Story About Us...The Widely Untold

(BOOK REVIEW) Our Iceberg Is Melting

2011-12-28T09:02:00.000+08:00

Our Iceberg Is Melting was co-written by John Kotter, the leadership and change guru from Harvard Business School and Holger Rathgeber, the modern global manager. They discuss about change and creatively highlight eight effective ways to bring positive change to any situation or organization in today’s world.
The book is a simple fable about performing well in an ever-changing world. The fable relates to a penguin colony in Antartica. This colony of penguins lives on an iceberg happily as they have for many years. Then one curious bird discovers a potential problem threatens their home and no one listens to him.

Fred, the main character, discovers their iceberg is melting but has no position to be heard by his colony’s Leadership Council. Knowing the fact that action need to be taken or else the whole colony will suffer, he starts of his journey of bringing change to his colony. Fred approaches Alice, one of the ten bosses in the Leadership Council that less likely to dismiss his story than other more senior penguins. After listening to Fred and studying the problem, Alice created an opportunity for Fred to explain the potential disaster to the Leadership Council. When the council is convinced, they conveyed the problem to the rest of the colony through an assembly. Next, Louis, the Head Penguin sets up a team of five birds to guide the colony through the changes. In the changing process, the team experienced frustration of having to deal with NoNo, the penguin who resisted change actively and passively. The team finally learning from the sea-gulls that migration is the best alternative. In the end, they start a new way of life through migration which is much safer to their previous one.

The characters in the story, Fred, Alice, Louis, and NoNo are similar to the people we recognize in the changing world. Fred being the young inexperienced penguin that discovers the problem; Alice, the practical and aggressive bird who has a reputation for getting things done; Louis, the Head Penguin; and NoNo, bird who resists change. 2
Our Iceberg Is Melting shows how Kotter’s Eight Steps produce needed change in any sort of group. The Eight Step Process of Successful Change is summarized as below:

1. Create a sense of urgency
2. Pull together the guiding team
3. Develop the change vision and strategy
4. Communicate for understanding and buy in
5. Empower others to act
6. Produce short-term wins
7. Don’t let up
8. Create a new culture

In reality, melting icebergs come in many ways. Change in life is inevitable and there is always a need for change. If the challenge of change is handles well, then you can prosper greatly. But if it is handles poorly, you will put yourself and other at risk

(BOOK REVIEW) Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

2011-12-16T08:20:00.000+08:00

Dan Ariely is the Alfred P. Sloan Proffesor of Behavioural Economics at MIT, where he holds a joint appointment between MIT’s Media Laboratory and the Sloan School of Management. He is also a researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and a visiting professor at Duke University. Ariely wrote this book while he was a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.

”Predictably Irrational” is a book that discussed the idea of rationality, and it is a concise summary of many situations and way of thinkings that may affect our decisions. The book is set up in an easy to understand manner where each chapter gives us numerous examples about the simple, day-to-day decisions that shape our lives and pointed out how much of our "rational" decisions are actually irrational. Traditional economics assumes that every person makes decisions rationally, meaning we weigh all our options and choose what will logically be best for us. Based on interesting experiments, Ariely shows us that we are actually not as rational as the economics has always assumed. He thinks people act irrationally all the time but predictably so.

In this book, Ariely demonstrates how "decoys" are used by merchants to confuse us about our choices by manipulating consumers to purchase something they don't want. In a chapter on “relativity,” for example, Ariely writes that evaluating two choices yields different results than evaluating three - A, B and a somewhat less appealing version of A. Thus, given three choices, A, B (very distinct, but equally as attractive as A), and A- (similar to A, but inferior), we will almost always choose A, because it is clearly superior to A-. In this chapter, Ariely pointed out that, in the presence of two equal options, we couldn't decide between the two, and the presence of a third, inferior option, which is irrational behaviour and it shouldn't cause us to suddenly prefer one of the two. The cure to this according to Ariely is to break the cycle so that we can control what goes on around us.

Other points being discussed by Ariely are about why ”FREE!” is not always a good deal, why we pay too much for things, why keeping our options open is a total waste, and why we value the things we own far beyond what they are actually worth and so on. Ariely also speaks about social norms and market norms, where he viewed ”life with fewer market norms and more social norms would be more satisfying, creative, fulfilling and fun”. 2
He also stated that under the influence of arousal the potential to for us make irrational decisions is higher. Our behavior is fully controlled by emotions. Therefore, Ariely suggested that it is important for us to look at different emotional state and understand it fully before we can make a decision.

Other than this, Ariely pinpoint why we can't make ourselves do what we want to do. According to Ariely, more often than not, people set their goals but end up proscratinating, that is, giving up on their long term goals for immediate gratifications. However, with proper motivations such as deadlines and penalties, people are more willing to meet those deadlines or long term goals. People would also be more likely to meet their deadlines and long term goals if more consequences were put into effect.

Clearly, this is a book which really bends the mind. It provides us with a perceptive understanding and a clear explanation of what influences each of us.

(BOOK REVIEW) Imagination First: Unlocking The Power Of Possibility

2011-12-06T08:31:00.002+08:00

When imagination becomes a habit, it can transform your work and your life.

The above sentence is the rallying call of the authors of the book, ”Imagination First: Unclocking the Power of Possibility”. Through this book, the authors, Eric Liu and Scott Noppe Brandon introduce a new angle of looking at the notion of imagination. As opposed to the traditional or conventional mind set of imagination being the a gift not bestowed on everyone, the authors argue that imagination is in fact a habit that can be nurtured and cultivated by everybody with a healthy working mind. This is indeed a breakthrough as it challenges the cast-in-stone mind set that imagination is a mystery, gifted by the God to whom he chooses and that imagination is inextricably linked only to the man of arts.

The aim of this book or rather the purpose of this book, according to the authors, is to show readers that it’s possible to develop and cultivate imagination. The authors begin with the introduction of concept, which is highly essential. Breaking away from the usual approach of creative and creativity books, the readers will notice that the book is devoid of any funny cartoon, wacky lines and idea boxes. In my opinion, this is a masterstroke on the part of the authors since it will lend a certain aura of crediblity so that readers will take the book seriously. However, the approach is balanced with the use simple language and true stories, told in a light manner to enable readers to relate. Thus, it ensures a well-balanced representation of the topic. Also, the book will not be dismissed as another attempt to get people to think cartoons and light bulbs when talking about imagination.
The authors divide the book into 3 parts. The first one is The Premise, The Practices forms the later part of the book and The Purposes is its end.
In ’The Premise’, the authors excellently explain the what,why and how of the imagination. Here, the authors attempts to convert the readers to embrace the main idea of the book i.e. imagination is something that can be worked on and nit gifts from the skies. The authors define imagination as the capacity to conceive of what is not, or does not exist, or something that may exist but canot be simply perceived. The authors further proceed to introduce the correlation between imagination, creativity and innovation and argue that the 3 concepts are related but are different stages or phases of a continuum. But most interestingly, what I understand from the book is that out of the 3, the most important is imagination as one can never be creative or innovative without being imaginative or having imagination. Hence the title of the book – Imagination First. Points to ponder, maybe?

This chapter contains with arguments to break the myths associated with imagination such as, ”You Either Have It Or You Don’t”, ”Imagination Is A Mystery” and ”ImaginationCan’t Be Taught”. Bold ideas indeed, but very novel. The authors also explain the importance of imagination in our lives as almost every parts of our life depends on it.
The second chapter is a ’how to chapter’. In this chapter, the authors lay out for the readers 28 practices on how to imagine (for those who have not) and how to sharpen your imagination (for those who already have). Careful reading will reveal that the book in fact offers 29 practices as 1 practice is listed as Practice 12.5.

The last chapter forms the concluding part of the book. The authors take the opportunity of reiterate that as with other things, there is no apparent short cut. Imagination or the capacity to imagine needs to be worked on and practiced. And it will take time. And some may take longer than others.
The book comes with a bonus feature in the form of a web support for its readers. Readers can log on to http://lciweb.lincolncenter.org/imaginationfirst/ to further enhance their reading experience.
The book could not have come at a better time. With the present leadership espousing the need to be creative and innovative in discharging tasks entrusted to us, the book serves as a guideline to further increase the understanding and assist in fleshing them out. The book tries to answer the pertinent question that is undoubtedly present on the minds of civil servants at any one time or another i.e. how to be creative? The answer – Imagination First! It is interesting to note that this important part of the creative/iinivative equation or continuum has always been left out or being given little discussion time considering its importance and how fundamental it is.

However, I would like to caution readers that while it contains some answers, the book will not be the all-encompassing solution to the above question. Mere reading of the book will not bring out anything unless one follows it with the measured process of cultivation of the imagination habit.
On the down side, I find the book to be too simplistic. The authors could have endeavoured to put a bit more emphasis on the need to cultivate and nurture the imagination habit. As with other self-help book, finishing the book from cover to cover will not make one’s life better. It wholly depends on the effort of the readers to embrace and turn the printed words into practice.

This is a recommended read.

(BOOK REVIEW) The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles For Turning Ordinary To Extraordinary

2011-12-02T15:00:00.001+08:00

The Starbucks name is synonymous with coffee. Forty millions customers visit each week and the most loyal customer visits their Starbucks store 18 times per month. The Starbucks employee turnover rate is 250 percent lower than the industry average. From a single store to five new stores opening EVERY DAY (one every 5 hours) 365 days per year – Starbucks must be doing something right.
Author Joseph Michelle finds that the success of Starbucks can inspire other businesses or organisations. He highlighted that the phenomenal growth of the company and how a successful business can grow from using a product people enjoy but take for granted, turn the use of the product into a pleasant experience, and get results, which is essentially the secret to Starbucks' many achievements in the world of business.
Five principles that make Starbucks successful:

1. Make it your own: Companies benefit when all employees understand business priorities and look for ways to bring their individual creativity and passion to meet those objectives. All people in the organization feel a true sense of ownership and believe that they have a stake in the success of the company.
Starbucks partners (employees) think about customer service in a way that allows each of them to connect, discover and respond to their customers on a personal level. According to Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, “We are not in
the coffee business serving people; we are in the people business serving coffee.”
The people who work in the stores, who do the everyday work you see are called PARTNERS, not workers, not employees. The objective is to get a lower level associate functioning in an entrepreneurial fashion. Somehow Starbucks gets it done. For all of the Starbucks partners, they have to understand and practice the “FIVE WAYS OF BEING".
A) Be Welcoming
B) Be Genuine
C) Be Considerate
D) Be Knowledgeable
E) Be Involved
Be knowledgeable, love what you do, and share your knowledge with others.

2. Everything matters: Not only does everything matter; everyone matters as well .What goes on behind the counter is just as important as what customers see. Cleanliness, atmosphere, a desired product, customer service, are all important and no detail should ever be overlooked.
Paying attention to absolutely every detail gives Starbucks a competitive advantage because it builds intense loyalty among patrons. Michelli mention that “Managers have to constantly put themselves in the shoes of their customers, seeing everything from the other side of the counter”.
There are two must remember quotes that are used in the business:

A) Retail is Detail
B) All Business is Detail

Starbucks management looked upon each store as a billboard for the company and as contributor to building the company brand and image. Starbucks also demonstrates its commitment to social responsibility.

3. Surprise and delight: The most effective events are natural and spontaneous not artificial or forced. Surprise can be as simple as offering a little guidance and then getting out of the way as people search for things that bring them joy.
At Starbucks, it is critical to deliver consistent product and service to delight customers. But on top of consistent quality, Starbucks partners look for ways to surprise and engage consumers in a process of discovery. In an example of the importance of surprise, Starbucks gave out free cups of “Calm” tea on April 15 in anticipation that their customers would be frazzled by the tax deadline.
Another example is the success of Crackerjacks as a snack that people enjoyed that also caught them by surprise when first introduced; Starbucks tries to have new and innovative ways to attract new customers and keep committed customers interested so that the business never becomes static.

4. Embrace resistance: Embracing resistance involves a complex set of skills that enable businesses and individuals to create business and relationship opportunities when they are confronted with criticism. When errors are made, it is important to take direct, take responsibility and follow up with corrective action.
Starbucks rely on good public relations to be rid of problems and criticisms. Instead, Starbucks tries to engage in discussions with its dissenters to convince where it's necessary and change when change is what is necessary. Most companies seem to fight off criticism or complaints - not Starbucks. They look upon criticism as an opportunity to learn from the person doing the criticizing.
Starbucks receives many forms of resistance from communities, international organizations, and at times, customers. Both at the leadership and front line levels, Starbucks has benefited from criticism and utilized it to become stronger and better able to meet the needs of those who share their input.
A case in point is a high level Starbucks executive calling up a person who did a radio show flailing against what he viewed as a lack of consistency in the coffee and service at his local Starbucks. The company took the criticism as an opportunity to learn on a company-wide basis. This is very unusual to say the least. Michelle uses Fair Trade policies as a case in point as to how Starbucks has been criticized and how it has responded using this principle.

5. Leave your mark: Successful business leaders realize that a key to their success is leaving a powerful and positive mark on their communities. By participating in community-based activities, leaders and employees are given the chance to build their leadership skills and grow as teams.
Making money may be a goal of any business, but businesses also have a responsibility to contribute to the greater good. Starbucks does this through financial transparency, involvement in the community, a commitment to making sure that its suppliers are justly paid, and delivering a quality product.
Reach out to entire communities. Listen to individual workers and consumers. Capture growth opportunities in every market. Come up with a practical solution to achieve and sustain success by creating an unique customer relations engagement.

The Starbucks Experience offers a rich mix of frappucino ideas for individuals that want to learn how to apply the espresso secrets behind Starbucks phenomenal vision, creativity, and leadership. It’s the perfect business model for anyone with a taste of ice blended mocha for success.

(GENERAL) Facebooking

2011-12-02T14:36:00.001+08:00

It has become trend for everybody to have their own facebook account. Why should we have 1? Here are some of the typical reasons that we may heard from anyone:

1. To have more friends (dont you have enough? hehe)
2. Looking for information (study, hobby, anything)
3. Looking for soulmate (wahh! but it could really happen actually..proven!)
4. Just trying to test market (erkk..got mehh?)
5. Looking for long-lost friends..(yeah i believe it helps!)
6. As a medium for you to express your feeling (last resort, when nobody or you dont know where else you can do)
7. Just because everybody have it..why dont ya?

So, which one is yours? Just one thing for sure, facebook is actually a very good medium for those who know how to fully utilize it, be it for leisure, family and friends matters or even business purpose..and dont forget, it could also do harm if you dont really 'care' about it..

(BOOK REVIEW) 5 Minds For The Future

2011-11-25T08:34:00.002+08:00

“5 minds for the future”, which falls under business & management category, is authored by Howard Gardner, the John H. and Elisabeth A.Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Among numerous honors, Gardner received a MacArthur Prize Fellowship in1981. And in 2005 and 2008, he was selected by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines as one of the 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world.

The author’s approaches in this book are based on his background as a researcher in psychology focussing on human’s mind development, organization of mind, and what becomes of a mind at its fullest capacities. Studying mostly on how people learn, create, lead, and change the minds of others and themselves, the author also offered how we should use our minds.
The author emphasizes on five minds approach that are vital in nowadays life, and more importantly to ensure sustainability of mankind in years to come, namely:-
i) The disciplined mind – Distinctively mastered at least one way of thinking through the process of gaining knowledge and understanding through thought, experience etc.

ii) The synthesizing mind – Compilation and study of each source of information resulting to new combined sources that’s acceptable to the synthesizer and others.

iii) The creating mind – An innovator to new ideas and ultimately must gain acceptance from the knowledgeable audience.

iv) The respectful mind – Tolerance and respect among diverse individuals.

v) The ethical mind – Think beyond self interest and to do what is right under the circumstances.

In my opinion, these five minds have existed since the human civilization begins and have gone through significant changes over many years via modernization. However, most of the time each mind approach is practiced or at least being viewed individually. In the book, through study on existing ideas and thoughts, the author suggested that being well verse in the combination of these five minds shall equip us for the robustly changing environment and what’s interesting to me is educating readers of the importance of being an individual with well balanced thoughts.

At the earlier part of the book, the author has made its stance to oppose to the unrestricted free speech via mass media such as newspapers, in particular, the 2005 published cartoon by the Danish newspaper that ridiculed Muslim religion. According to the author, while there is no way to prevent harmful and hurtful materials being circulated, there is a need to distinguish between responsible press versus other medias like blogs, web sites etc., given the great diversity of human beings on earth.
I can relate the author’s statement to a book by Dale Carnegie titled “How To Win Friends And Influence People”, at one part suggesting that we should not criticize, condemn, or complain, in which to certain extent, complements the book “5 Minds For The Future”, to ensure our soft skill or humanity value is not jeopardized with the ongoing rapid growth and changes.

I find the book easy to comprehend, and can be read be anybody particularly educators and individuals at management level like trainers, motivators; leaders of governmental organization, religious group leaders, business leaders to name a few.

(BOOK REVIEW) The Source of Leadership

2011-11-20T13:24:00.001+08:00

The Source of Leadership was written by David M. Traversi, a well known executive coach, entrepreneur, former corporate chief executive and investment banker. He uses his life experience, both successes and failures, as well as those of others he knows personally to illustrate how his Leadership Dashboard can be used to achieve results both organizationally and personally. Traversi explains existing leadership literature provides checklists of the traits that an effective leader should possess and the functions that a leader must perform, but they don’t explain how leaders and potential leaders can begin to embody the those traits and perform those functions. They describe the destination, but don’t address the means (the engine) to get them there.
The Source of Leadership written by Traversi has 9 chapters in total. Chapter 1 to 8 describes the Eight Drivers of The High-Impact Leader and chapter 9 is putting the entire driver together.

In chapter 1, the first driver is presence. Traversi used an automobile analogy to describe presence as getting the engine started. It is a solid foundation for the development of the other seven drivers of high-impact leadership. According to Traversi, when we live in presence moment, we understand that everything is connected. Everything matters, not only in our personal life but in our leadership roles as well. We absorb everything because we are highly focused, think more clearly and efficiently. We act more integrity and clarity. We are not burdened by unproductive thoughts of the past or future. We worry less and fear less. We will infinitely more creative.

Openness, the second driver in chapter 2, says most of us, have learned through difficult life experiences to resist "what is." If we once felt pain in response to something, we close ourselves to situations that might involve the same pain. In some cases, this may be a form of self-preservation or protection. However, we often close ourselves off from opportunities because of unrelated pain experienced long ago. Resisting "what is" actually causes more pain and drains our energy. Opening to "what is" becomes liberating and energizing. When we are open, we constantly seek to widen our mind for ideas, creativity and we will see possibilities is everywhere.

In chapter 3, Clarity means the clarity in thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Many people work hard to maintain a healthy, clear persona (the appearance they present to the world) and suppress the unhealthy characteristics of their shadow (the personality and behavior energies that have been repressed from consciousness, usually since childhood).
But they allow their shadow traits, such as rage and envy, to undermine their best intentions and drain them of energy. According to Traversi, when we choose clarity of thought, emotion, and behavior, we choose to honestly acknowledge our shadow traits and use the light of honesty and openness to manage them so they do not undermine our relationships and pursuit of happiness. When we are clear, we find it easy to define every element of who we are, both to ourselves and to others. We will be people oriented, open-hearted with a genuine love for people. We see the good and the potential in everyone, instead of a threat. We will have healthy, empowering relationships with others, ultimately, will be an effective leader.

Intention, the seed of possibility is the fourth driver in chapter 4 and it means employing intention to influence others’ opinions and behaviors, and to change the course of events and conditions. Intention involves a discipline of expressing our desired result in great detail, regularly visualizing it as a current reality, offering exchange for it, starting a "conspiracy" of people focused on helping us achieve our intention, and, ultimately, detaching from it, significantly helps us to achieve the results we want in our life.

In chapter 5, personal responsibility is the fifth driver which is complete ownership of "what is," as distinguished from openness, which is the unbounded willingness to consider every element of "what is." Once we learn to own "what is" on every front, and create the energy that results when you have the courage to say, "I am completely responsible for every positive and negative element that exists in my life," we will see a dramatic improvement in the integrity with which people view us, our courage, and our personal relationships. As a leader, it will significantly boost our credibility among those who follow us and every other constituent involve in our leadership role.

Intuition, the sixth driver in chapter 6 says, each of us have a powerful source of an intuition. But fear often causes us to abandon too quickly in favor of a "safer" route supported by "facts" or the opinions of others. In doing this, we abdicate the crucial role that active intuition plays in life. The skilled and liberal use of intuition such as be self-defined and be inspiring enables our ability to build confidence and thus make good decisions in all areas of our life, adapt to uncertainty and changing conditions, and interact with others in a highly empathic and supportive way.

Creativity, the seventh driver in chapter 7 is a key element of innovation, the commercialization of creativity, upon which the survival and ultimate success of organization depend. According to Traversi life is binary, because there is only creation and destruction, growth and decay, life and death. Stagnation, which is just a stage of decay and death, is not a viable option. The key then, is stoking our creativity in every
possible way so that we remain aligned, and not at odds, with life itself. Every person has the potential to be a powerful creative force. When we have that creativity, we become highly energetic, we see possibilities instead of barriers, we see a better life for ourselves and everyone around us and we will see the path of achieving it.

Connected communication is the eighth driver in chapter 8. In this chapter, interconnected and relationships are paramount and communication is essential for survival. Once past mere survival, the better we communicate, the better our relationships will be. The better our relationships, the better our life will be. Better communication is a function of increasing the connection in our communication. "Connected communication" is an intensely powerful energy or a driver deep within each of us. On a connected path, we are present, mindful, and completely honest. We are clear and concise, acutely empathic, and in complete alignment with "what is." Everyone around us senses the integrity, the wholeness, of who we are and how we communicate; others gather strength in our presence. The system of connected communication, from clear expression of a purposeful message by an empathic speaker to an empathic listener, fuels our ability to be supportive of and inspiring to others and has productive, empowering personal relationships.

Chapter 9 puts all eight drivers together. It outlines a step by step program of The Source of Leadership to embody the traits and perform the function of a high impact leader.

Conclusion, The Source of Leadership identifies and instructs how to develop eight personal drivers, energies deep within such as, presence, clarity (of thought, emotion, and behavior), openness, intention, personal responsibility, intuition, creativity, and connected communication. Each of them drives several of the traits and functions of the effective leader. The leader who develops these personal energies will achieve maximum effectiveness as a leader, as well as a deep sense of contentment and fulfillment as a person.

(HOBBY) New One

2011-11-20T13:17:00.000+08:00

Hi

Lately I guess I found a new hobby, new idea to put into my blog..I think now I want to put all the book review I've done few years back to share with everybody in here..

So enjoice..

(BOOK REVIEW) A Sense Of Urgency

2011-11-18T14:26:00.000+08:00

A Sense Of Urgency by John Kotter, Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School is about what a true sense of urgency in an organisation really is, why is it becoming an exceptionally important asset, and how it can be created and sustained within organisations. John Kotter has also written few other books such as Leading Change, Our Iceberg is Melting and The Heart of Change. John Kotter was rated as Kotter the # 1 “leadership guru” in America on October 2001 in Business Week magazine. He is also one of the bestselling author in America. J.Kotter has published sixteen books, twelve of which have been business bestsellers and six of which have won awards and honors.

This non-fiction book explains about the true sense of urgency. The real solution to the complacency problem is a true sense of urgency. True sense of urgency focuses on critical issues, not agendas with the important and the trivial. It is actually driven by deep determination to win, not anxiety about losing. With an attitude of true urgency, you try to accomplish something important everyday.
John Kotter explains that a real sense of urgency is a highly positive and highly focused force. Because it is naturally directs you to be truly alert to what’s really happening, it rarely leads to a race to deal with the trivial, to pursue minor pet projects to larger organisations, or to tackle important issues in uninformed, potentially dangerous ways.

Complacency is common and very often invisible to people involved. Success easily produces complacency. Complacency here refers to satisfaction or a feeling of contentment. This book tells us that a false or misguided sense of urgency occurs at times. With a false sense of urgency an organisation does have a great deal of energized action, but it’s driven by anxiety, anger and frustration and not a focused determination to win. People constantly see the frenzied action, assume that it represents true sense of urgency, and then move ahead, only to encounter problems and failures.
To overcome these problems, the author suggests strategies and practical tactics. The strategies for increasing true urgency is giving people involved the important facts and winning their hearts and minds. He explains that an action that is exceptionally alert, externally oriented, relentlessly aimed at winning, making some progress each and every day, and constantly purging low value-added activities are created all by focusing on the heart and not just the mind.

J.Kotter’s first tactic is “Bring the Outside In”. He explains that internal reality reconnects with the external opportunities and hazards. He suggests that bring in emotionally compelling data, people, video, sites and sounds. The second tactic is “Behave with Urgency Every Day”. We should never act content, anxious or angry. Demonstrate our own sense of urgency always in meetings, one-on-one interactions, memos and e-mail and do so as visibly as possible to as many people as possible.
“Find Opportunity in Crises” is the third one. The author emphasizes that we must always be alert to see if crises can be a friend, not just a dreadful enemy, in order to destroy complacency. Proceed with caution and never be naïve, since crises can be deadly. And the fourth tactic is “Deal with the Nonos”. The relentless urgency-killers should be removed or neutralised. These are those people who are not skeptics but are determined to keep a group complacent or, if needed, to create destructive urgency. 3
From my point of view, as a reader, A Sense of Urgency is a very informative, interesting and knowledgeable. The author’s words and sentence usage are simple and understandable. John Kotter explains facts very interestingly. His points and ideas make me think deeply and understand greatly. All his strategies and tactics are applicable in my field. I learnt a lot and highly agree with all his ideas and views about true sense of urgency and how complacency plays roles in an organisation. So, lets focus on quick and the easy ways and get started now.

(BOOK REVIEW) Master Your Mind Design Your Destiny

2011-11-18T08:31:00.002+08:00

The book is all about the personal development. When taking steps to enhance one’s level of self improvement there are many different systems and resources one can turn to. One important system that is recognized by every expert in the area of personal development is Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The system consisting of changed thought patterns through altered language fed to the brain works. The writer has created a system for building success through NLP in more realistic and easier way. What makes the system so great is that it leaves no stone unturned covering a multitude of processes - all centered around NLP - that will catapult your life from where you are now to where you want to be. Here’s a glimpse of what’s to be discovered:

· The Incredible Power of Beliefs Unravel the one thing that empowers ordinary people into achieving extraordinary things.
· Discover what determines your expectations of yourself and how much you get out of yourself to attain the success you want in life.
· Learn how our beliefs affect our biochemistry and our well-being all the time and how you can use this to empower you instantly.
· Learn how to leverage the phenomenon of your brain to achieve whatever you want.
· The Secret To Peak Performance The one thing that is the driving force that produces the results you experience in life.
· What are your emotional states and how they actually affect how you behave every single second.
· The top 10 states of a successful person and the top 10 states of an unsuccessful person. (You'll soon realize why successful people are successful...)
· How to find out if you are in control of your states or if your states are in control of you!
· Directing Your Brain for Optimum Results The reason why what you focus on will affect your emotional states and ultimately your results in life.
· How to direct your focus right now towards things that will bring you the success that you deserve in life.
· What you must definitely avoid focusing on if you truly want to become successful.

This program has everything you need to help you become successful using NLP.

(NATIONAL) Price Hike After Budget Announced

2011-10-12T15:39:00.001+08:00

Assalamualaikum wbt, Salam 1Malaysia

I was thinking to jot my opinions on the issue of price hike every time after yearly budget (national) tabled by our honourable Prime Minister, especially in the aspect of food price at restaurant (too many to name it).

Actually we Malaysian do not really realize our right as a customer to 'teach' these so called "opportunist" businessman and why they should not take advantage on rakyat by easily rocket up the price of what they are selling..

For instance, yesterday i heard through radio fm (I do not quite remember the details as per where and the name of the restaurant). The caller said a day before, he went and eat at the restaurant which cost him about RM13. But a day after budget speech, he went and eat the same restaurant (almost the same menu) at nearly triple yesterday's price!!

So, for a start, I would like to make suggestions as per below:

1) If you feel like any shop/restaurant/services cost you at unreasonable price, boycott it and report!

2) If it is a restaurant that charge you insanely, kindly ask for receipt and lodge report. Use the receipt as a proof that it charged you with such an unacceptable price (no matter what the reason they gave you).

Maybe it's not a big thingy here but at least if everybody have this awareness, we can actually drive the market especially the seller (all kind) to be more responsible to the community.

Thank you.

(NATIONAL) Summary of Budget 2012

2011-10-11T10:43:00.000+08:00

I got this from local newspaper. It will be easier for those who just want to know the gist of the budget 2012 by looking at the summary below:

Economy Summary

Last year our FDI growth was the strongest in Asia and in the first 6 months of this year have already reached RM21.2bil
In 2012, private investment is forecast to climb 15.9%, supported by foreign and domestic investment
GDP in the first 6 months of 2011 was 4.4%, driven by strong domestic consumption
In 2011, the economy is forecast to grow by 5-5.5%
Private and public investment are forecast to increase by 15.9% and 7%, supported by foreign investment, the ETP and 10MP
In 2012, the service sector is expected to grow 6.5%, the construction sector 7% and GDP is forecast to be between 5 and 6%

Budget 2012 allocates RM232.8bil for Government plans, including RM181.6bil for management and RM51.2bil for development
RM29.8bil has been allocated for investment in infrastructure, industrial and rural development
RM13.6bil has been allocated for the social sector, including education and training, welfare, housing and community development
Total revenue for 2012 is forecast to increase 1.9% to RM186.9bil and the deficit to decrease to 4.7% of GDP from 5.4% in 2011
The theme for Budget 2012 is “National Transformation Policy: Welfare for the Rakyat, Well-Being of the Nation”We will focus on accelerating investment and further liberalise 17 services sub-sectors, in places enabling 100% foreign equity.
RP2 will be implemented in 2012, and it will be allocated RM98.4bil, to be split evenly between 2012 & 2013
RP2 main projects will include the East Coast Highway from Jabor to T’ganu and road upgrades from Kota Marudu to Ranau
RM18bil of the RM20bil PPP Facilitation Fund will be used for high impact projects, with RM2 billion for bumiputera entrepreneurs
In 2012, the Government will allocate RM978mil to accelerate the development in five regional corridors
The Treasury Management Centre will be established and offer incentives to develop M’sia as a competitive financial centre. We will develop the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District, with incentives including income tax exemptions for firms. Income tax exemptions for non-ringgit sukuk issuance and transactions will be extended for another 3 years.
To promote the development of Exchange Traded Funds products I-VCAP will provide RM200mil for Shariah-compliant ETFs
Felda GVH will be listed on Bursa Malaysia by mid-2012 to raise funds for the company to become a global conglomerate. Felda settlers are expected to receive a windfall, and the amount will be announced before listing
A RM2bil shariah-compliant SME Financing Fund managed by selected Islamic banks will be established in 2012
A RM100mil SME Revitalisation Fund offering loans up to a maximum of RM1mil for entrepreneurs will be available from Jan 2012
Full exemption of import duty and excise duty on hybrid cars and electric cars will continue to be given until 2013
To promote tourism, the Langkawi Five Year Tourism Development Master Plan will be launched with an allocation of RM420mil
The real property gains tax will be reviewed so it doesn’t jeopardise the ability of low- and middle-income groups to buy homes
The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council will be privatised to promote and develop Malaysia as a healthcare destination
Budget focuses on developing human capital, creativity and innovation and 2012 will be the National Innovation Movement year
The Govt has allocated RM100mil promote innovation including the 1Malaysia Award (C1PTA) for innovative student inventions
To enable SMEs to commercialise research products a Commercialisation Innovation Fund totalling RM500mil will be established
RM50.2bil will be allocated to the education sector so that it can continue to develop talented, creative and innovative people
RM1bil will be provided through a special fund for the construction, improvement and maintenance of schools
We will abolish payments for primary and secondary education, making these free for the first time in our history
Private schools registered with the Education Ministry will be given incentives including an Investment Tax Allowance
The Govt will give tax exemption for contributions to educational institutions and all places of worship
To encourage private sector human capital development incentives including a double deduction on scholarships will be offered
Budget 2012 introduces a Rural Transformation Programme, so that rural areas can attract private investment and create employment
RM5bil to develop rural infrastructure, including RM1.8bil to the Rural Road Programme & Village-Link Road Project
RM500mil to expand the programme to supply clean water to the rural community in Sabah
RM400mil to upgrade the water supply infrastructure in selected Felda areas
To provide greater access to bank services for the rural population, Bank Simpanan Nasional will appoint agents in rural areas
RM90mil for the Orang Asli for basic necessities, including the expansion of the clean water supply project. For the Orang Asli affected by the landslides at Sungai Ruil, RM20mil is provided for their relocation to new homes
600,000 Govt pensioners will benefit from an additional annual pension increment of 2%
Civil servants get pay rise between RM80 to RM320
Govt will extend the compulsory retirement age from 58 to 60 years old to optimise civil servants’ contribution
Civil servants will be offered tuition fee assistance for part-time studies, including 5,000 masters and 500 doctoral scholarships
A special programme will be introduced for 175,000 army personnel who are not eligible for pensions
RM3,000 will be given to ex-members of the special constable and auxiliary police as well as widows and widowers
The Govt is mindful of the plight of the rakyat due to rising food prices and will take measures to address this
The National Agro-Food Policy 2011-2020 will be launched and RM1.1bil allocated for the development of the agriculture sector
In the spirit of “People First,” all subsidies, incentives and assistance totalling RM33.2bil will be continued
500,000 will benefit from KAR1SMA, which provides assistance to poor senior citizens and children and disabled people
My First Home Scheme will be expanded to increase the limit of house prices from a maximum of RM220,000 to RM400,000
Govt will identify areas in the vicinity of MRT, LRT and other public transport to be developed by PR1MA
Govt will continue to implement the Program Perumahan Rakyat by building 75,000 units of affordable houses
Govt will establish the Special Housing Fund for Fishermen to build and refurbish houses
Healthcare will be allocated RM15bil operating expenditure and RM1.8bil development expenditure
Hospitals will be upgraded and constructed as well 81 rural health clinics upgraded and 50 new 1Malaysia clinics launched
Hospital Kuala Lumpur – the oldest in Malaysia – will be upgraded to be the country’s premier hospital
Skim Amanah Rakyat (SARA) 1Malaysia will benefit 100,000 households with income below RM3,000 per month
To assist taxi owners facing increased operating costs, measures will be introduced including tax exemptions on taxi purchases
The National Legal Aid Foundation will ensure that every individual who is charged in court will be given free legal aid
To assist the homeless, the Govt established a social assistance centre known as Anjung Singgah
A training allocation of RM10mil will be provided for women to develop leadership and managerial skills
To prevent cervical cancer, the Government will provide free Human Papilloma Virus immunisation nationwide
MyCreative Venture Capital with an initial fund of RM200mil to be established
RM15mil will be allocated to build 150 futsal courts to achieve the “One Court for One Mukim” target
To ensure the welfare of retirees measures including a tax relief on Private Retirement Schemes contributions are introduced
Senior citizens aged 60 years & above will be exempted from outpatient registration fees in Govt hospitals & health clinics
One-off assistance of RM500 to households with a monthly income of RM3,000 and below will be provided
For those in private sector earning RM5000 and below, employers’ EPF contribution will increase from 12% to 13%
Book voucher worth RM200 will be given to Malaysian students in all private and public institutions of higher learning
Civil servants will be given an additional bonus of half-month salary and pensioners RM500

Source : TheStar