Welcome to JSA TV and JSA podcast the newsroom for telecom and data center professionals. I'm Laura Noland at JSA Joining me today is Aaron reason director of network security at consolidated communications Aaron. Welcome to JSA TV Laura, thanks for having me As one of the top fiber providers in the US could you tell us more about consolidated and then your role at the company? Sure, so consolidated communications is a leading broadband and business communications provider We serve as customers business and wireless wire line carriers across rural and metro communities in Roughly 23 state areas and my role at the company is director of network security, and I have kind of a unique I guess role where I get to provide Cyber security for our business and then also for our customer side Oh Well, can you talk about the latest trends that you're seeing in cyber security over the past few months with so many more of us? online throughout the day because of COVID so what are you seeing? right. Yeah, so It's probably a broken record to many that are hearing this but there's been a massive uptick in ransomware attacks and Not only has just the quality gone up but You know really the intensity of what they're doing has gone up as well So, you know years ago ransomware attack would be something that would make the news because it would disrupt the business But it's really moved into a different model of extortion And so not only could it disrupt your business, but then you know for years down the path It could disrupt your branding Because they like to extort data and hold it over there their victims So it's gotten really ruthless lately. So Well knowing those risks, what are your top three cyber security tips for the average everyday internet user? Yeah, you know, that's that's one of the neat things about cyber security It really seems cyber security, you know, it seems like something you need to be an expert at which it, you know It doesn't hurt But really, you know, the bigger the company is the harder it is and the smaller the company is or even down to an individual the easier it can be and It's funny because you know, there's a million different companies out there that will try and sell you cyber security solutions and a lot of them are really good But really some simple things can can do quite a bit. They say cyber security Should be done in layers. And so you can tackle a few of those and provide yourself a lot of security The first one being password management. So first of all, you'll want a good password You know one that's not easily guessable or one of the top 100 passwords that you know is kind of known each year And then, you know, if you can manage to have a different password for every site, that's incredibly helpful I personally use a password manager service that I pay a couple of dollars a month for but the one in your browser or your phone also works really well, too Another thing is updates. I know it sounds so simple But a lot of the times when you get a phishing email and there's you know, there's a maybe a strange file attached to it Updates can stop those from taking advantage of unpatched equipment and vulnerabilities And the last one I kind of alluded to it. There's phishing You know, even if you don't update you if you don't have a good password manager If you don't fall for it, then it can't get you. So being kind of wise about What you're seeing in the email and what you're gonna click or what you're gonna link You're gonna follow or a file that you're gonna open that could prevent any of it from happening in the beginning. So Excellent tips. I'm definitely jotting those down for sure very very a great strategy to stay protected online for sure So I know that the consolidated team is working very hard behind the scenes to boost network security for customers So they're protected even more. So what is the consolidated team doing? Sure. Yeah, so every year we like to we do a couple things We have several different security exercises to test not just my team But the business right cyber security really is everybody's job every employees job every member of every team needs to participate. So You know each year we do some cyber security exercises, and then that's what we strengthen our Spend our year strengthening and so this year really came down to segmentation of our our critical infrastructure and then hardening of that gear. So you know One of the words that's kind of a buzzword is zero trust And you know, that's a goal that you want to achieve to where No matter where you're at whether you're VPN then whether you're on the company network rather you're on the Wi-Fi No matter how secure the network might feel you should build your network to where you don't trust any one part of it more than you should Another term is micro segmentation It's a little bit easier of thinking it that way where you just segment your network to protect your critical assets So a lot of smaller companies have very flat networks where you know from when you plug into The wall in the office or whether you VPN in maybe you could get to too many things, right? And so we're constantly auditing and making sure that Things are segmented as much as possible to make it very difficult for Malicious activity to spread throughout the network Keeping things compartmentalized. So that's been kind of our theme for this year and yeah each year We like to kind of revisit What could help secure our customers more in our own business more? It's important to note that October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month If you didn't know that mark it on your calendars And what do you hope is the number one takeaway for viewers during National Cyber Security Awareness Month? Oh, yeah, definitely That one's easy. It really comes down to people you know all the Amazing and horrific things you hear or read about in the news Usually come from just one person doing the right thing or the wrong thing, right? so You know it like I said before One fish can lean to a ransomware attack So if people can stay vigilant about you know second guessing what they're clicking or the link they're following Or the website they're typing the username and password into that might not be the real website That's huge right following best practices can solve a lot of cyber security problems. So Maintaining strong password Rotating when you're supposed to and not just incrementing you know adding you know password one password two You know following the best practices is goes a long way So that's really what I hope every single person can do these things and it will immensely add to the security posture of any company Or even any person Great information Aaron great action items that we can take away and start using today So thank you for that and for folks who want to learn more about Staying protected online. Oh and even about consolidated. Where can our viewers go to learn more? Yeah, so we have some great resources at consolidated.com and then you know, there's the National Cyber Security Alliance Has stay safe online.com. So those are two really great resources where you can learn more Thank you again Aaron. It has been a pleasure and come back anytime. All right, I Thank you viewers for tuning into JSA TV and JSA podcast. Happy networking


guest today's particular area which is to do with ikhlas. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has placed significant emphasis on this topic of ikhlas. When we translate ikhlas into English we usually use the word sincerity. We usually say that ikhlas is sincerity. The problem with any translation is that it's not always adequate and that ikhlas is much more than sincerity. So InshaAllah what we'll do today in the minutes that are my disposal is to try and define what is ikhlas? What constitutes ikhlas? What do we need to do in order to get to ikhlas? And then look at why is ikhlas important? Why is there a need for a person to have ikhlas in their life? And then finally we'll look at the perfection and their best examples of ikhlas and see where that leads a person. In doing so hopefully we'll be able to get a better understanding of what ikhlas is and how we can apply that to our own lives. So first of all what is ikhlas? Now this is something one of the ways that the word ikhlas is used is very well-known it say. Surah of the Holy Quran say surat al ikhlas. And that surah of ikhlas has nothing to do with sincerity. There is no mention of sincerity in that surah of ikhlas. Rather it's to do with the tawheed of Allah swt. And also one of the names of it is surah of the tawheed. But the most common name for that surah is surah number 112 of the Holy Quran which we all recite in our Salah is surah of ikhlas. And so that means that this topic of ikhlas is something deeper than just sincerity that we may associate it with. And of course in the root of ikhlas is this word khalaam and saad which is used to define purity as well or? Absolute. When we say khalis we say that something that is totally pure is khalis. Because nothing else added to it. And that is the meaning that is being referred to in this surat al ikhlas. That Allah swt is pure and that he is free of all those associations that people might associate with him. That not only is he one but he is the one of which there is no second. He is independent of all those who are dependent. And that not only does he not have a father or son but he is also. There is nothing that is even can come close to being similar to him. And that in his essence in his reality is unique. And that is what the real meaning of ikhlas is. Is that an action of a person becomes so pure and so free of any kind of attachment that there is no ulterior motive towards it. That there is no attachment towards it. When a person does any kind of action there is always some kind of ulterior motive that is attached to it. Whenever I want to do something before I do it the first question I always ask myself is what is in it for me? What is in this action that will benefit me? What in this action will help me in whatever way? Whether that is a worldly benefit, whether it is a benefit from the dunya or it is a benefit from the Akhira. Either case it is some kind of benefit that I am looking for from any kind of action. But Ameen Al-Rumi, what does he say? He says, I did not worship you or Allah swt. I did not worship you often than not. I did not worship you because I was fearful of your hellfire. And nor did I worship you because I desired for your paradise. But rather out of all the things being worshipped in this world you are the only one who is worthy of being worshipped. Allah swt the only one who is worthy of being worshipped there for I obeyed you there for I worshipped you. So that means that there, and in the similar saying says that there is three kinds of worship. There is the worship of the merchants who worship because they are doing business with God. They think if we worship then we will get paradise as a result of it. So this is the worship of the merchants. And then there is the worship of the slaves who do worship because they are fearful of his punishment. And then there are those who worship him because he is worthy of being worshipped and this is the worship of the grateful. This is the real worship because they are grateful for the fact that Allah swt has granted them with all the things that he has. So how does a person remove themselves from this attachment and get that person's action to become more sincere in their own life? So the first thing in analyzing the fact that a person needs to make the action pure is to look at the way that Allah swt has treated the person. If we examine the way that Allah swt treats the person I know that this topic is a little bit difficult to cope with in the beginning but you have to bear with me so that we can get to the end of it. So Allah swt how has he treated the person? When we look at Allah swt and all the stories that he has mentioned in the past, he has told us that from the beginning of time whenever we sense a representative of ours, whenever we sense a prophet there was always an enemy of that prophet and that he reminds us that for from amongst the people it was made one who is the enemy of the prophet because he is an enmity is not towards personally towards that prophet but enmity is towards the the message that that prophet is bring. But what was consistent in all of these things? What was consistent in all these stories where there was a prophet and there was an enemy of the prophet, whether it was the story of Musa alaihi salam and there was the Pharaoh in front of him or there was Ibrahim alaihi salam and Namrud was in front of him or there was another prophet and Shaddat was in front of him and so on and so forth. What was consistent amongst all these stories was the fact that at no point did Allah swt at no point did he ever stop the sustenance of the enemy of Allah swt at no point did the enemy ever complain that today I didn't get food to eat at no point could the enemy say that today I was not given those necessities that I need in my life.  So Allah is saying that look when it comes to how I've treated human beings whether they believed in me or they didn't believe in me. I have given them all sustenance. I have made sure that they are still living their lives. I've not made, I have not at any point denied them those basic necessities that they need in their lives even though they rejected me even though they claim themselves to be God. Now what is required from those who believe? So he says for those who believe I've given them extra and I've been generous upon them in terms of my special mercy. However what is now required from those who believe is to see that Allah swt granted those who believe sustenance and he granted those who disbelieve they also receive sustenance. Now from those who believe Allah swt expects that you commit those actions you perform those actions solely for him. You do not commit those actions I do not perform an action thinking what is in it for me but rather perform an action thinking that Allah swt expects this action from me and that I expect a reward from him and therefore I have to make sure that my action is solely for him. Imam Mirul Wain Salaam says that the person who seeks a knowledge the fruit of him seeking that knowledge is that his action becomes sincere once he increases his knowledge his action becomes sincere and the fruit of sincerity and their proof of sincerity or what sincerity leads to is certainty in a person's life. For person desires for themselves to become certain about Allah swt certain about the name then they have to make sure that their action is sincere. How difficult this path is is highlighted by the Holy Prophet of Islam where he says the Holy Prophet of Islam says that all of those who know will be destroyed except for those who act on what they know.  Those who are in eklahs are constantly in difficulty, constantly in trouble because maintaining this is the most difficult thing. When a person commits an action in private the angels write down the reward of the eklahs then when that person goes and tells somebody I did this good deed then Allah swt says to the angels now remove this reward of eklahs and just leave the reward of a good deed. Then when that person seeks to get a benefit from that good deed from themselves then Allah swt now removed the reward of this action as well because this person received the reward of it from the dunya. So it's very easy for a person to pile up these good deeds but it's just as easy for a person to remove all that reward that they were potentially going to get for that action because the action was not solely for Allah swt. But what happens when a person does an action solely for Allah swt when a person does an action without worrying about the punishment and the reward? What does Allah swt do for such a person? For that there's a example which is a very beautiful example which highlights this in the most magnificent way. Sheikh Abbas Qummi rahmatullahi alayhi who is the compiler of Maffati Haljina was a great grand scholar in the house of Najaf al-Ashraf and people recommended him you should write books on such topics which will benefit the people in the house and he said no I want to compile a book I want to write a book which will benefit everybody all of the people and not just the people studying in the house so he thinks to himself what should I compile as a book which will benefit everybody and therefore he comes up with this manual of du'as and a'mal for the whole year. Of course we refer to Maffati Haljina generally in the holy month of Ramadan but there's a'mal in the book of for the whole year so he compiles this book he comes up with all these a'mal and du'as from different works and different books from the Al-Rawat and the Al-Baita for all the days in the calendar and then he compiles the book and he completes the book when he once he completes the book and he's about to take it towards somebody to make copies of the book of course we're talking about time where copies would have been made by hand and he pauses to himself he pauses and he thinks to himself that if I get this book copied and people get hold of this book and they come to me and they say you wrote these actions in this book you wrote these du'as and these a'mal in this book and you're telling all of us to follow all these actions these du'as these a'mal in this book did you perform them yourself so what answer would I be able to give them so he pauses he comes back and he begins to act on every single du'a and ziyar and a'mal in that book so he spends another year acting on every single thing in the book once the whole year is complete and he's acted on every single du'a and ziyar and a'mal in the book then he now decides now that book should be published now if somebody comes to me and says to me did you act on every single thing then I can say yes all the things I've prescribed in this book I acted upon them first before I published there and invited you all to listen so now he publishes the book the book becomes well known now it's a staple in everybody's house but how did it get to this stage one day Sheikh Abbas and his father come into the Haram of Amirul Amirul Salatu Salam and they say Salah and his father sees that there's a man with the Maffati Huljanan and he's reading some du'as from the book so Sheikh Abbas his father says to him I wish you were like this person who's doing these a'mal now if it was somebody like me would have said excuse me I'm the one who wrote this book this a'mal that this person is doing from this book how did he how did he know how to do the a'mal if I hadn't compiled this book and published it and distributed it everywhere but it was not like me he was one of the sincere ones so he remained silent didn't say anything he didn't say to his father his father who didn't know they had compiled this book didn't say to his father no I'm the one who compiled this book I'm the one who wrote this book if it hadn't been for me writing this and compiling this and publishing it then this person would never have been doing these a'mal in the first place he says okay and as a result of that that he didn't tell anyone that this was his work that he had compiled this book that today there is no asia household in which this book is not found today there is no a Masjid or Hussainia where this book is not found and people all over the world are using this book benefiting from this book and sending Fatiha and Salam to Sheikh Abbas for me today because of his work and that the fact that he did it solely for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala didn't do it for any worldly gain didn't do it for any fame or power or the fact that my name should be announced that I compiled this book today Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made sure his name is well known to every person there might be many greater mushda heads from that same era that most people have not heard of but everybody's heard of sheikh abbas kummi because everybody's read mafatiha al jinnah at least once in their life at least once a year at least on laylatul qadr at least on the day of ashura at least at some point in their life they referred to this book that was written by sheikh abbas kummi and benefited from it and recited the Fatiha for his soul because they benefited from his work only and only because the person did something solely for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and nobody else so so far we mentioned that ikhlas is the purity of the action is the action that is so pure that there doesn't have any vested interest in and of course in philosophy we have this concept which is called altruism and there's a whole debate within philosophy as to whether it's possible for person to truly be altruistic or not is it possible for a person to commit an action to do a deed without any vested interest whatsoever and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala saying this is what i expect from you if you want that highest reward of course if a person does an action with the intent of getting reward then that person will receive the reward but the greatest action and the perfection of the action is for a person to remove themselves from this philosophy of reward and punishment and go greater than that for what reason if a person commits an action with the intent of reward and punishment then they their action is then determined by by the fact in the dunya this is in the aakhir in the dunya by the fact of whether they will get some kind of benefit or not or they will be prevented from some kind of harm or not and therefore the quality of my action is now dependent upon something else somebody else if a person therefore doesn't act well with me if a person doesn't act good with me then i'll think why should i act well with that person if somebody is not giving me any benefit then i'll say why should i have any kind of relationship with this person because they're not giving me any benefit they're not adding any value in my life but the the the perfection of action is to be free of that is to move even greater than that of course there's many philosophies like this there's one philosophy which actually originates from Canada it's called the real human being philosophy and that is there's three gears there's a first gear and the second gear and the third gear and the third gear is this philosophy that a person does an action without this incentive of reward or fear of punishment that they're doing the right thing because it's the right thing for a person to do the right thing because it's the right thing and for no other reason other than that and therefore my action is now free from depending on other people and depending on what the other person will do for me in fact there's many sayings like this character is when you can do something for somebody who can't do anything for you because in in any other case i'm expecting something else in return from a person when i'm doing an action and the greatest example of that the greatest sign of doubt the greatest level of that is who say after doing a deed in which there is no possibility that this person could return anything to them on top of that they say famous verses of surat al-insan which you're all familiar with they say Allah says about them that they feed the orphan and the captive and the wayfarer out of his love and then they say to them those people for who who could do nothing for Ahlul Bayt al-Amasala they could not return anything in any way to them they say we fed you not for any other ulterior motive except that we did it for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala we do not desire from you any reward for this and not even do we want thanks for it usually when we're doing actions in which nobody can do anything for us we say at least the person could have said thank you at least the person could have expressed gratitude for the fact that i did this action by saying that if you want to get to this perfection of action then you have to remove all your expectations and say there's no expectation whatsoever and that's the greatest kind of action and what does that lead to it leads to these verses which i read right at the beginning of the lecture which is when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala creates Adam and then iblis refuses to do the sajda as mentioned more than one occasion the Holy Quran this occasion when it's mentioned Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala relates the fact that shaytan says Fabir is Zatika you imagine this is iblis who's just refused to do sajda by he's saying Fabir is Zatika i swear by your honor iblis has refused to do sajda but he's not disbeliever he's such a believer that he swears by the honor of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it says Fabir is Zatika i will i swear by your honor that i will misguide people all of them ajmain i will misguide all of them i will take my revenge out of Adam on all of the people everyone who descends from Adam the only people that i can't misguide are those whom you have made those whom whom you have taken to that stage that when they do a good deed they don't even desire for thanks when they do something good to a person they don't even desire the person to say thanks to them they don't even desire any gratitude from that person those people i cannot misguide and it was imperative for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to have people like that whom iblis could not misguide to show that yes iblis is very powerful but even his power is limited there are those whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has chosen there are those whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has guided in such a way that iblis is unable to reach that he's unable to he's unable to misguide them he's unable to reach there not to the fact that he doesn't try it's mentioned in a wayat that he comes to every single prophet he comes to all the immalim as-salatu salam there's dialogues with iblis but he's not successful they've reached that level of connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because there is no incentive of reward or punishment and how does iblis misguide through this incentive through these incentives but what is what is the significance of what does this result in if a person realizes that the action is solely for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala what does that lead a person to understand this is the final thing and then inshallah when a person realizes their own value when a human being realizes their own value then for that person to be sincere for that person to do an action solely for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that path becomes so much more understandable a person realizes that why is it that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala expects this from out of everything that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created out of all of the creation there's no other creation after having created it that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes pride in other than the human being after giving us this detailed description of how the human being is created in surah al mu'minoon he says blessed is he who's the best of creators after having created the human being so out of all of creation human being is the best out of all of his creation everything else is also a creation out of his creations all of these things are also the creation the sun the moon the planets the stars everything with the linear are all his creations in addition to that paradise and hell are also his creations now if human being is superior to all his creations then does it make sense for something which is superior to desire for that which is inferior to him when the human being is superior to all creation then does it make sense for the human being which is superior to desire for something which is inferior to himself which is paradise and hell which are inferior to him no then what does it mean what does this mean that if paradise is inferior to human being human being is superior then what should that person what should that human being desire for Allah swt says if you desire for me if you desire for me then i will make you worthy i will make you worthy to enter into that place which is closest to me i will make you worthy that no you shouldn't have that desire but rather holy prophet of islam says that there are four people for whom paradise desires that they should come into me holy prophet of islam says there are four people in this world for whom paradise desires that they should come into me so yarsulullah who are they says ali wa salman wa abudar wa mithda paradise desires that they come into me if they come into me then paradise would become paradise because they have realized their own worth when on the day of khanda holy prophet of islam says to his companions he says those of you who go out and bring me the news of the victory of my brother i will guarantee you paradise everybody goes out except for salman holy prophet says salman don't you want to go to paradise he says yes i do he says then how come you didn't go out says yarsulullah i considered for a moment then i thought to myself that when i'm sitting next to the one who has control over paradise when i'm sitting next to the one who has control over paradise then how should i why should i leave his company to go somewhere else later on when they came in he says yarsulullah congratulations on the victory of your brother this first person comes running in is fuming he says salman you're sitting here all this time maybe salman might say he doesn't say this i'm saying maybe he might say to that person that you did all this effort to try and get paradise but you didn't get it and here i am i sat next to the holy prophet of islam and i got here because paradise is not about running after things paradise is about realizing your own worth and the first step to realizing your own worth is making sure that i do everything only for Allah is making sure that whatever i do is only for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that way i'll realize my own value in my own worth and that there's no example no greater example of a person realizing their own worth then imam was there end of the month of raja where it's mentioned that imam was sitting with abdul labni zubair in the masjid of the holy prophet of islam in masjid al awi in madina when a when the messenger of the governor comes to imam and he says the yabna rasulillah the the governor wants to see abdul labni zubair is curious he says yabna rasulillah do you know for what reason you've been invited by the governor no no nobody knows this year imam was saying aslam says to abdul labni zubair he says the rula of syria the rula of shahm son of abu sofyan has died nobody knows yet imam is telling abdul labni zubair he says he's died and yazneed has succeeded him as the caliph and the question is of pledging allegiance so abdul labni zubair says yabna rasulillah so what are you going to do imam says to him wait and see imam says to abdul labni zubair you wait and see what i do he leaves the masjid and he goes to he goes home and then accompanied by the young people of bani hashim he comes to comes to the palace of the governor he says to the youth of bani hashim i want you to wait outside i will go inside and discuss with the governor whatever the matter is if at any point my voice is raised then you come inside maulana says aslam goes inside one narrative states that walid reads out the letter to him another narrative says that he begins reading the letter but he's embarrassed to read the whole letter and he hands the letter over to the imam for the imam to read it himself in either case when the imam salamullahi reads the letter or he is the contents of the letter he says to walid wouldn't it be better if this announcement was made in the daytime in the masjid of the holy prophet while all the people were there you've called me at night and walid says that this is a reasonable request we will convene tomorrow morning and this announcement will be made in the public marwan who's present there intervenes and he says if you let hussein go now then you will not get him again you will not be able to capture him again imam hussein raises his voice and he says oh son of the prostitute do you threaten me with death are you threatening me when his voice is raised the use of bani hasham come in imam takes them back out and he proceeds back home but he says something that every time i consider this statement of the imam i wonder how did the imam say this he says to avulfallil abbas it is abbas this city of medina this city of my grandfather wassulla is no longer a city worth living in is no longer a place that is worth living in any one in another narrative marwan meets the imam outside and he says i advise you to pledge allegiance to yazi this will be better for you in the dunya and the after imam salamullala replies he says my salam to an islam of which yaziid is the khalid misli la yubai or misli man like me will not pledge allegiance to a man like yazi he ends the discussion entirely by saying a man like me will not pledge allegiance to a man like yazi this wasn't a battle of one man against another man this was a statement a policy from the imam this was a statement a policy from the imam that in every time there will be people like yazi and if you have the courage like hosain then you've got to stand against in every time in every time there will be people and if i'm reliving this message of arsail a salam by commemorating the moharam every single year then it means that i have to stand against those yaziids in my time imam salam comes into the house and he orders preparation for the journey


So I think about some people that are just kind of, they're not particularly ideologically driven much in, you know, any way. And they tend to be uncertain about climate change just in the fact that they're not paying very close attention and they're hearing mixed messages. So they are kind of uncertain. That's some pretty sizable segment of, you know, 20, 30%. Some of those folks' information can be enough. I had a teaching assistant in one of my interdisciplinary climate change classes. She was, she's a chemistry major. She hadn't been paying very much attention to climate change. And then she said, oh, I sat through this class and so now I don't eat meat, right? Because you talked about how this drives a lot of greenhouse gas emissions. And I just didn't know that before, right? And so there were people like that. There's some segment that having a, you know, good sense of climate literacy, what's driving greenhouse gas emissions, what actions are effective, both individually and collectively, is going to help that, right? And then I think there are people that that's just not going to matter at all. There's kind of some hardcore skeptics that are at 10%. But, you know, a lot can get done with 90% of the people.


Let's break down design thinking in a simple, easy-to-understand manner. In essence, design thinking is a problem-solving approach that prioritises people's needs. It's less about producing a quick answer and more about understanding the problem from all angles, ensuring that the solution is both effective and user-friendly. Imagine you're tasked with building a house, not just any house, but one tailored specifically to the needs and desires of its future inhabitants. You wouldn't stop by randomly layering bricks, right? You'd first want to understand who's going to live there, what they need and what they envision of their dream home. The process of understanding, ideating and creating solutions that cater to these users is at the heart of design thinking, the six phases of design thinking. Design thinking often unfolds in six main steps or phases. These guide individuals and teams through the creative journey. Here they are. The first step is to empathise. This is understanding the future homeowner's step. You immerse yourself in the world of the users. In this case, those who'll live in the house through conversations and observations, you'll get a feel for their desires and necessities. Within UX, there's lots of different tools and techniques that we can use in this process. The next step is define. So after we collect all the user research and the information, we pinpoint the exact requirements.  The next step is to then ideate. This is where creativity flows. So knowing the requirements, we could brainstorm architectural styles, room layouts and design features that would fit the design needs. We know through the defined stage what we need to design and this is where we get to try all out our ideas. The next step is prototype. In this phase, you create tangible or visual representations of your ideas. This might involve crafting a mini model of the house or drawing detailed sketches of different rooms. When we're doing websites and apps, we do wireframes, which are essentially blueprints and then we might make them more high fidelity in Figma or other tools. Then the next stage is test. This is where we present those models or the sketches to the future inhabitants. They might provide feedback like, oh, we want bigger windows in the living room or can we have a porch at the back. Based on this, you refine your designs. So this is when we might design websites or apps. We show our future users and then based on their feedback, we then improve it. The next step and final stage is implementation. This is where the design comes off the paper and takes shape on the ground. We'll actually start construction of the house, website or an app. And in this example, we'll ensure each brick and tile aligns with the design. Once it's built, we essentially review the final structure making sure it meets the inhabitants needs and making sure of any final tweaks if necessary. So why is user design thinking so popular? First off, it's user centric. The emphasis is on understanding and catering to user needs, ensuring that the final product, so in this case the house, it's functional and loved by its users. We don't want to ever build something that we don't know is right for the people we're designing for. It encourages collaboration, so many minds are better than one. In this example, architects, interior designers, builders and even landscapers might collaborate, bringing diverse perspectives and skills to the table. When you're in a big company, this will be people like product owners, managers, this will be developers and all people around who build digital products. Then it's flexible. So the stages of the roadmap, but design thinking is adaptable. You could go in between stages and as you gather more insights, you could then revisit and refine earlier stages. It's not a linear straight path. So now we look at applications of design thinking. Though we've discussed it in the context of house building, design thinking, it's broad applicability. It can be employed in any field and this is when there's a problem that needs to be solved. So getting started with design thinking. Stay curious, keep questioning and observing, understand the why behind user needs, practice empathy, truly feel the user's aspirations and concerns, really understand who you're designing for. It's the foundation of design thinking. Then prototype and test. You want to bring your ideas to life, however rough they may be. Real world feedback is invaluable. So we like to think of design thinking as the architects blueprint for building solutions, beer houses or services that people love and need. That's the key. So when you're crafting your dream home or even tackling a website or an app, let design thinking guide you where you create something that people are going to love and happy building.