“Three SIEVES? What are they? asked the citizen. “Yes, three SIEVES! The first one is TRUTH. Have you checked if what you want to tell me is TRUE?” “Well.” replied the citizen, I only heard it! What is the second SIEVE?” “The second SIEVE,” said Socrates, “is GOODNESS. What you want to tell me , even if not checked, is at least something GOOD. Is it? The citizen stammered “No… not really.. It is just the opposite!”

“Ah,” sighed Socrates, “then let us try the third SIEVE’ is it NECESSARY that thou should tell me what happened?” “To tell the truth,” confessed the citizen, “it is not really necessary.” “Then,” smiled Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither TRUE, nor GOOD, nor NECESSARY, forget it, and we shall not dwell on it!”

Socrates wisdom is relevant to all of us who enjoy gossiping about others! before we speak about anyone to anyone else, let us first use the THREE SIEVES: Is what we are going to speak TRUE? Is what we are going to speak GOOD? Is what we are going to speak NECESSARY? If the answer to these three questions is YES, no problem, speak! Otherwise, it is best that we shut our mouths!”

**-o0o-**

In the great Indian epic the MAHABHARATA there is the interesting story of Arjunna’s skill at archery  displayed in a tournament held as a test of markmanship. On a high pole hunging a wooden fish, with its eye serving as the target. A host of brave princes took up  the challenge to shoot the fish’s eye. Before each one let his arrow fly, his Guru, to test his concentration, would ask him what he saw. All of them invariably replied that they saw a fish on a pole at a great height… And went on to describe the head of the fish, or its colour, and on 

When Arjuna was asked  the same question, he replied, “I see nothing but the EYE of the fish.” And he was the only one who succeeded in piercing the target with his arrow!

In life, what is important for us is to have a clear idea of our OBJECTIVES. After all, it is our objectives that motivate us to achieve certain goals in life. What in fact happens is that  instead of concentrating on our objectives and their achievement,  we waste precious time on matters that really do not matter. It is good for us to realize the importance of the 80/20 Law. that is 20% of our efforts that produce 80% of results and 80% of our efforts go in producing only 20% results! 

For those who are also preparing, here are some sources that I am able to search.
I hope these will be helpful for you.

Support Group/ Community

• http://forum.only4gurus.org/
  (Membership required before you can browse over their contents. Membership is FREE. Links to other resources like Rita’s PM Fastrack System)
• http://aditya369.com/
  (Good tutorial resource)
   

List of sites with relevant sample exams

• http://www.tutorialspoint.com
  
• http://www.bestsamplequestions.com
• http://pmstudy.com
• http://www.pmconnection.com
• http://www.oliverlehmann.com
• http://www.headfirstlabs.com
• http://www.pmpcram.com/
   
   

When I asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face
When I Asked God for Brain & Brown
He Gave Me Puzzles in life to Solve
When I Asked God for Happiness
He Showed Me Some Unhappy People
When I Asked God for Wealth
He Showed Me How to Work Hard
When I Asked God for Favors
He Showed Me opportunities to Work Hard
When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others
God gave me Nothing I wanted
He gave Me Everything I Needed

~ Swami Vivekananda

Here are the steps how I added it to my browser.

1. Make sure the “Bookmarks Toolbar” is visible. If it’s not,  press CTRL + B or go to Customize and control Google Chrome> Always show bookmarks bar.
2. Drag this link: Bookmark on Delicious up to your Bookmarks Toolbar.
3. Drag this link: My Delicious.

delicious bookmarklet

To my dismay, I have been given the same adjustment as my peers with no differentiation for performance and consideration for industry averages. It’s as if it was an across the board increase. I did not sign my memo, and I took up my issue to my superiors.

The company had a tough year. I was mad at myself, asking on whether I will choose to stay or move on to another company who can provide better.

It was because of the story of 2 people that made me wrap my decision.

The first is about one of our technical engineer who used to be a construction worker before joining our company. He is our gentle giant here in the office. He said that working with our company changed his life that he now no longer has to gather swamp cabbage (kangkong) from the river just to have something for their dinner. Thre company has given him a chance to be stable and work on something he can be more proud of.

The second is from my mentor (our VP) about his experience from AIM (Asian Institute of Management). During the time when he failed his graduation, his professor described him in front of their batch to be one of the smartest guy that that he had known.  He could have easily made it as a summa cum laude if he had enrolled in a MBA school. However,  he is at the tail of his batch because he failed to deliver.  In the mind of my mentor, half of his head is telling him that it is bullshit, while the other half is trying to process what he had just heard. He has now graduated from his course.

It’s during our conversation that he tells me  that it’s not a question of one’s skill and intelligence, but our ability to deliver the results and the bottomline.  I may be better than my other peers but they delivered the result that they were expecting.  It was a question of figures and not hard work..

In one coaching article by Marshall Golsmith, listed by the American Management Association as one of 50 great thinkers and leaders who have influenced the field of management, he shares his insights for similar situations such as mine.

Forgive yourself. You are an adult. You chose to work with your company. In a way, you made a bet. Sometimes our choices don’t work out as planned but this does not make you a bad person – just a human being.

Reassess the situation. One of greatest challenges is to learn the meaning of “sunk cost.” What’s done is done. Let it go. Objectively reconsider your situation. Given the world that exists today, do you want to stay? If so, make the best of where you are. Do you want to leave? If so, begin searching for another job.

Remember your deeper mission in life. Behave in a way that optimizes benefit for yourself and the people that you love. Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face by letting your anger override your logic.

For those who are reading this article, I hope I was able to share something with you with the stories and suggestions above.

They are looking if I have any other ID like a voter’s ID, postal ID, PRC, or passport or driver’s license, which unfortunately I don’t have. I tried to appeal their reasoning since the one identified in the exam permit is as follow:

IDENTIFICATION POLICY
Candidates must present one form of un-expired, government-issued identification that contains the candidate’s name, photograph and signature. The following forms of identification are acceptable only if they meet these requirements: Passport, driver’s license, national identity card, military ID, other forms of un-expired, government-issued, identification that has both signature and photo. If any of the above forms of identification contain the candidate’s name or photograph, but not his/her signature, the candidate can use another form of un-expired identification what provides a signature to supplement the photo-bearing, government-issued ID. Examples are: Employee ID, Bank card, Credit card

However, my convincing power was not enough. I can’t seem to understand why my social security ID, which is more accceptable to banks compared to a postal or voter’s ID, is not accepted.

I had to file an appeal to PMI US and Asia Pacific regarding my case before I can have my exam rescheduled and not be forfeited. This really drains the energy out of me!

Looking at the bright side, this incident gives me more time to review. Guess which books I’m using . I’ve read 2. First is Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Exam Prep (5th Edition). Very good book I must say. It gives you insight as to how the exam will really look like as well as detailed analysis and tips to the common pitfalls done by examinees. I really like the practice exams too.

Second book that I’m using is Kim Heldman’s PMP Project management Professional Study Guide (4th Edition). Good complement to Rita’s reviewer in the way that it presents the topic from a project management process group perspective while Rita’s is organized based from 9 PM Knowledge Areas.

I really just hope that PMI will have a quick customer support group to assist me and have my exam scheduled the soonest..

The recent copy of Computerworld Philippines includes an article about the 2007 Webby Awards. The Philippine Web Awards (PWA) is an award-giving body that annually recognizes the best Filipino-created Web sites and honors the individuals and teams behind them. And guess what, our company, IT Group Inc., is one of the prestigous winners last year. We won the People’s Choice Award for the SME category. People’s Choice winners are chosen based on the most number of votes by the public through online voting and SMS.

I circled myself below together with our Business Development Manager, Ms. Aly Capote. during the presentation of the winners at the end of the program. Yehey!!!

I also happen to have a clearer copy of the picture for better viewing :p

To get yourself a copy of Computerworld, you can avail it at your favorite newstand or download a copy at Nivle’s Blog [ saw it from the web after I googled:D ]

One of his many activities after GE is his weekly podcast in BusinessWeek called The Welch Way. Together with her wife Suzy, they dispense no-nonsense advice on business, managing and careers.

Last Aug 2006, they discussed a topic on choosing between a bad boss from a good company and a good boss at a weak company. Let me share with you what they have to say.