The Boomer Mentality On ‘Hard Work’ is Holding Singapore Back

[Lala81]

Given the above, i would still ask my kids to at least get a university degree of some sort, whatever they want to pursue. Whether u call this correlation or causation, the trend is unmistakable in the most open/advanced economy in the world.

It's unlikely they are the next Bill Gates/Jobs/Jack Ma or what not 

 

[Beregond]

4 hours ago, Weez911 said:

I also think we need to relook at our education curriculum, as we are spending a lot of our kids' time learning advanced math and science which more than 90% are not applying in their adult life. What's wrong with our calculators, Google and apps in our handphone? Any knowledge could be derived within 2 minutes after we whip out our handphone.

Then what about the time saved from school?

Kids can do projects, programming, creation of apps, etc, OTOT. There will be no exams, but kids will learn about human interaction, practical issue solving, brainstorming and presentation. 

I don't have all the answers but above will be a good step. Will be too radical for some to accept, but these people will not mind foreigners coming in to steal jobs also.

ya we really need reform education, cannot everything base on a pcs of paper.

but to teach our kids creativity  innovation, dun mean we stop teaching them about hard work also right???

its good if u can do 100 amount of work in 4 hours, where else other need do 8 hrs to have same 100 amount of work.

but it dun mean if u can work smart then u stop at 4 hrs, u can do 6 hrs to produce 150 amount of work also.

creativity and innovation dun mean u must shake at home then can have also.

if only have creativity and innovation but dun have hard work, sooner or later u will be over taken esp by those that work harder then u but also learn have creativity and innovation

[Weez911]

20 minutes ago, Beregond said:

ya we really need reform education, cannot everything base on a pcs of paper.

but to teach our kids creativity  innovation, dun mean we stop teaching them about hard work also right???

its good if u can do 100 amount of work in 4 hours, where else other need do 8 hrs to have same 100 amount of work.

but it dun mean if u can work smart then u stop at 4 hrs, u can do 6 hrs to produce 150 amount of work also.

creativity and innovation dun mean u must shake at home then can have also.

if only have creativity and innovation but dun have hard work, sooner or later u will be over taken esp by those that work harder then u but also learn have creativity and innovation

Hard work is important as well. We often see Elon Musk and Richard Branson partying but I'm sure they work their socks off behind the scenes.

Creativity/innovation and hard work are not mutually exclusive. Our kids can be both at the same time. 👍

[Chongster]

2 hours ago, Weez911 said:

Hard work is important as well. We often see Elon Musk and Richard Branson partying but I'm sure they work their socks off behind the scenes.

Creativity/innovation and hard work are not mutually exclusive. Our kids can be both at the same time. 👍

exactly, most important trait for success if tenacity.  Creativity + innovation to solve real problems and then tenacity and hard work to see through.  

[Icedbs]

On 9/5/2020 at 2:23 PM, Voodooman said:

Yes, Sweden, with a population of 10m, produces a lot of global winners. Ikea, Kone, Spotify, Volvo... Just to name a few. The Danes and Fins are have their global MNCs too.

True that they have a very hard-working and educated workforce to begin with but they train thinkers while we train workers (and that is changing in SG).

 

The issue is that the locals are not trained in design thinking and innovation concepts

The concepts of design thinking, innovation and Agile philosophies in management are not new.  But these concepts are now back to the forefront because of the SG gov push on digital transformation courses which is everywhere now in Skillfuture curriculum.

In design thinking, the people are encourage to embrace uncertainty. The locals are taught to embrace stability.

In design thinking, customer analysis is based on customer empathy.  The locals however, are taught to analyse customer based on customer data.

In design thinking, value creation is key. The locals however are trained for solution creation instead.

I can give many more examples and design thinking concepts, but the short of it is that the model which works well for SG workforce 2 decades ago is not very useful today in a fast changing internet world which is globally connected.  Our people are lacking in the innovation and design thinking mindset which is important to cope with the changes in today's world

Edited September 6, 2020 by Icedbs

[Fuelsaver]

5 hours ago, Icedbs said:

The issue is that the locals are not trained in design thinking and innovation concepts

The concepts of design thinking, innovation and Agile philosophies in management are not new.  But these concepts are now back to the forefront because of the SG gov push on digital transformation courses which is everywhere now in Skillfuture curriculum.

In design thinking, the people are encourage to embrace uncertainty. The locals are taught to embrace stability.

In design thinking, customer analysis is based on customer empathy.  The locals however, are taught to analyse customer based on customer data.

In design thinking, value creation is key. The locals however are trained for solution creation instead.

I can give many more examples and design thinking concepts, but the short of it is that the model which works well for SG workforce 2 decades ago is not very useful today in a fast changing internet world which is globally connected.  Our people are lacking in the innovation and design thinking mindset which is important to cope with the changes in today's world

Not totally wrong either. Study what customers prefer before working around a product or service creatively for existing or new ones.

[Jamesc]

Singapore managers don't hire smart people. 

We only hire dumb yes man. 

Hire smart people they take your job how? 

Don't be stupid never hire smart people. 

Only hire kaki lang the dumbest and more stupid also never mind. 

An once of loyalty is better than a million pounds of brains. 

This is the reason our country is successful. Long may it continue. 

Maybe we need to change? 

No chance. 

[kobayashiGT]

Is all about the attitude. A lazy person can be a smart and useful person too.

A hardworking person can sometimes be useless too.

That's smth that is not taught in school. But luckily I play sports when I was young, You can be lousy with your movement, but if you have the right attitude, you will still get a chance to be played.

 

[Mockngbrd]

22 hours ago, Jamesc said:

 

Ferdinand Porsche did not allow his own children to work in Porsche, he only wanted outside professionals to run the company.

Of course his children can own the shares and get all the dividends but not work there.

  

Have ah, Ferdinand Sr and then Ferdinand (Ferry) Porsche. Then same family got Ferdinand Piech of VW. 

Edited September 7, 2020 by Mockngbrd

[Jman888]

partly we live in a city and get what we need by open mouth (for kids) or a click nowadays. Things come by to easy and uses less brain beside for study.

Problem solving skills also limit to mouth and eye power.

[inlinesix]

1 minute ago, Jman888 said:

partly we live in a city and get what we need by open mouth (for kids) or a click nowadays. Things come by to easy and uses less brain beside for study.

Problem solving skills also limit to mouth and eye power.

Must sent to work in China iT company.

Need to use both brain and hardwork.

[boonhat_91]

23 hours ago, serenade said:

Sim Wong Hoo encapsulated it well when he wrote about the NUTS (No U Turn Syndrome) of our education and culture. I summarise it here. Our drivers do not make a U-Turn at a road unless there is a U-turn sign. In other creative countries, the driver can make a U-turn anywhere unless there is a sign that says NO U-Turn. In a similar vein, we have developed workers that do not dare stray outside the path and experiment, unless specifically allowed to do so. Finland etc, thinking and doing differently is encouraged, unless told NOT to do so. Or failed while trying. 

If you see the reckless drivers thread it looks like nowadays our drivers don't follow signs anymore? So perhaps got hope for our workforce? 😁

[Ake109]

On 9/5/2020 at 6:10 PM, Ganwb79 said:

The charge i level at the government of the day is what is the overall plan? Attracting foreign investment and churning out a compliant workforce to support that, worked 55 yrs ago. That's still the plan now? As our singaporean core gets ever more expensive to hire and retain, the bulls**t now is that we need not just foreign investment, but foreign labour (manual as well as specialised) too. Either the plan has failed, or no one dares to admit that there hasn't been a new one since independence. 

Have lah.

Raise productivity

Become bio/medical/tech/hub

Raise productivity

Become regional airhub

Raise productivity

Dunno SMLJ-hub

Blame people for you not part of the solution you are the problem, need spur in backside

 

 

[Ake109]

On 9/6/2020 at 5:11 PM, Voodooman said:

Land without people don't really create global MNCs like Spotify, Assa Abloy.... Maybe Ikea as it probably started with wood furniture.  

Being small means you need to export your goods and services to grow. So you have to be very creative and to produce superior products to reach critical mass.

Of course, land alone doesn't solve the problem. Ideally you need, climate/strategic location/correct mix of neighbours/people as well. But having a lack of land is also a severe handicap.

Lets not talk about the obvious ones like natural resources and land for space intensive industries.

Having the land gives a society many tangibles and intangibles. e.g. In my earlier post, having land gives more opportunity for kids to grow up with a DIY culture, backyard McGuyver mentality which helps some to great success in creativity and engineering.

Having land means even something as simple as having the road space to allow U turn without signs. 

When you are stuck in an urban environment, you just don't have the diversity of environmental exposure and flexibility a country with more land allows.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Ake109

[inlinesix]