsterdam from Hong Kong on the morning of Christmas Eve and turned up on my parents doorstep shortly before midday. To say people were surprised would be an understatement (luckily none of my family have heart conditions!).
It felt rather weird to be thrust directly into the Christmas spirit without the usual months of buildup which usually proceed it in the UK. It was however much nicer to experience it in person rather than through a Skype webcam session as was last year (however novel it may have been).
Of course food is a big part of Christmas and the traditional turkey is a must. While looking like a big chicken the taste is markedly stronger and more flavourful. As ever my mum excelled herself – the 8,000 mile trip was almost worth it just for this! I often wonder why people only eat turkey once a year…
Coming from the relatively warm south of China to the freezing south-east of the UK was a bit of a shock to the system but being a hardy Brit my body soon adjusted and a few nice walks outside in near zero degree conditions were had. Although there was a bit of snow when I first arrived most of it had thawed after a couple of days.
I have a terrible memory but was happy to find that after nearly a year of not driving that the old skills hadn’t disappeared. I always find it’s weird how your brain is able to learn and retain certain complex things as if they were second nature but for other simpler things it’s near impossible (for me anyway).
I’ll be heading back to China on January 4th so get to enjoy jet lag twice in so many weeks. Hopefully someone will invent a teleportation device before too long!
Building The Perfect Company
If you were to start your own company how would it look? Would you create it along the traditional lines of a corporate enterprise or try something a little different? Anyone who has worked in an office can tell you how depressing an environment some can be but in an age of digital connectivity does it really have to be this way?
Photo by net_efekt
I was considering these questions the other day while imagining how my own company might look if I was to start one. Google is often used as a popular example of the perfect work environment but it’s not really something which can be copied unless you have buckets of cash to throw around (unlikely these days). So how to you create a sustainable work environment where people can be both productive and happy?
Here are a few quick ideas which came to mind:
- No offices – people work from home or in share work spaces / cafes / wherever you feel productive.
- No meetings / email – avoided through the use of collaborative tools like IM/Skype and Google Docs (Wave will be great for this).
- No titles / hierarchy – although people might have specific responsibilities all have an equal voice.
- Democratic decision making – anyone could submit a proposal which everyone could vote on transparently.
- No formalities or buzzwords – suits, acronyms and MBA’s can be left at the (virtual) door. No room for egos or empty words.
- No fixed salary / bonuses – compensation would be split equally between everyone after overheads and other investments deducted.
- Minimal process - these things always start off well but then turn into unmanageable monsters. CMMI no thank you.
While it’s unlikely that these rules could be implemented in their purest form (the odd email may still be required) I think the principles could be applied quite well to a small startup. A key part of this would be hiring people who weren’t wedded to the old school system and prepared to approach things differently. This wouldn’t work with existing organisations or with people who were only interested in following orders (which are often harder to find than you might imagine).
The end goal of this is to produce the right conditions for people to produce their best work while having the flexibility to live their life outside of an old set of rules and constraints. Traditional business has long been fat and bloated with process for process sake and rewards having very little connection with any tangible results. I say it’s time to change all that.
Anyone with me? How would you build the perfect work place?
What Would You Change?
By the looks of this picture sent to me today randomwire.com continues to increase in popularity and gain new audiences
Over the past 6 years the site has transitioned from my daily musings about university and foreign films (circa 2004) to life in London and technology (2005 – 2007) to coverage of my adventures in China and East Asia. With more focus has come a larger audience which has motivated me to continue at a frequency of about 2 posts per week (time permitting). It’s something I enjoy a lot and although I have never attempted to make any money out of it (nor do I have any plans to) I have been thinking about what people enjoy the most and whether I should focus further on a particular area or keep things as they are now?
Whether you’re a long term reader or a new visitor I’d appreciate your feedback in the poll / comments section below (if you’re viewing in an RSS reader please click through to see):
Thanks for your feedback!
Five Principles To Live By
I’m lucky enough to be able to live in a fascinating country (China) and have enough disposable income to travel when time allows. The other day I unexpectedly received an email from a student in the US who was interested in knowing how I managed to afford to travel so much as it was also their goal once they graduated. What they probably didn’t know is that I actually have a full time job and my blog isn’t really a representative view of my life as whole but this got me thinking about the wider issues of how you can achieve your goals and be successful in life.
There are a million and one books and websites you can read about how to improve your life and anything in it (Amazon lists 124,526 titles in their “Self Help” section alone). Likewise there just as many people claiming to know the “secret” to success and so on. Whilst I’m sure there are some useful nuggets of advice contained within these tomes I’m always dubious of anyone doing it for profit and frankly think much of that industry is a con (or a smart placebo).
I’m not going to make any such claims here but there are a few principles which I have found useful in both work and life over the past few years which I thought I’d share today (for free and with only limited bias!). By no means do I assert these to be original; they’re just things which I’ve picked up along the journey of life so far and may or may not be useful to you personally:
- Life can’t be learned in advance; you make it up as you go – when you’re young you expect your parents and teachers to have all the answers. They don’t and nor do you. Accept this and move forward as the best way to learn is through experience which will include both success and failure. Treat failure as an opportunity to improve.
- Embrace change and take calculated risks – many people fear change and avoid risks which might take them outside their comfort zone but unfortunately this is the only way you’ll ever make progress. Regret is the consequence of inaction and avoiding change causes stagnation. This is not the same as being reckless with your life.
- You can’t please everyone; don’t waste your time trying to – life is short and if you spend all your time trying to make everyone you meet happy then you will just end up unhappy yourself. You don’t have to be rude or unkind about it but it does require some discipline. Likewise don’t expect everyone to always do your bidding.
- 80/20 Rule: 20% of effort (input) leads to 80% of results (output) – I’m a strong believer in focusing on the things which provide you or your objectives with the most value / benefit. The applications for this principle are endless; learning how to focus your energy is the tricky part. Delegate or discontinue doing anything outside the 20%.
- KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid - I can think of no circumstance where making something simpler isn’t beneficial. Be it designing a product or planning a holiday keeping things simple will lead to a much more pleasurable end experience and less stress/confusion all round. For me the key is to evaluate and reduce then repeat.
I’m still fairly young (24) but it seems with every passing year things become less black and white than they once were which validates my belief that it’s important to keep an open mind when developing a sense of direction. Life is a learning experience and the above is just a list of things which seem relevant to me now; no doubt it will further evolve with time.
What would be on your list? How do these translate to your goals in life?
Facial Structure Recognition
Here’s a somewhat controversial question (depending on who you ask it to): Can you tell someone’s “race” by looking at their facial structure? That is to say could you tell the difference between, for example, a native Japanese / Korean / Chinese person just by looking at their face?
race – n.
- A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
- A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution.
This is a question which I’ve found occasionally comes up in conversation with both Asian and non-Asian friends and I’ve never heard a definitive answer. To the latter group Asians generally tend to “look the same” (which will undoubtedly get you in trouble) while for the former it’s less clear cut ~ some people claim they can while others say it’s impossible. A quick Google search confirms that there are a variety opinions in both directions and there are even whole sites dedicated to the subject.
I scratched my head about this for a long while thinking that logically if a group of people come from the same hereditary genetic pool, based in a semi-enclosed geographical location with a shared heritage of thousands of years, then surely wouldn’t they end up with some similar physical characteristics which would be reliably identifiable, at least for a high percentage of the population?
As per the example here’s my rather un-scientific theory based on morphological observation:
Photo by Ernesto JT
Japanese people tend to have a longer / oval facial structure with wider / larger eyes and more pronounced noses. Japanese women often put on thick makeup giving them a pale white complexion.
Photo by Kam
Chinese people tend to have rounder faces than both Korean and Japanese people. China is a huge multi-ethnic country unlike Korea and Japan (which are more ethnically homogeneous) making it much harder to differentiate or generalize.
Photo by Dax Melmer
Korean people tend to have flatter faces with higher / squarer cheek bones and smaller eyes with single eyelids (opposed to double). A high proportion of Korean women have had cosmetic surgery somewhat confusing things.
Although I’ve found the above a fairly reliable definition trying to guess based on facial structure alone seems to be pretty hit-and-miss in reality. The success rate greatly increases when you included other observable indicators such as name, language, behavior, hairstyle and clothing. According to more scientific studies both East Asians and Caucasians are more easily identifiable by facial features than others.
Failing all that you could just ask which is probably a safer bet than trying to guess and risk upsetting anyone!
Can you tell the difference? (Note: any racist comments will be deleted).