Purpose and Passion¶
I’ve been thinking about what my purpose in life is and what I’m passionate about. I’ve had a pretty good idea about what my purpose is, so it’s more been about checking and recalibrating my actions to ensure that there is a degree of alignment between the things that I do and my purpose. I know, #deepthoughts, but now that I’m in a position to have time and space, it’s good for me to slow down and reflect on this.
In general, I’ve found that my experience and actions have been diversified across many fields, but some trends consistently appear by design: I try to create something that lasts and to do it in service of others. I rarely do things on a whim, and most - I’d say 95-99% - of the things I actively make decisions on how I spend my time are things directed towards these two goals.
In terms of creating things that last, I’ve made many decisions towards that end, and it’s in-built into my decision making to make sure that changes that are being made are sustainable and lasting. Thinking about the variables that can change - peoples’ workloads, commitments, and others - it’s important that the systems created are resilient to these changes and do not rely on the force of personality of a single person.
But one thing that I’ve been thinking about recently is how to best step back in a way that fulfills these two goals - because inherently whether I’ve done a good job is tied to how well the people who come after me do. Together with this, it is important to acknowledge the work I’ve done, but also to empower people coming after to have the runway to make their own decisions, and more importantly, to be perceived to be making their own decisions.
It’s a new thing to be thinking about, because previous groups I’ve been in have had the “free runway” inherently built in - after commissioning, we don’t go back and influence how training is unless we are a training instructor; after ORD, there is no reason for us to stay in our position with someone new coming to take the reins. In council, the council term lasts for a year and the conclusion of the council term coincides with the start of intense A’s prep, so there is a lot of room for the new batch to make their own decisions because we’d be preparing for exams.
I was talking with a couple friends about this and they mentioned about how the civil service in SG generally has rotations (sometimes into different ministries) for high fliers/people they’ve earmarked for leadership positions. I always thought this was to make sure that people got a range of perspectives across different branches of the civil service, but now that I think about it, it also serves the people who come after them well: to have the freedom to make their own decisions and establish their own leadership. In the private sector, I’m not so sure the same thing exists - since people would presumably be kept where they are most effective.
It’s also important for me to be aware of the tiny nuances that are present in a situation. I would very much want to share my experiences and learnings and be there for whoever comes after me, but without the perception - even if unintentionally - that I am seeking to influence decisions in a particular direction. That serves no one well and is contrary to the purpose that I’ve mentioned - inherently, creating things that last implies that a diversity of perspectives are considered with due weight.
It’s a bit like cooking, isn’t it? The bit I hesitate to do most is washing up, even if it’s the thing that makes sure you/others can continue cooking. I’ve never had trouble with the actual process of cooking though. Likewise, I think I have a clear idea of what changes I want to make, what things I want to do, and can execute these changes to a large extent, but where I can improve on is the “washing up” - handing over and stepping back.
And in this case, I think it’s best that the next person using the kitchen has the cleanest set of pots, pans and plates, with as many ingredients at their disposal as they’d like, so that they can create the most amazing meal like how I have.