It's Been quite a while.....

I am back after a long while. Lost the urge to write. Anyway, I am back after going MIA on my own page. How pathetic is that?!

Life has been treating me swell since the last post, except that there are major changes. Anyway, I shall not bore you with this. Let me get down to what I want to ramble about.

Analogy of a worker sitting on a stool....

My apologies for the lack of activity recently. Guess I was too caught up with work. But there was something interesting about our lives that I learnt and would like to share....

In an ideal working world, a stool would have 4 legs and when we sit on it, there is always stability. Whenever it comes to the crunch, management may say that we do not need 3 legs and therefore, we have no choice but to comply... and so we continue working with our 3-legged stool albeit less stable. Sometimes, there will be situations whereby we need to tighten our belts more... and the inevitable happens.

Management will always look at people on the ground from their own lenses, i.e. they won't even ask about our difficulties and make assumptions that doesn't reflect the actual situation. When they see that we can manage well with our new 3-legged stool, they may even take away one more and ask us to live with it... Now the situation becomes less stable and secure (with 2 legs), so we enlist the help of others to work hand-in-hand and keep us afloat. All management does is to tell us to manage.

As time passes, management will opin that we can manage well with our current "2-legged stool" and may even wonder why is there a need to put the legs back in place since the situation on the ground can be managed with 2 legs, even if there is a chance to put things right. Eventually, we will even forget that we had 4 to start with.

The bottomline is:

1. We work always to make this happen - even when our belts are tightened and no matter how painful - "Just do it, make it happen".

2. If things get uncomfortable, don't forget to enlist the help of others.

3. (For management level) Don't just make "management decisions". Don't always look at things from your boardroom perspective, take some time to walk through your organisation and understand things better. It will help in making decisions that benefit all concerned. If there is a need to tighten our belts, everyone should take the cut, inclusive of management.

Decision-Making for Dummies

It is difficult to comprehend that in major organisations, decision-making is continually the archilles heel. The trouble with decision-making is with the individuals. Every individual plays a part - whether it is a decision by an individual or a collective decision.

Many books on Organisations, Leadership, etc, will articulate how decision-making, be it as a model or process, should be done. In theory, it is definitely logical. When it comes to practice, it is, at times, perplexing. There are many facets to making proper and sound decisions. To make a certain "decision", one has to consider multiple aspects and as you rise higher in your organisation, the mutiple aspects becomes a multitude. The range of factors to consider while making decisions include "Will it affect me in any way", "Will I have extra work to do", "Will the staff be happy", "Will it inconvenience others", "Will I score points"... and the list goes on. I thought that the main fundamental is to "Will it do good for the organisation".

So, although many have complained about decisions being made, it is not easy for personnel beyond the managerial-level, given that they have to answer for their decisions.

Decision-making is, however, part of everyday life and we must be able to be "make that decision" rather than "please consult my boss" all the time. My humble opinion is that, the fundamental to good decision-making should be based on one's principles and ethics. One must be willingly accountable to his decisions, else the decision will not carry weight. I firmly believe also that - if it is within your power to influence or even make a decision, make it. I am not asking everyone to be foolhardy in making decisions, just outweigh the pros and cons, considering the different hygiene factors in the process.

Without the cracks in the walls and sidewalks ....

Was chatting with a friend and what struck me was the profile picture on view. The picture happens to orignate from Bremen, Germany. I wondered what the meaning was, so I spent some 5 minutes off my Sunday routine deciphering it.

Taken in context, it could simply mean that a metropolitan city, where the pace is always frenetic and the pressure always mounting, likens that of the sewage system underneath the city. Insignificant it may be, but it plays an important role - eradication of waste. If ever there were problems to the system - as minor as a piping blockage or as major as the sewage system being clogged due to too much pollution, in no time, the city will "burst" sending it into widespread chaos - presence of disease, socio-economic fallout, etc. Sound rather far-fetched? How does that apply in our daily lives?

Take it that we are the "metropolitan city". If we continually live life just like the clogged pipes within the sewage system (without any "cracks in the walls and sidewalks, the city cannot breathe"), it may result in the bursting of the pipe(s) or even flooding of the sewer and sooner or later, the waste will be upon the streets.

The bottom line - Our lives are filled daily with pressures from work, friends, family, maintaining balance in your bank account, etc. It will always be a part of our lives, and we should learn to have balance and maintain it. Once all these overwhelms us to the point that we can't even cope, the consequences may be too much for us to bear. So, relax and be happy whenever possible. Don't let the many pressures of life engulf you. Always work within your means; make the necessary calculations and adjust accordingly. You are but a person, not a robot.

Office Politics - Good or Bad?

Politics is everywhere... If you think it only exists in the government, then you have another think coming. Even the smallest organisations, politics is evident in daily routines. Usually, it is governed by individuals. Everyone in life has a purpose, even when they work. I believe it is termed as "political agenda". Eveyone has an agenda, no matter how insignificant.

Usually, if the agenda is centred around the good of the organisation and its people, then the outcome of that agenda will be good and people, being people, will be swayed (hopefully). If it is for an individual's selfish gains, then the outcome is even clearer, the outcome may be good, but the process of achieving the polictical goal may be conflict-ridden. In this instant, people will just put on their defensive shields to protect their "rice-bowls" and the saying "Ask my boss" will be on everyone's lips. This results in too many red-tapes, causing inefficiency. Too often, this is the modus operandi. I have seen too many people with different agendas - individuals wanting to "score points" but leaving their people bemused and the outcome - murky.

So the bottom line is: If politics is for a good cause, then it should be good, assuming that "good" is all-encompassing, meaning good for organisation, its people, etc.

Success in life is about self-belief...

Something I learnt from a seminar about how to be successful in life in which I attended where Adam Khoo was the invited speaker.... This can also be found in some self-improvement books. In order to be successful in life, you need to do the following:

1. Have definite goals articulated clearly.
2. Map out the strategy in which will enable you to reach your goals.
3. Take action on your mapped out strategy.

It is a simple formula ain't it? The big question is "Do you possess the SELF-BELIEF in order for you to succeed?" Self-belief is what separates failure and success. If you do not have your own self-belief to try, then you have failed. Even, if you take action, but fall the first and subsequent times, if you lose your self-belief, then you are defeated. Of course, there are some who attribute success or failure to LUCK. Yes, with a little bit of luck, you can have you way easier, but is LUCK the predominant factor?

This is not the end all solution to be successful. In reality, there are some who prefer the mediocre life, whereas there are procrastinators (those who dream but don't take action) and of course, the successful ones. It's life. That's why lots of things in this world follows closely to the "pyramid" model. There will only be a few at the top and the mass at the bottom. Where do you want to be in the pyramid?

Why do some have more work than others?

As the saying goes in every organisation "No one man is indispensible"... or is it really the case? Bosses and the labour movement will outright say "NO". Of course that is the marco view of things. Let's be mirco on this and you will see what I mean.... Every individual is, to a certain extent, indispensible with his task. Well, first of all, why is it that some bosses prefer >--->>ing that particular someone majority of the time than others? For the sheer fact that he/she will always get work done, or is it the dynamics of the organisation rest upon that particular person that makes him/her indispensible a certain extent?

The fact that bosses know who their better performers are, in a way, makes them slightly indispensible, especially if the former don't want to hurt the dynamics of the organisation. So naturally, some of the workers in any given organisation are deemed as "MVPs" more than others.

Let us not talk about an organisation's turn-over rate... They should not be considered for this arguement. TRUE that people who are "MVPs" get disillusioned after a while given the amount of work they have to suck in day-in, day-out, so they look for greener pastures. Then the term "No One Is Indispensible" is proven correct.

So why is it some have more work than others? Why is it that some players in an organisation get paid, but don't pay back in kind, pushing their job to others to deal with them at every single opportunity? Nothing is fair but things have a way of working themselves out. That's my belief. You can dodge, but you can't dodge forever. The day of reckoning will come eventually and then there's no turning back.

Pity the poor suckers (like myself) who have to endure sucking in tasks that don't belong to them but have to attend to them for the good of the organisation. Don't get disheartened and hang in there!!! The truth will come to light eventually.... Hopefully soon enough for you...

Procrastination Kills!

The very thought of me putting off this post is just not happening again. Only my 2nd post and already I am procrastinating.... AGAIN! It is a very infectious disease and if gone unchecked and untreated, may kill you eventually albeit in an indirect way. Imagine if you are hurting outta some illness and you want to do something about it but you wait and wait... and once it gets to you at a terminal stage...all is LOST??!!

...Maybe not! There is help but will you want to venture out of that "sit and wait" or "see how things go" phase and get set into action. The more you put it off, the more you will forget eventually. So why be a victim of procrastination? Successful people will highlight to you in their autobiographies that the "P" word does not exist. Everyone can be successful. It is a matter of what we do about it, how we go about doing it, and the effort we put into it. There are other factors...but most importantly, is to get out of the "P" zone.