I’ve never been in the Navy or Merchant Marine. I’ve been a landlubber all my life. Having been something of a gymnast when I was younger, I suppose I’d be a little more adaptable to the pitching, rolling and yawing in heavy seas than the average landlubber, but I’ve never tried, so I can’t say […]
Boundaries are essential. In fact, life would be impossible without clear boundaries. Yet, boundaries are also invitations for close coordination, leading to mutually beneficial exchanges. How do you see boundaries?
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
It’s hard to write when your head is stuffed, so this will be a short post. Probably. I find that more and more people are asking me for referrals, regardless of how well or how little I know them and their businesses. In a way, that is a good sign. It means that the spirit […]
How important is networking to your business? To your career? Do you go to networking events? Do you still go to networking events? Do you network actively at events not specifically designed for networking? With whom do you network? How do you network? I hope you know the answers to all those questions, and that […]
Communities of Practice? A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a craft and/or a profession. The concept was first proposed by cognitive anthropologist Jean Lave and educational theorist Etienne Wenger in their 1991 book Situated Learning (Lave & Wenger 1991). Just because there’s a community doing it doesn’t mean it’s […]
I came across an article about “Why Apple Employees Never Wanted To Have Lunch With Steve Jobs” on Business Insider Singapore this morning and wondered how many times the same thing could be said about ourselves. Ourselves being in Steve Jobs’ shoes, so to speak. Apart from the fact that I strongly advocate us having […]
They’re possibilities. Expressions of possibilities, to be exact. When will we stop thinking about our preferences as limitations? Yes, we all have basic preferences, as we are all designed differently, and our different preferences, tastes and inclinations make up for a very interesting and diverse mix. We all have preferences when it comes to clothing, […]
Refers to the pursuit of being The Hub of All Spheres. It’s good to aspire to be a hub, a centre of excellence, quality, research, resources, craftsmanship, production and so on. The real question is “Why?” Why do you wish to be a Medical Hub? A Conventions Hub? A Life Sciences Hub? Is it because […]
So how do you get BIG? Being big means that you tend to affect those around you. You cannot help it, you are simply too big to avoid it. Size does matter. Does it mean, then, that the big fish will continue to eat up the smaller fish? Does it mean that the smaller fish […]
Yes, why indeed. I think most business people would say that networking activities and making new contacts would add to their top lines. So, of course, even as they try to narrow the field by looking for “qualified” contacts, the idea is to get to know as many people as you can, since you never […]
Great leaders are those who lead by example, who influence others for the better, who inspire others towards excellence and who hold a place dear in our hearts. By the same token, great leaders ought to be great natural networkers, for is not networking about relationships and influence? Is it not about the fact that […]
Is networking important to your business? To your job in the company you’re working at right now? Is it important to you personally? Do you think it’s important to people generally? Why or why not, and what IS networking, anyway? When I refer to networking, I mean the establishing and sustaining of healthy, profitable relationships. […]
The video gives a good illustration of how interconnected we really are. I do not agree with the worldviews expressed, particularly references to evolution, but I thought it was still a good illustration. In previous posts, I’ve alluded to something like this with Spider Webs, 3D Spider Webs, if you will. I think it is […]
The word “lebensraum” means “habitat” or “living space” in German and was one of the components of disastrous Nazi ideology. I picked the word up when reading J.F.C. Fuller’s “The Second World War: A Strategical and Tactical History” many years ago and it stuck fast in my mind. All of us require living space, and […]
Of course, you can guess my age looking at the title. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can always stare at it in a lecherous manner, meaning go ogle it! If you understand chunking, you’ll know what I’m talking about! Did you have a great pen-pal? I never did, but I have […]
Yes, “Who are you?”, not “How are you?”. We greet each other with “How are you?” so often that if we get the reply “Just terrible!”, we’d probably respond with “That’s great! Have a nice day!”. This is an example of an inanity, and it needs to be erased. We indulge in inanities so much […]
On social media, and in email messages, I have noticed that many people tend to simply share what others have written. While this is good and certainly appreciated, I wonder if you would like to increase your own Visibility and Credibility while doing this good deed? Adding your own views and comments to something that […]
A lot of people live much of life on the World Wide Web. Does that make them spiders? What would you call a 3D web? Imagine, if you will, a web in three dimensions. From your position at the centre of your web, you have strands of non-sticky silk, perhaps the toughest biological material on […]
The importance of networking, both online and in-person networking, has been highlighted in a few forums recently. If you’re still not sure why you ought to be networking seriously, you might like to take note of these two points: 1. Networking is NOT for selling your products or services, it is for developing RELATIONSHIPS with […]
“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 […]
One or two weeks ago, I happened to accompany a friend who was looking at some sound and projection systems for his new executive lounge. We went to OSACAR at Sim Lim Square, as my friend was acquainted with the owner, Mr John Lim, who had set up his home karaoke system some years ago. Mr […]
Many, if not most of us, would remember the story of two basketball teams that were quite evenly matched participating in a tournament. Two days before a big match, one of the teams was at its more-intense-than-usual practice session, practicing their drills and working through game plans. The other team did something quite different. Instead […]
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