Management Philosophy

What is my management philosophy?

First criteria is Attitude and Aptitude. Attitude and aptitude are built-in to a person. I will always pick on with right A&A rather than experienced person with all the right skills but with the wrong attitude. Right Attitude is "can do" or "willing to do" Aptitude is the ability to learn.

Team spirit - all of us work as a team. We celebrate our successes together and share our failures.

Buddha says "I can point the way, you have to walk the way." This is what I adopt as my leadership philosophy. If needed, I will do the work myself to show the way.

Always do the right things first, then do things right.

Internet and TV

I am up at 4:30 am. Turn on the computer and TV. It is a good way to occupy myself if I am up in the middle of the night. I start to think what I did when I first travel to US and experience my first major jet lag. What did I do then? I can remember in US it was easy, there more than 50 channels and CNN was new. I was impressed by the CNN who report news all the time without commercials. I marvel the fact I can put a cup of water and it freezes overnight. Everytime I was out of the hotel, it is like walking out into a giant deep freezer. It was the first winter for me.

When I return to Singapore, what did I do when I am up? We have only two channels then. English and Mandarin, in tv language Channel 5 and Channel 8. Programs end at midnight. No TV or Internet. I must be reading to past time. It must be hard to past time twenty years ago. Maybe it is just a habit change with the technology change. I remember always bringing reading material on every time I fly. Nowaday, reading material is only required when I fly in domestic flights in USA. Singapore Airlines has a wide range of audio visual options.

Internet is the first thing I use when I am up. I will check emails, update my blog, read news, etc. Jet lag become easier to deal with today.

Cabin Fever

Our boys were starting to have "cabin fever". A term my wife use to get me out of the house. Cabin fever is a common term used in Canada when the winter is long and you get tired of staying at home. We have to pick one of the malls as our city-bred boys has no desire to go to Botanic garden or other nature parks. I decided on Marina Square as there are plentiful carparks there. I was surprised car park sign states "FULL" at the entry points. We try our luck anyway and did get a lot after circling for maybe 5 mins. Not bad!

The place was busy. We walked over the Suntec City's Toy R Us and it was full of people too. It seems like everyone is out to the malls. "Must be school holidays" I thought. After reading Sze Li's blog, her observation is better. It is the Great Singapore Sales!

Another Road Warrior

Sitting beside me on the way back from LA to Singapore was Min Liang. Min Liang was very interesting. He is a young lawyer who is now a venture capitalist. He made his fortune during the dot fever. He studied in the top school in Singapore. He now makes money through computer games and computer peripheral. "Computer games is now a much bigger market than movies today" he says. He continues to share with me the successes of others he know on the high tech arena. I had a different view. There are a lot more failures. Just like smokers who love to share the people they know around them who live to a ripe old age of 80 while smoking like a chimney. I used to sell equipment for Lung Function test. Going to the hospital department that used my equipment, I can see all the people with lung problems.

However, on reflection, I realise he is right. I need a paradigm shift. The world has changed. I am rooted on the world I grew up on, too negative and focused on the failures rather than success of the new model. I should open my mind to the new opportunities. The old way may not sustain for too long. It is time for renewal.

Breakfast with another old friend

Life is a series of meals...this morning breakfast with another friend. He is a little impatient. He likes me to be more decisive. I was taking a long time to mull over this decision. Well, US is quite far and tremendous change for the family. Although there are push factors, the pull factors are not strong enough for me to decide to drop all we have in Singapore and relocate to US. It is nice to have the option. However, there will be a lot of work. Work that I enjoys. I love to share with my friend all my glories and successes. I am very proud of my team and their performance.

What should I do?

Dinner with an old friend

Had dinner with an old friend last night. It is nice to catch up again. Every time I come. Will meet with another for breakfast tomorrow morning. I am beginning to feel like a global citzen with friends in different part of the world and mum in Canada. Living anywhere in the globe should be available to everyone not just the rich and famous.

NUS High

We just received news that B1 has passed his written test and selected to attend NUS High selection camp. This is a very pleasant surprise. The test was very challenging and B1 was very upset after the test. Now, he regain his self-esteem.

My wife was very worried and was anxiously waiting for the results. Now she is happy and we are celebrating this moment. Next hurdle will be the camp. Life is a series of hurdles. Hurdles with right amount of challenges that stretches our capabilities and increases our competency.

It is wonderful to write about this. I love my wife, B1, B2 and B3.

Work Environment in USA

I have been going around the different offices to meet with different people. The office environment in US seems quite diffent yet the same. All offices contained books. A few books caught my attention. Good to Great is ubiquitous. It must be because KC is one of the good to great company during the reign of Darwin Smith. Another constant theme is books on meetings. "Death by Meeting", "Get the Best out of Meetings", etc. It seems like meeting is a way of life here. Big corporation work by going to meetings. The more the layers of hierachy, the more meetings needed to communicate through the chain of commands. Middle managers become the communication pipeline and the glue that keep the organization together.

Sleepless in Altanta

Slept at 5 pm local time and was up at 10 pm. This is the part of travel that is not so fun. The programs in the cable is not interesting. I had read the Wall Street Journal and now making tea. There is nothing outside that is open. It is me and the hotel room.

Had a meeting with Randy yesterday. I was very frank and honest with my opinion. He has his take and views as well. As he says, we agree to disagree. I guess I made my point and he agrees with that.

WSJ has an interesting article in the MarketPlace section. Headlined "The Commuter CEO", this article highlight the trend of CEO who refused to move to the company's headquarter and commute to work. The companies used their corporate jets and paid for the apartments. The companies current have commuting CEOs are ConAgra, P&G & NCR. "Some experts say that in the age of the BlackBerry, the CEO's whereabouts are increasingly irrelevant." quote from the article. I couldn't agree more. I live in Singapore for the last four years, while my office is in Kuala Lumpur. It has worked well. We have improved our business and growing both sales and profits. My management is philosophy as Jim Collins put it succinctly "Get the right people on the bus and wrong people off the bus."

With the right attitude and aptitude and clear priorities and processes, the business will run well. Time may be right to figure out a new business model for the global enterprise.

Road Warriors

While waiting for my flight to Altanta, another fellow passenger from SQ drop by the McDonald at the gates. She works for UPS as a Business Development Manager. It was good to have company for a while. Santha Koh is a mother of 4, two boys and two girls. She has to travel an average of one week per month. China is growing at the rate of 8 to 10 times in Sales. Therefore she now visits Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai regularly. Today transient meeting like this in the airplane or airport is very common. We split when we arrived in Altanta. I have to go to Hertz to pick up a car while she pick up her checked lugguage.

At the airport in LA

I have 5 hours to kill while waiting for my flight to Atlanta. There is no internet in Bradley Airport. America, the no.1 economic power in the world, the leader in technology and…no internet in the airport? No wonder Changi Airport has been voted the best in the world by travelers.

On the way to LA, I was watching the show Jerry McGuire by Tom Cruise. In the show there is a statement in the changing room “It is better to have a positive anything than a negative nothing.” This reminds me of my current boss whom you can only talk positive stuff. Any negative viewpoints or remarks will invite his wrath and poor perception. This seems to be a typical American values. I recall an ex-colleague who lived in America for a couple of years. His version is "How are you? Everything is great! would be the standard reply even if the person's home roof has just collapsed, his wife is divorcing him... Yeah, everything is great!" They have been taught by all the positive thinking gurus. If you have a positive mind, everything will turn positive. It does not matter if your behaviours, actions or lack of action is causing everything around you to react negatively. Think positive! Laugh and the world laughs with you and cry, you will cry alone.

Good Times

Kino is having a 20% discount for this week. I had a good time browsing the store. I noticed there are a few men using baskets like a grocery stores. One had a whole basket full of Financial books. I noticed another group of three men buying books like "Learned Optimism" and other books on Psychology. It seems like reading is alive and well!

I bought 3 books. "Passion and Purpose" is about finding out the patterns that shape my work/life. "Choice Theory" is on personal freedom. "Built to Last" is on companies that has lasted a long time. I noticed the books I acquire reflects my state of mind. I think I am searching for meaning in my work...

Blessed Schizophrenic

My wife just reminded me of a saying which tickles our funny bone...

"When God see you, you are blessed. When you see God, you have schizophrenia."

Home Work

There are lots of benefits of working from home.

1. There is no time wasted on commuting
2. No commuting saves energy
3. No need for office wear - another saving
4. Watch TV or listen to music while working increases productivity
5. Flexibility to run errands during office hours
6. Exercise at any time instead of going to California Fitness Club during lunch time
7. Time for thinking and reflecting
8. Take a nap if you are tired and sleepy...
9. Avoid office politics (avoid and not "no")

There are drawbacks too.

a. No social interaction with colleagues
b. Hours are irregular. Studies have shown people who work from home spends more than at work than people who work in office
c. Need discipline
d. No grapevine i.e. not tap into office rumours
e. Very lonely

Spending the last 4 years working from home, I must say this will be the way of future. With today tools, you can work anywhere in the world. Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin works in his swimsuit in an island he owns.

Sleepless

I will be sleepless next week with a short trip to US. The time is exactly 12 hours difference with Singapore. So day is night and night is day! I have learnt not to worry about sleep or looking or feeling sleepy during the meetings or dinner. Good thing is my hotel will be directly opposite the office.

Work give meaning to life. In one of the books I read many years ago, a futurist predicted that work will be reserved for the privileged as machines will take over all the mundane chores. I hope that day will never come.

Olivia Lum - Hyflux

Olivia Lum, CEO of Hyflux was featured in Discovery channel. Olivia grew up in a small town in Malaysia. It was her school principal who advise her to come to Singapore as he told her that she should go far as the opportunities are abundant. She came to Singapore by bus with 10 dollars in her pocket. She went through school and unversity. She took Chemical Engineering course and all the time she think of business. Her first and only job was with Glaxo. She raised more than a million dollars with her professors and other venture capitalists. China was the place where she gain her success. In Singapore, the NEWATER project vaulted her into big time with the media attention and international recognition. She is tenacious and has indomitable spirit.

She did extremely well in business. A model entreprenuer. I think the only thing lacking in her life is family. She probably feels her life is full.

Words

Words... words don't easy to me... I was thinking of the lyrics of song that describe my feelings every time I have to update this blog. Writing is a discipline and take time and efforts to write, edit, rewrite again and again. Henry Mintzberg, one of my favorite author of books on Strategy and Planning says all his papers go through numerous iterations. Then a stroke of inspiration can help. He gave the example of his award winning article "Crafting the Strategy". He had considered many titles for this article when it dawn to him the parallel of Strategy development to pottery making his wife was describing to him as she was attending pottery making classes then.

While on the computer, my TV was on and this saying was flashed in Channel News Asia and I thought it make a lot of sense. So I am sharing it.

Learn to be calm and you will always be happy. - Paramahansa Yoganada

Reflections

I was reflecting back on my jobs. There seems to be a pattern. After I stablised and do well, I seem to desire for change. I have this innate need to seek new challenges. I was doing very well in one of my previous job before I decide to go to Canada to be nearer to my mum. The company was turnaround from loss to profit and is growing well. I could have stay until today as what my successor has done. In Canada, I had two different jobs. I think I broke the record of getting promoted after 5 months in my new job. Now I am back in Singapore and it looks like I am itching to move again.

Do I have a restless spirit? Will I die with an unfulfil dream of being an entreprenuer? Should I let go and go with the flow as my ex-colleague, Grace Wong suggested? What is my destiny??

Managing Oneself

This is my summary of one of Peter Drucker's book. We are all knowledge worker today.... Peter Drucker basically has very sound advice and we just need to answers the right questions.

Knowledge Worker

- Have to place themselves where they can make the greatest contribution
- Learn to stay young and mentally alive during a fifty-year working life
- Learn how and when to change what they do
- How to do it
- When to do it

New Demands

- Who Am I?
- What Are My Strengths?
- How Do I Work?
- Where Do I Belong?
- What Is My Contribution?
- Have to take Relationship Responsibility
- Plan for the Second Half of Their Lives

What are my Strengths

- One cannot build performance on Weakness
- The Feedback Analysis – whenever there is a key decision or action, write down what one expects will happen. 9 to 12 months later feedback the results to one’s expectations
- Concentrate on one’s strengths
- Work on improving your strengths
- Intellectual arrogance causes disabling ignorance
- What not to do
- Waste as little effort as possible on improving areas of low competence

From Competent to Star…

- How Do I Perform?
- Am I a Reader or a Listener?
- How Do I Learn?
- What Are My Values?
- Where Do I Belong?
- What Is My Contribution?
- It is not “What Do I want to Contribute?”
- Nor “What am I told to Contribute?”
- It is “What Should I Contribute?”
- Where and How Can I have results that make a difference?


Management Challenges for the 21st Century by Peter Drucker.

Re-organization

Just received news from my boss as well as another colleague that the unit we are in has been reorganised into a Global Organisation. Who knows, I may be changing boss from US to Australia. Next week, I am supposed to go to US for a "career discussion" trip. I was not too optimistic about my career. It seems like I have hit a glass ceiling(read another entry under Bad Boss, Mar '06). With this change, things may turn out interesting. The trip is still not firm yet and may not happen with all the upcoming changes.

Will be posting progess report...