Career Conversations by Ronald Tay

This is one of the best book I have read on choosing your career path. Ronald Tay compiles insights from 20 professionals on how they get to where they are today. It came at the right time when I was deciding on my career direction. I knew I love to do something else, and my character yearns for the same thing too. It is different from what I have been doing the last few years which pays well.

From reading this book, to speaking with people, I have decided on my career path. I would like to share the main insights I have gotten from this book. (Note: Different people may have different interpretations from reading it).

I sorted through the main points that captivate my interests and grouped them together into categories. There is a very strong agreement across everyone of them that following your passion and persevering is crucial for success. I have noted down the main points below so I can reference to them easily in the future.


INTRODUCTION

We never know how life will treat us. School results do not determine your future; your values and beliefs can always bring you to greater heights. It is about following your heart and it is also about what you want. My own ambitions have evolved over time. Now it is about making a difference, so that when I step out of public life, I will leave behind a system that sustains itself, and by then I can be forgotten.
Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State

The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.
Mark Twain, Author

三百六十行，行行出状元
明朝冯惟敏


FOLLOW YOUR PASSIONS AND PERSEVERANCE (14)
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
Confucius

Talent and smarts may get you to the door of the company but it is passion and perserverance that will lead you to the top. (x4)
Baey Yam Keng, MP for Tampines GRC and Chan Ee Mun, Architect

Better to be Number One in a seemingly less glamorous career that you are passionate about than to follow the crowd and do something you care less for and perform worse at.
Ronald Tay, Director at UBS Business University

You have to be excellent at something and you tend to be excellent at the things you like.
Nagaraj Sivaram, Partner in Ernst & Young

Do not choose a career or specialisation because of its glamour and reputation. Know yourself and your personality to determine the best fit for you and the chosen career.
Ivan Ng, Eurosurgeon

Do something that excites you, that makes you jump out of bed every morning for.
Damian Pang, Consultant at AIA

It's better to build your career to become the Number One expert in your chosen field - even if it's not the most lucrative one - than be the average Joe in the most popular field.
Eugene Goh, Regional GM of Aveda-Luxasia

As long as you get the purpose and motivation of your career right and act accordingly, rewards will come naturally.
Hon Chiew Weng, Principal of Hwa Chong Institution

Getting to the top of your career is not about impressing others. The true meaning of self-actualisation is being able to share your experiences and knowledge with others, and that is the true joy to be found in working.
Andre Chiang, Chef-Owner of Restaurant Andre

Learning and mastering a craft can be a lifelong journey but a very motivating one if you learn what you enjoy and enjoy what you learn.
Chan Ee Mun, Architect

You know you have found your career passion when you care less about the amount of time you spend, but more on how well you do.
Chan Ee Mun, Architect


LEARNING (7)
When you are at a place in the organization where you're no longer able to learn anything from your bosses and yet also do not aspire to work in their roles/positions, it may be time for you to consider possible exit strategies.
Azmoon Ahmad, Vice President of Desay SV Automotive

When starting out on a new career, always start with a blank piece of paper to learn and seek out mentors who are willing to teach. If you are too full of yourself, there will be no space for anyone to "feed" with you anything.
Patrick Liew, CEO of HSR Global

When entering an unfamiliar market to work or invest in, one can cut short the learning process by collaborating with a local partner who knows the environment.
Andre Chiang, Chef-Owner of Restaurant Andre

Do not be enticed simply by a job prospect promising a bigger salary. Consider whether there are opportunities for development and growth from within.
Louis Lim, Partner of Bain & Company

When making a career switch, don't be caught up with comparing norms of compensation and bonuses; instead, focus on the learning and development opportunities that the new career holds.
Baey Yam Keng, MP for Tampines GRC

Spend the first six years developing a strong competence, then three years broadening and finally six years deepending a competence, after which you are a true professional. This is the 6-3-6 rule.
Adrian Lee, GM of Shell Chemicals

Don't be intimidated by people who are better than you. Learn from them instead, and emulate their successful habits and behaviours.
Irene Ang, CEO of Fly Entertainment


CROSS LEARNINGS AND FORWARD LOOKING (6)
Taking a sabbatical away from work or a lateral transfer from your usual field of profession can help you recalibrate your career vision and invigorate your energies.
Nagaraj Sivaram, Partner in Ernst & Young

Never be complacent with current success but look for avenues and inspiration (from new projects and people connections) to reinvent yourself.
Royston Tan, Filmmaker

To deepen your mastery of your craft, look for ways in which you can learn from multiple disciplines and merge them and see if you can come up with something new and different.
Royston Tan, Filmmaker

To stay current and gain new ideas in your field of work, be sure to go beyond the boundaries of your field and explore diverse perspectives that can then synergise with what you know.
Andre Chiang, Chef-Owner of Restaurant Andre

Do not just be working in the industry but make it a point to know the industry - the movements, players, the history and the future.
Andre Chiang, Chef-Owner of Restaurant Andre

Do not blindly follow trends. Instead be observant of where society is moving, and look for the opportunity to be the trendsetter.
Chan Ee Mun, Architect


PRIORITIES AND CONTRIBUTION (6)
Learn how to manage priorities or else priorities will end up managing you.
Tung Soo Hua, News Presenter

Establish some of the key pillars of your life, know what the order of focus among these key priorities is, and let other issues fall into place.
Junie Foo, Banker

There are always things beyond your control - optimise what you can control and not excessively fret over what you cannot.
Teo Lay Lim, Senior MD at Accenture

If you sometimes feel that what you do at work is insignificant, think of it as a crucial piece of the puzzle in the grand scheme of helping the organisation and clients solve their problems.
Teo Lay Lim, Senior MD at Accenture

When you are feeling sorry for yourself or about the work you do, think of ten things you do that allow the world to be a better place or that make someone's life better.
Azmoon Ahmad, Vice President of Desay SV Automotive

Graduate with the intention not just to be successful and earn a good living, but also to find a way to contribute back to society.
Hon Chiew Weng, Principal of Hwa Chong Institution


ATTITUDE (5)
It is easy to teach someone the skills for the job but difficult to teach curiosity, humility and eagerness to learn.
Andre Chiang, Chef-Owner of Restaurant Andre

Develop these key attributes as a job candidate - strong drive, quick intellect, coming across confident yet still humble and willing to learn.
Louis Lim, Partner of Bain & Company

If you want people to take you seriously, show sincerity and effort.
Kit Chan, Performer-Producer-Creative Director

Do your best in every job, because your next job will depend on the current one.
Kit Chan, Performer-Producer-Creative Director

Your ability to "dare to ask" can create many shortcuts to successes in career and life.
Ivan Lee, Founder of ThaiExpress


CHALLENGE YOURSELF (5)
Dare to swim against the tide and it will take you to places you never imagined.
Royston Tan, Filmmaker

Saying "yes" to taking on additional projects or roles can literally pave the way for you to be scouted for another one. Hence taking on challenges and additional tasks are really favours you are doing yourself to strengthen your skills and resume.
Teo Lay Lim, Senior MD at Accenture

Volunteering for "unpopular" tasks and assignments not onl makes you stand out as a leader but also can give you the sense of control and choice to make that task and assignment a success.
Irene Ang, CEO of Fly Entertainment

There is more than one way to reach your final destination. Sometimes, taking a less conventional path or a less direct track can have unexpected takeaways.
Patrick Liew, CEO of HSR Global

You may not have to switch job to look for more challenges. In these days of constant change, most who stick around the organization may get the interesting assignments or even their bosses' jobs.
Hon Chiew Weng, Principal of Hwa Chong Institution


FINDING THE RIGHT DIRECTION (4)
Companies have different cultural norms. Ideally choose to work for one where your personality matches the institutional culture.
Junie Foo, Banker

Some opportunities are truly "once in a lifetime", and you may have to jump right in. Try to get as much advice as you can from trusted sources, and ultimately listen to your heart.
Baey Yam Keng, MP for Tampines GRC

Do not be tempted by short-term gains and lose sight of the long-term implications of the choices you make.
Baey Yam Keng, MP for Tampines GRC

Redefine the meaning of wealth in your life - do not let material possessions be the sole driver of your choices. Have a clear sense of how greater wealth can improve the lives of loved ones and society; otherwise it becomes a meaningless pursuit.
Damian Pang, Consultant at AIA


LANGUAGES (2)
Having additional language skills is an asset but far more valued if you are able to speak, read and write fluently rather than have just conversational abilities.
Tung Soo Hua, News Presenter

If you learn a foreign language, learn it very well, so that it can be a distinguishing advantage that sets you apart from others, especially if you apply to a foreign MNC from that country.
Junie Foo, Banker


FAILURE (2)
Do not be afraid to say you have failed before. Be afraid instead to have not even tried at all.
Patrick Liew, CEO of HSR Global

The key to success is to fail often enough to accumulate enough lessons in order to make more than one shot in life.
Ivan Lee, Founder of ThaiExpress

Acupuncture Point Massage [Feb - Apr 2016]

With the launch of SkillsFuture, I started looking through the list of courses which are being covered by it. One of the courses provider is PA. Only a small percentage of courses by PA are covered by SkillsFuture. The rest of the courses are not. But I noticed there are several interesting courses being offered by PA, and the course fees are not as exorbitant as the private providers.

I made a list of courses which I would like to sign up for. One of it is the Acupuncture Point Massage, which are held in several community center. It cost $110 (without PA membership) or $98 (with PA membership). The center which starts the earliest and which is convenient to me in terms of time and location is at Bishan CC.

There have a free introduction course on the 15 Feb which I signed up for it. And it is followed by the 6 formal classes which run from 7.30pm to 9.30pm every Monday.

The trainer is TCM doctor Mr. Liu.

The course I signed up for is actually part 2 of the Acupuncture Point Massage. There is no per-requisite to Part 1 or Part 2. 

The first method we learnt is Gua Sha (刮痧) . It is a method of using a special comb-like tool to rub against our skin to stimulate blood circulation in that area. 

The second method we learnt is Ai Jiu (艾灸). It involves using a herbal stick to warm different parts of our body. As the herbal stick has smoke generated, we had the activity outdoors.

The last 3 lessons cover the different veins that link to our body 5 main organs (心肝脾肺肾). There are many applications of massaging the different veins for health purpose.

In our last lesson, we had a group photo below. 

The entire 7 lessons are interesting. It offers a perspective into Traditional Chinese Medicine. One of the most memorable period is when the teacher directly show each of us the veins and apply pressure to it.

One of the main takeaway from the course is the importance of having a healthy body, especially to have more regular exercise. There are several healthy practices such as not having heavy meals at night, sleeping early and watching our diet.

I'm not continuing with Part 1 of the course as I find myself not incline towards the study of medicine.

Only the Paranoid Survive by Andrew S Grove

 
This is my first completed book from the online national library. There are pros and cons to reading on a tablet as compared to a printed book. It's easy to bring a tablet anywhere and just start reading it. But it feels different from reading on a paper-printed background. It took me 5 days to complete it - while waiting and during my daily morning commute.

The title is something which I strongly agree with. In this fast-changing modern economy, only those who are constantly evolving, on the look out for changes - befitting of a paranoia character will survive.

The book is mainly on how Intel evolve over the decades to be a leader in microprocessor business. The main concept it convey is the 'Strategic Inflection Point' which we need to keep a lookout for. It mentioned about the 6 different forces that will affect business and the 10X force which is something will change the playing field altogether.

The computer industry is used to illustrate the strategic inflection point - on how it evolve from a vertically integrated industry to more horizontally integrated.

At the end of the book, it brings the topic closer to us by mentioning that 'Your career is your business'. We have to keep a lookout for strategic inflection point ourselves.

Do Over by Jon Acuff

Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck wrote the sub-title by Jon Acuff.

The title to this book caught my attention. Perhaps Jon Acuff could give me new insight on how I can perceive my work.

In his introduction piece, he related on how his neighbor Nate lost his job on a Friday. The people liked Nate, and he was great at his job, hitting his numbers for 8 years in a big company. But things changed and his role was no longer needed.

What happen if career ceiling starts coming in? The few options available include:
1) Getting a job at another company (delay tactics)
2) Doing a job that you do not want to do (becoming worst off)
3) Play along and die inside as long as you remain in the company (reality for most)

We all have this career repository known as the Career Savings Account. In it there are 4 elements (relationships, skills, character, hustle) where Jon explained in greater detail throughout the book.

1) Relationships
One of my take-away from the relationships segment is to continue to maintain good relationships with people we meet in our life. It can be from our school days, our ex-colleagues, people we met in professional or interest groups. It's good practice to keep in contact with them every though many people may be busy with their family or careers. In our relationship, there are some which we can regard them to be our mentor (advocate) in our career.

After reading this piece, I looked through my phone contact and started messaging some of my good old friends which I have not contacted more than a year.

2) Skills
Jon started by explaining on some key invisible skills such as the below:
Main:
1) Go to work, showing up on time
2) Adding value
3) Own your attitude
Others:
A) Exceed expectations
B) Be diplomatic
C) Express gratefulness
D) Show consideration for others
E) Focus on what matters (quality of work)
F) Play to your strengths and everyone else
G) Be flexible (environment)
H) Respect their gear (gadgets)
I) Continue your education

When we want to develop new skills, is it out of necessity of curiosity. It is at this point of the book where I started to think through the skills which I need to do my job better. Two necessity skills pop into my mind, they are 'Change Management' and 'Knowledge Management'. I immediately made my way to the library to borrow books on it. And moving forward, I will be attending a course on Acupuncture Pressure which is something of a curiosity learning for my side.

To develop new skill, the following need to be in place: Time, money, gear, access to experts and knowledge. Knowledge can be obtained from the library or the internet. But time maybe something which working professional may find lacking. There's two way in identifying time. One is a macro perspective of looking at our calendar year/month and setting aside time for learning. The second is the micro perspective where we look at the days and hours where we can squeeze out time for learning.

If we look at our time, we will realize we can get time from activities that are requesting resources without providing anything in return - such as Facebook, online gaming, watching TV, etc.

3) Character
He mentioned some typical bad character traits such as narcissism, dishonesty, pessimism, apathy. Good character includes generosity (which creates loyalty), empathy (how do we make people around bigger), being present (manage phone, computer and meetings).

The character portion is something that is linked to morality and an individual value system. For those with religion, their character are often guided by beliefs.

4) Hustle

Last is working hard. It means putting effort on our Relationships, Skills and Character. But do note that there are seasons to hustling. There are good times to hustle and certain times to not hustle. We have to be flexible on our dreams as we hustle. As we acquire more skills, strengthen our character and develop our relationships, we start to know our dreams better. It is important to note that focus important. As such, sometimes doing less is better.

Understanding HR in the new economy

During my final year in NUS, we have to take this new module called "Understanding HR in the new economy". This module left quite a deep imprint on me that up till today, I still remember it vividly. One of the main focus of this module is on the new economy and how we need to adapt to this new economy.

In there it mentioned that we need to accept changes to change our individual paradigm. It includes:
- Adaptable (Be prepared for changes)
- Multi-skilled (Transferable competencies, Specific job skills, Career development skills)
- Continuous learning
- Emotional Intelligence (Interpersonal skills, teamwork)
- Self-pace and self-discipline
- Resilient (To recover quickly from misfortune)

It also mentioned to accept organization changes which includes the below:
- Business structures
  - Intellectual changes (Knowledge as a competitive advantage)
  - Virtual organizations (Strategic alliances, outsourcing, contingent workforce)
  - Organizational learning
  - Focus on customer perceived value of products and services

- Management philosophy
  - Knowledge management (Information as a product on its own right)
  - Organizing around teams (Shared vision, social synergy, team learning)
  - New employment relationships (Core employees, contingent workers)

Singapore just recovered from the Asian Financial Crisis (1997), dot.com bubble burst (2001) and SARS (2003). Through this module, we were inculcated with a mindset that job stability is a thing of the past. To survive in this new economy, we have to keep learning and providing value to the organization.

It mentioned one can have many jobs in a life-time but have only one career. In the past, there used to be linear progression of upward promotions along predictable career path. There is a clear distinction between work and non-work roles. Now in modern days, we have reached a boundaryless-career which can span countries, industries, companies and professions. Individuals will go through a period of learning, unlearning and relearning over and over again. We have to take responsibility for our own career futures.

It includes:
- Knowing-why (career motivation, personal meaning and identification)
- Knowing-how (job skills, job-related experience, education)
- Knowing-whom (networks of people)

The new career is about building a self-designed career. We develop our career capital and establish a portfolio of skills by continuous learning. It is essential to be flexible and adaptable in accepting/expecting frequent job changes (high mobility).

This new career and economy arises because of the information technology revolution. Computers and networking technologies brought about this change. 

Reading

Reading is often the best approach towards lifelong learning. You can read anywhere and anytime at your convenience.

I read an article recently on how many successful entrepreneurs spent their free time reading. It came as a pleasant surprise and it also serve as a reminder to myself that lifelong learning is not just about attending courses.

Here are some of the books recommended by them:
- Bill Gates
- Mark Zuckerberg

Learning in the evening (生命的三分之一)

I always remember this particular article from my Secondary 4 Chinese textbook - 燕山夜话一篇文章 : 生命的三分之一. The article source is here.

　　一个人的生命究竟有多大意义，这有什么标准可以衡量吗？提出一个绝对的标准当然很困难；但是，大体上看一个人对待生命的态度是否严肃认真，看他对待劳动、工作等等的态度如何，也就不难对这个人的存在意义做出适当的估计了。
　　古来一切有成就的人，都很严肃地对待自己的生命，当他活着一天，总要尽量多劳动、多工作、多学习、不肯虚度年华，不让时间白白地浪费掉。我国历代的劳动人民以及大政治家、大思想家等等都莫不如此。
　　班固写的《汉书》《食货志》上有下面的记载：“冬，民既入；妇人同巷，相从夜绩，女工一月得四十五日。”
　　这几句读都来很奇怪，怎么一月能有四十五天呢？再看原文底下颜师古做了注解，他说：“一月之中，又得夜半为十五日，共四十五日。”
　　这就很清楚了。原来我国的古人不但比西方各国的人更早地懂得科学地、合理地计算劳动日；而且我们的古人老早就知道对于日班和夜班的计算方法。
　　一个月本来只有三十天，古人把每个夜晚的时间算做半日，就多了十五天。从这个意义上说来，夜晚的时间实际上不就等于生命的三分之一吗？
　　对于这三分之一的生命，不但历代的劳动人民如此重视，而且有许多大政治家也十分重视。班固在《汉书》《刑法》里还写道：
　　“秦始皇躬操文墨，昼断狱，夜理书。”
　　有的人一听说秦始皇就不喜欢他，其实秦始皇毕竟是中国历史上的一个伟大人物、班固对他也还有一些公平的评价。
　　这里写的是秦始皇在夜间看书学习的情形。
　　据刘向的《说苑》所载，春秋战国时有许多国君都很注意学习。如：
　　“晋平公问于师旷曰：吾年七十，欲学恐已暮矣。师旷曰：何不炳烛乎？”
　　在这里，师旷劝七十岁的晋平公点灯夜读，拚命抢时间，争取这三分之一的生命不至于继续浪费，这种精神多么可贵啊！
　　《北史》《吕思礼传》记述这个北周大政治家生平勤学的情形是：
　　“虽务兼军国，而手不释卷。昼理政事，夜即读书，令苍头执烛，烛烬夜有数升。”
　　光是烛灰一夜就有几升之多，可见他夜读何等勤奋了。象这样的例子还有很多。
　　为什么古人对于夜晚的时间都这样重视，不肯轻轻放过呢？我认为这就是他们对待自己生命的三分之一的严肃认真态度，这正是我们所应该学习的。
　　我之所以想利用夜晚的时间，向读者同志们做这样的谈话，目的也不过是要引起大家注意珍惜这三分之一的生命，使大家在整天的劳动、工作以后，以轻松的心情，领略一些古今有用的知识而已。

Since ancient times, successful people always give their best in work and continue to learn. They do not waste their time aimlessly. It is recorded in the book of history that people worked 30 days in a month. If the evening time is well-spent, they will have 45 days available. This is based on the assumption that a day of work is 8 hours. If the evening is well-spent, they have half a day more (4 hours more). This gives our life an additional 50% more time. There are many examples of great leaders who spent their evenings reading and studying. In this way, life becomes more fulfilling.

Certified Six Sigma Black Belt [Aug - Dec 2015]

Why CSSBB with SQI

Even though I have been trained in Lean and Six Sigma by my company, I have been seeking a different experience on Six Sigma from a different delivery method. A quick search online will show many private institutions offering courses on Six Sigma in Singapore. Accreditation is important for Six Sigma courses. Globally, the two main bodies accrediting Six Sigma is either the Certified Six Sigma Black Belt by the American Society of Quality (ASQ) or Lean Six Sigma Black Belt by the International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC).

Typically for US companies (including my company), they recognize ASQ certifications more. And in Singapore, the main local chapter is the Singapore Quality Institute (SQI). Back in May 2015 when I tried to get more information Six Sigma courses with SQI, I find the website was not very well updated and the location of the institute was located at West Coast Recreation Center. I had a chance to meet up with the Marketing Manager and the Course Coordinator to understand more about the Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) course.

One of the reason why I have decided on the CSSBB course with SQI is:
- The lecturers looked very experienced. Just by simple observation, I can tell they have decades of experience behind them.
- Local context examples which is more applicable in Singapore and Asia context (compared to US)
- Long-running course which is now into its 20th intake
- Strong vigor in learning and application - there's an exams element as well as project mentoring. Throughout the course, we will get to understand many fundamentals which textbooks or companies do not teach us.
- Part-time schedule. I do not have to be away from work to take a 4-weeks full-time course.
- It is the cheapest Six Sigma course. The course fee was around $4,700 in all for members. I am self-sponsoring for the course so this is also taken into consideration.

Class in context

I signed up for the CSSBB 20th intake class as I will be in Singapore between the period of August to November. There were 9 students in the class, and we came from different industry: ranging from finance, logistics, sales and manufacturing.

The classes were held 3 times a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7pm - 10pm over 36 lessons. It spanned over a 3 months period. We have to meet at least 70% course attendance. As a student, I will say the schedule is pretty intensive and all of us have to forgo any leisure, family or friends time over the 3 months period. Happy hour on Friday is also gone due to class.

Below is a class in progress with our course coordinator Mr Too. He put in a lot of efforts to explain the complex terms in easy to understand structure. The other course lecturers are Mr Teo, Ms Thia and Timothy. 

Learning about Six Sigma


For those who are new to Six Sigma, I will summarize what is Six Sigma below. It is both an improvement strategy that companies can adopt as well as a structured problem solving method. The structured method is the Define - Measure - Analyze - Improve - Control steps. And in each of the steps, there are many tools and methods that people can use to solve problems systematically. Central to Six Sigma are the many statistical tools that Six Sigma folks use to problem solve. Typically Six Sigma training also cover Lean tools and methods. The SQI CSSBB course also cover that.

The SQI CSSBB course touches and explain on the statistical concepts and applications very deeply. This is critical to understand the core tools of six sigma well. 

Compared to the Six Sigma training I received in my company, I find the delivery method by the local lecturers are amazing. The lecturers frequently challenge our knowledge and ideas, and the lessons are peppered with many interesting examples and stories.

Secondly, as the students come from different industries, there are many things to share and talk about in class. I will say the 3 months intensive period is very well spent learning from the lecturers and fellow students.

We also have several hands on session such as FMEA, playing with Catapult (as seen below) and learning how to use Minitab for Statistical analysis.

Shifting to new premises

Towards early November 2015, SQI started the shift of its premises to Peace Center (picture below). We were one of the first group of students to attend classes at the new SQI center. The location is definitely much better compared to Clementi. The vicinity is more vibrant as it is right smack in the city center.

Preparing for exams

As we have a 3 weeks break in between the relocation, as well as a 2 weeks break after our final class, we were all geared up towards our final exams on the 19 Dec (Saturday). The exams has 2 parts to it: First part is 70 MCQ 1 hr 30mins and second part is 7 long questions 3 hours. It has got to be one of the more vigorous exams I have taken these few years since graduation. The exams will be marked by NUS lecturers and the results will be release to us by post 6 weeks later.

Mr Too constantly reminded us to have group study for our exams. Our batch started quite late, only 1.5 months before the exams as the weekly study really drained our energy. There are several advantages to group studies:
1) Sharing of exams questions and resources - when all 9 of us started coming together, we shared all the six sigma resources we have from ASQ sample exams, to textbooks and so on.
2) Discussion and clarification - the discussion and clarification helps to level our understanding. Someone will raise a topic and everyone will learn from the discussion.
3) Chance to have fast food - it is during the study sessions where we have fast food. Our group of 9 is split into 2 locations: Joo Koon Fairprice Hub and Nanyang Polytechnic. The areas to study at Fairprice Hub are the fast food outlets and Nanyang Poly are the study benches (with McDonalds near by).
4) Fun - it's just plain fun. Everyone chatting about different topics - on different industries, job opportunities, life and so on.

According to a classmate, the final exams is mirrored closely to the Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook by Kubiak. 

Celebrations

After the exams, we went down to Plaza Singapura for celebration lunch. Below is a photo of us celebrating.

 
We are not yet CSSBB certified. Next we will have to work on a Black Belt project and write a report for submission and presentation.

ACTA V5 [May - Aug 2015]

I first heard about the Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA) from a fellow colleague towards the end of 2014. The general perception I got is that this course will allow you to be a part-time trainer outside of your normal work hours. But it never cross my mind of conducting courses outside my normal work hours, so I did not pursue it further until March 2015. I am approaching ACTA from a different perspective - as an in-house trainer, I find it useful to be grounded on formal training education.

I noticed the wait time for the start of the course is around 2 months due to its popularity and limited intake each time. I am constrained by my schedule availability. Tuesday and Thursday evenings are out for me due to work and other classes. As such, there's only a class available on Monday and Wednesday evenings. I quickly signed up for the class as I know I can still drop it a month before as long as I have not paid for it. 

At the same time, I attended the ACTA briefing session, which just gives an overview of what ACTA is about.

We began our class on the 13 May 2015 (Wednesday). There are 3 modules in all. And our trainer for the first 3 modules is Rhonny Chan. Rhonny is truly an amazing trainer and it is our good fortunate to have such an amazing trainer for learners who want to be trainers. The class started with this facilitation technique called Hello! 

We have Rhonny below talking to us on a fine Saturday morning.

It is after the first 2 sessions where I found out that ACTA is not just any other trainer course. It gave me a total mindset change that training is: trainer speak, students listen. ACTA introduces to me the concept of adult learners and how we can cater our delivery best to adult learners. Another important areas is adult learners learn differently, it's different from school learning where trainer speak and students listen. The adult students themselves have much to share. 

In Module 1, we learned many of the Adult Learning Principles, on how to understand learner's profile, the adult theories, strategies to help adult learn and role as a trainer. Moving on to Module 2, we touch on the method in designing a lesson plan and how we can go about creating active learning environment. Module 3 is all about practice and how we applied what we have learned. 

The main deliverables for the course are ePortfolio entries where we have to reflect what we have learned and how do we plan to apply them in our workplace.

Throughout the course, we have many opportunities to be engaged in different activities, such as building the tallest tower below. 

Here I am conducting a facilitation class myself below.

At the end of Module 3 on the very last day, I got an award together with Tyrone for being winners for both Module 1 and Module 3.

Here is our group photo. The demographics of the class is amazing - high cognition.

On our last module before we have a one month break, we went for durian (Wang Zhong Wang) at Dempsey. 

We resumed class towards the end of July for Module 4 and Module 5. And we have a different trainer for Module 4 and 5. She is Ms. Kala as seen below. The next few photos are of us celebrating birthday for Candice.

One of the best takeaway from Module 4 is a greater understanding of WSQ framework. Now I understand the difference in quality of WSQ courses and non-WSQ courses. And have great appreciation for the government in trying to foster life-long learning.

After the module completion, I got a chance to apply my knowledge of WSQ by writing a letter of complain on behalf of my mum about a Approved Training Organization (ATO) to WDA.

Module 5 is mainly focus on Assessment and we are evaluated on how we go about doing facilitated assessment (face-to-face interview and role-play).

It has been a great ACTA experience. Below is our final group photo. Thanks to Weili for the great mooncakes. 

Application of facilitation techniques

On the 1st July, I was invited to conduct a New Employee Orientation. I immediately applied the '35' technique which I have learned and get the new hires involved and think through some definitions. 

ACTA V5 Module 1 Learning Experience

This is a walkthrough of my Module 1 so I can reference to it in the future. It has been slightly modified so it does not disclose company-related information and it has been structured into a more story flow.

Based on lessons from Module 1 thus far, I have learnt the different facilitation techniques, profiling of our learners, and the many adult learning theories: MK’ Andragogy & Self-Directed Learning, JM’s Transformational Learning, SB’s Critical Thinking, Gary Mitchell’s 10 Adult Learning Principles.

Faciliation Techniques
Previously, I learned training and facilitation techniques from my US counterparts which have a very interactive style of delivering the content. I related the techniques (meaningful learning) to what I have encountered previously by making a summary of it below:

a) Hello! - This is what we also typically use for ice-breaking. The main difference is we pair the learners up and have one learner introduce another learner.
b) Think Group Share - This is one of the most frequently used techniques when we break the students up into groups.
c) Jigsaw - See below 'Gallery Walk'
d) Gallery Walk - We used this together with Jigsaw where learners critique and evaluate the other learners project summary.
e) Critical Thinking - Have not used this technique
f) Peer Learning / Voting - We only use the voting technique when evaluating exercises in understanding their competency in them.

1. Target learners
In Module 1, we learned about 10 pertinent information of learner’s profile. From these, I find that the following are most applicable for use to profile the staff in my organisation.

a. The first is Job Categories because my company is a functionally-structured organization. The functional axis is stronger than its matrix and project teams. Understanding what job categories they belong will help ensure that relevant examples and functional alignments in the delivery of the training content. Within each functional category, there is the different position level. Depending on whether they belong to leadership, middle management or staff level, the learners profile will also be different. 

b. The second is Demographic. Due to the wide dispersion of our staff across different Asia Pacific sites, there are cultural understandings that we may need to consider. Lessons start-time and end-time varies across the countries, the delivery style also need to be varied where students in Japan are comfortable with a lecture-style approach while students in Australia require more hands-on.


c. The third is Attitude. It is important to understand why the students sign up for the courses in the first place. This is done through the pre-course survey and project team teleconference to understand why they signed up for the course. Courses that are enforced by supervisors will usually see less enthusiasm from the students compare to those who signed up base on their own initiative. There are also some students who are enthusiastically vocal which is good to tap on their enthusiasm to help raise the students’ interests. 

As can be seen from the photo below, attitude are largely influence by their value system. On top of their individual value system, there is also the company value system which all staff should also adhere to. 

2. Adult learning principles / theories
We learned from 4 theorists about adult learning principles

a. One that is most relevant to help learners in my organisation to achieve the learning outcomes is Malcom Knowles self-directed learning. Our company culture and values emphasizes on individualism and freedom. This builds on the premise that each individual will be accountable for their own growth while aligning with the overall company direction and vision. Building upon that, our Human Resource appraisal system has an individual development plan system where each one of us has to plan on how we plan to develop and grow our skills and experiences (Knowles' individuals diagnose their own learning needs, take initiative to find out what and how they want to learn, and formulate their own learning goals). This cycle will repeat itself every 4 months where the manager will review with the staff on their individual learning plans and whether it has been achieved. (Knowles' evaluate learning outcomes) The manager will provide guidance and coaching to staff that needs any help (Knowles' choose and implement appropriate learning strategies). Budget will be centrally allocated by the Human Resource department where staff can freely utilize the budget for any formal learnings which they have set themselves to do. Learnings are not restricted to just formal courses but are allocated base on actual doing (70%) and via courses (30%). The Human Resource department at the end of each year will collate on the learning aspiration which each staff set up to do. And will source for common courses which the staff has set their targets on, examples such as Office suite of productivity courses (Knowles' identify the human support and material resources for learning). 

In class, we discussed about Malcom Knowles by sorting out play cards below and did a flipchart exercise.  



b. The other is Stephen Brookfield’s Critical Thinking. This is part of our focus on Continuous Improvement where at its core are Lean and Six Sigma principles towards problem solving. All staff are expected to be proficient in problem saving which start off with identifying a problem or opportunity to solve (event trigger), thereafter they need to analyse the current state (appraisal), moving into future state and deliverables (exploration and develop alternative perspective), before finally moving into the implementation phase (integrate).

In class, we discussed about Critical Thinking by sorting out play cards below and did a flipchart exercise.

3. Andragogy and Pedagogy

Further, learning principles differ between adults and children and defined as andragogy and pedagogy respectively. Amongst these, I have noted 3 main observations when I deliver training in my organisation.

a. One of these includes not knowing when to apply on the training received. Only a few learners were able to indicate on when they are able to apply what was taught in their day to day work. The rest of the learners require additional guidance on when to apply in their day to day work and require additional guidance.

b. Some of the learners in the US are driven to attend classes’ according to directive from their supervisors. It has been observed that classes consisting of staff from the same department due to the directive are generally less enthusiastic. They are not motivated to attend the classes.

c. As mentioned in point 1, a number of training requires more guidance and directives. The learners seem to be exhausted from the work or they are using lessons time to take a break away from work. A comfort zone seems to be developed from sitting in class and just listening to the lecturer.

In class, the differences between andragogy and pedagogy was explained to us below. 

4. Catering to different learning styles

We learned the different learning styles from Dun and Dun’s VATK or Visual, Auditory, Tactile and Kinaesthetic. 

a. For people who are visual, I will employ the following learning strategies of using diagrams, movie clips and key points on powerpoint presentation. The reasons are visual-oriented learning style people learn better and faster through the content they see through their eyes. Utilizing modern audio-visual technology and information technology, the most common form of deliveries is via powerpoint presentation, with strong diagrammatic representations in there. At regular intervals, more complex communications can be presented through movie clips (sometimes stream off YouTube)

b. Next for people who are auditory, I will employ the learning strategies of using verbal instructions. The reasons are auditory-oriented learning style people learn better and faster through content they received through their ears. It is through this opportunity that I can relate the content and reinforce the content with examples and stories to further strengthen their understanding.

c. Third for people who are tactile, I will employ the learning strategies of using their fingers to write, draw or touch the information that is being communicated to them. The reasons are tactile-oriented learning style people learn better when their hands move while the information is being processed. Tactile people can be seen in classes when they flip their pens while listening or notes are deliberately written in their books. 

d. Finally for people who are kinaesthetic, I will employ the learning strategies of engaging them via experiences such as practices, role play or peer teaching. The reasons are kinaesthetic-oriented learning style people learn better and faster through experiencing ‘doing it first’, having a hands-on approach towards learning.

Below is an image of our class learning styles. All the learners either fall under Auditory or Tactile learning style. We will learn best when the trainer explains verbally to us on the content, using videos or sharing on the best approach to learn easily. 

5. Barriers to learning

In my organisation, the most common barriers faced by learners are ‘Do not have the time’ and ‘Unfamiliar with how to apply what they have learnt '. 

Reasons being there’s a very strict control on hiring of staff globally, as a result, each staff need to cover a few roles concurrently. On top of that, there’s also an equal emphasis of work-life balance, the evenings and weekends are spent with family instead of on work (contrast that to Japanese-culture organizations). The delivery contents for Project Management and Six Sigma that we follow are align with corporate standard materials which are mainly theory and engineering focused. The Asia Pacific staffs are mainly sales offices, thus they find difficulty in bridging between what was taught and how they can apply in their daily work. 

Some methods to overcome them are as what our CEO has mentioned in the 2015 corporate video is “How can we be more effective in our work.” There is a need to relook at our organizational processes and responsibilities to review on how we can do work more effective, thus be able to free up time to learn and in turn improve the productivity in work. To do that, we will have to deliver our content in a more relevant way.

A number of barriers to learning was discussed in class below. 

6. Wlodkowski’s Motivational Framework

Wlodkowski's 4 foundational principles of motivation were explained to us in class. The picture below shows what the main motivation principles. 

When I'm conducting training, I am more inclined to employ Inclusion and Competence. This is because the learners are able to share their considerable experiences with the rest of the class. It allows students from other functional areas in the company to also understand the experiences of working in another department. An important element for my learners is how they can improve the work they are doing through the training sessions. Many of the learners explained that they have too much work to do and there’s not enough time. If the training is able to help them conduct their work more effectively, that will be of great interests to them.

7. Retention Strategies

In my observation, there are a good number of retention strategies to help staff in my organisation to recall and apply their learning.

a. Of these, the first is Organization. I find the first to be of particular importance to my organization due to the values it expounds – individualism and freedom. As such, information and content might get a bit disorganized sometimes. The act of sorting out information and relating how they all link together will strengthen the learners’ ability to link seemingly independent content together.

b. Rehearsal is the next important point. We as adults’ learners get bombarded with lots of information both online and with fellow colleagues. The importance of each content is diluted due to the vast amount of information. The only way to distinguish normal information from important must remember and know points are to keep repeating the message.

c. Meaningful Learning is the final retention strategies in which learning do not stop in the classroom. But it continues via a quarterly online forum where new applications from the learners are shared with other learners in this Community of Practice.

We walked through 6 factors that contribution to retention below and using the I MPROVE method, it will easily allow us to map the words out. 

Continuing with the second segment of Module 1, we touched on the professional roles and moral obligations of trainers as well as the difference between them. 6 common ethical issues were highlighted and we were guided through a 5-step process in managing them.  

1. Being a professional trainer

In my organisation, a professional trainer is deemed as someone who has experience in
a) The subject of delivery (offer knowledge and expertise), so they are able to deliver the content base on their actual experience and they do not have to spend as much time reading up the content before hand.

b) Able to communicate the content with clarity and is this is an important prerequisite due to the multinational cross-cultural nature of the company. The message need to be communicated across consistently. 

c) They need to show enthusiasm in the content they are delivering (be open and approachable). It is because there is a cultural perception in the company that trainers from the US are enthusiastic and able to bring up the interests of the learners. The trainers need to be able to relate interesting anecdotes and stories to captivate the learners, and thereby creating a conducive learning environment for learners. 

In addition, the moral obligations expected are

a) Ensuring safety and well-being of the learners. As trainers, we should also check the training facility to ensure that the learning environment is safe for the learners. An example of which at the start of a class, trainers will need to explain on the emergency evacuation route from the training room to the learners.

b) The second moral obligation is to be culturally sensitive to the learners in each country. The speed and interaction with the students in each country varies. In China and Japan, the students are less out-spoken and thus are more willing to engage in lecture-style delivering. While India, Australia and Singapore can be more interactive and driven from students.

c) The last moral obligation is to give due credit to the quotes, delivery style or unique perspectives that are shared by different trainers and learners. This is in appreciation to the efforts and creativity that the respective trainers and learners contributed to the training.

In class, we learnt about 35 for the first time. And almost everyone come to the same conclusion on what is meant by Professional Role and what is Moral Obligations in less than 10 words as seen below. 

The qualities of professional role is again emphasized to us via play cards.  

2. Common ethical dilemmas

Of all the ethical dilemmas as seen in the image below that we have learnt in class, the 2 most common issues that could potentially happen in my organisation are

a) Learner-trainer relationship - It is because the learners are also fellow colleagues with the trainer. The learners maybe in a more senior position than the trainer or in other work context, the role of the learner-trainer may havw swap. Thus it is sometimes difficult to maintain professional learner-trainer relationships.

b) The second issue is course attendance. As courses are typically held in the office, learners may arrive back late to class after breaks due to the demand of their work. They will miss out on the content that was delivered and may not be proficient in some contents which they have missed out.

Of these, I will choose one of the ethical dilemma to resolve using the 5-Step Ethical Decision Making Framework as follows:

Step 1:Ethical issue identified is a) learner-trainer relationship

Step 2:It arises because learners are also fellow colleagues. The learners themselves maybe in a more senior position or there are cross dependency with the work they are doing.

Step 3: It is a training environment where I am the main facilitator and I have expertise in certain areas which I could share with them. Even though the learners may come from different departments or different positions, in class all learners should be regarded to be equal. The alternative actions chosen should be Rights approach and Fairness / Justice Approach. These two approaches are chosen because all the learners attend the course, sacrificing their time, is to learn and bring back what was taught. And as learners in classroom context, a meritocratic approach should be taken in evaluating the learners.

Step 4: On the first day of the training delivery, the context and mindset should be set right. This can be piloted in one of the shorter duration courses (2-days or 3-days long). The trainer will explain on the context and mindset so the learners can understand.

Step 5: After the training, conduct an After Action Review to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach. Conduct a survey with the learners to gauge their perception.

3. My own CET Professional Values and Ethics

After reflecting on my ACTA learning, I find that the 2 most applicable values and ethics to me as a Continuing Education and Training (CET) Professional (as seen in the picture below) are:

a) Aware - As an in-house trainer communicating with learners from India, China, Japan, Australia and Singapore, there is a need to be aware of the diverse cultural backgrounds. At the sametime, I have to explain and align them to the company mission and strategies. Thus the 'Aware' value is most applicable in my context.

b) Innovative - As someone who drives Continuous Improvement and Excellence mindset in the company, I find 'Innovative' value to resound closely with my area of work. The way learners learn and the way trainers deliver the training need to be constantly improved each time it is done. 

Reflection-On-Action

After completing Module 1, my most significant take-away is the exposure to the different facilitation techniques. I'm amazed on how the modules are delivered almost in an entirely facilitation-driven manner. Prior to each lesson, the trainer will need to spend a lot of time in preparing for a facilitation-centered class. At the same time, there is a need to understand the learners profile and how the trainer can best structured the lessons to their profile.