I truly am. For good reason. During those times when you had been made to feel good, maybe with goosebumps all over you, what was one positive growth outcome you experienced? Lasting growth experience, not a bout of I’ll-do-it-because-I-feel-so-amped kind of thing? Right. I didn’t think so either. Anything wrong with feeling good? Obviously not. […]
Reverence. Deep respect. Solemn, gloomy hallways. No fun. Wait a minute! Is there joy? Is there esteem for others? Esteem for self? Is there deep satisfaction? A bubbling up of enthusiasm from an ever-springing fountain? Would reverence be relevant to you? Irreverence. The opposite. Nothing is sacred. No limits. No boundaries. Free and easy. No […]
Mould in bread inspired this post. We opened a bag with two slices of bread left in it this morning and saw that the two slices of bread were mouldy. Since we’re not in the penicillin manufacturing business, we promptly discarded them as mouldy thoughts ran through my mind. The word “mould” is also used […]
Update: The video clip is now embedded here. Heard that before? What do you think? Have a look at this powerpoint show! The image is clickable, too!
“Lost Horizon” is a 1933 novel by English writer James Hilton. It is best remembered as the origin of Shangri-La, a fictional utopian lamasery high in the mountains of Tibet. I have not read the book and I have not seen the film, but I have remembered the title since I was very young. How […]
What are the more popular bandwagons in town these days? Know any? Are you riding on one, maybe two of them? I came across another article on open-plan offices, which sparked this post. Bandwagons. Jump in when they best serve your interests. Jump off when you’re done. Because if you stay on, you might find […]
You’ve probably heard that “… people may not always remember what you say but people will always remember how you make them feel…” How pathetic! Are we really such a bunch of self-interested brats that we cannot give honour where honour is due? Do we really need such simple, basic training in the quality of […]
Sounds familiar? Have you had days that felt like Humpty-Dumpty? How did you respond? Did you jump to your feet, blowing the trumpet for all the King’s horses and all the King’s men to come and salvage the situation? Or did you call for the Royal Physician to assess whether or not Humpty-Dumpty could indeed […]
The sms voucher arrived last night. Here it is: This is (restaurant) dining SMS of S $50. Value. special for (my friend). The expiry date is 30th June 2013. Only valid for the ala cart menu and not for other promotion and discount. Please show this Dining SMS to our (restaurant) waitress and my mobile number. […]
If you’re following the previous post, you would have noticed Justin Fong giving his view on what happened. At this writing, the sms voucher from the restaurant has still to make its appearance. Justin mentioned two words that are the ultimate in service recovery. That’s right, “sincerity” and “execution”. Actually, it boils down to one […]
Angelina Jolie was applauded all round on TrendIn this week. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the title was “Sophie’s Choice“. Was it a coincidence? The TrendIn article talked about how Jolie decided to go ahead with the double mastectomy based on a “higher probability” that she would have breast […]
The title is a play on Jules Verne’s Anomalous Phenomena published around the 1880s and describing a fanciful journey on a comet through space. What’s going through my mind? Analogies, of course! Seth Godin must either be reading my mind or vice versa. Pity he doesn’t cater for interaction on his blog. I suppose it […]
While discussing the effects of strip mining and related unsustainable agricultural practices as part of our family’s syllabus, we came across the name of Georgius Agricola. It is very likely that he cared not only for the environment, but for the well-being of mine workers as well. Not something you would have thought a 16th […]
Have you heard of reverse logistics? This article highlighted by Barry Neighbors on LinkedIn talked about it. I’d served in one or two quasi-logistics roles when I was in Service, and although the concept of reverse logistics was mentioned in passing, I never heard people talking about it in depth. Logistics has been likened to […]
I just saw a friend’s post about a rather less-than-satisfactory dining experience. This is what she wrote. No names or locations mentioned in this post. “I feel compelled to write this review as this is the worst restaurant experience I ever had. When I made the reservation I was told that there is only a […]
The poster in this post has been going around for quite a while. What do you think of it? If you have shared this poster in your blog posts or social media accounts, does it represent what you believe in? At first sight, it seems good. Do what others won’t do. Step out of your […]
Read the title aloud. With punctuation and without. Notice the difference. Fairness is impudent. It dumbs down. It pulls others down to your level of decadence. It is the excuse of laziness. Justice is ennobling. It quickens people. It raises others to a higher level of consciousness. It is the hallmark of due diligence. Don’t […]
Profanity seems to be more and more prevalent these days. That’s how I hear it, in any case. The age at which the use of crude or foul language is “acceptable” appears to me to be getting lower and lower. It used to be that girls who cuss were really wayward. Now it seems to […]
I came across an HBR post written in Jul 2012 by Ron Ashkenaz calling for the return of the General Manager. With “specialization” being all the rage, I wonder what the take-up rate for General Managers will be. I’ve been in enough positions akin to the General Manager – or GeM, as I’ll call it […]
An article just caught my eye. It talks about people ignoring their own moral standards when acting as market participants. That is, when buying food at the supermarket or wet market, trading in stocks and shares and the like. People have a tendency, the article says, to justify deliberately ignoring their own moral standards with […]
Have you ever used a typewriter? Yes, that quaint-looking thing in the picture. I have, but I was never a trained typist. I have typed on stencils, made corrections using the correction fluid that I always thought was nail polish and used a cyclostyling machine with panache. One thing about a typewriter was that you’d […]
An article in Harvard Business Review says that “Leadership is more than interpersonal skills“. That said, you jolly well better have good interpersonal skills if you want to get people “…to do what you want because they want to do it”. We need to stop having such divided minds and start recognizing that in many […]
This is going to be politically incorrect, I know. Well, that’s ok, I’m not known for political correctness. It has got to be one of the biggest blemishes on human conduct. Which is why I’ll ignore it and talk about retirement the way I do. Are you looking forward to retirement? Why? What do you […]
Today I overheard someone saying “Oh, but we have to do all that extra work! We are ISO 22000 certified, you know!”. That set me thinking. Do we strive so hard to get certified and then spend the little that is left of the rest of our lives groaning under the strain of fulfilling all […]
Al Bagocious shared an article from the WSJ titled “The Case for Lying to Yourself” on LinkedIn. The article says that in some cases it might be ok or even beneficial to lie to yourself, but that you should know where to draw the line between how much of lying to yourself might be beneficial […]
I am sharing Alan Weiss’ “Monday Morning Perspective” for this week in this post. You may download the pdf here. If you find Alan’s memos useful, as I do, you can subscribe via this link: http://summitconsulting.com/databack/index.php Have a great week ahead!
Founder and Chairman of Business Networking International (BNI) Dr Ivan Misner has a podcast titled “Peach Wine and Networking” (Episode 253) that illustrates how the development of good business relationships must be allowed to take its course, and not be rushed. You can listen to the podcast here. This morning, before writing this article, I […]
The Seattle Times published an article on 13 Apr 2013 titled “Myers-Briggs personality test embraced by employers, not all psychologists“. You can read the article here: http://bit.ly/15ibPXo I am not a certified MBTI administrator, meaning I cannot administer the tool nor interpret the results of the assessment. I am a qualified DISC trainer, but that’s beside […]
It was Mark Twain who said “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society”. Was it only dress he was talking about? Does what we wear define us, or do we wear whatever expresses our quintessential selves? If our workplace has a dress code, does that inhibit our creativity? If […]
An old song has a line which goes “It’s hard for me to say I’m sorry…”. Does that happen to you? Do you think you’ll be seen as weak if you truly say you’re sorry? Actually, to me, yes, if you say you’re sorry, you’re a sorry weakling. Do you know why? Well, it’s because […]
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