Sogol Fathian

Videos

  • Is it all or nothing really?

    I’m watching a series of lectures on how to start a Start Up and on topic of ‘Culture and Hiring’ two themes keep coming up again and again. Take a look yourself (I’m particularly intrigued by min 22:01 onward)

    and this one (again min 17:57 onward)

    So as I understand it the emphasis are:

    • In order to have a successful start-up, founders need to go through a gruelling hiring process and select only die-hard fan. These chosen people are so dedicated that when the time comes to choose between work and seeing their family or work and their health, (you guessed it) they choose work!!
    • Hire super-hero! (those with “ninja” skill-set, “rock star” caliber, “gurus” ). Hire best of the breed, world-class people. Those who come on the job, ready to solve only hard problems.

    I may be naive but I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s because I’m a mom to a 3-year old so it’s incomprehensible to me to choose between a working on a fantastic job in startup or corporate world and not seeing my daughter for 3 years! If you have started a family, in my book there are very few jobs that worth this type of sacrifice (I would seriously consider if I was offered to be an astronaut or a researcher working on a cure for Ebola!) but for every thing else the answer is plain and simple: NO!! If asked whether or not I accept the best opportunity in Airbnb on my last year of life (or even last 10 years of my life) the answer it: Go f#$@ yourself!! What type of flawed question is this? to prove that I have buy-in to Airbnb?

    Why is the picture is always painted as black and white? Why the narrative is not some thing like I can work in a company like Basecamp have a great impact and also enjoy spending time my family?? Why can’t I work somewhere like Balsamiq without being a ninja, rockstar or a unicorn for that matter??!

    I’m all for hiring passionate and hardworking people but I also believe not every one needs to be a super star from and solve hard problem. Set up reasonable expectation and give people room to grow, and you’ll be amazed how ordinary people can change the world.

  • Time Management

    Recently I’ve become very interested in topic Time Management. It all started with Randy Pausch fantastic video which I stumbled upon a few years. It you haven’t watch it you must:

    Although a cliché, time is really all we have and if we want to accomplish ideas we dream of, we have to make time for them.  I noticed that if I don’t manage my time, it’s so easy let the ‘busy-ness’ of daily life brush aside all the stuff that I want to do. I love this quote from him:

    You dont find time for important things, you make it

    I made a few progresses in the following fronts:

    • Managing email: I’m not at in-box zero level but on most days all emails in my inbox can fit above the fold
    • Reading, learning about time management: I read “Eat that Frog” and I’m reading 168 Hours. Both are filled with practical techniques on how to focus on what matters.
    • Using Pomodoro: I started to practice using pomodoro and it definitely helps me reduce frequency of interruptions and increase my focus. But I still haven’t mastered it yet.

    And these are changes that I’m tracking in my daily routine:

    I delve deeper into this very interesting and relevant topic again soon.