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  MAIDEN MANZANAL-FRANK, GLOBALSTAKES CONSULTING
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Maiden Frank's Impact Insights

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NOMAD

5/11/2023

 
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My friend and publisher is a certified Global Nomad. He's travelling now for two years all over Europe and apparently now in Mongolia with his partner while working on his businesses. He writes for Medium and will get his book published soon on the same topic.

He's not rootless as what it seems like. Global nomadism is not place-centric but lifestyle and values-aligned life design. Designing this kind of life requires an intentional and deep way of honoring your truest desires and bringing them to life in a way that  supports yourself and your needs, the environment, for long term.

Who is this for? For those who are not adhering into  'living and dying in one place' where there are choices that lie open wide and are taking it. Cyber work propels and invigorates this culture shift. Globalization in ICT power charges it. Culture shift in this area is taking place. The exodus has just begun. More and more people are moving not just for greener pastures but to elect a different life. 

For sure this is not for everyone. But some people are not troubled by lack of security, lack of social ties in one place, or lack of family supports and other familial things when they're life is in flux. Some people flourish in that kind of mobility and dislocation. They take the road as their offices and cubicles and learn the ways of the people they meet and share coffee with on a train, bus, tuk-tuk, or tourist tram. 

My friend is living the life that he desires and not flinching about it. We can be nomads in your town as well. We can exist in one area but totally isolated from the rest of its current realities. This is not about travelling and moving but deciding to not participate with life in all of its dynamism. 

Nomadism is a choice, by far a choice that creates its own limits as well as possibilities. If you elect to be so, where would you go and what would you like to learn in the process. 

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UNLIKELY BEDFELLOWS

4/24/2023

 
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Like the Black See Grain initiative powered by the UN between Ukraine, Russia and Turkey to free up the grains to address the growing food insecurity in many parts of the world, this deal is highly contentious.

While currently warring, the two factions managed to put aside their strife to think about how the grains from Ukraine could solve another world problem. Albeit, for very selfish reasons, they came together, debated endlessly, sought side deals and concessions, and almost broke down the negotiations. So much for what UN calls 'restricted diplomacy.'

While highly volatile and unpredictable, when pulled together, enemies can be brought to the table with very clear political or economic objective, facilitated by multilateral actors who are perceived as neutral or non-partial to the central conflict. It seemed that limited trust can be fostered on a very narrow set of targets with disincentive for non-cooperation and rewards for its maintenance.

The world is fraught with conflicts and war-mongering. The stances of governments and politicians are more towards creating division and polarization rather than creating a pathway towards reconciliation and unity within a diverse framework. Negotiations seldom accomplish their purpose because of the insistence that all wrongs and disagreements on all fronts had to be taken down first which is not the way to go. 

This initiative proves that with a strong political will, enemies can sign the same accord separately without the face-to-face interaction but still agree on the document. Even though the terms are fairly slim, that could be start of more talks and less fighting on the ground. This is possible but very hard to put together and maintain, but do we have a choice? 


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THE HELICOPTER VIEW

9/15/2022

 
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Problem-solving with a helicopter view is better for critical thinking and analysis. As you go higher and higher, you see the problem at much-bigger picture. You see more areas adjacent to the problem, requiring you to think big-picture, lose sight of specificities for a while, and get down to building a synergy and integrative frame of mind while constructing solutions. Your horizon becomes wide and your frame of reference expands. Your curiosity is released.

Specifically, the helicopter view helps you:

1. Separate the wheat from the chaff

Take all the noise out of the problem and focused on top two things that needed solution. Keep your values and priorities behind any solution. Sometimes, it is just staring at your face because you're unable to see the big picture.


2. Connect the dots to opportunities and long-term issues 

Big picture thinking doesn't just solve the obvious problem. It also presents opportunities to be cultivated and grown in-house. That means that you're looking at a larger scope beyond the upsides and downsides of your actions. Aside from opportunities, learn to look at what's coming out in the corner as you analyze relationships and dynamic forces that are impacting your work in your industry. Find patterns from connections and interplay of moves and countermoves of the actors.

3. Generate solutions you're team can own and be proud of

Big picture thinking helps everyone in the team have a holistic, integrative, and interconnected frame of mind when discussing options, alternatives, and possibilities. Your team is not siloed from other teams in the organization, weaving new discoveries into what's existing in terms of processes and systems. People can navigate solutions without overhauling what works or reinventing the wheel.

Take a helicopter view when things are starting to look too messy and unclear. The best frame of mind is to take a step out of the nitty gritty and concentrate on what this problem presents in the larger scheme of things and what possibilities await the solver. 
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THE BOOK IS A PROCESS

7/29/2022

 
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I had just released my first commercial book.

Yes, it's a big achievement. It's a cause for celebration. 

Some call me lucky. Others tell me, "You had come a long way."

Some said, that I should start paying tribute to the people who helped me along the way. 

They're very happy for me. I'm pleased that they're happy for me.

But this book, like any other things in life, is part of a process. 

The book is a product of that long process. For me, it took me two decades of sharpening that process- the wisdom, discipline, lots of lessons learned, and eventual putting it down to bring more value out there for others to partake.

Like any other process, it was a product of other processes that came with, my consulting business founded in 2013 but operational in 2014. The business grew in 2015 and cocooned to accommodate my personal vicissitudes. Back in 2018 soft launch and massive work thereafter to grow where I am now. It followed by creating value and ensuring quality every step of the way. I means late nights work, weekend work when my baby was with the in-laws, meeting potential clients, lots of networking, pro-bono work, writing while cooking, cleaning, and chasing butterflies, and enjoying the ride. I also learned magnificently.

Life is about failing well and coming back up to straighten one's paths. To all of you creators, you know what I'm talking about.  

Cheers for this first book, cheers to many more, beautiful and valuable creations. 

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WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? PART2

11/9/2021

 
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To continue on the "big idea" discussion.... 

Big ideas generated from design schools and labs are great. They're ideas.

Everything we have right now, these tangibles were products of someone's imagination. 

Some are dreamers, some are designers, some are investors of dreams, some are implementors. Some are borrowers, refiners, and even auditors of dreams and ideas. 

From conceiving to implementing, many processes and actors will be needed.

Which one are you? What position will you take in this continuum? Where is your default position?


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RELATIONSHIPS ARE EVERYTHING

2/3/2021

 
When you think about it, really, relationships are everything.

Everything and everyone is interrelated and interconnected. The survival of one is dependent on the survival of the system to which that organism belongs and vice-versa.

When complex issues are taken together systemically, new insights appear, normally, unseen and oblivious to the decision-maker.

It sounds like a cliché, but what goes around, comes around.

In reality, what comes around, goes around faster than ever before. We know that serendipity is not that unpredictable. There's no such thing as chance encounters. 

Interconnections and interlinkages shouldn't just be in our social relations.

In many instances, the best innovation starts within the interstices of divergent and contrasting approaches and disciplines. Take the case of a watch that does tell a time but also act as monitor for abnormal heart conditions.  These permutations are bridging what we conceptually think as 'irrational and weird' combinations. 

Ideas are everywhere.

Systems collide and coalesce, depending on forces that impinged on or that works within. As I write this, many systems are failing us, and new systems have yet to be imagined and invented.  

Where will you be in the post-pandemic world- what systems are you trying to resuscitate or have you thought of leaving the old one for a better alternative? ​
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RUNNING INTO THE EDGE OF CHAOS

1/27/2021

 
When everything is urgent, nothing is urgent.

When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. 


Change efforts go by the wayside if there's not enough urgency within the organization
to ensure that it will be given an undivided attention and resources it needs. Moving the strategic priorities into implementation requires consistent and constant pressure from management that understands strategic management.

85% of strategic plans do not get implemented. When the rubber hits the road, the tendency is to focus on the day-t0-day mundane issues, relegating the higher objectives into the backburner.  This stop-and-go scenario will delay your progress and unconsciously reward inventing obstacles. 

Managers and leaders- stop treating all crisis as equal. You should know how to treat priorities as real priorities, or your employees will not believe another memo with an urgent stamp.

It's not what they hear, it's what they see in action that gets believed.
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BEGIN ANEW IN 2021

12/8/2020

 
Tell me that you know what to do next year? 


Yes, 2021 is around the corner. Another lockdown is in the offing.

Who would have thought a year ago that we will have to endure and even thrive in this crisis?

One thing before you start planning is to CELEBRATE your achievements.

Do this in a contemplative state where even the minutest things in life are worth rejoicing about. 


The second thing to do is THINK ABOUT WHAT WORKED as opposed to all the negative issues that arose out of the pandemic. There must be, think hard if you can't find, even a single thing that worked well in your business or organization as you adjusted, modified, and recalibrated your actions. 

The third thing to do before planning is to FIND THE RIGHT INTERSECTION between your intention (Objectives), where the traction is (Business opportunities), and your passion.

This is difficult, especially at this point, where you might have to pivot in a slightly different way, ala curbside ordering or take-out for restaurants, phone-appointments for salons, phone consults instead of in-person, putting on lots of Zoom videos and online courses for academic and training businesses. etc. 

Ask yourself, if the current business model is not working, how do you get to your objectives without putting monies down the drain? What opportunities exist during this crisis for leveraging? What new passions have surfaced in the course of your adaptation? Finding the right intersection may get you on the long but sure road to recovery and in a new place for your organization. 

Do these three things and you'll have the right positive mental scape to begin anew.
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BEYOND RESILIENCE

8/12/2020

 
Yesterday, I spoke at Trico Changemakers Studio and it was a delight to have a very engaging discussion with the members present. 
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What I observed about the resilience narrative is that they are based on patterns and a sense of predictability that is not present right now in a climate of ambiguity, uncertainty, complexity, and volatility. I have made a Beyond Resilience paradigm to show what we are missing out on many important themes. 

Insead of asking yourselves, are you ready to bring your kids to schools, ask about how education can be reimagined for the future generation. 

Instead of asking how can we solve homelessness together, why don't reimagine how the vulnerable population can be part of us, not something to be considered separate, different, and wanting? 

We asked the wrong questions therefore get the wrong answers. ​

We need bold imagination for a future that is not what we desire, but we can thrive and build stronger. 

Let's start a conversation. 
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ISOLATION IS OPTIONAL

6/17/2020

 
We live in challenging times. 

It can be more challenging now that there is a complex reopening process that any blueprint is academic.

The guidelines in re-open are cautious, preventative, and risk-averse.  What it doesn't prohibit is up for many interpretations. Moreover, you are juggling countless things to get the business going again. 

What you need right now is practical advice that quickly assesses your situation, gives you a couple of options to choose from so that you can rebound with more precision.

What you require are pragmatic, creative, and resourceful advice and guidelines.

Who do you turn to for that valuable resource?

Isolation is optional and so does suffering. ​
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