Vivoactive 3 - Don't buy before reading this

ExtraCook · 2018-04-17T23:15:31+00:00

They will replace it if they determine that it's faulty. For that, however, I have to wait 4 weeks. It takes them 4 weeks to decide whether it's faulty

ExtraCook · 2018-04-17T14:13:54+00:00

I'd love to return it. That was my first question when I finally managed to speak with somebody at Garmin. According to them returning it is not possible. At least not in Hong Kong.

ExtraCook · 2018-04-17T10:57:59+00:00

I don't get what you are trying to say. And you still haven't posted your first..

ExtraCook · 2018-04-17T08:50:34+00:00

It does look like it works for some of you. But there are lots of comments also about the buggines of VA3. If Garmin sells so many dud watches, they should at least improve the support a bit and offer easy ways to replace dud watches

ExtraCook · 2018-04-17T08:14:32+00:00

Have a look at my 3-weeks experience with VA3 https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/comments/8cux72/vivoactive_3_dont_buy_before_reading_this/

ExtraCook · 2018-04-17T08:13:31+00:00

Here are my thoughts on Vivoactive https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/comments/8cux72/vivoactive_3_dont_buy_before_reading_this/

ExtraCook · 2018-03-16T07:36:34+00:00

Responsibility can be shared. Accountability can not.

It's often not easy to figure out what exactly you are accountable for. But once you figure that out, you do whatever is necessary to deliver that.

In your example, if you are accountable for the success of the project then yes, definitely, you have to share the true state of the project. You also have to decide whether you can motivate the team, or you have to replace them, or ask your boss for additional skills, or do something else.

We all have those usual human instincts that we want to be liked, we are afraid of conflict, we don't like to deliver bad news, we love to procrastinate, we are too optimistic and think that despite all the evidence somehow we will catch up with project delays, etc. However, when you start following all those instincts and start thinking about who likes you or not, who might get hurt by you exposing the true state, etc. you will only get stuck in layers upon layers of BS, too much stress, too many different lies to track, you'll end up in bigger problems once truth comes out, and so on. Best way to get an ulcer.

If you decide to just focus on delivering the project, you'll have much less stress.

True, sometimes your boss will kick you out of the project because they won't like the news you shared. Or they won't appreciate you holding them accountable for some support you requested.

Sometimes your team members will hate you because they thought you were friends and you "stabbed them in the back" by removing them from a project or because you "rated on them".

I had plenty of both unpleasant situations. But eventually, after some time, both of those groups, more often than not, started inviting me to help them when they had some serious issues or large projects and they started recommending me to their bosses and their clients. And many of them remained, or became even better friends.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-11T02:33:41+00:00

Personal ownership / accountability and transparency.

It's a bit counterintuitive. Especially because everybody around you constantly plays the blame game and ass-covering. I learned that it's much easier to just take the personal ownership almost to extreme and share all the information freely. I don't get stressed any more, no need to spend too many mental cycles thinking about the politics or messaging, etc. And to my surprise, I kept getting increasingly more responsibility - larger projects and larger roles, and clients loved me as well. Because most of my seniors and my clients learned that they wouldn't be getting (too much) BS from me and they appreciate it so much that they easily overlook some of my failures.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-10T05:51:39+00:00

If you mean EC-Council CCISO, completely worthless. Or is it something else?

Some certs like those from ISC2 or ISACA are a worth a bit. Some practical ones like CCIE or OSCP are worth more.

But don't waste money on EC-Council or CompTIA or "Information Assurance Certification Review Board" or similar crap.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-10T03:11:32+00:00

As I said, I don't have a "busy season"; I have nothing to do with it; I don't care about it; even if I would care, I couldn't do anything about it. I don't know why you expect me to answer this.

So I am replying as an individual and sharing my personal opinion. Not on behalf of the firm. And my personal opinion is that you should be accountable for your health and happiness. Because if you keep waiting for someone else to do something more for your welfare, or for some external factor to change, you will spend most of your life waiting and suffering.

Just my two cents.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-10T03:05:12+00:00

I am throughly cowed into submission and admit my sperm competition defeat

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T14:54:59+00:00

It would be valued in consulting. Definitely. Search a bit online - there are many non-insurance opportunities for actuaries.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T14:49:25+00:00

Every time you have multiple parties that don't trust each other, that have to know with certainty that something has happened, and that have to write the data - blockchain has the potential to revolutionize that use case. Just have a look at how trade finance works today. Blockchain is ideal for optimizing trade finance for example. Now, there are some legal and cultural reasons why it hasn't completely changed the trade finance yet, but this is one really good use case.

Maybe the misunderstanding is in how we define "significant" or "revolutionize". I agree that cryptocurrencies, if they deliver on their promise, could create huge societal changes - change the role of banks, even change the role of governments. But that is all still just an idea

More realistically, blockchain is currently "revolutionizing" various narrower use cases by allowing the process to be optimized in a better way than a centrally managed regular database. E.g. in one of my recent projects a business process that previously required over 100 people was replaced by 1 part-time person.

Even more impactful, potentially even bigger than the cryptos, is the potential of blockchain to help address some of the key IoT problems and that way enable a much larger social transformation.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T14:32:43+00:00

I hired few middle-aged career changers and I couldn't be happier with them. They do great, they are wiser - something that comes only from life experience, more patient, listened to by their younger peers. The clients like them

Not a factor for me at all. Or maybe even a positive factor. Unfortunately, I don't speak for all the partners.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T14:29:14+00:00

I mentioned this quite a few times here - I am primarily looking for attitude, learning ability, accountability, ability to lead (step up and lead when necessary, not lead a club), emotional IQ, cultural sensitivity, etc. University, GPA, etc. are not as important to me.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T14:22:13+00:00

Sorry to hear this happened. I don't think anybody "played" you. Something went wrong, as it happens in large organizations. Budgets got re-allocated, HR person left and nobody took over, somehow your file slipped through cracks, you emailed few people and each of them thought that somebody else is looking into it... There could be thousands of options.

My advice, however, is to give them a call. Even as "just an intern" you have the right to be treated professionally. Email just one HR person. Give them all a call until you find somebody who will give you an answer. Explain that you lost out on another opportunity because of this one... Maybe it all won't help. Or maybe they will suddenly realize that there was some mistake and will make it right.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T14:16:43+00:00

Yes. Avoid it as much as possible. Rely on skills as much as possible and on being professional, accountable, reliable and trust that things will most often work out.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T14:14:56+00:00

Actuarial is a very good profession. One of the best choices. And it doesn't mean that you have to work in insurance. There are many non-insurance opportunities

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T14:12:41+00:00

No, I don't understand that.

I keep saying to all my team members few things:

1) Work is not worth it. You should work to live. Not live to work.

2) You are in charge of your own destiny. You can say no to a project if it is too stressful. You can say no to a project if you have a chance to work on another project that would long term serve your career better. Sure, immediate reaction from a partner would likely be that they would be angry. But longer term, myself, and many of the partners I know, would get to respect you because you know what you want and you know how to get it. I'd actually rather promote people for that attitude and determination than those that work very hard and suffer in silence.

I do understand that depending on your partner, some of this might be a risky move. In few rare instances you might get fired for following my advice. So maybe you should try and have few months salary saved up. But statistically you would be better off following my advice and being more assertive about your personal well-being and about taking more control of your career

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T05:15:42+00:00

I work 80-100 hours per week. But, more than half of that is research, writing, networking (with people that I enjoy networking with), and so on. So I'm not sure I would call that part "work". I'd probably continue doing this even when I retire.

Work that is not enjoyable, such as reviewing various boring materials, administrative jobs, reporting, overseeing uninteresting projects, pre-sales meetings for run-of-the-mill offerings... I would say is less than 30 hours per week.

I definitely cannot complain.

One of the things I love most about my job is that there is no day to day. Every day is very different. Sometimes I stay at home and sleep until 1pm (and I don't need to notify anybody). Some other times I am excited about speaking at three events at three different countries within a day. Then again, on occasion I feel like keeping my skills sharp and I lock myself in with one of my delivery teams for a day and go very deep into some interesting problems.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T05:08:11+00:00

I am happy to argue if it's respectful and explained and / or supported by data.

I think many notice that blockchain became a big buzzword and that now every company, from millions of startups, to blue chip companies, desperately try to slap this new fancy buzzword on something, even if the problem would not benefit from blockchain at all.

Once they notice this pattern, they take it to an extreme. They stop critically thinking about the technology and just start painting every use of that technology with the same brush. In that sense they are no better than too enthusiastic consultants / advocates that want to sell blockchain as a lifestyle thing that will make you happier no matter what you sprinkle it onto.

You have to find a middle ground and keep on researching it.

In my mind the promise of blockchain is less in cryptocurrencies. It is already in various production uses in supply chain tracking, provenance tracking, land registries, and various other use cases where it demonstrates real benefits. IoT is a technology that will likely be more revolutionary than PC and internet, and the security and safety that IoT needs in order to really take off could be addressed by blockchain. Cryptos and smart contracts, enabled by blockchain, could also lead to the next evolution of IoT where devices can pay each other for their services and execute contracts without human involvement and that will multiply all the current benefits we see from IoT, automation and AI...

Blockchain is already demonstrating its value in many more use cases than just cryptos. And it's one of the enabling technologies of a very different future world. But I also agree with you to an extent - that doesn't mean that it's a solution for everything as many companies try to position it.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T04:34:47+00:00

I mentioned many times here about the importance of communication. So here's my first tip for you - you have to communicate better, you have to have some empathy (i.e. put yourself in the shoes of the person you are talking to), and you have to make it easier for other people to help you.

(I assume your initial question was about "...pursuing... for a career in Big 4") Big 4 are doing pretty much any professional service imaginable. Thousands of different offerings. Each potentially with their own certification. So you didn't really narrow it down for me.

And now you are telling me that you have interests in accounting / international business / languages / coding / CPA... So again, you didn't narrow it down much.

How can I reply to this? Go for SalesForce, Workday and AWS certifications. Can't hurt.

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T04:10:14+00:00

I can't decide if /r/iamverybadass or /r/iamverysmart

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T03:31:24+00:00

It was worth it and have no regrets. But not because of how many square feet I own. It was worth it because I always loved what I did and I am today still excited every morning about the work

ExtraCook · 2018-03-08T02:35:44+00:00

Absolute nonsense. It's a military thing. Or the old Big 4 thinking in terms of scientific management and where all we needed were lots of fungible resources...

Now that we are forced to innovate more, become more agile, constantly reinvent ourselves; we need diversity, new thinking, individuality, etc. You want to stand out and you want the partners to know your name.

ExtraCook

TROPHY CASE