Will That Work newsletter #25 2023

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This week's edition:

• ???Running from Truth: An Ex-Manager’s Encounter with Self-Deception
• ???SCWO CEO Koh Yan Ping on why women can be their own enemies
• ?? Discover your true worth

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?? Running from Truth: An Ex-Manager’s Encounter with Self-Deception

Many years ago, during my tenure as a manager in the realm of recruitment, I vividly recalled engaging in a discourse with my supervisor regarding our respective endeavours in running.

I was still deeply engrossed in pursuing this physical activity at that time.

Embarking upon distances of 10, 12, and even 15 kilometres had become ordinary.

However, a revelation emerged upon scrutinizing the statistical data recorded within our Runkeeper applications: my supervisor was performing exceptionally well.

Puzzled by this disparity, given his larger physique compared to mine, I questioned how he could maintain a swifter pace.

He responded, “Just run every day, and all will fall into place.”

Subsequently, the truth behind his achievements became apparent a few days later.

Each time he ceased running, he would pause his tracking application, meticulously accounting for every interval of walking.

Conversely, in my relentless pursuit of progress, I allowed the application to continue without interruption.

Consequently, my overall running pace paled in comparison to his.

This reminiscence resurfaced as I recently listened to a podcast wherein the topic of calorie counting was discussed.

In the narrative shared, a woman employed an application to monitor her caloric intake meticulously.

However, despite being the sole user of this application, she habitually deceived herself.

For instance, she would record a plate of salad when it was a serving of fried chicken.

This recollection evokes an apt quotation by Derek Landy, wherein he asserts that the falsehoods we direct towards ourselves far outweigh those we perpetuate towards others.

The workplace serves as a breeding ground for such self-deception.

How frequently have we found ourselves fabricating success tales, professing that all is well within our professional realms, and convincing ourselves that the coming day will yield improvements?

I distinctly recall a moment when the gravity of this inclination struck me head-on.

I had become entranced by a path that disregarded rationality, succumbing to the allure of bureaucratic entanglements and red tape.

I was audaciously deceiving myself, assuring my conscience that everything was indeed satisfactory.

However, fortuitously, I intercepted this self-deception, recognizing that such behaviour was incongruent with my true essence.

It was illogical for me to persist along such a trajectory.

This realisation became a significant impetus for my departure from the company.

It is conceivable, I suppose, to perpetually deceive oneself—as S.E. Hinton aptly observes—yet one must refrain from believing these falsehoods.

Balancing between truth and deception becomes increasingly arduous when lies persistently assail us.

The heart of the matter lies in the imperative to abstain from self-deception, mainly when no necessity exists, for deep within, the authentic self requires no such deceit.

Matshona Diliwayo eloquently encapsulates this notion, asserting that should one don a mask for an extended duration, a time will inevitably arrive when removing it necessitates the forfeiture of their very identity.

Therefore, should you, dear reader, identify a recurrent pattern of self-deception in your life, may this anecdote, presented within the confines of this essay, compel you to reconsider the need to perpetuate such falsehoods?

??Podcasts

Work It by CNA - The Leader's Chair: SCWO CEO Koh Yan Ping on why women can be their own enemies

She is the CEO of the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) and a mother of three children under 16. Koh Yan Ping juggles all her roles without a live-in helper. She talks about how she does it, what she thinks women leaders are good at and why

??Things I'm Checking Out

My past week has been filled with doing creative work for a client. Even if you are just doing a PowerPoint, you want to make sure the visual you pull from the internet looks professional. Here are some free tools that can help.

• ????Remove.bg :?Pictures you pull from the net usually comes with a background and will blend awkwardly on your deck or document. Remove.bg can automatically detect the background and remove them for you.

• ????Upscale.media : If you choose not to pay for remove.bg, you can only download the transparent background file in low res. I?then feed it into Upscale.media that uses AI to enlarge and enhance the image up to 4x.??

• ??Microsoft Powertoys : This is much more powerful beyond the use case I'm sharing here. Let's say I?want to apply a tint or filter to match the colour of my deck or document. Unless you are in the branding team, you are not going to remember the colour code. With MS Powertoys installed, hit Shift-Windows Key-C and your cursor will show a RGB colour code next to it. Move your cursor to where you want to decipher the colour and you get the lowdown on not just the colour code but also adjacent colour for better matching.

??Thanks For Reading

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