sacha chua living an awesome life

I came across If you were hacking since age 8, it means you were privileged on geekfeminism.org, and I went, “Hmm. They’re right.” I started very early, and the extra years of practice and immersion and love meant that I could run rings around my classmates by the time we got to high school. I also had great role models in my parents, who raised us to follow our passions and not let people’s gender stereotypes get in the way.

This reminds me of the first session we took in a women’s leadership course. During the discussion, I said that I didn’t relate to many of the challenges described in the video, which had been produced a number of years ago. But I’ve been lucky. The challenge, then, is to help more people experience this.

I also enjoy the privilege of working in a mostly-balanced workplace. I feel normal at IBM. I’m not the only woman, not the only immigrant, not the only newbie, not the only Filipino, and definitely not the only geek. I’m surrounded by role models who show me that so many things are possible in both the managerial and professional career paths (and that people don’t have to be confined to one or the other). Sure, there are still some aspects missing from our mix, but it’s cool.

This accepted diversity means that instead of fighting to prove my worth as a human being, I can focus on the fights where I want to make a real difference, like helping people connect, collaborate, and do their best from wherever.

Instead of renouncing this privilege, then, I can do two things. I can use it as a springboard to work on the next challenges. I can be aware of the circumstances that brought me to this point, and help people bridge the gaps instead of thinking that because it was easy for me, it should be easy for most people.

And then there are little tweaks along the way that I can do to help make things even more equitable… These things are worth working on.

SCHEDULED: 2010-07-23 Fri 08:00

I don’t like spending money. Sometimes it’s hard for me to give myself permission to experiment. I get this urge to invest it for the long term. Darn you, compounding interest. But long-term planning is better the more you understand about what you want and don’t want, so experimenting now has its own payoffs.

I hesitate to delegate because of the time I think I waste doing other things. Reflecting on my week, though, it looks like I’m pretty trim about how I spend time. About the only timesuck I feel guilty about are reading fanfiction on the Internet. I’m fascinated by how well-written fics fit neatly into the original universe. It’s like how well-written code fits neatly into the overall structure. But it leaves me feeling less warm and fuzzy than reading books from the library or blog posts from the Internet. Solution 1: Feel less guilty about it. Solution 2: Deepen, trim, time-bound, or eliminate it.

And then there’s the realization that I can take things slowly, that I don’t have to cram so much into a day, and that chores have value. So what if it takes me the better part of an evening to tidy and clean? It’s good thinking time, and it also means that I know where things are. I grew up around maids, and things were constantly being put away, and I had to ask where things were. Now, I’m glad I know where most things are, and I can invest time into figuring out where things should logically be.

BUT it’s good to experiment and to explore backup plans so that if life really does get all crazy-busy (interesting opportunities, life events, etc.), we can get through.

There are a few things I want to try:

• Cleaning/housekeeping
• Cooking
• Singing lessons
• Sewing lessons, and wardrobe/pattern advice

(As it turns out, I can learn the ukulele mostly on my own, it just takes practice. If a toddler can do it, so can I!)

The Smart Work Jam discussions will be available until October 3. I’m strongly tempted to figure out how to slurp down the content into a database so that I can look for patterns and insights, but I suspect they’d mind. So I thought I’d think about what I want to get out of the Jam, and maybe I can find more effective ways to do so. At 2262 posts, the Jam is overwhelming. Can I focus in order to pull out the insights I want?

Jams are great for IBM in terms of tapping collective insight, but they’re also good for individuals like you and me. I like reading Jam posts in order to find out what people are thinking about, what they’re concerned about, what needs they see, where they think we need to go. I love it when people share their thoughts and I can think of a tool that does most of what they want, or I can introduce them to other people who are working on the same ideas. So the key things I’m looking for here are:

• What do people want or need?
• Who are interested? (This may point to the need for a community, or something I can do to help connect the dots.)
• How can we continue the conversation?
• How can we act on these ideas?

I’m particularly interested in virtual collaboration, and I’m also interested in multi-generational workplaces. I care more about collaboration tools than about multi-generational workplaces because I think that globalization and work-life integration place more stress on the workplace than generational differences do. I’m interested in the specific issues people run into when working with globally-integrated teams. I’m interested in the tasks people often do, and how we might use collaboration tools to do that work more efficiently and effectively. I’m interested in helping people connect and collaborate. So in terms of the Smart Work Jam, that would be “The Future of Team Work”, “Work Without Boundaries”, and “Smart Work 2020″.

… some time later…

Okay, I’ve blogged about some of the insights I picked up. (See blog posts immediately preceding this one.) Here’s another highlight that didn’t neatly fit into a blog post:

Successful Teamwork does not Need High Tech! – turned into a great discussion of group dynamics when text chat is available. One group found that when they were using Second Life without the VOIP chat (so text only), colleagues from Asia were more likely to participate than usual. Once VOIP was integrated, that dynamic shifted, and the colleagues from Asia were quieter. Another group had the same experience, so possibly voice chat inhibits both voice and text chat for people who are less comfortable with the primary language. The thread also has interesting insights drawn from research into the Fedora open source development community.

So I’ve stuffed lots of posts into my brain and contacted a couple of people. Now it’s time to let them percolate for a bit…

I’m starting to accumulate a backlog of things to write about. Life is too interesting to capture, and yet too interesting to let slip!

• Check out the Smarter Work Jam to brainstorm what a smarter organization might look like. The kick-off videocast was good – got to hear from the author of “Wisdom of Crowds”.
• Today was the last class in the “Taking the Stage” women’s leadership development program at IBM. The key thing I took away from that session was the importance of being present and sharing your energy. The improv classes I’ve been taking are a surprisingly good complement to that session, as they help me practice being in the moment and making eye contact with, listening to, and responding to people. Next steps for me: continue to take improv classes, work on figuring out more of myself, and share what I’ve learned with people. Oh, and put together tips on remote presence, as I seem to have stumbled across some things that work.
• I remembered that I really don’t like traveling because I hate being away from home, making arrangements for transportation, and rearranging schedules. The less travel I do, the better. I’ll just have to get really good at connecting and learning online.
• Had a great chat with Martin Cleaver yesterday about entrepreneurship and jobs. He’s currently independent, but is thinking of trying the corporate world again.
• Brought my handmade lunch bag to work today. Yay!
• Had lunch with someone who wanted to know about the awesome stuff I get to do for work. Yay passing on career advice!
• Got a lift from David Ing (one of my mentors). On the way downtown, he shared lots of tips on facilitation.
• Last class of Improv 101 was great. We played through the first scenes of an Armando again. Still haven’t made it to the second set of scenes, but that’s okay – maybe in the next series of classes. Annie (our teacher) gave us all feedback. She said I’m good at developing strong characters. To improve, she suggested that I work on creating characters who aren’t endearing, as all the characters I played that day had at least a little bit of niceness about them. (Yes, even when I was playing someone conning someone else…) Given that I don’t actually swear in real life and generally don’t find myself in nasty situations, this could be a challenge, but it’s all for fun.
• First class of Improv 201 was great. Am starting to get the hang of the Threads game, helped with lots of eye contact. Our instructor (Matt) likes doing a lot of side-coaching, tweaking the scene while we’re playing. I like that because the scaffolding helps us learn and we get to explore different ways of doing things.
• The zucchini is taking over the backyard. Next year, I’m going to plant it towards the back, where the wild things are. ;)
• Biking is lots of fun and a great way to get around. Next week, I’ll try biking to work.

I am looking forward to sleeping in this weekend, and to fleshing out these quick points.

(~7:30am)

I’m on the subway to work, refreshed and ready to go after a two-week vacation.

At the beginning of summer, J- announced that she didn’t want to go to summer camp. She said she could do better things with her time and have more fun on her own. W- took two weeks off to spend with her, and I decided to tag along by taking my vacation as well. My passport was still out for visa renewal, so we couldn’t travel anywhere. Time to check out this newfangled idea of a staycation…

The staycation turned out to be a great idea for us. We bought some lights from Home Depot so that we could explore photography through constant lighting. We enjoyed exploring new recipes, making souvlaki, scones, biscuits, bread, and new kinds of chili. We discovered the joys of canning and proceeded to make cases of apricot syrup, blueberry jam, and jalapeno jelly. We improved our house routine and organized our space, adding shelves near the entrance and a mini-greenhouse to the kitchen.

I also pursued a number of individual interests. I hosted and went to a number of get-togethers with friends, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I made a new presentation and started thinking about seeds for others. I reflected on my life as a 25-year-old, what it meant to turn 26, and what I’d like to do for my 26/27th year of life.

It was a great break. It felt like two weeks of weekends. Our days weren’t drastically different from normal life, but instead gave us a taste of what our weekends could feel like with more planning, and what our weeks might feel like when we reach financial independence.

I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of work!

There’s the influence described in formal organizational charts. Executives influence middle managers, who influence managers, who influence front-line employees. It’s like the way a tree‘s roots affect the trunk, which affect the branches, which affect other branches, which affect the leaves. People rise in organizations depending on their political savvy and the way they handle situations. The influencer’s relationship to the status quo is clear: managers might be good at keeping everything running smoothly (preserving the status quo), while leaders are good at inspiring people to change (seeking a new status quo). People have a mix of both traits, of course, but favour one or the other. The relationships are clear, and you can work with them.

This isn’t the only way influence works. Social network analysis may show you that the most influential person isn’t Bob, the manager, but Sally, the receptionist, who knows everyone and who can nudge people to support new initiatives. This is the influence of webs, where pulling on one strand affects the other. Change management initiatives take this kind of influence into account when they use social network analysis to find the key influencers and early adopters by asking people to identify who influences them in particular situations. Then they can work with those people to encourage change. These relationships may not be immediately obvious, but they can be determined from communication patterns or surveys. People can intentionally influence their social network, working to either support or resist change.

But there’s another kind of influence that I don’t quite understand, although I’ve had many experiences of it. People do things that influence strangers in ways they don’t expect. I think of it as the influence of clouds . You could write a blog post that someone in Australia reads, enjoys, and thinks about, but you don’t know about that potential relationship and you don’t do it because you want to change other people’s lives or help them stay the same. You do it just because it helps you think, and yet things happen. How do you plan for or measure that kind of influence?

By golly, I think I’m getting the hang of it.

Today I started working on McCall 8107, a simple sleeveless princess-seamed dress. I decided to take lots of time doing so, applying one of the lessons I learned from improv class. I cut out pieces, drew the seamlines and snipped the notches, and made lining pieces so that I could turn it into a fully-lined dress. I find that I don’t like using neck or back facing, as they always flip up. As I worked, I tried to apy attention to how I moved and where things were located.

Working slowly–almost meditatively–changed the character of the activity. I would normally rush through transferring the markings. This time, I marked everything. This time, I did it while watching some of my favourite movies. I also took the time to pin-fit on my duct-tape dress form, which led to a few minor alterations. I normally feel frustrated when I get to assembly because things don’t quite line up. This time, I felt at ease, and I was happy with the way the dress turned out once I’d pressed the seams.

One of the things I noticed was that when I took my time to work on the dress, I started thinking of it as something I might be able to wear for a while. Perhaps that’s because I reflexively justified the time I was investing in making the outfit. Thinking of it that way made it even easier to slow down and try to get the details right.

Tomorrow, I’ll work on the lining and the zipper. I’m looking forward to the completed dress, and to using my new-found powers of slowing down and taking my time doing things not just for good, but for awesome!