Thursday, July 11, 2013

Do first, instead of asking

Over the years, I have observed a common habit among many Singaporeans, especially the younger ones - they ask before they think.

Even when fairly complete instructions were given to them, they ask for detailed instructions on every step. I described it as "lack of initiative" or "common sense".

This is probably due to our education system, which focused on examination and the drive to get 100% score.

I wish to share two wise sayings from ancient times:
- When you don't know what to do, the doing will tell you
- Seek not to find the answer, but to understand the question.

I often give this advice to young people. You only need to know the important things. You can start to do what you know. The parts that you do not know will be clearer to you after some time - by then, you may know the answer, or may be able to ask more focused questions.

I hope that this tip will be useful to guide young people on addressing the uncertainties that they face in their jobs and in life.

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