Malar Villi Supramaniam interviewed me in one of the episodes of her “Malar In Conversation” - “Being Whole, Being Me” series.
The conversation went deep into my journey of Malaysia PeersOnDemand and my vision for the online community.
Date recorded: 15th February 2023
Date aired: 24th February 2023
Duration: 1 hour 8 minutes 29 seconds
EXCERPTS (7 excerpts in total)
Excerpt 1
“It wasn’t just a copy-and-paste”
Duration: 4 minutes 44 seconds
“It wasn’t just a copy-and-paste”
- why and how Malaysia Peers On Demand started in 2021
I’ve always valued other people’s ideas, and thought others would also benefit from each other.
I had been running Mastermind groups (still am) and also a CEO group, then discovered and succeeded in having professionals come to one-hour meetups!
Excerpt 2
Networking? What networking?
Duration: 4 minutes 15 seconds
Networking? What networking?
- Why people come (and come back) to the meetups
People to sell to? People to work with?
How about inspiration, ideas and human connections?
Excerpt 3
“On-demand” heightened
Duration: 3 minutes 45 seconds
“On-demand” heightened:
- more sessions, on demand, to choose from, to participate in
- more intimate peers, on demand, to share with, get ideas from, give ideas to
We are building a community of support and inspiration.
Excerpt 4
Feed forward, givers & takers, “being,” and diversity & inclusion
Duration: 4 minutes 29 seconds
Feed forward, givers & takers, “being,” and diversity & inclusion
- a few models that make Malaysia PeersOnDemand work
Excerpt 5
Let’s get together
Duration: 3 minutes 12 seconds
Let’s get together
- Stories of “compact, with impact”
C and C. Connections and collaborations.
Do they happen, impactfully, out of the Malaysia PeersOnDemand online meetups?
Wefie photo taken by Malar when we caught up on 21st March 2023 at Syed Bistro Kelana Jaya near her office, ahead of the fasting month of Ramadhan!
Intro photo edited. Outro photo unedited. :)
Excerpt 6
“Come together, right now, over me”
Duration: 4 minutes 27 seconds
“Come together, right now, over me”
- from “networking” to “COMMUNITY”
A community has members who know each other, help one another and share, learn & grow TOGETHER!
Excerpt 7
“Vision? what vision?”
Duration: 7 minutes 3 seconds
Vision? What vision?
- Why a blurry vision is okay 😊
In the mid-1990’s when I was taking a part-time MBA course, one of the British lecturers made mention of The Science of “Muddling Through.” What???
It was actually Charles E. Lindblom in 1959 who wrote an article with that title. I don’t claim to be a “student” of his, but his preference for incremental changes from limited analysis, instead of comprehensive rational analysis, is something I selectively adapt for myself.
In this excerpt, Malar and I discussed my vision for the online community of Malaysia PeersOnDemand.
At best, the vision I paint is tentative. Can I say I have “tentative confidence” about it? 🤔 I’m certainly passionate about the vision, yet I’m not too hard on myself about the quantitative goals.
Enjoy our discussion in the video, and the songs from my generation. 😄 The end of the video is a celebration of the Members of the Malaysia PeersOnDemand community.
Excerpt 8
Community Builder 2.0
Duration: 7 minutes 37 seconds
Community Builder 2.0
- after learning bitter lessons
I thought I did a good job as a community “leader” in organizing a community project that was completed in record time for the holy month of Ramadhan.
Yet the community later turned against me! Major stress!!!
Then I realized I had not been consultative enough with them on project matters, and had not been transparent enough on finance.
In this video excerpt I told the bittersweet story.
The final 2.5 minutes of the video depict and celebrate the community project which was still a major success, despite the drama.