I saw a LinkedIn post the other day vilifying what it referred to as “stretch goals” in organizations. I can’t find it now, or I’d put the link here. Well, whether people choose to refer to “stretch goals”, “quantum leaps” or whatever new terminology comes along, I know one thing for sure – I always […]
You might like to listen to the BNI Podcast Episode 231 when you have time, or rather, do make time for it! Recognize the fact that you are special. Six-sided snowflakes look ordinary when seen with the naked eye, but look at them under magnification and you soon realize how exquisitely unique each one is. […]
I always find it so amusing when people wring their hands in anguish at the prospect of an impending change at the workplace. Change is seen as something distasteful, something to be feared, for it upsets the sacred calm waters of the status quo. For when those calm waters get stirred, who knows what may […]
I’m sure we are familiar with the term “Get a life!”, which is usually directed at someone else in a manner hardly construable as positive, flattering or affirming. Well, do you have a life? At the end of yesterday, did you quietly reflect upon what you had achieved? Did you meet your goals? Why or […]
That’s because the basics ought to be an integral part of our workplace, indeed of our entire life. What ARE basics? Are they not the very building blocks of our existence? Since when have we ever needed to “Go back to basics”? They just went missing from your daily routine, that’s all! If you have […]
There was an occasion more than ten years ago when I was red-faced at work. Literally. My colleagues noticed that my face seemed redder than usual. In fact, they said that my face was unusually red, and asked if I were having a fever or some other ailment. I didn’t feel sick at all. In […]
Have you heard that successful people take action? Yes, they certainly do! As I was pondering on this yesterday, the letters “SPCA” flashed across my mind. “Successful People CHOOSE Action”! Am I just playing with publicity? Absolutely not! So, what’s the difference? None. It’s not about whether there is a difference, it’s about going a […]
Anxiety. Stress. Eustress. Distress. Do any of those happen to you? Of course, you’re human, right? The literature is full of articles and posts about anxiety and performance. There are arguments about whether there is a balance for optimal performance, meaning how much anxiety is too much, how much is too little, and how much […]
Unity isn’t about same-as-you same-as-you. Unity can be likened to all the different instruments in an orchestra playing the same piece, just that each instrument plays its own special part in it.
Download the pdf. Hi, this is Elijah Lim, and to borrow from what Tweety the yellow bird said, “I tot I taw a puddy tat!” Now, we’re quite familiar with that expression and what does that mean? Well, I’d like to discuss today something about what we see, how we interpret stuff, and what we […]
I came across an article on Harvard Business Review today called “Less-Confident People Are More Successful.” I wonder if there was any misunderstanding about what “confident” really means. Looking up the etymology dictionary, we see that “confident” is from: If the writer, Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, intended for “confident” to lean more toward the side of smugness and […]
Sometimes I hear the phrase “You can bring a horse to the water, but you can’t force a horse to drink.” I invariably reply “Yes, but you can give salt to the horse to make it thirsty.” Developing healthy appetites is something like that. Hunger is something natural, but appetite is learned. We all get […]
Lack of appetite due to a fear of getting fat. That’s the commonly known anorexia nervosa. So, what’s anorexia sophia? Well, sophia means wisdom. Anorexia sophia is a lack of appetite for wisdom. There might be a hunger and a craving for other things, but the appetite for wisdom seems to be a rare condition. […]
Do you know what a plow pan is? It’s when you plough the land crop after crop, season after season. A hardened layer of earth soon forms below the deepest point where your plow plows. If this is not broken up periodically using deep rakes, the plow pan prevents water from going through into the […]
The first time I flew to Australia, the film “The Man from Snowy River” was being screened. No personal screens, then, you watched the movie on the screen suspended from the fuselage. I remember one of the characters, played by Kirk Douglas, if I’m not mistaken, saying “It’s a hard country. Makes for hard men.” […]
Technology is looked upon as a multiplier, and of course it is. We expect it to expand our businesses, get us more customers, help us deliver better products, services and outcomes for our stakeholders and help us manage our businesses better. Just get some technology and…voila! Problems erased. Our quality goes up, capacity is increased […]
I commented on a comfortable article on Forbes and noticed that the whole comment doesn’t appear in LinkedIn and Facebook. So I thought I’d post it here. I’d encourage you to read the article, too, I think it’s a good one by Margie Warrell. Hi, Margie, great article! Agreed with what you say, and can I […]
Are you perplexed? Run into some things that are too complex for you? Even the dictionary has gotten the words mixed up! Well, not to worry, it’s pretty simple, really. Just as contentment is not the same thing as complacency, complexities are not the same as complications. Complexity involves the integration of things and systems […]
From Wikipedia, [Asymmetric warfare is war between belligerents whose relative military power differs significantly, or whose strategy or tactics differ significantly.] I don’t know about you, but I have often discerned hints of “Hey, no fair!” when I come across articles in journals or in the news talking about “Asymmetric Warfare”. Instead of whining about our competitors not behaving as […]
Yes, you read that right. This has actually happened, and apparently on more than one occasion. A Grumman test pilot by the name of Tom Attridge somehow managed to do that while testing a Grumman F11F-1 Tiger on 21 Sep 1956. It happened while he was test-firing four 20mm cannon. After firing two bursts, Attridge actually […]
Fear is actually a good thing. It keeps us alive. A healthy fear of consequences helps us to stay safe even as we explore and find ways to become more creative. There are two basic motivating drives in all human beings: Fear of Loss, and Desire for Gain. These two complement each other. It is […]
Something I read on Inc. this morning caught my attention. Margaret Heffernan was writing about her observations that the pipeline for female leaders is full to bursting point. She said that, during her interviews with women leaders, she asked the question “So what have you done to help other women?” Those who answered with confidence, […]
“HR seems to place more obstacles than provide solutions”. “Finance is utterly inflexible. Can’t they see what we need?” “We need to deliver the goods NOW! Why does Logistics take so long?” “Silo mentality” is a common complaint that we don’t want to hear about every day. Of course, any business would like to break […]
“The good is the enemy of the best”. What is your definition of the “best”? It is the same question as “What is your definition of success?” As usual, people seem to be divided into two or more camps about this. One camp says that we should always go for what is best all the […]
Have you come across people who say things like that? They claim to be “practical” and “hands-on” people who “get things done”. Now, if only those people in charge of the planning would get their act together and produce plans that actually work instead of having to be made to work! This seems to be […]
[[Warning! This post may be offensive to some!]] And what is that one way? Truthfully, of course! I see many tips on how to answer interview questions well, how to prepare to “ace” the interview, etc, online. It is as though people are saying that all you need to do is get past the interview […]
According to some sources, A & W, as in the fast food chain Allen & Wright, came to Singapore in 1968. The chain sold hot dogs and root beer floats to loyal afficionados until about 2003, when the last restaurant closed down. Another A & W pair came to Singapore long before that. Their names […]
Don’t worry, I’m not inviting you to die today. I’d rather you live for as long as your body was designed for. Nobody likes to talk about death or dying. However, if you are one of those people who are able to say “It is a good day to die!” with full conviction and with […]
I find it hard to believe that so many people find work so onerous. Is it true that so few of us actually enjoy our work? The amazing proliferation of all things to pamper at leisure seems to be a firm testament to that state of affairs. Sad reality is that we often need “…a […]
“Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait point.” ~Blaise Pascal~ (The heart has its reasons, whereof reason knows nothing.) I came across this quote by Blaise Pascal in Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time several years ago. There is a pretty good explanation for what Blaise Pascal meant on the Helium website, written by […]
Yes, really, how lucky are you? How lucky have you been? Will you continue to be lucky in future? Will you start getting lucky? We all know Seneca’s quote. Do we all practice what it says? In my last newsletter I talked about “Deliberate Delegation” and attached the story of “A Letter to Garcia” in […]
I was reading Alan Weiss’ book “Thrive”, and was musing on what he said about WISH-ing your life away. It struck me that a fundamental difference between a DO-er and a WISH-er is that DO-ers Develop Opportunities and that WISH-ers Willfully Inflict Self Harm So, are you are DO-er or are you a WISH-er? Be […]
On Wednesday 14 Mar 2012, I happened to meet with Koh Yong Jin, an old friend who had served with me in the Armed Forces since the mid-80s. Yong Jin is a Fitness and Conditioning Specialist who helps people live better quality lives by keeping their levels of overall fitness at an optimum level. We […]
I read with interest about the Buffalo Fighting Festival in Do Son, Vietnam, in the 23 Sep 2011 edition of the Business Times’ Special Focus Section. Having done a little research on smallholder dairy farming in the tropics a while back, it was heartening to note that interest in buffalo farming remains high in this […]
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