Reflections from Product Gin & Tonic Retreat 2018
Collection of what people thought about when they reflected after the retreat
Observation — People are busy
The acceptance of the busy work life as an equal to the meaningful life and as the predominant tune as the spaces in between work and life make it increasingly difficult for people to have the time to think and reflect on the past to the now and how the past and the now can be used to probe for a look forward.
— Daniel Szuc shared this observation during the retreat and it’s something he has been understanding more with Jo Wong in Start Sparkle.
We could observe this in the weeks leading up to the retreat with quite a few people missing check-ins and by the time it got to the first day of day of the retreat, it took an intentional slowing down for everyone to practice listening to themselves.
During the retreat, not everyone was fully present with some work still filtering through even in Ubud, Bali. It seems that our always connected phones isn’t always the best device to have around when we need to take the time to listen to our heart.
Being busy
The Chinese character busy 忙 is made up of the heart on the left and death on the right.
When we are busy all the time it is not good for our hearts.
— Jo Wong has this observation that many people think of being busy = value when she shares about listening to our hearts.
Post retreat, I actually went away for 6 weeks cycling from Vancouver to San Diego. Fortunately my iPhone and WhatsApp actually couldn’t be used during this entire period! Being away from everyone and having most of the time just the road and nature to enjoy was a bliss to reconnect again with what was important in life.
Before I left, I had asked some folks to think about what they had just experienced :
Staying true to yourself
We listen a lot to other people, yet we don’t listen to inner self enough. We reference the societies to measure and evaluate what is good and bad for ourselves. It can be stressful. It can force us to create a persona how we want others to see us, but not who we truly are, and it can be tiring. It is time we start listening to ourselves more, and stay true to ourselves.
Diversity is not just a buzzword or something to do to be politically correct. Being surrounded by people of vastly different backgrounds, provided perspectives I would have never considered, leading to avenues of conversation and talk that I could not arrive at myself, or with the people I know.
Diversity is beyond skin colour and gender, rather it’s our life experiences, knowledge, beliefs and thinking.
Diversity of thoughts and beliefs leads to significantly engaging interactions.
— Tze Chin Tang : 7 things I learnt from Product G & T Retreat 2018
Change is good for growth
People are lazy to change
Fires herd people
— yitch : Corporate Arson
Listening is hard
Really listening requires suspending your own impulse to correct, to dismiss, to shut down. Navigating this is a challenge, because you don’t want to betray your own values — but you want to give people enough space to open up and feel comfortable having their opinions challenged and scrutinized.
…
We’re consumed by “busy-work” and miss out on real connections around us. It’s easier to just coast through meetups without having a deeper connection and its easier to avoid truly listening to the other person.
— Aditi Kulkarni : What I learned from listening to 40 product leaders from South East Asia
A Rocket ship
Its ironic that we finished with a drawing of a rocket ship as it reminded us of the importance of a launch pad or perhaps the foundation that helps the rocket ship launch into outer space.The elements that ensure a strong foundation and in consideration of what can be made on it for the Me and the We.
The fuel we would need to lift us all off the ground and the people, intelligence and planning that’s required to get people to a place and explore beyond the boundaries of planet earth and to continue to gain perspective to challenges our own inherent biases and assumptions.
If the drawing was indeed a schematic to consider the elements of the rocket ship then it certainly lends a few curious questions:
Who helps design and build the ship?
What fuels the ship?
Where is the ship currently docked and why?
Who boards the ship and why?
What is the first mission and what are it’s objectives?
The other two themes of Making meaning of our work and community to support and nurture learning saw about 15 participants engaged in the discussions. The spaces spelled “GO” (a sign we are doing things right?)
it’s amazing to see the threads overlap, converge, diverge and meet the people who might contribute to the next 5 years in community.
What if?
… the different communities of practices worked together to think of the larger programs of work and conversations needed to contribute to life long learning via communities of practice, social causes and world/local issues.
— Michael Ong : Product Gin & Tonic Retreat 2018 Debrief and What’s Next?
When I got back in August 2018 and checked-in with the group, most people had got back to being busy and didn’t quite re-connect with each other. It seemed like work and travel would help me meet them again in Malaysia, Singapore & Indonesia.
It took time but some of us are chatting again with a few people having changed roles or in transition. Some of us are working towards the next retreat in Taiwan 2019.
Many are busy so the question is :
Have you taken a moment to listen to your heart, reflect and act ?
How do you feel ?
What happened ?
What did you learn ?
How does this relate to the real world ?
What if ?
What next ?Source:
http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog/2008/09/debriefing-your.html
