This is a year-end personal reflection piece. The following five takeaways of mine are inherently backward-looking, but hopefully by examining the past I become more informed going forward.

#1 Think Independently

We giggle when watching lemmings do all kinds of funny things in a group together. But we are not that different — we humans are just as social species as lemmings are. As a general observation, we like people who are like us — a tendency which builds an intellectual echo chamber that confines and reinforces our thinking, making it less independent.

For example, if we frequent the same country club often, our views on many things will eventually converge with people who we hang out with at the club. In an echo chamber, we surrender a part of our intellectual agency in exchange for some mental comfort. In an echo chamber, we feel better and more confident because we know that our views are shared and supported by many people around us (and so, we must be right!).

When was the last time you voluntarily turned on a TV channel that broadcasts a view that is different from yours? When was the last time you proactively initiated conversations with people with different views?

To think independently, we should avoid forming strong opinions or making quick decisions because “my friends also like that idea.” Also, we should listen to people who think differently rather than cherry pick what goes into our ears.

#2 Think Scientifically

History makes quips from time to time. In 1793, England made a request to China to establish commercial relations. Emperor Qianlong wrote a letter in response. To quote the letter: “… our Celestial Empire possesses all things in prolific abundance and lacks no product within its own borders. There was therefore no need to import the manufactures of outside barbarians in exchange for our own produce.” We all know what happened in the following century between England and China.

To think scientifically means to develop thoughts on a foundation of objective facts rather than a foundation of subjective feelings and unfounded biases. Let facts lead us to conclusions, not the other way around. Unfortunately, people often fall in love with an idea first then find data to support that idea.

Thinking scientifically also requires us to analyze and learn from our own mistakes. Be courageous in recognizing the past; do not find excuses for our past mistakes; recognize we were wrong on them; learn from these mistakes so we can improve going forward. For the present, appoint a devil’s advocate to challenge our logic. It is better to appoint one early rather than wait until someone must speak out on their disagreements (usually this happens too late, and the damage is done).

To think scientifically is to self-examine our own thinking process — let me call it “to think about thinking.” One way to do it is to identify inconsistencies by recognizing incommensurate elements. For example, do we say A but do B? Did we say A yesterday but say B today? Are there double standards in our doings and sayings? Once inconsistencies are identified, we should grasp them firmly, understand why they are there and use the rationalization process that follows to refine our prior thoughts and beliefs so our thoughts can be reconciled, and our belief system becomes coherent.

#3 Technology/Data, A Secular Trend

Upon high school graduation in 2006, I almost chose computer science as my college major but I did not. These were my beliefs at that time: technology/data and everything it brought with were fads. Because they were fads, like other fashion trends, soon they would begin to wane. Therefore, I did not major in computer science.

Alas, I could not have been more wrong. The year 2006 turned out to be the first inning of cloud technology and first or second inning of Chinese Internet saga: Amazon AWS was launched in 2006; Uber was founded in 2009; WeChat was released in 2011.

Some two years after college graduation, the reality slapped my face so hard that I finally woke up. I came to the realization that if I do not know how to code or how to do data analytics, I might not have a job when I turn 30! That jolt brought me to night-school and various MOOCs to learn computer programming. Today, I am extremely fluent in financial data analytics and coding. I have coded multiple financial programs, each with thousands of lines of codes.

Largely due to new technologies, the world is evolving at an accelerated page. In the old days, being 10 or 20 years behind means you were using a slightly older radio than your neighbors — there was no serious repercussion for being an old-timer. Today, being 10 or 20 years behind means you are writing checks and your neighbors were scanning QR Codes on Alipay; you are hailing taxi with open arms and your friends are clicking Uber/Lyft with their fingertips. Many places have stopped accepting cash and many cities do not have conventional taxis anymore. As new technologies continue to emerge and the time spectrum continue to shrink, we can hardly afford to stand still and not evolve.

#4 Interpersonal Skills Should Not Be De-emphasized

Despite new technologies, most businesses remain people businesses. I believe it is still a valuable skill if one can read people’s actions and words — to read between the lines, see between the moments, and extract raw insights that lie beneath a polished surface. Those sorts of insights into people usually contain predictive value that is otherwise hard to come by.

To illustrate, I believe for a person to be successful in what she does, passion is more important than pride, and pride is more important than “just a job.” (“Passion > Pride > ‘Just A Job’”) To be a true out-performer, one must have passion, so she can put in extra hours in what she does, take risks responsibly, think creatively, be a trailblazer, and eventually make breakthroughs. But these people are rare. Many people are only in the second level — they take pride in what they do. They deliver quality work with quality execution. They are proud of their current positions and for this reason, they are less likely to take risks and trail blaze to terra incognita. Their reputation is associated with their present-day achievements, and they cannot afford to risk that. Trying something new is just too risky for them. “Just a job” type people have probably the lowest chance to be hugely successful down the road. They deliver minimum quality work and they do not see a deep connection between themselves and what they do.

#5 Lean Into The Future

Consider these facts:

• Telephone was invented in 1876 but it took more than 100 years for landlines to reach a saturation in the U.S. *
• The personal computer was invented in the 1970s. In just 40 years, almost every American has multiple PCs, at home and at their office.
• Facebook was launched in 2004. Almost all Americans (and many millions internationally) are on Facebook today.
• WeChat was released in 2011. Almost all Chinese people are on WeChat and few are using text message anymore.
• About 90% of the world’s data was generated over the last two years! ^

The world is evolving faster and faster. Do not let our old habits confine what we can do today. Do not fall back into our old comfort zone and get defensive when new things emerge (especially when we do not understand them).

Think outside the box — and make sure you are in a big box first! If the box you are in is tiny, thinking out of the box will not do much for you.

To lean into the future, I encourage us to think along a few dimensions.

• New things versus old things: do not condemn new things simply because we do not understand them. Download new apps. Try new food (well, I have to say that Beyond Meat does not taste that great). Learn new ideas. Try them out and have fun.
• Younger generation versus older generation: invest in the young can be highly rewarding. See my previous piece.
• “We” versus “They”: globalization and all the changes it produced creates in many people certain feelings of tribal identities. When we take the facts out, take the moral judgements out, the remaining story of “We” versus “They” feels very true. It gives people feelings of insecurity. However, it is sensible to remind ourselves that not all the “We” people are good and trustworthy people; similarly, not all the “They” people are bad and suspicious people. Learn a new language, travel to a foreign place, and make new friends with people of different backgrounds. Hopefully we will all come to discover that people are different, but not as different as we thought. The best way to eliminate “We vs They” tribal prejudice is contact. Few prejudice and biases can withstand contact.

Lastly, let me borrow a few lines from Bob Dylan’s famous song The Times They Are a-Changin’:

…and don’t criticize what you can’t understand…
… The order is rapidly fadin’, and the first one now will later be last…

(END)

References:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/rising-speed-technological-adoption/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130522085217.htm
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/times-they-are-changin/