clips of logic

I came across this theory on how we tend to value our own creation more than others while reading Dan Ariely‘s latest book, The Upside of Irrationality.

Toothbrush Theory

Everyone wants a toothbrush, everyone needs one, everyone has one, but no one wants to use anyone else’s

It is also known as the Not-Invented-Here bias. This applies to things you buy, food you eat and even your ideas.

We tend to overrate and overvalue our own ideas and creations. In fact, we continue to do so even when someone else made it seems as if we came up with it ourselves.

This bias is useful in keeping us motivated and committed to pursue our own work but it could also blind us from better solutions and ideas out there.

On the other hand, it seems quite of Malaysians including myself tend to prefer products from other countries. I think we need to strike a balance on this and give some of the local products a chance.

Finally decided to switch over to Facebook Comments box. I’m using this plugin and there were quite a bit of modifications required on my theme. You have to disable and hide WordPress own commenting system and make sure the theme is using Facebook comments count.

Before you take the jump and move your blog over to use Facebook comments, here’s some pros and cons to consider.

Pros

1. Integrated with Facebook. Comments can easily be posted on Facebook to increase views and publicity. You also get the cool Facebook Insights stats.
2. You’ll get comments from actual people with their name and photo. Makes it easier to figure out who is who.
3. Less spam. Well, there are spammers on Facebook but definitely less than those annoying spam bots.

Cons

1. Not exactly easy to setup. Might require some knowledge in HTML/CSS/PHP.
2. No longer integrated with WordPress Comments. Meaning you won’t be managing your comments from your WordPress admin site.

If you are planning to use Facebook Comments, you have to create an app on Facebook and set it up to point to your blog. The settings page for the plugin have all the information you need to get started.

You may also need to modify some of these files to hide the existing commenting system and change how the comments count are displayed.

• comments.php
• single.php
• index.php

Here’s the comments count code.

<a href=”<?php echo the_permalink() ?>#comments”><fb:comments-count href=<?php echo the_permalink() ?> /></fb:comments-count> Comments</a>

Depending on the theme you are using, this can be really simple or quite a task. On Flexnode Blog, there were more modifications required on the theme functions and the styling of the comments area. If you need any help, leave a comment below.

My dad used to complain that I spend too much time gaming. But I always argue there’s plenty of things to be learned from playing games.

It turns out that if you play any RPG games like Diablo or D&D, you are learning important values and lessons to be an entrepreneur.

How you ask? Well let see what we can learn from the generic classes found in RPG games.

• Tank:
  Take everything head-on and always be the first to get into action. As an entrepreneur you must be ever ready to lead the charge into the unknown. It’s your job to protect those who decide to follow you on your adventure.
• Rogue:
  Precision strikes. Execute with pin-point accuracy. Ideas are useless without execution and good execution can make a huge difference.
• Wizard/Magician:
  Resourceful and knowledgable. To be an entrepreneur, you need to know more than just business or finance. You have to know a little of everything. You got to be able to do things that no one thought possible. You need to surprise people.
• Healer:
  Realize that you can always recover from whatever that hurts you. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. The game doesn’t end when you fail. Just resurrect and fight another day.
• Bard:
  Ability to affect other people around you is crucial for an entrepreneur. Charisma is important if you want to inspire and recruit others to your cause. A bonus, if you can strike fear into the heart of your competitors.

So next time, if anyone complains about your gaming sessions, tell them you are preparing for your future business ventures.

After all, it pays to be well prepared and casting spells or slashing monsters are just too fun to resist. Just remember to actually do something after all that practice and preparation.

Although Flexnode been around for 4-5 years, we never updated our company site since we built Ravejoint. So we decided it was time for a revamp and got Marissa to design the site for us.

Flexnode Reloaded

It ‘s quite cool so go check it out at www.flexnode.com now!  If you are interested in the scripts used on the site, go here.

Simon Sinek says he found out why some people and organizations are so inspirational. In his book, Start with Why he codifies the method for us to lead better and inspire change. He calls it the Golden Circle.

All organizations and careers function on 3 levels. What you do, How you do it and Why you do it.  The problem is, most don’t even know that Why exists.

Influential and inspirational companies like Apple starts from the ‘why’. It sells you a story of why they are different. Simon argues that most companies start with a story that tells their customer what they are selling. They should instead focus on telling their customer what they believe in and stand for.

Here’s a talk from Simon at TED that you should watch. If you are leader of some sort or want to inspire action and change, do NOT miss this.