Author: Oliver Foo
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“Listen to the silence – it has so much more to say.”
I have great conversations with M, one of my closest friends. We live in different countries and time zones but make it a point to speak with each other about once a month. I’m grateful. While M is extremely intelligent and wise, the trait I appreciate most is that he listens extraordinarily well. He asks…
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Meet the Man who Hacked the Habit Code!
Original LinkedIn post: When I first met Oliver Foo, I was at first sceptical – another book on habit? This topic has been written and discussed to death! But why are habits still so difficult to crack? “Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”Warren Buffet…
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Why We Suck at Change – And How to Overcome It.
Original LinkedIn post: “The opposite of curiosity is to be judgemental. Being judgemental means going into conversations and deciding you know everything… if you go through life like that, while everyone else is improving, learning and moving ahead – you’re just standing still.” This line resonates after my conversation with Oliver Foo on Rebel Curiosities.…
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Years ago…
…our boss had asked me and a colleague to jointly shortlist potential partners for a major project. After a week, we reviewed the shortlist with the boss. At the end, he asked “How does each company complement us?” That’s a strange question, I thought, taking some time to process my answer. My colleague went first:…
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“Many managers have this backward.”
If an employee is great at something, do you give them more of the same assignments? Or do you pro-actively find other assignments to stretch and stimulate them? A friend D spent 10 years at his former company in the same role, as part of the strategy team. And because he was very good at…
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“A different perspective – 10 years later.”
I used to ask my 18-year son how his day was, whenever I picked him up from school. But in the last few years, his answers have mostly been a monosyllabic “Good”. And then he looks at his phone, leaving me to feel like his personal driver. I switched tact recently. I started sharing my…
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90% of behavioural change efforts fail.
Data from the medical world of treating heart bypass patients and from the corporate world of change management efforts confirm this: behavioural change is difficult. And very misunderstood. I had a great live radio chat two days ago with Michelle Martin on MoneyFM on this very topic. We covered quite a bit of ground. 👉…
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“The most important lesson I learned.”
I am in KL with 3 school friends from more than half a lifetime ago for a long weekend of Euro Championship football, great food and most importantly, great conversations. Two nights ago, the whiskey-enabled conversation turned to important lessons we’d learnt in our careers. A friend H shared this perspective: In every critical situation…
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A friend unexpectedly…
…but happily left a job recently. The trigger? He left work one day at his old company an hour earlier than the stipulated time. He’d come in very early and had a jam-packed, wonderfully productive day – one of those where he barely had time for toilet breaks and a 15-minute lunch. Somewhat brain-dead after…