Sunday, April 29, 2012

Personal downsizing

"We have just completed our divestments of our units in Japan and Malaysia," Hwee Liang of ExxonMobil announced. Focus - a book by Al Ries shows with an overwhelming number of case studies that it's the narrowly focused companies that are the big winners, those that focus on core products and get rid of extraneous, energy-wasting ventures.
Just as corporate America pursues its strategy of diversifying in order to grow, I now realise that what I call "personal downsizing"is the only way to help keep us focused on what we do best.

Going forward, we need to regain control by eliminating those things which distracts us from our goals. Our game plan is a program of "planned abandonment". We will look at everything that's on our plates and decide what must be cleared in order for us to make a significant contribution in the rest of the year that lies ahead of us

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Boardgames as education

Playing monopoly and "Game of Life" are a very important part of my kid's education.

The Game of Life teaches him to get good grades so he can get a good job in order to earn money.  In Monopoly, he learns that he not only have to earn money, he needs to have a plan what to do with the money. he can't win the game by earning the $200 each time he passes "GO". He needs to buy one green house, and then another, until he has 4 green houses. The  convert the green house into a red hotel.

Hence, from the 2 games, he learns he needs to have 2 plans in life....one plan is how he plans to earn money. The 2nd plan is what he plans to do with the money after he earns it.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Get up, get over it and get going










2 days ago, Ryan Giggs urged his Manchester United team-mates not to beat themselves up over Wednesday night's shock defeat at Wigan.


Each time I find myself envying what successful people have achieved, I recognize that they have probably gone through many negative experiences that I could not see on the surface. I think this from my personal experiences: a lot of failure goes into success.


Today, at 47, I understand the incredible distance I have journeyed because I have turned mistakes into stepping-stones for success. I always got back on my feet, got over it and got going.




Saturday, April 7, 2012

CMO

There are a series of ads in the Straits running a contest to rename job titles, offering $50 Starbucks vouchers to the winners every week.

We sales leaders should have a new title...CMO : Chief Motivation Officer

It's a mistake to assume that everyone in our organization is motivated only by money.

The way I see it, the ultimate goal is to achieve business results - the financials are real and measurable - and there is no doubt that aligning people with purpose is the way to do it.

Motivating and inspiring people is an integral part of our business strategy. A motivated team aligned around a common goal will take our business to the next level. And even better - it's fun!


A motivated team = a happy organization
Motivation = energy + productivity + profit