"Entuziasmul fara rigoare nu poate genera continut."

...a spus Horia Roman Patapievici, la finalul uneia dintre emisiunile "Inapoi la argument", pe TVR Cultural.

Nu le prind intotdeauna, dar sunt niste emisiuni-dialog extrem de placute. Un inapoi la o normalitate pe care o neglijam adesea, in goana noastra cotidiana...

This post should have been about my resolutions for 2011...

...but I am not sure I will manage to put together such a thing. Here's why.

First of all, I thought about telling you that my resolution for 2011 was inspired by 2010 and was all about continuing to face my deepest fears, both personal and professional. But I thought this would show a serious lack of originality, since everybody should (at least try to) do that in order to become a better person/professional.

Second of all, I thought about setting a strong professional resolution and research for the answer to the question "How come PR is now equal to marketing? (or at least this is what many of very recent professional books say so). What about price? What about package? Why don't they qualify for the place on the right of Marketing as Father of all Sales at the business table? Why has PR become such a smartass?". But then I tought I would look too much of a smartass myself trying to go academic on this... and gave up this one too as a resolution. For now.

And here comes the third one: I was reading an interview with a couple of polo trainers for children, in Avantaje magazine. Iulia Becheru, the feminine half of the couple, said: "I know that, when about talented, but poor kids, it is extremely difficult to be able to reach true performance, and it's such a pity people don't think of helping them. It is indeed a true fight to start swimming when you barely have the money for equipment, pool access and training, to struggle to become successful in such an amazing and healthy sport, but one that Romanians barely notice. In time, we developed very good teaching methods, which, combined with our vocation, help us guide the chlidren we train through several stages: from getting used to the water and movement coordination to the psychological and physical balance and group integration through socializing.And now we are growing more and more happy with each competition our kids go to, with every medal they win."

And here it struck me (even more so since I didn't practise any sport while I was a kid... very bad mistake, very bad...): it's the same with my job (and I really started from the very bottom, not knowing anybody and not having much), and I bet it's the same with many other people and many other jobs. Stages to sucess, to performance. Getting used to the environment, learning movement coordination... Aiming to win through hard work and trainers with their heart out there to help you. Balance, balance, balance.

I am working on my balance several years now. I have also won some medals. Nothing olympic yet, but hey, I'm still young :) and I am still in training. So, how about setting myself an even better balance for a resolution? :)

From the ugly duckling to the light at the end of the tunnel

Well, I always considered myself the ugly duckling: no artistic talent, no perfect look, no dreams to reach stardom... But I had to go to University so that I can earn my living. And I followed some divine intuition of mine and of a very wise friend of mine (whom I'll always thank for that) and here I am, 10 years and something later, loving my job and looking forward for my next step.

It wasn't easy, you know. My first salary ever was 20 EUR and I was happy because I could have a mobile phone of my own (bear with me, we are talking 1999 here :) ). My first salary in the communication industry was little below 100 EUR and I still have the necklace I bought from my first paycheck. Now I earn enough to pay my rent and expenses, care for my cat, see a good movie every now and then and buy myself the books I love (not all at once, but still :) ).

I had my fears, failures, dissapointments and draw-backs. I faced humiliation for things I didn't do. I had my years of huge lack of self-confidence. I won clients hard to work with, I lost clients I loved dearly. But I kept curiosity, passion, patience and strong will in my cook book. And, although I still have a long way until the big, tasty cake with a cherry on top is ready :), I think I will make it.

I am not giving advice here(although I have a strong teaching gene in my DNA :) ). I just wanted to speak about the most important lesson I've learned from what I've lived so far: that we have to work on building ourselves in order to become the kind of star that suits us and puts us in the light we deserve.

Well, if you wonder what the heck got into me to write this post, here is the inspiration :)

Good to remember.

"What if you spent one day a week (hey, even a day a month) without meetings, phone or email?

How will you know unless you try?"

Seth Godin

PS. Maybe this way I'll remember to actually do it.

Mischa Maisky or how to put passion in what you do

Thanks to my dear friend Daria, I had excellent seats to the concert Mischa Maisky and his daughter Lily presented to the Romanian public at the end of October at the Athenaeum.

People say that he is one of the most eccentric cello players in the world - looking on the stage, all I could see from the second row was passion. Nothing else. He put all the passion a human being can have in every single note he played.

And this made me think: am I as passionate about my work as this man is passionate about the music he plays? Do people I interact with feel the same about me and my work as I felt coming from that stage, that night?

The comparison might sound a bit dispropportionate. But the answer we give to ourselves might shed some light over the life we live today and what we want for ourselves starting with tomorrow.

Life lessons from programming :)

Because I had this magic attraction to IT and geeks since early youth (and still trying to find the logic behind the magic :) ), I was so happy to find on Dragos Roua's blog the "7 Life Lessons from a Self-Taught Programmer". In a nutshell, here are the lessons and how I see them:

1. Bugs are on you - if it doesn't work, most of the times it's you. It's not a bad thing, that's the catch :) but you have to find it in order to get things right.

2. You have to face a problem, detours are not an option - we don't like everything we have to face, but, although learning that life's a bitch might help to some extent, it's a fact that one cannot live a perfectly neat life. Bad things happen, one cannot avoid them. They didnt' invent the perfect program to set our lives with (at least not yet :D). But the shortest way to restore peace in one's life is facing the problem and solving it. Any delay, detour, lie to one's self that it might just go if we don't think about it...won't work. Ever.

3. Today's problem is tomorrow's laughter - always. Moreover, once we collect experiences and succeses, problems will not look as bad as they used to.

4. Good focus builds good things - just doing things in order to be done and get rid of is not going to provide the solution on the long run. Sometimes I feel the need to let my mind chill between tasks just to reset it and make it work to the fullest again. It might come not so handy when one's in a great hurry, but in the end the good focus will pay off.

5. If you feel it, do it - I used not to do that and thus accumulate many frustrations. But once one gets the taste of it, life will look oh so different :)

6. Be neat - oh, yes. Being neat can be a quality as well as a misfortune. Being neat might seem to take a lot of time and be of not such big importance (since the big picture is good), but this is a false impression. The little mess one lefts behind would errode what's been built and eventually lead to disaster.

7.There's more than one way to skin a cat - I used to get very upset when the solution I thought was good didn't work at the end. It's an exercise for the self to free one's mind to get the right ways to solve things out (and to understand and accept that sometimes the others'minds can give you the solution :) ).

These were my ideas around the 7 lessons - I bet each one of us has his/her own version - play around the lessons and see what you get :) for me it was a good exercise for the mind.

TEDx Bucharest - Things that make me think twice if what I've known about myself is actually true

1. One can choose to live his/her own life or let life live him/her (Oana Pellea)

2. One can look at the world through the eyes or through the mind (Adrian Bejan)

3. One can curl back to bed in a cold winter day... or get up and go run the North Pole Marathon (Andrei Rosu)

4. One can invent the device of the future or re-invent the mechanism of learning through helping the others learn (Arnoud Raskin)

5. One can be unhappy by expecting the world from oneself or lower expectations in order to get the most out of life (Eric Weiner)

6. One can skydive for the thrill of it or skydive to help communities without access to communication means (Roland Hermann)

7. One can go with the flow or stop and get acquainted to one's self (Oana Pellea)

... and these are just a few things that made me lower my head and promise myself that next time I'll think again before saying "I cannot do it".

Gustul amar al dispretului

Am tot citit in ultima vreme o multime de istorii despre neprofesionalismul oamenilor care lucreaza in PR*. Istorii spuse in general de jurnalisti sau de bloggeri - cei mai sinceri observatori ai oamenilor de PR (si,credeti-ma, stiu bine ca nu ar povesti lucruri rele daca nu le-ar fi ajuns cutitul la os...).

Problema sunt chiar acei oameni de PR care sunt subiectul istoriilor respective. De ce ajungem acolo? Ce nu e bine? Sa incercam cateva variante:

1. Chemarea - O ai sau nu o ai. Cum o identifici? Simplu: stii limba romana? esti curios? iti place sa citesti de toate? ai bun simt? stii sa intri pe geam cand te da lumea afara pe usa? Atunci probabil ca ai chemare. Du-te la scoala, vezi daca-ti place cum suna, du-te in practica la agentii in timpul verii, ca sa constati cu ochii tai cat e teorie in ce ai invatat si cat e cu adevarat folositor in lumea reala... A, si daca nu-ti place, RENUNTA! :) N-are rost, sincer. Sunt absolut convinsa ca vei gasi ceva cu adevarat pasionant pentru tine intr-un alt domeniu :)

2. Scoala - da, scoala iti impune o multime de teorie si poate, daca ai noroc de o facultate buna, primesti in ultimul an si ceva seminarii cu profesionisti. Abia atunci parca-parca incepe sa sune altfel meseria asta... Atentie insa: CA SA DEVII PROFESIONIST, NU AJUNGE SCOALA! Ea te pune pe drumul cel bun, dar tine de tine sa experimentezi, sa inveti, sa lucrezi cu tine pentru a deveni mai bun. A, daca toate astea ti se par prea complicate, RENUNTA! :) Altfel, vei fi cel mult mediocru.

3.Primul loc de munca in PR - o, Doamne, cat de multa importanta poate sa aiba asta si cat de putini manageri realizeaza puterea pe care o au in viata noilor veniti in meserie! Si aici sunt doua lucruri:

- Angajatorul: cand e dezinteresat, cand merge exclusiv pe principiul ca meseria se fura sau ca pestele trebuie aruncat in apa ca sa invete sa inoate, greseste cumplit. Fara directie, fara sa le explici macar importanta curiozitatii si a dorintei de a fi mereu mai bun, cei mai multi tineri se duc in balarii.

-Tanarul: in 90% din cazuri va sta dupa tine, angajator, sa-l inveti. Daca nu-l indrumi, el singur va evolua foarte putin profesional, in timp ce i se va parea ca, daca timpul trece, el acumuleaza experienta si deci merita o pozitie mai mare si bani mai multi. Si multi angajatori chiar angajeaza acesti tineri judecand dupa numarul de ani in meserie si nu dupa pricepere...

Daca oricare dintre aceste variante nu se aplica in cazul omului de PR, ceva e grav, teribil de grav. Si, daca nu facem ceva in acest sens (fie lamurim omul ca nu e chemarea lui, fie il intoarcem la manual, fie il indrumam sa invete sa fie cu adevarat profesionist), vom perpetua - noi insine, cei care lucram in aceasta industrie - non-valoarea si vom atrage un vot de blam si dinspre cei pentru care lucram, si dinspre cei cu care ar trebui sa lucram.

A, si las lista de variante deschisa...





*PR - prescurtare de la termenul american Public Relations (in romaneste se cheama relatii publice);meserie in care meseriasul ar trebui sa stie sa faca doua lumi sa comunice: vorbim de o companie/organizatie si de fiecare dintre categoriile care au o legatura, orisicat de marunta, cu aceasta; tot acelasi meserias trebuie sa mai stie/aiba cel putin urmatoarele lucruri: limba romana - vocabular si gramatica -, CURIOZITATE, dorinta de a invata tot timpul, bun simt, atentie, rabdare, diplomatie(definitie personala).