Archive for September, 2006
30 Sep, 2006
Waltz for Koop
I really should be sleeping now. I had just finished listening to the entire album Waltz for Koop (by Koop), when I thought I’d end the night by listening to Damien Rice’s The Blower’s Daughter. But it seems iTunes had other plans — I had forgotten to uncheck the Waltz for Koop songs.
So after Damien Rice’s number was over, it went straight to a Koop track. I couldn’t help but keep on listening. Really, I wanted to stop, but the music wouldn’t let me.
You see, that’s the problem with music.
It’s addictive.
29 Sep, 2006
Negotiation and Human Behaviour
The passages quoted below can be found in the book Fundamentals of Negotiation by Gerard Nierenberg. I’m sharing these with you because of the insight it has provided me regarding the techniques in dealing with people. I especially enjoyed the second passage, where Nierenberg asks the reader the question, “are you more interested in their behaviour, or the motivations behind the behaviour?”
As a person greatly interested in psychology I’ve always chosen the latter, that of “the motivations behind the behaviour.” But Nierenberg argues that these motivations are not as important as the behaviour. There are many motivations for people to do anything, and many of these are rational, but rationality is people-specific, he says. It is far better to work with the numbers of probability, trying to predict what his next behaviour will be, and work from there.
[i] People’s behaviour are guided by their own rationalisations. Whatever they do, in some way or another they are doing it as they believe it will help in some way, even though it might seem to the contrary. A man who flies into a rage might be trying to prove a point, in his own rational way, that he is to be taken seriously this time.
[ii] When talking/negotiating with people, are you more interested in their behaviour, or the motivations behind the behaviour? Man’s motivations are many, and often may well be rational, but this rationality is people-specific. Behaviours on the other hand, are like probability. You cannot predict what an individual man may do, but you can predict with mathematical certainty what a group of individuals will do.
28 Sep, 2006
The End of NSF
Today marks the day I’m no longer NSF (National Service, Full-time). It’s been quite a long two years since I enlisted into the army (29th September 2004), and I’m ecstatic it’s finally over. As much as I hated it, I have to admit that life in the army has changed me into a different man, hopefully better, but definitely not worse.
Brunei Training
If you asked me what impacted me the most during my NSF tour, I think it’d have to be the overseas training exercise in Brunei, where I remarked to a friend “I’ve never been in so much pain in my life” just before we ended the exercise, and I meant it.
IPPT Gold
In the IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test) following Brunei, I managed to get my long awaited IPPT Gold. What made the gold even sweeter was that there was someone in my detail who had the number “174″. In mandarin, 174 literally translated sounds like “die together.” The last time someone had that number, his whole detail failed the test.
I told my friend, “I’m going to break that jinx,” and I did.
Did I believe I was going to “break that jinx” when I said it? Actually, no. But with the power of hindsight, I command thee to kneel before me and acknowledge I broke the jinx!
What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.
I feel like Hercules.
22 Sep, 2006
Rainy Day
It’s a rainy day.
A guy sees girl he’s admired for a long time, but never got an opportunity to talk to.
She seems to be waiting for the rain to stop. She’s looking across the road.
He sees a man holding an umbrella and approaches him. They can be seen talking. They disappear behind a wall. The man can be seen in the distance running in the rain towards his car.
Oh my, what’s this? He has made an umbrella magically appear in his suitcase!
(”In case of rainy days…” he says.)
He walks up to her.
“You know why the chicken crossed the road?”
She looks surprised, and a little amused.
Perhaps she has an interest in him, too.
“No. Why did the chicken cross the road?”
“To get to the other side!” he replies.
She smiles. Goddamnit, she smiles.
“You want to be a chicken?” he asks.
“What?” she asks.
“You want to cross the road?” he asks again.
She smiles, gives out a small laugh. “Yes. Yes, I do.”
“Let’s be chickens together then, shall we?” At which point he opens up his umbrella, and they cross.