the big bad wolf

In the story of the three little pigs, one built a house made of straw the other out of sand and the other pig built one made out of bricks. The big bad wolf came, and we know the rest of the story. 

The big bad wolf. This wolf goes by the name of uncertainty. Right now, this uncertainty is identified as the rippling effects of COVID-19, and tomorrow's uncertainty can go by a different name and another form. It can also be a fdodging reality of suddenly being sacked. However, what do we do when we are faced with the blow of the big bad wolf? 

If we are not agile enough, the wind knocks us down. In our class, we defined agility as an action taken quickly to respond to the changes without losing your vision or momentum. This means business taking swift action in finding ways to cope up with the effects of COVID. Since this event was an unknown unknown and we did not see it coming to this great extent. How is agility to function when you have already been knocked down and you’ve lost the people that and have nothing else to pick up? I believe that for one business to be agile, its foundations should be strong enough to windshield the blow of the wolf. 

Being agile in a weak foundation just buys you time. The importance of agility is to keep you in the game but it’s the foundation the keeps you standing. It is always the people inside; this involves how the leader treats it, people. This subject emphasized a trait a leader should have. If there is a common denominator for all types of leaders, it is creating a follower, because no one becomes a leader without its followers. As a business student, one key I’ve learned in this subject is to be a good leader people want to follow and to find a leader to follow. As a business student, I acknowledge I am not an ornament to the field I will belong to but one of its foundations. 

Getting back up again does not mean repeating the same mistake. The pig now knows for sure not to build its house with straw and sand. As wise words of the reputable author, Nasim Taleb quotes the concept of anti-fragile and resilience. Resilience, as we know, is the capability resisting shocks and staying the same to cope up. However, the concept of Anti-fragile is “beyond resilience or robustness” It basically means getting better in every fall. And this is where innovation plays a big role. 

Survival of the fittest. In this fast-changing world, we have entered the phase of the fourth industrial revolution. It is a battle of constant improvements. When we think about it, the big bad wolf is not bad, it just preys on the weak to survive, because its either to eat or be eaten. The ‘weak’ is someone who does not adapt to the changes in the world and a firm can find the key to its survival through the realm of innovation. Innovation is the driving force that will allow you to eat and restrict you from being eaten. The fourth industrial revolution has brought the threat of automation and AI however, humans still have a greater capacity to create using our brains. Innovation incubates in the minds of humans and springs from creativity.

We don’t dip both feet when we test the waters. In class its been mentioned that businesses should always be open-minded to emerging and new by-product of the fourth revolution. However, in my opinion, we should not always bite the ‘new release’. By testing the waters, let other people test the waters first and if the technology is already stable enough, why not use it. It’s not who uses it first but who utilizes it better. As a wise quote says the early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. My point for this is that we are often told to search the newest and the trendiest, but there are always flaws in the new releases. It could be used for or against your standing as a business. I came about this lesson when we had the gamification activity. You see, it excites us when we see a new game but don’t know how to play it, at the are we enjoying it finding a way to force ourselves to enjoy it.

Life is a game we play in. According to Elon Musk, we’re probably living in a simulation. The idea of gamification is to engage the customers and an organization to interact more with the company. Gamification allows you to play with a game you know the mechanics of and apply it in real life. Knowing the mechanics is a great indicator that a game can be played and be applied because it is the foundation of gamification. We had one session wherein we played board games. If there is something that impacted me deeply is that a game is not fun when it is only one person who understands the game. It also does not matter if you finish the game first, you end up waiting for everyone to finish. And finishing early in a collaborative environment means waiting for everyone else to finish and it leaves you waiting and losing your momentum. 

Initially, I had doubts. I always had doubts. How will this old man teach us about creativity and innovation? But this class did not teach “creativity” the way it was introduced to me in middle school. It’s not about how good you are with copying a portrait or whipping your brushes. This subject was not an art class, rather it was a class that guided us to the ‘the art of creativity’. So what is creativity? It is often said that creativity is thinking outside the box. But I have learned during this time of quarantine that creativity could be done through thinking within the box. Why go far when you can frame different solutions within the box. The box pertaining to our homes, how do we keep ourselves idle. Creativity has no boundaries but can be seen in switching perspectives. 

Reassurance for my creativity. This EPSS class reassured me that I am not talentless. Creativity comes in different forms and it is not only nature, but it can be nurtured. The benefit of having that implemented on us allows us to have boost morale that I can produce something beyond my capacity when I try to delve deeper to curiosity. Now the question is, how to be creative? Funny how creativity visits an individual when they reach boredom. During this pandemic, we are asked to stay at home. If there is something, I’ve picked up in the midst of people being bored, it is the very essence of our childhood trying to be entertaining ourselves. I’ve always wondered when I was a kid, how did I entertain myself. 

The mundane and monotony. This is an incubator for creativity and innovation, boredom. The best example of this is the new platform TikTok, watching people find ways to entrain themselves has brought a new level of masterminds and a new wave for advertising. ‘Create when bored’ is the new phase social media is going through. With this, I have realized that when coming up with an idea, quarantine yourself, quarantine your thoughts. When you are feeling alone with your brain without the distraction of the flashing screes, you suddenly hold a pen, grab a brush or strum the strings. Well, this is not the measure of creativity, but it is a springboard to generate ideas or another way is too bombard yourself with ideas and stay in a room with you and just your thoughts. I believe that you start becoming creative in the midst of boredom. 

Deconstructing creativity. This class enables us to deconstruct the fixed ideal that we have been built upon creative people. It is that creative people are the great talented people. But creativity comes in different ways. To the mundane and redundancy of the boring life comes a glimpse of dealing it in a creative manner. This current pandemic that we are currently facing is a slap of reality for the concepts that has been thought to us. Creativity for individuals to entertain themselves in this pandemic. Innovation is a way the health workers deal with the influx of patients and how to have a makeshift environment. Agility is how business and the government is moving as quickly to be responsive and opportunistic in this situation.

By the end of the day, we are going through survival of the fittest. When the going gets tough, the tough keep going. This class allows you to be an instrument for creativity. As a business student, it fuels you to perceive yourself as a creative. But greatly it inspires you to be interesting and to be something else no one can be. I’d love to believe that we all produce art and art is a subjective matter. Creativity is a subjective matter as well, its how people perceive what you’ve created. You may think it’s the most creative idea. You may have the talent it is not just talent that stops you from being eaten. If there is something this class has taught me, in simple terms this class tells you to be needed, to be interesting and to be something no one else can be. When the big bad wolf blows its wind again, the creative, innovative and agile does not get sacked.