rspazzoli, Author at Rowan Spazzoli

A Strategy for Differentiation

On Friday I gave my first lecture to the BUS4050W (Strategic Thinking) class. My main focus for the session was to relate strategy to their careers and how they could get ahead. Part of this was about differentiation, or how they could stand out from the crowd.

I explained that many of them will be competing for the same jobs, along with other graduates with similar degrees from around the country (and the world). In order to get ahead, they need to develop a strategy that sets each of them apart from this crowd. And the strategy will depend entirely on their own objectives. The questions I posed to them were as follows:

Where are you now?
Where do you want to be?
How do you get there?

In other words, they need to analyse their current position, set their goals based on what they want to achieve and then come up with a set of coherent actions that will get them to that goal. And they need to make sure they set themselves apart.

The Red Fire Extinguisher

To illustrate my point, I told them a story that I borrowed from the past course convenor, Dale. It goes as follows:

Dale was working at a highly disruptive and innovative fintech startup in the early 2000s. Their team was growing quite rapidly, and they had hundreds of job applications for various positions.

One day, a bright red fire extinguisher was dropped off at reception, with the instruction that it get to the CEO. The CEO came down to check this weird arrival and opened the attached note. The note on the fire extinguisher said:

“I want to set your marketing department on fire”

It was accompanied by a formal CV showing that the person had an impressive work history.

They were hired, and started their job the next week.

Differentiation to get ahead

This story is simple but powerful, because an action like that can fundamentally alter your chances at success. It’s not to say that this exact strategy would work everywhere. Dropping off a fire extinguisher at an accounting firm is likely to just get you some weird looks and no job.

So it’s important that we develop our own strategies to set ourselves apart. In doing so, we get ourselves into a more powerful position and ultimately are able to reach our objectives and goals.

Image is from this afternoon’s prom walk 🙂

Song of the day: Particula - Major Lazer & DJ Maphorisa(ft. Nasty C, Ice Prince, Patoranking & Jidenna)

Blog 105/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

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Published by rspazzoli on February 24, 2018 | Permalink

The Friday Shoutout: Phaphama SEDI

In 2013 I joined an organisation that fundamentally changed my life. It was called Siyaya, and it aimed to help entrepreneurs from developing areas in Cape Town by partnering them with students from the university. I worked as a consultant that year and in 2014 was the vice president of the organisation. We then formed a new organisation as an NGO, so that fund raising would be easier. And the new organisation was called Phaphama

Phaphama is in it’s fourth year of operation now. They have trained many entrepreneurs and are expanding to new areas around Cape Town. Some info about them is as follows:

“Phaphama Small Enterprise Development Initiative (S.E.D.I) in a Non-Profit Organisation that was established in 2014 by a group of students from the University of Cape Town (UCT), who are committed to promoting leadership, entrepreneurship and small enterprise development in communities in and around Cape Town. Phaphama runs a business development consulting programme in Khayelitsha. The programme runs over 7 months and consists of a series of business management skill sessions and business data collection and analysis. At present eighteen Khayelitsha-based businesses are selected annually to be a part of the project. The programme caters for a diverse array of meaningful local business ventures including, for example, Dlangakana Construction, Soulpix Photography and Lusanda Nail Salon to name a few.“

Applications

Applications for Phaphama SEDI are open and close on Monday 26 February. If you join the organisation you’ll be involved in assisting entrepreneurs from Khayelitsha and Philipi with their strategies and business development. It is a fantastic opportunity to experience business in real life, use your position of privilege as UCT students to assist with economic development and to share and grow your networks. There may also be opportunities from non-UCT individuals to get involved

To apply send a cover letter and CV to hmpjul002@myuct.ac.za by 26 February 2018. Contact me if you need more details

Funding

If you want to support Phaphama in other ways, you can do so by helping with funding. This goes towards providing transport for the consultants, organising sessions and other general operations. I’d encourage anyone who can donate to do so at this link.

If you’d like to contribute funding to them directly, please send me an email and let me know (rspazzoli@gmail.com)

Connect

I’ll be joining the Board of Directors of Phaphama this year as a non-executive director. If you want to get in touch, even if it’s just to come and see what they’re up to or link them up to someone, let me know.

Wishing the committee, the consultants and the entrepreneurs all the best for 2018!

Image was taken in 2014 with Siyaya, which became Phaphama/ The entrepreneurs are pictured with certificates for completing the program.

Song of the day: Born Ready (ft Hope Murphy)[Halogen Radio Edit] - Disco Fries

Blog 104/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

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Published by rspazzoli on February 23, 2018 | Permalink

My New Habit

As mentioned two days ago, I’ve built two strong, successful habits over the past few months. I just passed 50 days of meditation and 100 days of blogging. So I’ve been pondering what my new habit is going to be.

In considering what I wanted to do, I decided the new habit had to incorporate the following:

Physical in nature i.e. some form of exercise
Focused on improving strength and flexibility
Easy to incorporate into schedule
- Can be done any time of the day
- Can be short if necessary
Inexpensive
Uninfluenced by external factors (e.g. rain or cold)
Enjoyable

After considering these (and taking some advice from my mother), I settled on daily yoga as my new habit.

I’ve always been a bit hesitant about yoga. The reason for this is that it feels like an activity that has been highly culturally appropriated. My immediate mental image of it is wealthy, suburban women (e.g. your constantia moms) doing yoga and then going for brunch at some trendy coffee shop (e.g. Tashas).

However, I’ve also realised that yoga allows me to achieve my physical goals while helping me continue my mindfulness goals. And so I’m going to give it a proper try.

I’ll be using an app called Yoga Studio, which allows for you to pick the duration, intensity and focus of your sessions. And my objective will be to use the app every day.

Some dimensions of the habit:

Sessions cannot be shorter than 15min
If I run more than 5km or cycle more than 10km in a day then I don’t have to do yoga
- This includes any other major exercise. For example, if I go on a significant hike
Commitment devices
- Making it public (to you, the reader)
- Tracking the progress and having a streak
- Buying Jared a R1000 bottle of whiskey if I miss a day in the first 50 days
- An accountability buddy (still searching… let me know if you want to do the challenge with me)

I’m really excited about building a third big habit. I think this pattern is a great way of incorporating sustained improvements into my life.

Let me know in the comments if you’ve built any habits and if you’re planning on building any new ones 🙂

Image was taken at my consultancy’s office in Stellenbosch.

Song of the day: Gorgeous - Taylor Swift

Blog 103/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

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Published by rspazzoli on February 22, 2018 | Permalink

Recognising the external, adjusting the internal

I had a great conversation with a friend of mine while we were on a drive today. We had been speaking about how much of an influence people can have in our life.

In some cases, we can change these people (e.g. choose different friends). But in other cases, we’re stuck with people that have had a significant influence on us and will probably continue to do so (e.g. parents, academic supervisors, bosses, siblings).

Often these relationships are good, and there’s no need to want to change things. And sometimes there are people with whom these relationships can be frustrating, painful or arduous.

With these people, changing things external to yourself is difficult. We’re dependent on them for long periods of time. And even if we aren’t, there’s a relationship that will always exist.

We might even try to change the person (or how they treat us) but this is an even bigger challenge.

In these situations, it’s easy to end up in the same cycles of trying to change the relationship or the person. But there’s an easier way. And that’s to change your internal reaction and perception of the situation.

In other words, you learn to manage your own emotions, thoughts and actions around that person. And by doing this, the relationship is more bearable. You learn how to establish boundaries, deal with conflict and hold opposing views.

A choice for you

It may appear that doing this is a sign of weakness. That you’re doing it to appease the other person. That you’re throwing in the towel.

However, it’s completely the opposite. It’s a recognition that this person can try and hold influence over you. But that you can develop the internal system to be able to handle anything that may arise.

Ultimately, you won’t be able to change the person or completely abandon the relationship. But you can focus on your reaction to them. In doing so, you take control of your own narrative, improve your mental wellbeing and reduce the effect that they have on your life.

Image was taken this morning at the School of Economics at UCT.

Side note: Still thinking about the new habit I want to institute. I want it to be around health / physical fitness but have always found it to difficult to create a daily habit around this. Suggestions are welcome 🙂

Song of the day:  Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten

Blog 103/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

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Published by rspazzoli on February 21, 2018 | Permalink

Noting: A Meditative Technique

My new years resolution for 2018 was to meditate every single day of the year. And today marks 50 days of successful meditation in a row. So on this note, I’d like to talk briefly about one of my favourite meditative techniques: noting.

Noting is a tool that is used in meditation for recognising when your mind has strayed. The idea is to recognise the thought or feeling that has distracted you and to simply “note” it. Once you’ve noted it, it’s easier to let the thought/feeling go and get back to your meditation.

Andy Puddicombe, the founder of Headspace, describes it best in this video. He uses the analogy that noting is like lightly touching a feather to a crystal glass. It’s a gentle recognition of the thought or feeling, which then helps us get a sense of space from it.

Noting to manage anxiety

This afternoon I was preparing content for the Strategic Thinking course and was struck by a bought of anxiety. I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the teaching that lay ahead.

At this point, I took a moment to note the feeling. In doing so, I got a bit of space from it. And from there, I was able to gently process what I was experiencing. A few minutes later I had overcome the anxiety and was back into my work.

And I think this has been the best part of meditating every day. I’m (slowly) learning how to be aware of the thoughts and feelings that arise in my mind. And then, depending on what they are, applying the right tools to examine and manage them.

I’ve got much more to learn, and it’s going to be a continuous process. But noting, along with other meditative techniques, have already helped me substantially. And I know they will continue to do so into the future.

Image was taken last year while I was driving. The rainbow sat almost perfectly between my apartment and UCT. What’s also interesting is that the rain cloud was exclusively over Rondebosch, with the sky behind me and towards the harbour (on the right) being almost completely clear 🙂

Side note: I realised that I’ve been blogging for 100 days and meditating for 50 days. It’s time to start a new habit. I’ll think about it and write a post on it tomorrow

Song of the day:  But a dream - G-Eazy

Blog 102/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

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Published by rspazzoli on February 20, 2018 | Permalink

Perspective

Over the past 6 weeks or so I’ve been intensely focused on one single project. It’s not my normal way of doing things because I usually have a number of different things on the go. As much as it was great to be able to concentrate on one task for an extended time, there’s one thing that has been lacking: perspective.

It’s really easy to get lost in the minute detail of a big project. To think that it’s the only thing in the whole world that matters. But in reality, it’s a small component of your life, and things won’t fall apart if you don’t reach your targets.

Zooming Out

So today was spent gaining perspective on my life. I spent a little time in each of my projects, which will include the following over the next few months:

Lecturing the Strategic Thinking course at UCT
Consulting on the beef genetics project
Organising the local Oxford Map the System challenge
Consulting on a strategy for an economic development zone
Masters thesis in behavioural/development economics

After looking at this, I realised that I was doing exactly the work that I wanted to be doing, in the way I wanted to be doing it. I have a variety of projects, from strategy to economic development to systems entrepreneurship. I also have the flexibility to move between them and the autonomy to run my days as I see fit.

A few years ago, I would only have dreamt of being in such. And here I am, with a big picture that’s looking pretty awesome.

I’ll probably be diving quite deeply into each of these over the next few weeks. But it’s great to gain perspective on my life, and realise that I’m precisely where I want it to be 🙂

Image is of Table Mountain, taken from Blouberg a few years ago. Thought it was quite cool perspective of our little city

Quick note: writing this post brought to mind a post on Wait But Why –> “Life is a picture, but you live in a pixel”

Song of the day: Synthetic - The Midnight (Mango vs We are all Astronauts Remix)

Blog 101/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

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Published by rspazzoli on February 19, 2018 | Permalink

Reflecting on 100 Blog Posts

Today is the 100th post of my #365of25 challenge. It’s kinda surreal to think that I have written and published a post, 100 days in a row, without fail.

Some days it’s been really easy to do. I’ll make an observation or experience something and it’ll flow into a post. Some days I’ll lie in bed, with absolutely no idea what I’m going to say. Yet I’ve managed to stick to it.

I’ve written some posts in rather odd spots. Two have been done while in an Uber. A couple have been written while in an airport. And one was written while at a nightclub in Greenpoint.

My posts have also been read all over the world. Looking at the stats this evening, the posts have been read in 44 countries. The countries with the most hits are South Africa, USA, UK and Australia. And there have been readers in countries such as Taiwan, Norway, Oman, Tanzania, Japan, Sri Lanka and Azerbaijan. In total, there have been over 4000 views and 1500 visitors to the site.

Throw the fears

My first post on this site, which was before my #365of25 challenge, was titled “Throw the Fears“. In it, I talked about how we can train ourselves to overcome the fears that are holding us back.

I think that this is exactly what I’ve been able to do with this blog. I used to be so scared of sharing my thoughts and my writing. Anytime I did, it would take me ages to put together the right words and I’d always get nervous to send it into the world.

But now, I’ve been able to train myself away from that. I can convert my thoughts into writing much more easily, and I am no longer worried about sharing them with others.

It’s been a really special journey over the last few months. And I’m really excited to continue growing and developing.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who reads this blog frequently. You’ve provided me with so much motivation and support, and made this experience even more worth while.

100 down, 265 to go!

Image was taken on the Sea Point Prom during my afternoon ride. I know I post pictures of it often, but it really is such a special space for me 🙂

Song of the day: Sunshine - POWERS

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Published by rspazzoli on February 18, 2018 | Permalink

Derailed but okay

On Friday my thesis efforts were completely derailed.

I met with my supervisor and, while discussing my results, we realised there was a massive error in my data. The PhD student who started the initial work on the data set had accidentally dropped around 200 observations . And I’d been working on this for the last few months completely unaware.

What this meant was that all my results would change. After checking with the new data, I found that some results were similar but some were entirely different. This meant that I’d have to completely change my results section, methods description and even parts of my literature review.

With only two days to hand in, this would be impossible (even if I worked solidly throughout the weekend). And next week I begin work on a new consulting project and I start lecturing.

So the only option is to re-register and delay my hand in.

My heart sank when I realised this. I’d been working so hard and despite my best efforts I was derailed. Some of my other initial thoughts were:

I had let people down
I wouldn’t finish my masters on time
I had failed to achieve my own goals
I would have even more work lying ahead of me.

However, upon reflecting I realised that this was all an unnecessary amount of pressure I had put on myself. My friends would still support me if I didn’t hand in on time. My goals were impacted by something I couldn’t have foreseen. And many, many people I know have taken a little extra time for their masters.

Furthermore, there were some really great benefits to postponing. My results are still really exciting and my supervisor says that I could potentially get a distinction for my thesis. Even better, it could even be publishable. And now I have more time to work on it.

Additionally, I’ve been able to take today off, which is the first bit of time I’ve properly taken off since January.

So I’ve been derailed. But I’m okay. And I know that I’ll be able to put together some incredible work.

Thank you to everyone that has supported me so far on this journey. It’s going to be a little longer, but I’m still excited for what’s to come 🙂

Image was taken at the School of Economics last year 🙂

Song of the day: Encore/Numb- Linkin Park ft. Jay-Z

Thesis update: see above ;)

Blog 99/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

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Published by rspazzoli on February 17, 2018 | Permalink