Where did the normal people go?

After a couple of very challenging days, to put it mildly, I cannot help but wonder if there are still any people left in our environment, or if we only have ‘The System’.

In our try to be more and more efficient, we have created ‘The System’. You want to register/ deregister/ make a change in your data: ‘Sorry, it is not possible, we have already saved the data in The System’. Or, at your hotel, you stand in front of the reception and tell them you want to prolongue your stay: ‘Sorry, it is not possible; we have already deregistered you in The System’. Or you want to pay cash but you realize you don’t have enough money, so you decide to pay by card: ‘Noooooo, I have already registered a cash payment in The System’. And so on and so far….we are always revolving around this System. Instead of being more flexible, we get more and more bureaucratic, we have created systems over systems which have started to rule our daily lives.  

It does not matter anymore if you stand in front of someone and communicate something – if it is not in the system, it does not exist. We only analyze the data in our system – what happened to direct communication or just picking up the phone and discussing a topic? Since when does everything need to be in a System?

Everywhere you go, regardless of what you have to do, you have to face a System.  Even if you pick up your laundry and stand in front of the laundry employee explaining that you had one more jacket, which is now missing, he/ she will convince you that you didn’t because….it is not in The System!!

So I am wondering, when did all the people disappear? When did their brains and normal, healthy thinking get replaced by a System? When has life become so complicated?

Every day we get confronted with The System, talk to robots and buy stuff from machines, if we have a problem, we have to talk to a robot for half an hour until our call gets re-routed to Dave, in India, who will most definitely assure us that our request is now registered in The System and will be handled shortly.

I am fed up with The System, I would like to be able to have normal conversations with normal people who listen to what I say, and not to what is registered in some System.

But I guess that all the delightful events are just a warm welcome to the era of the Homo Sistematicus…

The new generation of workaholics

Yesterday I read again an article about the ‚workaholism‘ in Romania – according to Eurostat statistics, Romania is under the top 3 when it comes to the sum of annual working hours. I must not say that the situation is not really directly proportional to the economic situation or income of the active working population. But this is something we already know – more means not better.

Still, the new generation of workaholics is constantly increasing, as statistics show. When I still worked in Romania, I kinda felt bad when leaving the office after ‘only’ 8 hours of work…working long overtime and feeling exhausted has become some kind of national ‘pride’ among young people. It is normal not to have a good relationship, or a relationship at all, not to have time to go to the gym, to eat in front of the computer, not to have any real hobbies, not to spend time with your friends and drink your brains out on weekends because…remember, you don’t have any other hobby.

This should not be our reality and thinking that you can’t change anything about it is false! People should not work longer than 8 hours a day, and definitely not spend more than 10 hours a day in the office. It is not normal to do overtime just because you can’t step up to your manager and say that the workload is too high for the existing headcount. There is always a solution…but why bother looking for one, when you still have enough workaholics around that do the job just fine? Why hire 8, when you can make your 4 employees work on weekends and give up their holidays? If only we would not be so afraid of….of what, actually? If everybody would change their attitude towards life, and acknowledge that there actually is a life after work, then the employer – employee relationship could shift. The working environment is always shaped by the two parties, not only by the multinational employer who does not care at all about who you are or what you do.

Why has it become normal to sacrifice your best years for company X? In order to prove what? Of course, it is difficult to stand up and leave the office at a reasonable hour, while the rest of your colleagues is getting ready to sleep in the office. Of course that it will shed a bad light on you, regardless of the fact that you have done your job great. This is a collective problem, it needs rethinking from the grounds and a change can only be done if everyone changes attitude.

Our parents already gave up a big part of their personal lives, to work for the communist ‘collective wellbeing’, there is no need to keep up this tradition. I have found a working environment where people are happy, relaxed, work normal hours, have really cool hobbies and can take their vacation days yearly – and guess what, the company still works. They still make profit, they still have a sustainable growth strategy and no, there are no sweatshops in 3^rd world countries. Reality has shown that it is possible to work and live at the same time.

I hope I will see the same in Romania in the near future…I hope people will not sell their abilities, skills, time and best years for 500 – 600 EUR a month anymore! Every single one of us can change the market, we are not a low-skill country and therefore should we not be a low-wage one either!

Oas Country - Country of contradictions

'What good is it to have money, if you can't show it?'

There are a lot of stories cruising about Tara Oasului, a region from Satu Mare county. I think that it is one of the most controversed regions in Romania, due to the contrasts that shock you from the second you arrive.

I am glad to see that the development of Oas has been captured in a captivating project, called Pride and Concrete. If you want to get a glimpse into Oas and if you want to understand why the people from Oas work so hard abroad ('cause they do work hard), what drives them and what keeps them coming home, no matter where they have travelled, take some time to visit  Pride and Concrete (romanian version: Mandrie si Beton).

Get to know a different side of the story!

Crowdsourcing – using the ideas of the world

After all of the brains in a company have been stormed, and no WOW-idea has been born throughout the process, maybe it is time to use all the ideas that are outside your company’s doorstep.

Instead of having one or two people doing the job, come up with an idea, you can now outsource it to a large group of people outside the company – you can reach into the minds of so many people! The term ‘crowdsourcing’ was first coined in 2006, but the rise of the crowdsourcing platforms has only been more significant in the past 2 years.

The best people to offer you feedback on your ideas or products, the best to suggest improvements or innovations are your customers – or potential customers. Instead if investing resources into analyzing what your customers’ needs or wishes might be, why not ask them? This is the solution to a successful launch of any product or service: involve your customers from the beginning of your creation process, ask them for feedback, listen to their ideas and they will feel like part of your idea, hence more prone to buying it. Instead of facing them with a final products or service, and afterwards investing huge amounts of money into convincing them that they need what you have just served there, let them be part of your story.

It is effective, it is cheap, it is fun and it is a win-win situation for all parties involved.

Famous Example: Wikipedia. Instead of Wikipedia creating an encyclopedia on their own, hiring writers and editors, they gave a crowd the ability to create the information on their own. The result? The most comprehensive encyclopedia this world has ever seen.

Crowdsourcing’s biggest benefit is the ability to receive better quality results, since several people offer their best ideas, skills, & support. Crowdsourcing allows a company to select the best result from a sea of ‘best entries,’ as opposed to receiving the best entry from a single agent. Results can be delivered much quicker than traditional methods, since crowdsourcing is a form of freelancing, using online platforms. Companies can get a finished video within a month, a finished design or idea within a week, and microtasks appear within minutes.

In return, the people providing their ideas, get promotional articles from the companies, small gifts, or even a small reward payment. The ROI is higher than in any traditional method.

To get some information on crowdsourcing platforms and how they work, you can visit:

Symbid

Crowdcube

Rockethub (Crowdfunding)

NameThis

If you want to read about several successful crowdsourcing ideas, here is an inspirational list:

Open Innovators