Intro
Hello my dear readers,
I hope you had a wonderful start of the autumn season. September is typically a month for me to remember the old school days and my teachers.
My understanding and gratitude for the education system I had in Lithuania grew significantly after I lived in rural Uganda. This year I even decided to write a couple of thank you letters to some of my favourite teachers who taught me so much back in the day. Maybe it's also an idea for you? ;)
As usual I have prepared a short list on my readings and writings.
My Monthly Fail Story
Assumption is the mother of all f***ups
In 2021 I decided to commit sharing more failure stories on social media and less of “Look, my dear network how well I am doing!”
So here is my 9th story related to problem solving.
Last month I was looking at profit data for Ugandan women small businesses which were funded from "Bracelets with a story" revenue.
A couple of businesses were doing very well while a few seemed to be in a loss. When I dug deeper into the data, I immediately got suspicious on the recordings.
This is when I started to assume that probably the women were hiding the real numbers... Maybe they don't want to share the % earned with other women etc. I am ashamed that I got so many negative thoughts...
Well, thankfully LEAN problem solving methodology taught me to always validate my assumptions in the end. This is when we figured out that the women who seemed to be on a loss actually don't have enough literacy to record numbers.
I got two key lessons here:
- Never ever assume and always validate with facts and data.
- Even I lived with these women in rural Uganda, I am still so clueless when it comes how to drive change there. It's extremely crucial to collaborate with locals!
I would love to hear your failure stories too! Please share it by replying to this email.
Find Your Purpose
Passion is not a job requirement, so chill out and think Purpose
What is your passion?
I have received this question so many times at work. And still each time I find it a bit tricky to answer, especially when asked by your boss or during a job interview.
So what will happen if I say that unfortunately 'sweating' 12 hours a day as a consultant isn't my ultimate one passion?
In fact, I came to the realization that your job doesn't necessarily need to be your passion and you should really not worry about it. As long as you are interested to grow and learn in your job, this is okay.
So, please! Dear leaders, let's end that superficial job passion discussion and focus more on helping our employees, especially the younger ones to find their purpose.
Interested to read a bit more about this topic? Click here!
Personal Growth
Learning gratitude by bursting your soap bubble
"Agne, what did you learn most from your experience in Uganda?”
This was a question I received recently while sharing my personal story with the Wow... women community.
It didn’t take much time for me to come back with the reply – GRATITUDE!
Today gratitude helps me in so many life situations! It always gives me another perspective when I am just about to complain or not appreciate enough what I have.
Interested in how to get more gratitude? Then check out my blog post and join me in one of the "poverty experiments".
Business
Can AI be a source of innovative solutions?
I guess YES! We have already seen many cases.
Can AI be a patent owner?
Hmm... I don't know!
Apparently, recently an #AI called DABUS was rewarded with a patent ownership for a food container based on fractal geometry in South Africa and Australia whereas in the USA it was rejected.
The DAMUS team, which I guess is backed up by humans, has similar cases moving in other countries such as UK and European court systems.
This is a historic case which received already lots of attention from various parties raising a very important question - can invention be attributed only to humans or also machines?
How a watermelon overcame a millennial crisis
Purpose doesn’t need to be one thing! My purpose puzzle got fully completed this year after becoming a co-founder of the Benelux Baltics in Business organization.
Last weekend I got sooo much great energy and inspiration from our first (but already annual) conference.
More than 100 business professionals from both Benelux and Baltics came together in Amsterdam’s iconic building Infinity.
I had a great opportunity to share my personal story “How a watermelon 🍉 overcame a millennial crisis” during the conference “Rethinking Leadership: New or Old normal.”
I have shared three key messages: - It’s never too late to search for your purpose. - Having an organization purpose is a must! - Work for a cause, not applause.
If you are interested to learn more about this new networking organization follow our Linkedin page.
Make An Impact
Benelux Baltics in Business got to know about the bracelets
Last weekend was such an energy booster to not only finally get to see our so long planned annual Benelux Baltics in Business event, but also reunite F2F with so many old friends and get to know the new ones.
This is me and my bestie Dominyka Venciute who is a true rockstar when it comes to helping companies and individuals building their personal branding journeys. We are proudly showcasing the conference attendees the beautifully matched "Bracelets with a story" which show our support to female entrepreneurship in rural Uganda.
Would you like to join us in continuing this chain? If YES, then check out here.