Finding the Balance

On my very first very first entry on this blog, I have imposed a challenge on myself that I will no longer consider myself first every time I am helping someone. Sad to say, I have failed because I still consider myself whenever I am helping. But I guess the problem is not within my failure but is within the challenge itself.

In CSRGOVE, I have learned that it is not really about social responsibility alone in the corporate world. However, this does not mean that it should all be about profit. Either of the two is wrong. What I have learned is that there should always be a balance between the two. The common mistake among people is that they always consider profit outweighing social responsibility. Most of the time it is hard to find the balance between the two, but it is very important that we do. After all, the main purpose of a business is to make profit. However, we should always keep in mind that we owe to the world to make it a better place.

Because of this, I have realized that sometimes, we look at things the wrong way. Sometimes, we tend to look at just the shallow meanings of things but we never really look at the deeper levels of things. This course taught me that there is more to things than we know it. CSR is not just about being good and business is not just about doing good in terms of figures.

Therefore, the challenge still continues. I still have a long way to go and I hope that the path that I choose to take includes these two things that are very essential. I hope to find the balance between things.

On Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

Having been a business student for the past two years, one of the important concepts that I have learned and have stuck on my mind is the SWOT Analysis. I guess one of the easiest ways to analyze something is by running through its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Almost everything, even the simplest things, can be analyzed by the SWOT Analysis. Even us can be scrutinized by this concept! So for this blog entry, I will be posting the SWOT Analysis of my whole experience in CSRGOVE.

STRENGTHS

Honestly, one of the greatest strengths of this course is that the professor encourages engagement, interaction and critical thinking, whether inside or outside the classroom, among the students. For me, it is important that the students feel that there is a need to engage and interact - that they do not simply just have to sit in class and listen. This way, the students are exposed to more ideas - not just theirs and their professor's. Also, the students are challenged on how they will defend their idea, which for me is one of the essential things that you have to know once you enter the corporate world.

WEAKNESSES

On the other hand, I also saw a weakness on this course. Personally, I think it would have been better if we were given more time to interact with the community and the partner organization. This way, we could have examined closely the partner organization and we could have presented a project which is more sustainable and which is more intensive in terms of solving problems that have been existing in the organization. This way, our project wouldn't have been shallow.

OPPORTUNITIES

Despite the weakness, this course still poses opportunities for the students. For me the most important opportunity that it gives its students is the opportunity of standing out as a better player in the corporate world in the future. Because of this course, students are taught on how we can be different and at the same time be better compared to the other players. This course taught us that we should always consider the two sides of the same coin and not just the side which is sparkling and shiny.

THREATS

However the opportunity that this course poses comes along with a threat. That is the threat of the question, 'What's in it for me?' Again, this question always makes people hesitate on doing something good because they always tend to think that they will not get something good out of doing something good.

And there goes my SWOT Analysis of this course! Honestly, I am actually glad that I was able to come up with a SWOT Analysis because it just means that this course has been meaningful for me.

What if; Who knows?

In life, there are times when we are put into a situation where we have no idea what to do that we end up thinking that there is nothing that we can do to make the situation better. For some reason, we tend to think that the situation is helpless just because we couldn't think of a solution immediately. And so we shrug off the problem thinking that whatever is going to happen will happen because it was meant to be that way in the first place. 

But what if it wasn't?

What if the outcome would have changed only if we did something, or only if we tried doing something?

My point here is, more often than not, there is something that we can do. No matter how big or small, there is always something that we can do to change the circumstances even just a little. Sometimes, we just need to look a little closer and think a little harder. And if that still doesn't work, then it's probably time to consider changing some perspective. 

Just like with the social issues surrounding us, we have to keep in mind that there is always something that we can do that will have an impact to the problem. There may be times that the problem is too overwhelming that we start to think of how we're too little to solve such big problem, but we shouldn't let this get in to us. We shouldn't let it stop us from doing what we can do. We shouldn't let it stop us from trying...

Because who knows, what if what you were supposed to do but didn't do today because you were too scared would have changed the course of the world? 

What's in it for me?

With all the distractions surrounding us in this modern life, it would be really hard to stay focused on what you have to accomplish all of the time. There will be times when we lose track of our goals, and there will be times when we just lose ourselves. This would be even more challenging if the end goal is not really directly for us. Just like in social responsibility, some may think that engaging in such activities does not really have an end goal that will fully benefit us - but that is where most people are wrong and where I have been wrong.

During the discussions, I always hear my professor ask 'but what's in it for us?' Truly, this is a question that needs to be asked but is most often answered in the wrong way. Some people may think that solving social issues which they really are not a part of is just a waste of time because it will not really benefit them. But that is where they are wrong. Every action that we do, every problem that we solve whether involving us or not, has a corresponding reaction that will definitely affect us. I am talking about the infamous karma. Whatever we do, will somehow find a way back to us.

That's why we should not be hesitant to do something good even if it will not directly or totally benefit us for this will bring us something good in the future. We may know what it will be and we may never know what it was or whether it has come to us already or it still hasn't. But the thing is, every good thing that you do will have a good effect on you whether you know it or not. That's why, maybe, we should save ourselves from the trouble of asking ourselves 'what's in it for me?' and finding the answer to that question because something is always in it for us we may not just be aware of it.

Hassle for the Muscle, but not so Hassle for the Heart

On our second visit in the partner organization, we brought with us the draft of our final output to be presented. Each group that were present, showed their draft and the partner organization gave their comments and suggestions to further improve the product after. There was only little changes that were required for our group, and this made me happy. Knowing that they were actually happy with our output was enough to offset all the efforts and hard work that we have exerted for the output. As they say, nothing beats a happy customer.

Coming up with the output definitely was not easy for us. It was really a challenge for us to come up with a high-end output considering all the other requirements that we had to attend to  for our CSRGOVE class plus our other classes. I had to admit, it was a hassle. But then, what work is not?

I have realized that if you really are giving your 100% for something, it will surely be a hassle. Hassle is when it takes so much of your time. Hassle is when it takes a lot of your energy. Hassle is when you spend even at least one sleepless night for it. Hassle is when you had to take in too much caffeine for. That is what hassle means. But what they failed mentioning about hassle is that once you see the outcome of that hassle, the feeling will be priceless.

Seeing the representatives from the partner organization smile when we showed to them our output immediately took away the hassle in it. Hassle could be really hassle, but hassle could also be worth it.