IzzyTakesOnOz

September 22, 2010

Tumblr time!

For those who are following me here, I have moved to tumblr. Here's where all the magic happens: http://izzytakesonoz.tumblr.com/

Note: This MIGHT have something to do with the fact that John Mayer also uses tumblr

September 5, 2010

The mismatch between what science knows and what business does- A talk by Dan Pink

If you get the chance, I recommend watching this video:

Some of the great points made in the video are:

- Rewards and punishments only work for a small number of tasks involving simple sets of rules and a clear goal to reach / involving only mechanical skill - in this case, rewards work because they narrow our focus and concentrate our minds

- Expectedly, the higher the pay, the better the performance here

- However, once the tasks called for even rudimentary cognitive skill, a larger rewards actually led to poorer performance

- In fact, these rewards often destroy creativity, so the secret to high performance isn't rewards and punishments, it is rather those unseen intrinsic motivators and doing things that matter

- Dan Pink suggested that we use a new building block involving: AUTONOMY, MASTERY and PURPOSE

- With regards to autonomy, self-direction works better- so in a business setting, putting money off the table and giving people autonomy (over their time and such)

- He talks about a model called ROWE (results only work environments) that's created by 2 American consultants and is in place in about a dozen companies around North America. In this model, people don't have schedules. As long as they get their work done, how they do it and when they do it is totally up to them. This actually has led to increased productivity, better worker satisfaction and lower rates of turnover.

- He makes a final proof with this case by using the Wikipedia model vs the Encarta model- where Wikipedia was so much more successful

September 2, 2010

So say goodbye to love, and hold your head up high.

The lyrics to City and Colour's song "Waiting" is especially haunting as it seems to depict the feelings of someone who is depressed:

A coma might feel better than this,
attempting to discover where to begin.
You're weighed down, you're full of something.
Of sickness, and desertion.
You're weighed down, you're full of something,
you're underneath it all.

So say goodbye to love,
and hold your head up high.
There's no need to rush
we're all just waiting, waiting to die.

Learning about humility.

I think it's very easy when you are going into a prestigious profession to identify too strongly with your success and your achievements. In my case, it's medicine. (A medical student blog that I won't divulge made me reflect on this point because it was difficult to see the real person behind the doctor role.)

Michael Phelps, who took home 8 gold medals- the most anyone have ever won in an Olympic game, gave this advice. How humble of him to say this!

The article can be found here if you are interested: http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2008/08/22/michael-phelps-top-5-fundamentals-for-pulling-off-the-impossible/

I remember someone giving me the advice that being a doctor is a job and that it should not define who you are as an individual.

At the end of the day, I think the most important thing to remember is that you are the same kind of person before all of this happened, and simply remembering this will remind you to practice humility daily.