THE PROBLEM OF A PERSPECTIVE UNIVERSITY STUDENT: JOB SEEKING v. VALUE CREATION

Yesterday I was at dinner with some church members, a family and some young boys and girls. One of them – let's call her Cecilia – expressed her intentions to study Phsycology at university. She said that her introverted disposition and her ability and patience to listen to people would make her a good phsyc. I agree with her. Then she said she loves everything related to the human behaviour, the mind and social interactions studies. So she'd like to study Freud and friends next autumn. But there is a problem: she is afraid to study this subject for fear not to find a job after she'd graduate.

The change of perspective - non-linear thinking - could help to solve problems. Like in this image where you cannot state whether monks are descending or ascending, there is no right answer, just different point of views. (M C Escher, Ascending and descending, 1960)

Now, I want to help her. First, I think her fear it is a legitimate and honest issue: unemployment rate is high and the job market is very unstable. But I also believe that more important than to have a job, is our intention and ability to create value for others. If we start with this perspective we might end up in another place. So I'll design a question trail – just invented this name – in order to reframe the problem.

From a job- to a value-creation-approach to pick a university course

1. Why does Cecilia want to study Phsycology?
    1. What kind of people does she want to help?
    2. What kind of phsycological problems does she want to solve?
    3. What past experiences do lead her to be a phsycologyst?

These questions should lead Cecilia to understand her own drivers.

2. What value will her help bring to people?
    1. How to measure it?

This is a crucial question. Let's think about the kind of values a phsyc bring to people. They can be more happiness, a sense of lightness and understanding of his own self, a plan of reaction to adversity, more productivity, easier and more stable social relationships, a clear mind to look at new opportunities and achieve new goals. The higher the expected reward the higher the price she would be able to charge. (I don't mean the only option for Cecilia is to start a private practice after she'll graduate from University. These questions are designed to understand whether there is a demand for the services she'd offer. Once graduated she could still look at employers that meet that demand.)

3. How many potential people in need of her help are there?

The answer to this question really depends on where she live and how she will promote her work – this is the branding and marketing side of her job.

4. Will people helped aknowledge her help?

This is a tricky question. In latin countries – i.e. Italy – there is a general skepticism about intellectual professions – lawyers, consultants, phsycologists, software developers, designers, journalists – since people usually think they can do the same job by themselves. I think in order to aknowledge the job a phsyc does and the value she bring to his patients, Cecilia should choose a very specific field very hard to practice.

5. How much will those people willing to pay her?

Here there are two way to approach demand: the value-based side and the competition-based side. With a value-based approach the price should be a fair share of the economic value Cecilia would create to her patients. With a competition-based approach the price should be a slightly lower price that his competitors charge. (Competitors should be a very selected number of players, since phsycological assistance is very much based on personal preferences and so it's hard to compare two different phsycs. It has to be kept in mind that the default mode – doing nothing – is also a non-player competitor.)

What do you think? Are these questions a good way to tackle Cecilia's problem? What other ways do you think of?

WHAT MAKES A GOOD BOY SCOUT LEADER?

As a Scout adult assistant in my church I think how to help young people to learn how to become mature and responsible men and women. Last week I wrote a short list of what traits and skills make any Capo Pattuglia (chief of a 7-9 scout patrol) a good leader.

As I wanted to write these traits, I looked back at my experience in the group over these past 3  years and to my expectations from a leader I'd follow.

What traits has a good Chief Patrol?

1. He has a clear objective - He answers to the questions "Who I am? What do I want? Why am I here? What kind of person I want to become?" - During activities, and in his life, he knows where he wants to go.
2. He is reliable, he is careful toward others, he is accountable over his actions and his group's ones.
3. He is generous by giving, he prefers to give than to receive - He keeps to himself less credit for an achievement and more share of fault for a failure.
4. He cares for others, mostly the youngers and more vulnerable ones - For example, he ties shoes, give away his meal, encourage who is tired - He treats others the way he wants to be treated.
5. He can discipline himself and keep his needs under control (hunger fatigue) - He identify his own feelings (anger sadness joy fear) and he can express them - He breaths when he's afraid or angry, counts to 5, thinks what to do then acts - He cries.
6. He teaches things to others, skills, tecniques, jokes, he tells stories - He holds the group together - He teaches specialty, pushes to improve, helps others being accountable.
7. He loves everyone the same way, he corrects everyone the same way, he does not have preferences.
8. He learns from the best - He keeps an eye on other Chiefs and on any skilled and effective person, finds the best and apply that in his life.
9. He is humble, asks for forgiveness, he seeks advices - He learn from achievements and mistakes - He fails.
10. He can communicate in a clear concise and effective way - He delegates tasks and gives responsabilities to others - He explains strategies, visions, objectives, rules of the games and of life - He motivates to action and inspire others.
11. He knows when to be serious and when to joke (when mission is accomplished).
12. During time of difficulties he keeps himself focused, resolute and secure to the objective - He doesn't let secondary problems disctract him, he doesn't get discouraged, he prays, trust God, others scouts and his chiefs.
13. Everything he does, he does it as a group, not by himself - He asks for help, to topographer, knots-master, strategist, counselor.
14. He has courage, vision, accepts (calculated) risks - He takes initiative, keeps going forward - He talks face-to-face and to his superiors - He is decisive - He wins over his fears knowing that to achieve an objective you need to risk what you have.
15. He looks after for ideas and collaboration with other chiefs patrol - He seeks solutions and participates in projects, outgoings or ideas' organization.
16. He has fun and is fun.

Of course one can agree with some traits and not with others. The question is, even if you know you will fail at some rules, do you want to be a better Chief Patrol? Or a better Leader of your life, family, business or country? You decide.

"If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done." (T. Jefferson)

"True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less." (C. S. Lewis)

"It is absurd that a man should rule others, if he cannot rule himself." (Latin proverb)

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'." (E. Bombeck)

WHAT DEEP LEARNING IS

Finally, I've got what Deep Learning is. (I mean, my main goal is to understand what Artificial Intelligence is and how to apply it to real life problem, and DL is just a branch of it).

Few days ago Bloomberg's Ashlee Vance wrote about George Hotz who hacked his car and taught how to drive by itself.

"In the month before our first drive on I­280, Hotz spent most of his time outfitting the sedan with the sensors, computing equipment, and electronics. Once all the systems were up and running, he drove the vehicle for two and a
half hours and simply let the computer observe him. Back in his garage, he downloaded the data from the drive and set algorithms to work analyzing how he handled various situations. The car learned that Hotz tends to stay in the middle of a lane and maintain a safe distance from the car in front of him. Once the analysis was complete, the software could predict the safest path for the vehicle. By the time he and I hit the road, the car behaved much like a teenager who’d spent only a couple of hours behind the wheel."

Inside the car. Credit Peter Bohler for Bloomberg Businessweek

So Deep Learnig happens when you give a machine or a computer the intellectual tools to learn a task and than let it teach itself how to do it. It is like a children learning how to walk, talk etc. The Hotz's experiment is amazing.

At the beginning the car was unsecure and unstable. Then it learnt how to follow road lines, and be more careful when a cyclist was riding.

What amaze me is the capability of a computer to learn without putting specific rules of behavior inside. Hotz's software is made of 2,000 lines of codes. (A book-sharing app I had in mind requires around 500,000 lines). He says that if/then statements - the rules the computer will follow when he encounters that certain situation - are imprecise and unreliable. In this way the car can learn a personalized way of driving, based on the single driver teaching and experience.

Go forward George!

(Now, my question is: How can we use the Deep Learning technology to automate a mechanical, repetitive task? Proposals welcome)