Reflections with Jael Chng

“We started My Working Title™ as we have many people coming to us and asking us about what they should do with their lives. On an individual level, we feel the pain, struggles and confusion of people as they navigate their careers. “What do I do? What should I do? – these are common questions we hear. On a company level, we see the challenges companies and HR departments are going through in the midst of a rapid and disruptive business environment. On a country level, we know that Singapore is at an inflexion point of change, and we need more entrepreneurial problem solvers who will drive change.” 

Through our conversations, I found out that one of the key things that the My Working Title™ team challenges individuals and companies with, is about their WHY. Why do you do what you do? What drives your why? And that’s when I realised that discovering and understanding your WHY essentially is discovering and understanding your Purpose.

In their Discovery model, Discovering your Story is about your purpose. What is your dream? What do you work towards? What are your guiding principles?

These are big questions. Not one that you have a standard 10-year-series answer to. Not one that you can pinpoint now even. Yet, it’s a quest.

Purpose is for us to discover. What we find is unique to us. Even the timing. Keep a lookout for themes, what moves your heart, what gets you going. It will come.

This word is loaded and polarising. Passion – some seem to know what their passions are and judge others who don’t. Some spend their lives finding it and struggle when they can’t find it. Some say, it is overrated, in whatever you do, apply passion.

The My Working Title™ team takes an open approach to this – some people “find” their passion faster, for some people Passion “finds them” and for some people, they can bring Passion to what they are doing.

The word passion comes from the Latin root pati-, meaning suffering, or enduring. Passion can be the pain you feel, and a solution you want to bring to it. Passion can be what challenges you, intrigues you and motivates you. Passion is what you are willing to prioritise and sacrifice for. Passion is the fuel to your Purpose. 

To discover your Passion, it includes taking time and experiencing life to Discover your Story and also your Self  – your interests, talents (tapped or untapped, infancy or maturity), your strengths… Once again, it is a discovery process.

Jael has met people who are stressed because they can’t “find their passion”, who know their passion but “can’t find it” and also people who are happy to do their jobs and pursue their passions on the side. Her team helps to debunk myths, process with people their thoughts and work through to find their unique blend of Purpose, Passion and Pragmatism at where they are (as it will change with different life stages/circumstances).

They aim to be a voice of optimism realism and not idealism cynicism – not to be a voice that crushes dreams, nor do they shy away from giving pragmatic points of views for people to consider. They don’t dismiss passion nor do they encourage people to prioritise it as the only goal. The discovery process is unique to each person – by all means, discover your purpose, passion and also consider pragmatism.

In speaking with many Singaporeans, especially youths there seems to be a constant oscillation between “chasing my passion” and “being pragmatic”.

The Singapore narrative has been this: study hard, get to University, graduate and you’ll get a good job. Start small, climb steadily and you will cruise when you are at a high position.

This narrative is shifting. More youths have been asking Jael – do we need to finish university? Would it be better to work first or go University first? Adults have asked Jael – I just got retrenched (at a high position), what do I do next?

To add to that, there are career myths too – “If I find a job I love, I don’t have to work a single day.” “I have to find a job in what I studied, if not the time is wasted.”

To the My Working Title™ team, Pragmatism is the execution of our Purpose and Passion. Discovering one’s Story and Self needs to be met with Discovering one’s Situation.

What’s in our hands? What are the cards we’ve been dealt with? What are our financial needs? What is the market demand? What are the skills and experience gap? How can we fill that gap?

What choices can we own and make? What future can we create? 

After hearing so many youths and adults who feel resigned to fate, immobilised because of choice paralysis, shift responsibilities to others than themselves, the My Working Title™ team hopes to empower people to drive their own careers – to breakthrough their own barriers and be proactive in designing their careers (and lives).

Speaking with Human Resource Professionals, Jael shares that many companies are trying to keep up with the changes and are trying to figure out how to even map career paths anymore. With leaner budgets and a workforce that is less permanent, the social contract between employers and employees are also less strong. With that, it is key that each person drives their own careers and not assign the responsibility to the employers fully. Therefore, the My Working Title™ team also encourages people to design their careers with smart prototypes.

“Smart Prototyping” as Jael mentioned, is about testing out possibilities in a low risk environment. Instead of taking “S$250,000 of your parent’s money to set up a cafe and risk losing it in 6 months, why not test out the concept in a Pop-Up store first?”. Instead of sinking in large amount of money or time/effort, test the market first, and build as you grow. In doing these experiments, you will find out what the market want/needs and you will get a better idea to build your business.

“Smart Prototyping” sounds like an opportunity to discover, learn, design (and re-design) to execute our career goals.

We’re glad to hear that Jael shares that adulting is hard, yet at the same time, she also reminds us that never before, the youths have access to a global audience and have more resources to create the future than ever.

As shared earlier, 65% of future job titles are said to be non-existent anyway, so what are we to do? This is why Jael and team called the company and movement My Working Title™. If you dig deeper, working titles are secret code names used in the movie and publishing industry. Applied to careers, they can be titles people are prototyping. It is a key to unlock our potential as we discover also, our career strategy.

The My Working Title™ team wants to empower people with their thinking model to create possibilities, an approach they hope people can apply throughout their careers, especially in the years ahead. 

Feeling the passion of Jael and her team, we hope you’re inspired to find your unique blend of Purpose, Passion and Pragmatism, create your Working Titles to strategise your career. You are the boss of your own career.