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Howdy !
It's me Scarlett !
This week we have 5 topics.
◈ Social issue : Students living in nursing homes - a solution to our ageing populations?
--------------------- Why everyone benefits from having friends of all ages
--------------------- 5 Reasons Why You Should Volunteer
◈ Tech issue : Floating Paris gym uses human energy to sail down the Seine River
With luv
Scarlett
Students living in nursing homes -
a solution to our ageing populations?
Written by Johanna Harris/ Senior Lecturer in English, University of Exeter
Published Wednesday 30 November 2016
In today’s society both young and old increasingly find themselves living in a bubble of like-minded and similar-aged peers. This is especially true of university students who leave home at 18 to live with people of the same age – who have quite often had similar life experiences.
Given this, the report that a Dutch nursing home has established a programme providing free rent to university students in exchange for 30 hours a month of their time “acting as neighbours” with their aged residents is unusual.
The programme has seen students in their early twenties sharing lives with residents in their eighties and nineties. As part of their volunteer agreement, the students also spend time teaching residents new skills – like how to email, use social media, Skype, and even graffiti art.
Reducing loneliness
The incentive behind Humanitas Deventer’s “exchange” programme is the research base that shows that reducing loneliness and social isolation improves well-being and extends life expectancy in the elderly.
And though research on the impact on students seems yet to be explored, from my own experience of running a similar project at the University of Exeter, I know that it is overwhelmingly positive – giving young people a sense of connection with older generations, and significantly increasing the likelihood that they will continue to volunteer after university.
Since 2011 student volunteers from the university’s Department of English and Film donate their time to bring conversation, literature, and friendship to the residents of over ten residential care homes across the city. And since the project’s inception it is estimated that around 250 active volunteers have reached over 500 elderly residents – at least half of whom have dementia.
Reading between the lines
The Care Homes Reading Project draws upon the natural skill set of its target volunteer community – which includes a love of reading and an understanding of the power of literature to impact lives positively.
Research shows reading poetry with dementia sufferers – many who learned poetry by heart when they were younger – brings comfort and reassurance through hearing and reciting familiar verses.
Image: Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Global Research
Rhythm and rhyme bring a sense of order and predictability and, as this project has seen first hand, poetry can spark memories previously unknown to carers and even to family members.
Residents regain a sense of themselves as “a whole person, past and present”, as one care home manager put it. And in one brilliant example, a 100-year-old resident found a shared play-reading session with one student volunteer revived long-buried leading-lady speeches once delivered when she was an actress.
Shared passions
Our experience in Exeter has shown that students can help to supplement the quality of care in homes by providing relief for overstretched staff. And residents typically respond with enthusiasm to the novelty of younger visitors and to the creativity students bring to their sessions.
Residents are also encouraged to be creative by writing their own poetry. And English students offer expertise in selecting and discussing appropriate literature, and show sensitivity to the emotional response that language can have.
Many students find the visits often evolve into wider-ranging conversations and discoveries of other activities that bring happiness and interest to the residents. One student now not only visits a care home to read but also to hold ballet classes. And in the same home other residents have made use of students’ language skills, holding French and German conversation sessions.
Volunteer students look forward to their weekly visits. They find it is a space they can share poetry and stories – away from the demands of assessments. And many have said that it reminds them why they chose to study English literature in the first place.
Students also learn how past generations read the very same poems in surprisingly different ways. They see first hand how literature stays with us throughout life. And how the experience of shared reading helps to overcome the social and ideological disconnect between generations that plagues contemporary society.
Breaking boundaries
The moral health of a society is plainly visible in the way it treats its most vulnerable members, especially the aged. The government recently announced that universities will be required to demonstrate their commitment to enhancing social mobility by establishing or supporting schools, so why not also mobilise the resources universities offer to enhance opportunity and well-being at the other end of life’s spectrum?
The largest resource universities possess is the student body – a force with time, energy, few domestic responsibilities, and a desire to use their developing skills to make a positive difference in the local community.
Our reading project in care homes shows how both young and old can benefit from this type of arrangement. So just like the Dutch, it would be great if Universities in the UK could also look to reduce the cost of tuition fees or accommodation in exchange for meaningful social investment to get more people young and old spending time together.
Article source : https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/some-dutch-university-students-are-living-in-nursing-homes-this-is-why?utm_content=bufferfef38&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Why everyone benefits from having friends of all ages
30 Mar 2015
Why is it that our friends are often around the same age as us? It might seem easier to stick with your own generation but, says Eleanor Tucker, there’s a lot to be gained from friendships across the gap
Tonight, I’m going out with a close friend. I can’t wait; we always have those conversations that make you feel you’ve got things off your chest, but also learnt something new. That sounds serious. It’s not; we also invariably drink too much wine and have those big belly laughs that mean you wake up the next day smiling, wondering where that strange pain in your ribs came from.
But there are a few things that Katie and I don’t talk about. We never reminisce about the awful make-up we wore in the 1990s (brown lip liner? I went there). We don’t chat about gigs we went to as students (D-Ream, anyone?). And we won’t discuss how chunky our first mobile phone was (mine was the size of a breeze block). Because for Katie and I, there’s one thing that we don’t have in common at all: our age. Katie is 15 years younger than me. She was born the yearI was doing my GSCEs and learning the lyrics to ‘Buffalo Stance’. When I was losing my virginity, she was moving onto solids. And when I was leaving home, she was learning to walk.
This got me thinking. Most of my friends are the same age as me, and at a similar life stage – which has obvious advantages. But when I see Katie, I get a completely different view on life, and it’s refreshing. As much as I like talking about my children and their teachers/head lice/ refusal to eat cauliflower, I also like that fact that Katie, who’s in her twenties and single, would find these topics dull. So we end up discussing broader subjects. Fewer head lice, more politics. Less cauliflower, more mindfulness.
A different perspective
I asked life coach Sloan Sheridan-Williams about it, and she explained to me that we tend to gravitate towards certain types of personalities within our own age group who we’ve grown to feel comfortable with over time. ‘But the benefit of shifting focus and cultivating friends from different generations is that they can help you to see situations from a different perspective. Older friends can contribute their experience, whereas younger friends can be more curious and confident in their approach.’
i wonder how much experience I bring to my friendship with Katie. Rosemary, a Bowen therapist in her early fifties who has a friend, Angela, 31, is confident of that role. ‘I met Angela at just the right time, when I was helping her children with the Bowen Technique therapy that I practise. I’d drifted away from some of my friends of the same age when they’d had children and I hadn’t. I was busy with my career and travelling, while they had young families and were occupied with nappies and school runs.
‘Now, with Angela, I find that our lives are so different that we marvel at each other’s blessings. She lives for her family; I love my work and my freedom. Her children are the age my grandchildren would be if I’d had children of my own, so I am aware that she is filling a gap in my life, but I think I’m doing the same with her. I bring some sanity; a voice of reason and experience.’
But what is it like to be on the receiving end of that kind of experience? Gemma is 25 and one of her best friends, Delia, is 52. They met initially when Gemma became friends with Delia’s son at university. ‘I met Delia the day I moved into halls – she was helping her son move in. To start with, we’d chat when she visited him, but gradually, we started spending time together. Seven years on, we’re close friends – we’ve even been on holiday together. Obviously there are things I wouldn’t do with her, like go clubbing, but that doesn’t bother me, as I can do that kind of thing with other friends.
‘Delia is young in her mindset – I never feel like I’m talking to someone more than twice my age. She’s been welcomed into my family, and has even been with me to Ireland to visit them. All my younger friends love her, too. But there’s no denying people think our situation is weird and don’t understand it. I’ve given up trying to explain it now. It just works for us.’
Age difference stigma
Not everyone gets it. It seems strange for there to be a stigma attached to the age of our friends, but it does exist. Sheridan-Williams explains that in Eastern culture, the practice of having a mentor or guru is historically more prevalent, especially spiritually, as is the expectation on young family members to look after older relatives often in the same family home.
‘But in the West, from a young age, we are encouraged to make friends with those we go to school with and friendships in modern society stick to this template as we get older,’ she points out. ‘This can mean that younger people can miss out on the ability older people often have to put things in perspective and shift the focus away from sweating the small stuff to concentrate on satisfying more meaningful emotional needs, like contribution, significance and connection.’
My friend Carol understands better than most how rewarding a friendship with someone older can be: she's 39 and Ian's 83. He lives next door to her and they became friends in the winter of 2009 when she was stuck in with a newborn baby, and he was housebound because of snowy weather. ‘I would do a bit of shopping for him, take him round homemade cakes and just hang out in his cosy back room. Gradually, he stopped being my “elderly neighbour” and became a friend.’
Carol is aware that people assume Ian is her grandfather when they go out together. ‘I haven’t had grandparents around for a while, and nor has my husband, so in a way Ian does fill that gap – he’s like family, but without the baggage. But we aren’t friends through duty. I genuinely love spending time with him and there is a good balance – I help him out and he helps us out.
‘I love knowing that Ian is there. He is thoughtful and generous and if I give myself a hard time about something, he always sticks up for me. He is funny and sharp, and passionate about music, which I am too. A lot of my friends are mums with young children, so I suppose Ian and I just talk about different things. But in essence, the friendship is the same – we enjoy each other’s company. I can’t think of any disadvantages, only that he probably won’t be in my life as long as I would like.’
In a society that needs, urgently, to break down barriers between ages, I reckon our friendships might be a good place to start. I can recommend getting a Katie in your life – and I’m trying to work out how I can get myself an Ian.
Article source : https://www.psychologies.co.uk/why-everyone-benefits-having-friends-all-ages
5 Reasons Why You Should Volunteer
You should make volunteering a part of your everyday life.
Posted Mar 12, 2014/ Dawn C. Carr MGS, Ph.D. Dawn C. Carr MGS, Ph.D.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics just released the 2013 volunteering rates for the United States, showing a decline to 25.4 percent, the lowest rate since the survey was first administered in 2002. These rates reflect adults in the US who spent as little as one hour volunteering for an organization in the last 12 months. Adults who regularly volunteer make up only a small fraction of this group. Some suggest that the decline in volunteering is due in part to the struggling economy; people are focusing on getting and maintaining adequate paid work and don’t feel they have time to think about unpaid work. However, volunteering isn’t something to put off until you have extra time and money. There are numerous reasons why the returns far outweigh the time you invest, especially during lean times. I’ll point out just five reasons you should consider making volunteering a part of your every day life.
1. Volunteers live longer and are healthier.
Volunteers are happier and healthier than non-volunteers. In fact, during later life, volunteering is even more beneficial for one's health than exercising and eating well. Older people who volunteer remain physically functional longer, have more robust psychological well-being, and live longer. However, older people who volunteer are almost always people who volunteered earlier in life. Health and longevity gains from volunteering come from establishing meaningful volunteer roles before you retire and continuing to volunteer once you arrive in your post-retirement years.
2. Volunteering establishes strong relationships.
Despite all of the online connections that are available at our fingertips, people are lonelier now than ever before. Indeed, a 2010 AARP study reported that prevalence of loneliness is at an all time high, with about one in three adults age 45 or older categorized as lonely. Online connections, while useful for maintaining existing relationships, are not very helpful in establishing lasting, new ones. Working alongside people who feel as strongly as you do about supporting a particular cause creates a path to developing strong relationships with others. It isn’t just beneficial for making new friendships either. Volunteering alongside other members of your family strengthens family bonds based in “doing” your values. And these benefits have a ripple effect. Children who volunteer with their parents are more likely to become adults who volunteer.
3. Volunteering is good for your career.
People who volunteer make more money, partially because the relationships people create while volunteering can be leveraged for financial benefit. In 1973, a John’s Hopkins Sociologist named Mark Granovetter described the important role of “weak ties.” Weak ties are those relationships that are outside of one’s close-knit social network. These relationships are important because they provide access to new information and opportunities. People in your close network provide redundant information—they are already participating in the same kinds of activities and know the same people. Volunteering has long been viewed as a way to create new “weak tie” connections that lead to career opportunities. Volunteering in your current career industry—or an area you’d like to transition into—is an especially effective way to leverage social connections for career gain.
4. Volunteering is good for society.
Many businesses, and almost all mission-driven organizations, are successful only if they maintain a strong volunteer workforce. In fact, places like museums, social service organizations, and faith-based organizations often rely on more volunteers than paid workers to meet their goals and fulfill their mission. These businesses are committed to doing good things for society. They pick up the pieces where government programs leave off, and by volunteering for these organizations, you participate in helping our society meet the needs of people from all walks of life. For example, The Borgen Project, a campaign committed to addressing the problem of global poverty, relies on volunteers who commit several hours a week for a period of six months or longer, to help with raising awareness, fundraising and mobilization of human and fiscal resources (http://borgenproject.org/). With the help of volunteers, the Borgen Project has been very successful in raising awareness and influencing legislation to actively make positive changes that directly affect the lives of the world’s poorest citizens.
5. Volunteering gives you a sense of purpose.
Although it is not well-understood why volunteering provides such a profound health benefit, a key factor is assumed to be that volunteering serves to express and facilitate opportunities to carry out one’s sense of purpose. The very nature of volunteering means choosing to work without being paid for it. As a result, people choose to spend their time on issues they feel strongly about. If you are greatly concerned about the treatment and well-being of animals, for example, volunteering at an animal shelter will help you address a social problem that is meaningful to you.
If you aren’t currently volunteering, and three in four of us aren’t, there are many resources online that can help you find an opportunity. Committing even as little as one hour a week can have a profound benefit on your own life, and the organizations that rely on such help will be able to thrive. Check out www.volunteermatch.org, www.serve.gov, www.allforgood.org, www.idealist.org, or go directly to an organization that you support and ask them what you can do to help. You’ll get more back than you ever imagined.
Article source : https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-third-age/201403/5-reasons-why-you-should-volunteer
<Questions>
Q1. When do you feel lonely? How do you manage your mental status?
Q2. Are you sociable or solitary? In other words, do you prefer your solitude and long walks alone or getting together with friends and doing things within a group?
*** sociable : (of people) enjoying spending time with other people: gregarious 사교적인
- ex) She's a sociable child who'll talk to anyone.
- ex) I'm not feeling very sociable this evening.
- ex) We had a very sociable weekend (= we did a lot of things with other people).
- ex) The hours are not very sociable in this job (= you have to work early, late, at the weekend, etc.).
Q3. How actively do you enjoy social life? What kinds of social activity are you involved in?
*** social : [only before noun] connected with activities in which people meet each other for pleasure 사교상의
- ex) a busy social life
- ex) Team sports help to develop a child's social skills (= the ability to talk easily to other people and do things in a group).
- ex) Social events and training days are arranged for all the staff.
- ex) Join a social club to make new friends.
Q4. Which one do you prefer between having friends around same age as you and having friends of different generation?
Q5. Do you have a mentor or a guru from different generation with different perspectives who advise you when you have a difficulty?
Q6. According to an article, the moral health of a society is plainly visible in the way it treats its most vulnerable members, especially the aged. In this perspective, how would you describe the moral health status of Korean society?
Q7. Do we have generation exchange program like Dutch to tackle the age divide? If your school offer you a program which bridge the gap between student and aged people to understand and exchange different experiences, would you apply for it?
Q8. What is the benefits from having friends of all ages? How about benefits from having friends of similar aged group?
Q9. Are you a volunteer? What kind of volunteer work do you do? What is the benefits of doing a volunteer work?
Q10. How often do you share time together with your grand parents? What activity do you enjoy the most with them?
How Valentine's Day is celebrated around the world
Sarah Schmalbruch, INSIDER/ 14th Feb., 2017
The INSIDER Summary:
• Valentine's Day is not celebrated the same all over the world.
• The infographic below highlights how love is celebrated in 14 different countries.
• While women buy men gifts in Japan, women in South Africa wear the name of the person they're interested in on their sleeve.
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Not everyone celebrates Valentine's Day with flowers, cards, or homemade treats.
The infographic below highlights how love is celebrated in 14 countries around the world.
In Japan, it's customary for women to give gift to men (and not the other way around), while in South Africa, women literally wear their hearts on their sleeves by pinning the name of the person they're interested in on their sleeve.
Keep scrolling for more traditions.
Article source: http://uk.businessinsider.com/valentines-day-traditions-2017-2?utm_content=buffer946ba&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
<Questions>
Q1. What is Valentine's Day?
Q2. How do you celebrate Valentine's Day in your country?
Q3. What do you usually do for Valentine's Day? What did you do on that day this year?
Q4. On Valentine's Day, is it more common for men to give gifts to women or for women to give gifts to men?
Q5. What is your Valentine's dream? If you could do anything or receive anything on Valentine's Day, what would it be?
Q6. Do you think Valentine's Day makes single people feel lonely?
Q7. Do you think Valentine's Day is too commercial or consumerist?
Floating Paris gym uses human energy
to sail down the Seine River
Posted 2 months ago by Jessica Brown in tech
Imagine your gym workout didn’t just fuel your day, but also helped fuel a boat down a river.
Well, this is the idea behind the floating gym, designed by Italian architects Carlo Ratti Associati.
The Paris Navigating Gym will be powered down the Seine River by human energy, as people exercise.
The glass bubble design ensures that gym-goers get a good look at the Eiffel Tower as they toil away.
The “human-powered Gym Boat” is 20 metres long, and can hold up to 45 people. It features bikes and cross trainers, and displays realtime information about the Seine’s environmental conditions.
This is how it's put together:
The exercise machines are linked to an inverter, which convert the pedal power into electricity. This energy powers the device, and the energy generated by the system (machine and user) then power the gym boat. Like this:
Carlo Ratti, founder of the architecture firm behind the scheme, said:
The Paris Navigating Gym investigates the potential of harnessing human power.
It’s fascinating to see how the energy generated by a workout at the gym can actually help to propel a boat. It provides one with a tangible experience of what lies behind the often abstract notion of ‘electric power'.
Best of all – the gym will be open-top in summer.
Article source : https://www.indy100.com/article/human-powered-gym-boat-river-seine-paris-7473406
<Questions>
Q1. Do you exercise on a regular basis? What kinds of exercise do you enjoy?
Q2. How do you think about the concept of 'Floating Paris gym'? Do you think this could be workable in Korea as well?
Q3. If you can enjoy scenery while you are exercising, how much would you pay for that facility?
Most young people around the world are happy,
but the happiest places are not where you'd think
Written by Alex Gray/ Formative Content/ Published Thursday 9 February 2017
Most young people around the world are happy.
Nearly seven out of ten (68%) young people across the world said that they were happy with their lives, but there are wide variations between countries.
Those living in more prosperous countries are actually not as happy as those living in low to middle income countries.
The findings come as a result of a new study, Generation Z: Global Citizenship Survey – What the World’s Young People Think and Feel, which was based on research carried by the Varkey Foundation, a non-profit focused on improving the lives of disadvantaged children through education.
They asked 20,000, 15-21 year-olds, known as 'Generation Z', in 20 countries whether they were happy, what made them happy, and what their thoughts were on a wide range of topics.
The young people who said they were happiest live in developing countries. Indonesia (90%) emerged as the happiest, Nigeria (78%) came in second and India (72%) took third place.
Young people in developed nations were the least happy. France (57%), the UK (57%) Australia (56%) and Japan (28%) ranked well down the happiness scale among the 20 countries surveyed.
The report also found that Generation Z gets less happy as it gets older. Fifty-two per cent of 19-21 year-olds said they were happy as opposed to 68% of 15 to 16 year-olds.
There’s also a gender imbalance. Young women were less likely to say they were happy (56%) than young men (62%).
Can you measure happiness?
The survey asked respondents to answer the question: “Taking everything into consideration to what extent are you happy or unhappy with your life at the moment?” And their answers could range between 1. Very happy and 5. Very unhappy.
But happiness is a subjective measure, and it's difficult to record consistently across different cultures. Some psychologists have questioned the accuracy of this method, given that our view of our lives can be transient and highly subjective.
Happiness can be influenced by genetics, personality and even luck. Measuring happiness is a relatively young discipline and, clearly, is far from perfect.
That said, the report then goes on to ask young people what factors were the most important to their happiness.
What makes them happy?
The least important factor to young people was their faith or commitment to religion, less than half (44%) said this was important to their happiness.
The most important was being healthy, both physically and mentally, with 84% saying their health was the most valuable asset they had.
The other top-scoring factor was having good relationships with friends (91%) and family (92%), and being fulfilled in study or at work (89%). Money was also important (85%).
As you might expect, there were variations in the priorities of young people in different countries.
Commitment to religious beliefs was much more important in Indonesia (93%) and Nigeria (86%), for instance, than it was in Japan (9%) or France (18%).
Having enough money was more important to South Koreans (90%) than it was to Argentinians (73%).
The biggest worry is extremism (83%) and the rise of global terrorism, closely followed by conflict and war (81%).
Generation Z has faith in the power of education with 80% saying it is a source of hope. It's no surprise then that the third biggest concern (69%) is the continued lack of access to education for children.
Climate change (66%) is another significant worry as is the risk of a global pandemic (62%)
Although the older generations worry about exposure to the internet and social media, the pace of technological change is of less concern to Generation Z. Only 30% said this was a worry.
Mapping a career path for Generation Z
When they were asked what was important in their current or future careers, young people globally said that developing skills was the most important factor (24%).
Pay came a close second (23%) followed by career progression (19%). Working for an organisation that makes a positive impact on the world was much less important to them (13%).
Becoming a celebrity and being famous was the least important, only 3% considered it a priority.
Global citizens
Generation Z, young people born between 1995 and 2001, are the first digital natives. For them the internet has been ever present. The first DVDs were released around the time of their birth. Facebook and the iPhone were launched when they were toddlers. Members of Generation Z are the first people who are likely to live to see the 22nd century.
The report argues that this is the first real generation of global citizens, and perhaps they would agree.
In the World Economic Global Shapers Survey, which looks at the opinions of 18-35 year olds, the majority felt that they were global citizens above all else.
Indeed, in the Varkey Foundation Survey more than two-thirds of young people (67%) globally think that making a wider contribution to society beyond themselves and their family is important.
Vikas Pota, the CEO of the Varkey Foundation believes the world will be in safe hands as Generation Z grows up and moves into leadership roles. Speaking on the publication of the report he said, “it is reassuring to know that in the minds of young people, global citizenship is not dead: it could just be getting started.
“At a time of nationalist and populist movements that focus on the differences between people, the evidence shows that young people – whatever their nationality or religion – share a strikingly similar view of the world."
Article source : https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/02/what-makes-young-people-happy-and-what-do-they-worry-about?utm_content=bufferf5343&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
<Questions>
Q1. Have you ever heard about the 'Generation Z'? What is the definition and characters of 'Generation Z'?
▶ Generation Z
Generation Z (also known as Post-Millennials, the iGeneration, Plurals or the Homeland Generation) is the demographic cohort after the Millennials. There are no precise dates for when the Gen Z cohort starts or ends; demographers and researchers typically use starting birth years that range from the mid-1990s to early 2000s, and as of yet there is little consensus about ending birth years.
A significant aspect of this generation is the widespread usage of the Internet from a young age. Members of Generation Z are typically thought of as being comfortable with technology, and interacting on social media websites for a significant portion of their socializing. Some commentators have suggested that growing up through the Great Recession has given the cohort a feeling of unsettlement and insecurity.
*** Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z
Q2. According to a survey, happiness level of Z generation in Korea is the lowest among 20 nations. Why young generations are unhappy in Korea?
Q3. Are you happy? What makes you happy?
Q4. If you set priorities with below items, what is your answer?
- Being healthy, both physically and mentally
- Keeping faith or commitment to religion
- Having good relationships with friends and family
- Being fulfilled in study or at work
- Having enough money to make my life comfortable
- Enjoying my social life or recreational time
Q5. What is your biggest worries currently? If you choose top 3 worries, what would them be?
- Extremism and the rise of global terrorism
- Conflict and war
- Continued lack of access to education for children.
- Climate change
- Risk of a global pandemic
- Internet and social media, the pace of technological change
Q6. What was important when you map your current or future career path? Please set the priority with below items.
- Skill upgrade
- Payment level
- Career progression
- Working for an organization that makes a positive impact on the world
- Becoming a celebrity and being famous
- Opportunity to travel and meet new people
Lessons from young people- via Jack Ma - on success at work
Written by Kathy Bloomgarden/ CEO, Ruder Finn/ Published Wednesday 15 February 2017
Women who aspire to reach the top of the corporate ladder work very hard to get there. I think the biggest misconception at this point is thinking they've made it when they reach a top role. Actually, the hard work is about to get even harder.
In today's world, keeping on a successful track requires constant innovation and relentless focus. It means continuously urging people out of their comfort zones and charting new territory. As Ruth Porat, chief financial officer of Alphabet, has said, "incremental innovation leads to irrelevance." More of the same isn't going to work in a world that is changing as fast as ours. You can't implement half-way.
The reality is that you will always be on the journey to success, and there is no destination where things get "easier." So, once you reach the top, how do you continue to succeed in a way that ensures you stay at the top?
This year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Alibaba Group, gave a framework for success that resonates with my thinking. He called it the 30/30/30 strategy. First, take a 30-year perspective (or longer); second, keep an eye on companies with 30 employees or less that are nimble and think out of the box; and third, look at the world through the lens of a 30-year-old, as this generation will build the future of business. This strategy holds many important lessons for women who want to reach the top:
▶Stay focused on the long-term vision
In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the accelerated pace of change can lead one to focus on making it through the next quarter, or even just the next 12 months. But according to Ma, the cycles of disruption run 50 years, and leaders need to keep an eye on where they want to be, maintaining a vision for the company across several decades of that cycle.
Leaders need to consider a 30-year time frame, understanding how their business will succeed as the landscape evolves. In the public relations world, we have to recognize that the traditional business model is changing. So I have focused our agency on transforming our business model. Having recently acquired a data analytics firm, we're more than ever underpinning our work with data-driven insights and ensuring that our communications efforts are built on powerful social platforms.
▶Watch smaller competitors
Ma urges leaders to look for disruptors by watching companies with fewer than 30 employees. The natural tendency is to watch your closest competitors, fighting for market share and an innovative edge. But it is often small, nimble innovators that jump ahead and surprise the market.
At Ruder Finn, our traditional competitors are no longer the ones that I benchmark against. Startups are emerging at a rapid pace, bringing new skills and ideas. It is now an embedded part of our company's strategy to interact and partner with startups in our ecosystem.
▶Think like a millennial
As Ma stated, millennials will be the builders of tomorrow. Approach your business as a 30-year-old would, and you will find new ways of thinking. I realized that I could expand my own scope by having a "reverse mentor," and for quite some time every morning I honed my storytelling capabilities with some of the smart millennials that are rising members of my team.
So, my advice for women is to understand that success is a moving target. Getting to the top brings along with it the responsibility of keeping your company on the success trajectory, which demands relentless focus, intense passion, and a constant drive to forge new and effective paths forward.
Article source : https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/02/lessons-from-young-people-via-jack-ma-on-success-at-work?utm_content=buffer59a9d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
<Questions>
Q1. What is the 30/30/30 strategy ?
Q2. What is your long-term goal?
Q3. What is your strategies to be competitive in your fields? And What efforts do you make for it?