Blase. Blah Say…
Feeling blase? Feeling, as some put on their social media statuses, “meh”? Your mouth has a lot to do with that! Switch from “Blah-say” to “Bon-say”!
Category Archives: Blog
Unconscious Branding.
This doesn’t say that branding isn’t important – it is VERY important! Why get so concerned about it? Become your brand, and it then becomes unconscious. No effort required. After getting there, of course!
WANTED. DEAD OR ALIVE. The Job Description.
Make your Job Descriptions better, get them out of the Intensive Care Unit! Make them useful, and don’t go the other way toward legislating them, either!
Get In The Flow!
It’s not what you know, or what you think you know. It’s whether you know the whys and how to apply what you know.
Why (I) Think You Should Hire Veterans
There are many advantages you stand to gain when you hire veterans. Treat them well and you will gain even more!
Congratulations! You’ve Been Well Trained!
Yes indeed. In the commodities market, that is. Not as in trading in commodities, but in treating too many things and too many people as if they were commodities. When we do so, the one thing that always comes to mind is price. Commoditization pushes price down by increasing consumption, maximizing efficiency, and large-scale production. […]
That Great Classic You’ve Never Read
We love referring to classics, don’t we? Many of the quotes that we like to use for self-affirmation or when we’re just trying to appear as if we do have some degree of sophistication come from some classic or other. Someone has of course quipped that a classic is “A book everyone knows about but […]
Be An Influencer, Not With Influenza!
You might inadvertently give someone influenza or catch influenza if you mispronounce influencer. I suppose you could say that both are infectious in nature. We have all heard the saying “Attitude is infectious. Is yours worth catching?” and we all know what that refers to. We also commonly use the term COI, meaning “Centre of […]
Seven Billion.
Seems like an inexhaustible number, right? Wrong. Seven billion is finite. Seven billion can still be counted. I’m talking about our collective insatiable need to “Get this cheaper somewhere else. Never pay full price again.” Someone, somewhere, will always be selling it more cheaply, and we will never run out of sources of cheap goods […]
Who Should Teach? A PhD Or A Practitioner?
Put that stone down, lower your hackles and stop snarling! I’m not against PhDs. In fact, I’m looking to get a direct PhD myself, if there were one in a field I might be interested in! We’ve been far too caught up with certifications as a whole, and now the pendulum is swinging in the […]
Expert? Great! Are You Still Creative?
You might be having some trouble being creative once people start referring to you as an “expert.” That’s because we as human beings tend to let the “expert” label go to our heads. Oh, sure, we all know that pride goes before a fall and all that, but we still let such compliments inflate our […]
If You Need External Funding, Do You Have A Viable Business?
I have the military to thank for this concept. That is, when you’ve been assigned a mission, you are expected to assume that all resources necessary for the successful prosecution of the mission have been allocated. If you request for more resources, that request is always predicated on the assumption that it will accelerate the […]
How Will You Be Missed?
I’m in one of those reflective moods that assail me from time to time. Hence, the title of this post. Seriously now, have you ever thought about how you will be missed? At the workplace, I mean. Ron Jenson once described how someone who was working in a large company had witnessed a colleague being […]
A Little Knowledge Is NOT A Dangerous Thing!
It’s a VERY dangerous thing! It is a very dangerous thing because we tend to believe that it is all we need to know about any particular subject. It is fine if we recognize that we know only a little, because then we continue asking questions and we try to integrate the increasing amounts of […]
Sales: Enhancing Strengths, Or Exploiting Weaknesses?
We are all encouraged to tell stories. Which is a good thing, for not many are adept at the telling, and it is a skill that comes in very useful indeed. Stories are a very good way of enhancing the messages we continuously radiate. There is, however, the flip side. And the flip side is […]
Wow! Great Ideas from Brainstorming! Now What?
Brainstorming sessions, or whatever you might like to call them these days, are excellent for a couple of things. They do churn out lots of ideas, of which one or two might even be great, and they do throw light on areas of developmental need in our organizations. “Bouncing ideas off each other” is a […]
Anti Ageing? Just Enable Exuberance!
Mankind has been searching for the elixir of youth for a long, long time. Anti ageing, the quest for youthfulness, indeed, the search for eternal life, is something innate in all of us. Even those who talk about an eternal blackness, of no consciousness, actually seek an unimaginably joyous eternity but sink into blackness because […]
If You Have This, You LOSE! Lack of Self Esteem
That’s right – Lack of Self Esteem. Which is of course directly linked to lack of self-efficacy, which is related to subscribing to the wrong set of beliefs. Beliefs like taking “Don’t work hard, work smart” to the extreme. Like “Don’t worry, you are unique – just like everyone else.” And like “The customer is […]
Keeping Enthusiasm Afloat
Someone shared a post on “16 Ways to Put More Enthusiasm in Your Work and Life” by John Wood, and I was struck by how true the Law of Entropy is. The little drawing below came to mind, how different character qualities all support one another. In fact, we need all facets of our character to […]
Assertiveness Good, Persuasiveness Better!
“Four legs goood…..two legs baaaad…..four legs goood…two legs baaad!!!” go the sheep in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. People behave in many ways just like sheep. Feel insulted already? Think about it! Sound bites, short attention spans, focusing on what others have and lacking in self-control. Some guru declares that we need to be more assertive, […]
“Reality” Is NOT “Current Situation.”
In our journey towards excellence and being all that we are designed to be and to do, we often encounter turbulence, storms, heavy seas and other forms of adverse environmental conditions that seem bent on stopping us in our tracks. They take the form of naysayers, people who never remember anything good you’ve done and […]
Go Ahead, Make Yourself Rich!
Yes, I wrote that. Pretty uncharacteristic of me, but I wrote that. Do you want to be rich? Why? What does being rich mean to you? Not having to work another day in your life? Being able to do all the things you’ve been wanting to do, but haven’t had the resources? What does “work” […]
Wannabe Entrepreneur? Try Intrapreneurship First!
Tired of your job? No one appreciates how wonderful and valuable you really are? Sack your Boss and become an entrepreneur? Sure, do that! But before you do, you might like to consider the following intrapreneurship qualities: 1. Are you REALLY good at your current job? Ask your co-workers. Not directly, ask around […]
Rated PGA. Post-Grants Action Advised.
There has been a spate of increases in grants, as in funding, as in monetary, being given by the Singapore Government in recent years. Of course, they are meant to encourage Singapore companies to become more productive, more entrepreneurial, more organized, get more research work going, and a host of other things besides. The amounts […]
Production – No Issue. Reproduction – Big Issue!
Most people I know have no problems with producing results, fulfilling KPIs, chalking up the numbers, and so on. Production is no big deal. You do what you’re supposed to do, maybe make some small, incremental improvements, do your due diligence, and….. voila! … the day is done. Even if some innovative new thing comes […]
High Quality Does Not Imply High Desirability!
Imagine two pairs of great-looking leather shoes. The first pair are of high quality and not branded. The second pair are not-as-high-quality but branded. All other things being equal, which pair would you be inclined to buy? If all other things are not equal, what would be the one factor that would influence you either […]
Dressing Well? What For, Don’t You Want The Real Me?
We can all expect similar responses, or perhaps reactions, if we bring up the topic of dressing well at work. Popular culture seems to have reacted against the perceived hypocrisy of being well-dressed and well-heeled outwardly, but being just the opposite inwardly. I suppose that’s where the term “stuffed shirts” comes from. The well-dressed of […]
Privacy? Forget It. Transparency Wins!
Are you concerned about privacy on Facebook and other social media sites? Are you concerned with privacy online in general? Why, what big commercial secret projects are you handling? What’s the big deal? As we think about that, we might come to a realization that the big deal is US. It’s our inner voice, our […]
Get To The Point! What? Always?
Slow death by Political Correctness (PC) is to me a painful death to die. I always wonder why we can’t get to the point, why we can’t call a spade a spade. I don’t object to using euphemisms, if the context, intent and situation call for their use. So, what’s the difference? Political Correctness seeks […]
21st Century Enlightenment. 21st Century Bullshit.
Yes I did say it. Bullshit. This concept of us being in the 21st Century, and therefore us being more enlightened, is sheer nonsense. It is nonsense because our concept of “enlightenment” does not equal more maturity, greater depth of character, more kindness shown to others, more evidence of wisdom or a greater manifestation of […]
Parts Of Blame, Parts Of Fortune.
Someone must have started this. “We don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply.” In the context of the title we might have said, “We don’t listen to understand. We listen to profit from it.” When it comes to behavioral science and studies in leadership, I think many of us have only partial understanding of […]
The Intrapreneur State
Intrapreneur is actually the same as entrepreneur except it operates within the framework of a larger organization that the Intrapreneur does not own. I think that most of us are born with an entrepreneurial mindset already embedded within us. Tragically, this is eroded by the time we get to school and start working, and is replaced […]
Changing Things At Work? Wait. Know The Whys Yet?
You come into the job eagerly, with high expectations, perhaps a degree or two behind you, or perhaps with some years of experience under your belt. Your interviews had gone very well, and you look forward to making a big difference together with your new co-workers and managers. Yes, this is your dream job! Six months […]
Cloning Is For Creeps. Reproduction Is For Leaders.
We have all heard versions of “Clone yourself”, “Make copies of yourself” and the like. At the same time, we have been told to make our businesses “scalable” and therefore more profitable for ourselves. Making many copies of “I, Leader” seems to make much sense, for if the Mark I, Mark II and Mark ad […]
The Organismic Company. Think Organic, not Monolithic!
Yes, I’ve been referring to the organismic company for a while now. And yes, I’ve been coming across posts and articles talking about how to make “Industrial Age” companies more organic, how to have better Job Descriptions, how to have more flexible Organization Charts and how to better tap on the vast Knowledge Bank that […]
When A Child Is Born
At this writing, the question of whether the Scots go their own bonny way has yet to be decided. Ironically, as I took in more news on the subject, the song “When a child is born”, popularized by Johnny Mathis, sprang to my mind. What happens when you think of a child being born? Do […]
Skills? Competencies? Grow Or Die!
On 17 Sep 2014, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam spoke about the need to adopt “meritocracy through life” at the official opening of the Lifelong Learning Institute, which aims to raise competencies in citizens, among other things. I was flicking through the news when this caught my eye. It caused me […]
When You Fire Your Boss, You Fire Yourself!
Have you ever been encouraged to “fire your Boss”? Have you thought about “firing your Boss” yourself? I wrote a little bit about this in “Wish You Could Fire Your Boss? Why? So You Can Take Over?” a while back, and I’d like to expand on this a little more. Think of all the reasons […]
You’re An Author? On What Authority?
Everybody wants to rule the world. Everybody wants to be an author for the same reason. The word “author” refers to someone who has authority vested in him or her by virtue of the fact that he or she is an expert on the subject, has at least some degree of experience in it, has […]
Champions Use Pacers, Too!
Pacers. More people use them than perhaps we think. And I’m not only referring to pacers of the cardiac sort, but anyone, thing, or system that nudges us along, maintains a viable tempo and generally keeps us on track. Pacers are regulators. They help us get to a certain optimal norm, at least for a […]
What? You Want Me To Be Nice To You?
But of course! Please stand in front of me. Now, bend forwards at the waist until your body forms a right angle with the trunk of your body horizontal and your derriere facing me. Ready? Prepare for the first kick. Say “Thank you!” Prepare for second kick. Say “Thank you!” Repeat process until inertia and […]
How Good Is Your Word?
“Say what you mean and mean what you say” seems to have lost its meaning for at least some people these days. Whatever proceeds forth out of your mouth is no longer valued as what will be done, what has been agreed upon. Saying “You have my word on that” no longer holds water for many […]
The Impregnable Systems Fortress
If Abraham Lincoln had been a Singaporean, he might have said something like “……that the systems of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth…” In a previous post, “A Fort Means A Lot. A Last Stand It Is Not“, I said that forts are meant for area domination, not […]
What? You Still Looking For Employees?
You’re hiring again? Great! Always good to hear of expansion and increasing business volumes. Just a minute – what did you say you were hiring? You DID say you were hiring? Hiring employees? Why are you doing that? You must be wondering what I’m talking about by now. After all, there are employers and there […]
The Fallacy Of Full Depreciation
Depreciation. The idea that assets continue to have intrinsic value which decreases over time. Is there infrastructure, IT or otherwise, that you are dying to get rid of but aren’t doing so because they are in the closet and “have not been fully written off”? Why is that so? Is it because at the back […]
ADHD Workers In Your Organization?
John Hope Bryant wrote a post on LinkedIn, “Ride or Die“. It talks about a manifestation of the Pareto Principle where 20% of your workforce does 80% of the heavy-lift work. That looks very alarming to me, don’t know how you feel. Yes, having ADHD workers is not a very good thing. ADHD – Actively […]
Strategic Stasis. Tactical Traps. Breakout Now!
I’ve been reading and hearing about people lamenting the fact that their leaders “aren’t strategic enough” for a long time now, and this seems to have been rising to a crescendo. So I thought I’d weigh in with a few pointers. I’d like to say right off the bat that I don’t view strategy and […]
Where Have All The Leaders Gone?
And by that I mean genuine leaders. Leaders whose basic interest is in improving the lot for themselves and for others around them. Leaders who believe that it is one of their fundamental duties to grow so that they in turn can grow others along with them. Leaders who aspire to make others “Greater Than […]
Investor? What Are You REALLY Investing In?
Many of you reading this are investors. You put your money in various instruments, and you of course do it with a view to reaping financial rewards in the short or long term, depending on the nature of the investment. You probably view investments as a good way of making your money grow much better […]
Between Myth And Reality. Where Does Your Leadership Team Live?
I came across a post asking “How does the successful CMO prepare for the Board meeting?” I was rather intrigued and asked the writer three questions. 1. At Senior Leadership level, is there such a thing as a “cost centre?” 2. Does the Leadership Team answer the Board’s questions about marketing ROI as a […]
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