Month: June 2020

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit. At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 8: June 22, 2020 – June 26, 2020

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:

I learned about consent forms with professional market researcher, Isabel Aneyba.

One of the things I forgot to consider was the privacy concerns of the study subjects. I asked two participants to be in the study but they were hesitant because they were worried about where their information and answers would go since the interview was to be recorded. In particular, the participants were concerned about me selling their data or using their answers against them for political gain.

My reasons for recording the participants was to accurately quote them in the conclusion of my study. I needed a way to remember the responses of all ten participants. Taking notes is one solution but there are times when I’m not able to write fast enough.

I learned from Ms. Isabel how to write a consent form. She suggested to make it personable instead of dry and stiff like those medical forms you fill out at the doctor’s office.

Ms. Isabel suggested incentives like gift cards but I was instructed by my coworker to not give any since we can’t spare the money. I’ll discuss with the team about what incentives we can give to participants, perhaps a free course.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
A friend on Facebook shared this YouTube beauty guru’s heartbreaking struggles with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) that caused her infertility.

RawBeautyKristi, the YouTuber below, struggled with fertility treatments for 15 years and just last week she miraculously became pregnant. In her video, she described how the timing of everything leading up to her pregnancy was too perfect to simply be a mere coincidence; she and her husband just happened to be in the right mood and her body created the right pregnancy environment, and it’s interesting to note that the house they were about to buy, but didn’t, was on a cliff with no fences around to prevent a child from falling.

So how did she become pregnant through natural means? She suspects it might be a low carb diet like keto. She wanted to lose weight through keto and then started getting regular periods. If you know anything about PCOS you know how periods can be unpredictable or altogether nonexistent.

Here’s another interesting observation; RawBeautyKristi tried a different diet years ago and lost more weight but it wasn’t low carb and her periods were still irregular.

Keto is certainly not for everyone and in my opinion it’s overhyped. However, there are plenty of positive outcomes for people who have gone on the diet and have changed their lives for the better. If you struggle with weight loss or infertility you might want to try keto especially if you have nothing to lose.

Speaking of diets, is beef fizz, keto approved? 😳

I don’t know if I should be disgusted or concerned that someone thought it would be a great idea to turn this into a recipe. I wonder how Gordon Ramsay would react to this abomination.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I researched and added more active learning resources on a shared document with my coworker who is mostly out of the loop with the best learning practices. Additionally, I created a research study framework (loosely similar to the scientific method) for my entrepreneurship market research.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’m currently working on studying the motivations and needs of both experienced and inexperienced entrepreneurs. You can look at my research document here.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
I’m being proactive and anticipating future potential problems by asking questions about the safety and security of my coworker’s future platform.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit. At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 7: June 15, 2020 – June 19, 2020

During these past few weeks when I began learning market research, I was surprised to learn that researching isn’t just about numbers, charts, and graphs. Subjective value like personal experiences and opinions are more important when it comes to figuring out your target audience and your customer’s motivations and behavior. You need to hear their stories instead of attempting to quantify it with spreadsheets and charts.

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
Last week I coordinated a Zoom meeting with a professional market researcher, Isabel Aneyba.

Here are the steps on how to conduct individual in-depth interviews for market research. To learn more in-depth about research techniques listen to this podcast episode, Isabel Aneyba: Listening From the Heart and the Techniques of Empathy.

It’s important to note that this is an exploratory stage where we don’t need to ask specific questions. Ask broad questions instead.

Remember, keep this interview conversational as if you’re talking with a friend.

This process can be simmered down to 2 steps: start with an emotional handshake and then organize your questions into buckets.

1. Before you interview, begin with figuring out your research objectives, what do you want to look for?
   
2. Then open the conversation with an emotional handshake, find common ground and connect with your interviewee and get to know them. Start with an easy, broad, and non intrusive question, e.g. “What do you enjoy in life?” or “Tell me about your hobbies/last vacation/interesting beliefs you hold.”
   
3. Then ask another broad but more specific question relating to your research objectives, e.g. “What inspired you to start your own business?” Keep asking until you find info about your interviewee’s motivations.
   
4. Remember, don’t ask “why” too much because it can put people into a defensive mode and they might think they answered your question wrong. Instead, say “Tell me more” or “How so?”
   
5. Follow this interview guide sample to help you organize your research objectives and questions.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
A friend of mine shared this video on Facebook and it is one of the most inspirational and eloquent speeches I’ve heard.

Jeff Deist is the president of the Mises Institute, an economics think tank and the fountainhead of the Austrian school of economics.

In his speech, Deist points out that the most effective form of action, for a libertarian attempting to plant seeds of liberty, is to redirect the individual’s energy to things within their immediate control. For example, things like choosing to read self-help books or learning a new skill instead of arguing with strangers on Twitter.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I moved a step forward by scheduling a time to talk with Isabel Aneyba, the professional researcher who helped me learn the beginner basics of in-depth interviewing. Her expertise helped me gain a clearer idea of how to conduct interviews and that subjective research is more valuable than cold, hard numbers.

I’m currently planning who to interview within my network and I’ve gathered the questions I want to ask.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’m still working on our market research and figuring out 18-29 year old entrepreneurs. I’m responsible for finding active learning resources as well.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
I figured out a way to learn faster and it all boils down to one simple step: looking for patterns. This has worked for me and might help you learn anything, especially with topics that are based on patterns and rules like language learning or verifying sources/stories/personal experiences by comparing with other individual accounts. Find the things that are in common.

Weekly Monday Workshop:

What Praxis Monday session did you attend last week (ie. what was the topic & who was the guest)?
Getting a pay raise with Tim Chermak

What was your favorite highlight from the session?
Tim gave us Praxians practical retirement advice; save at least $1,000 per month.

What was your biggest takeaway from that session?

1. “When you’re specific, it forces you to think about what you have to do to justify the raise.” — Tim Chermak
2. Don’t just do more work. Think of how you can create new value.
3. “An NFL quarterback doesn’t make more money by being a kicker too, or playing defense. He can earn more money by being a better quarterback.”
4. Don’t just say you’ll “create value.” Be specific about the type of value you’ll create.
5. Become an entrepreneur inside your company. Learn about the business model. Make sure you understand the revenue structure and profit margins and costs. Your boss will be thrilled you’re curious too, and you’ll learn which levers you need to pull in order to create significant value.

How do you intend to apply that takeaway to your life?
When I negotiate a raise in the future I’ll be specific about the value proposition I offer my employer and show specific examples of what I’ll do to increase value. This is all about working smarter and not harder; I think it’s also interesting to note that this principle puts a dent into the labor theory of value.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently an operations associate for a non-profit. At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 6: June 8, 2020 – June 12, 2020

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
Words matter. The connotations associated with a particular word invokes attitudes, feelings, and zeitgeist and can change people’s actions.

How does this relate to my current marketing project? My coworker and I are searching for new terms to replace the current vocabulary we use for entrepreneur related topics. Part of our mission is to bring back positive connotations associated with entrepreneurship.

For example, “spearheading a project” would instead be called “leading a project” and “trial and error” is now “trial and exploration.” Our goal is to replace these militaristic terms (fighting for market share, crushing the competition, invading a market, etc.) with what we call a “beauty” term, something that is civilized and invokes positive connotations.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
UX design is a multidisciplinary career and encompasses visual design, programming, psychology and interaction design, to name a few. Graphic design is a launch pad into a UX design career.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I created another document for my marketing research project and gathered a list of resources for self-directed education.

Also, I reached out to the vice president of the nonprofit I work for and asked if I could volunteer for one of their biggest seminars and it turns out that the VP was thinking about contacting me. The VP said they’re in need of help and would pay extra in addition to my monthly paycheck. This is how you take the initiative!

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’m still working on the marketing research project with my coworker.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
Taking notes down whenever an idea pops into my head, even if it seems silly.

Weekly Monday Workshop:

What Praxis Monday session did you attend last week (ie. what was the topic & who was the guest)?
How to Build a Community of Badass Friends and Allies with Praxis alumnus Nick Rundlett

What was your favorite highlight from the session?
Nick is very down to earth and makes his presentation and advice lively and easy to replicate.

What was your biggest takeaway from that session?
Nick’s recipe for success is:

1. Become self-aware
2. Be helpful
3. Make allies

How do you intend to apply that takeaway to your life?
This recipe for success is an example of the value creation mindset. I intend to be more self-aware and recognize my mistakes and own up to it.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently an operations associate for a non-profit. At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 5: June 1, 2020 – June 5, 2020

What I’m Learning: 

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
My previous notions about how to conduct market/target audience research was quite wrong. Previously, I thought that market research was simply facts and figures about demographics but it’s much more than just dry numbers.

My coworker (who is spearheading our project) introduced me to his colleague, Mr. Amador, who is a professional marketing researcher. Mr. Amador taught me a novel research process that I wasn’t aware of that combines the Maslow and Rokeach Hierarchy of Needs.

The first step is to focus on your core target audience, which is a specific profile of what you think is your future customer, e.g. young millennials and Gen Z who are looking for intellectual discussions on social media.

Note that the best sources of data comes from first-hand observation. It’s perfectly acceptable to draw information from the internet like social media because this process involves figuring out your core target’s opinions, behaviors, and how they feel. Another data source is through a sample size of ten people (five men and five women) also from your core target.

Then brainstorm and fill out the following categories:

Features are tangible things. Let’s say you’re interested in creating a social media platform and you figured out what it would have such as ease of access, easily consumable content, user friendly, quality articles, and intellectual conversations.

Attributes are intangible things. Continuing with the social media platform example, the attributes could be peer guidance, perceived value of shared articles, credibility of the platform.

Functional benefits are the practical use of the product that empowers the core target. This can look like debate groups that a user can join or monitor, or consult qualified professors.

Emotional benefits is what the user feels when using the platform. Perhaps they feel empowered and confident with their new knowledge.

It’s important to note that while you’re conducting your research, constantly ask yourself why or what motivates this particular group to behave a certain way.

To learn further in depth about this core target profiling method, check out this episode from the Economics for Entrepreneurs podcast.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
Wave-shaped brick walls are sturdier and more stable than a straight wall due to its arch support. I fact-checked these claims from the Facebook post below and it does appear to be accurate, according to the sources on this Wikipedia article.

This type of brick wall is called a crinkle crankle wall and it’s more common in the U.K. Thomas Jefferson designed this wall for the University of Virginia.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I sent check-in emails to my coworker and my boss so they know I’m making progress and keeping communication open. I also presented my ideas about our target audience in the first team meeting that I attended.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
The same project as last week which is the marketing research project.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
I’m relearning how to learn faster by looking at how children learn. As an adult, we lose the ability to learn fast and it’s not because of a deteriorating memory (although that is a big factor for some) but rather a mental block.

Younger children tend to dive straight into the new ideas or lesson they’re learning instead of procrastinating and questioning all the ways it could go wrong for them.

If they make a mistake or come across a hurdle in the road, they either experiment and find creative solutions or ask for guidance. I’ve observed this many times when I used to be a supervisor at a swim school.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently an operations associate for a non-profit. At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 4: May 25, 2020 – May 29, 2020

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
The process of figuring our your target audience requires conducting research and gathering data. I found a few sources to find data:

• statista.com
• cbb.census.gov
• census.gov
• kauffman.org

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
Chien-Shiung Wu was Chinese-American physicist who made significant contributions to the Manhattan project, discovered the Wu experiment, and won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Wu was also outspoken against gender discrimination in the workplace. Yesterday would’ve been her 108 birthday.

You can see more about her life here.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I picked a project that my coworker and I agreed would suit me, then started a rough draft of my target audience project.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
A marketing project about gathering data on our target audience.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
Staying organized by updating a to-do list and learning outside work.