Mindset of Big-Picture Thinkers

In our advanced goal-setting seminar, the first step in the entire process is Big-Picture Thinking.

Reason why this is right at the top is because if your goals are not big (yet realistic) it will not only fail to excite you, it will also be difficult to enlist others to join you in achieving the goal.

Another key reason why this is so critical especially for advanced goal-setting is because we believe that your goals should not be about yourself (that's for first level goal-setting; where first you must be able to lead yourself before leading others). In fact your goal should be towards service and not self-serving at this level.

Here, we will like to share the four "Ls" of Big-Picture Thinking. In summary, the four "Ls" are: learning continually, listening intensely, look extensively, and live completely.

We will cover each of the "Ls" in turn, starting with 'learning continually' in the next discussion.

Your friend,
Melvyn
(Posted from my iPhone)

ABCD of Engagement - A great teacher inspires

We all recall those days of chalky boards and flying dusters (at least for folks my age). These days in schools we aim to engage our pupils in the ABC.

A is affective, where we do things to engage them in that particular domain. I am a firm believer that the reason "we do what we do when we know what we know" is because the affective domain is not engaged.

Perhaps one of the best examples is in the health arena. We all KNOW that it is good to exercise for at least 30 minutes three times a week; but we do not DO it because we are not MOVED to act in a particular manner that inspires us to take action.

Henceforth, a child (adults alike) may be effective in the intellectual domain but if s/he is experiencing certain emotional drawbacks s/he is not likely to perform well. Of course one can argue that there are individuals who leverage on such negative emotional events to spur them on, as in Brookfield (1987).

We feel that once the affective domain is engaged, then the next domains to work on would be Behaviorial and Cognitive.

The Chinese proverb: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

This is where things get interesting. Because this is where the systemic benefits happen due to the multiplier effect.

We could explain it this way; when we are emotionally engaged, feel good about learning we tend to take action in learning which then leads to us knowing more in depth about a particular subject. And because we now know more we are more confident to share and that lead to even more learning.

The effect is just phenomenal.

Now, if we can add the "D" to the engagement; it would be Definitive Purpose. As long as there is Definitive Purpose, one would find that it begins to find learning meaningful and relevant.

Perhaps to end off this blog, to share a quote from Maya Angelou:
"I've learnt that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Your friend,
Melvyn
(Posted from my iPhone)

Key Goal: Learning to "Think"

One of my goals this year is to sharpen my "thinking".

My reason for the choice of the goal is simple.

If we want to thrive and be a leader in our chosen field, our success hinges on one factor; that is if we are able to be always ahead of our time.

In other words, can we continually be successful in our fields, and of course the answer is yes. The what is it that we need to do to stay ahead?

The answer, as I have figured out, is "ideas". If we are able to continually generate ideas and be effective in executing those ideas, then we will always be able to create, add, and maximize value for all those that we serve.

But where do ideas come from? And how can we be effective in executing those ideas? I believe the answer lies with our ability to think.

Hence, we will be starting a series of blogs on "thinking" from here on and we certainly hope to share these ideas with you.


Your friend,
Melvyn
(Posted from my iPhone)

Change of Habits

Its the New Year, and with a new beginning comes new hopes. With new hopes come new dreams. With new dreams come new goals. With new goals come new actions. With new actions come new habits. Does it stop there? Some may say yes, but I will certainly say no.

Habits are essentially a manifestation of our inner beliefs and mindset. We can want to change a habit and possibly be successful for a while. But unless we change our thinking, we will fall back to our old habits.

Before we go into that, let's talk a little about habits, neural pathways, and basal ganglia.

Possibly the easiest way to discuss the above is this. Say, there is a footpath that has been paved that you should take when walking from your house to the main street. However, that footpath is somehow out of the way for you, hence instead of using that footpath, you walk on the grass patch. The initial few days when you walked on the grass patch does nothing to the grass. But with continual stepping on the grass will cause it to die and soon you will find a footpath being created by you.

Habits are just like that. Habits are essentially actions that we take when faced with a stimulus. Say, whenever we are stress, we start throwing our weight around. The first few times when we do that, it seem kinda odd, and we're probably embarrassed about it afterwards. But overtime, whenever we become stressed (stimulus), we start screaming and shouting (actions). After while, we probably even get used to it. So much so, that the next time we become stressed, even without thinking, we start screaming at the top of our lungs!

Over time, such habits are formed. Just like that brown footpath you've created.

And why is it so difficult to change our habits? Well, our brain tends to take the path of least resistance (like that paved footpath is "out of the way"), so we just blow up whenever we get stressed up.

Then, how do we change our habits? What can we do?

There are some practices that I have come across that worked for me. And I'll like you to give it a shot to.

Essentially there are three steps that we need to take. (Caution: Though it is not easy, it is not impossible too).

Firstly; practice "pause". Which means, the next time when you know you are going to act up; pause. During my NLP course, our trainer made us wear our watches on the other hand. For most of us, its the left hand, so we wear it on the right instead. And from time to time, he would ask for the time. And instinctively many of us will lift up our left hand, only to remember that we have switched sides. That brought about lots of laughter but also a reminder for us to, pause, and then lift up the other hand instead. Some other variations of this practice is, if you have always brushed your teeth with your right hand, then for the next few days, try brushing with your left hand. You will find that your brushing goes haywire and what used to be a five minutes ritual can turn into a ten minutes agony.

Secondly; practice the art of "asking questions". In other words, if you have always been doing things a specific way, ask yourself questions like, "how would it be like if I change the way I approach this?" or "what are other possible ways to approach this same issue?". Some people practice this by asking themselves what other possible routes that they can take when driving to work. Of course it might not be possible for us all, but you get the idea. Next time, before you walk into class, ask yourself what and how can you do differently to achieve the same results or even better outcomes.

Finally, practice the art of changing your thinking. This is probably the most difficult of the three. But it is definitely worth it. John C. Maxwell talked about the 11 new ways of thinking that will change your life in his book, "Thinking for a Change". If you haven't read that, I strongly recommend it. One of the most important reason to "change your thinking" is because a change in thinking brings about huge systemic change. In fact, in my training as an economist, we always learn about different models and with each model, there are a specific set of assumptions. It is therefore, important, for us to know what those assumptions are because if we don't we wouldn't be able to explain why economic agents behave in a particular manner. Just like economic models and their assumptions, we also need to better understanding our thinking habits. Are we always thinking good thoughts or have we been harboring bad thoughts for the longest time? Are we always thinking empowering thoughts or are we caught up with limiting thoughts about ourselves?

These three practices, if we follow it religiously, we will definitely see dramatic changes in our lives; for the better of course. I have been thinking about the goals I have for myself in 2010 and one of my sub-goals is to think better. And that's going to be the first thing I am starting with because it has the maximum multiplier effect on all my other goals as well.

Let me know what you think (no pun intended), and if you have suggestions or better ways of sharping your thinking skills, we'd like to hear it!

Your friend,
Melvyn

Are Your People Your Assets?

It is not uncommon to hear people say that, "our people are our assets". In "It's not about the coffee", Howard Behar said that people are not your assets; you own assets but you do not own your people.

I found that thought to be quite profound. As an economist by training, I can't help but think of the law of diminishing returns when I think of assets. Assets have an economic lifespan, during which they are most productive. And after that period, you write them off. Is this the same for people?

Well, depends on our thinking and hence, our beliefs about people.

With assets, or resources, we tend to think of being efficient and effective in the use of resources. Resources, some people think of it as not only physical and financial resources but also human resources. Stephen R. Covey says you can be efficient with a machine but you cannot be efficient with a person. In other words, Stephen R. Covey is saying you need to invest in the emotional bank account. Otherwise, if we have always been efficient with people we will instead be withdrawing, rather than depositing, from their emotional bank account.

To cite an example, let's say I want to be "efficient" with my staff. And as a result, I do not take the time to understand their needs nor explain my rationale of doing things, instead I just tell them what to do and tell them to just do it. Perhaps in the past I have asked them for opinions but were impatient in hearing them out. And overtime I figured they can't give any useful suggestions anyway and hence I decided to be efficient with them. Does that sound familiar?

Then you may ask, what then can we do? To follow from Stephen R. Covey's principles, we first have to make deposits in the emotional bank account. Only by doing so, can we become effective with people.

And if we become effective with people, can we then pick up speed and be efficient with them? The answer is yes. And that can be drawn from Stephen M.R. Covey's book, The Speed of Trust. Only when you have established trust, then can you become efficient with people. Still, the underlying principles of being effective with people must come in first. Otherwise it is not possible to be efficient with people.

Your friend,
Melvyn
(0osted from my iPhone)

Could you accomplish more with iPhone or BlackBerry

This would be a first for me to discuss how each tool stacks up. It's an iPhone vs BlackBerry post.

I think for this discussion I will focus on three key aspects of personal organizers for both smartphones.

Today, we'll discuss about email.

BlackBerry - in terms of email the BB still comes up tops. Key features include push mail, separate signatures for different accounts, autotext (which allows you to configure short-hand for frequently used phrases), and ability to send attachments within the email application.

iPhone: Until recently push mail was limited to yahoo and MobileMe. Now that Google has joined in the game it has made it possible for me to get push mail for my corporate email. However major limitations exist (and some not entirely Apple's fault). For instance push mail via Microsoft Exchange is not totally reliable. We've experienced downtime a couple of times. Another limitation is email attachments. You can't send a new email with attachments, that is unless you have a MobileMe or DropBox account. That makes it extremely annoying. Also, unless you can put up with using TextExpander, which requires you to type your email within TextExpander and then copy and paste into the email application. That to me is so yesterday. Besides, you can only have one MS Exchange account so which requires you to purchase apps like GPush to push your other gmail account. Of course not everyone needs push mail but for those of us who needs to response to our customers fast the iPhone has major limitations for email.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What is that? (Τι είναι αυτό;) 2007

Unconditional love...

Tum Chalo to Hindusta Chale - TOI Lead India "Tree"

Through the action of one individual, who "seemingly doesn't seem possible to make an impact", that motivates/inspire others to take action and make a difference.

Add and Maximize Value

We've always heard about "adding value". For instance, in any relationship how do you invest in the relationship?

One might say, well, I value add.

True, I guess you wouldn't be in that relationship for very long if that wasn't the case.

Then you might argue that when it comes to love one should give unconditionally. Why must there be a need to ask "what can you bring to the table?"

That's some what true but we are saying what you (first person perspective) can value add to the relationship? We're not saying that you demand something in return. Whereas when we say you wouldn't be in the relationship for long we are implying that the other person will / might look elsewhere (second person perspective).

So now let us look at "maximize" value and how different is that from "add" value.

To me it is a world of differences. Given a situation, I may be adding value but how do you know if I am giving my best or if I am holding anything back?

You wouldn't really unless you know me very well. What we want to emphasize here is that unless we are giving our 100 percent, you could still be short-changed in this instance.

Hence by maximizing value here in this instance we are saying this, you not only do your best, you give your best too.

One technique I found to be really effective if we do it with the right attitude is this: always set your intentions at the start of any interactions with another person. Because as our intentions are always good (it's only a matter of from which perspective) and hence sometimes our actions maybe misinterpreted.

Therefore it is always a good practice to first set your intentions and you will be able to practice the art of not just doing your best but also giving your best, everytime, all the time.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Keeping Top Talent Engaged in Tight Times

Values - Personal & Engaged

We recently had a discussion about school values. Context was, this school has a set of values that are both at a personal level as well as at a collaborative level (we call this "engaged").

They went through an exercise to ask their staff to rate their list of values; rating a "1" from the list for most visible to the last for least visible. It turns out that the values at the "engaged" level were rated higher than the "personal" ones.

An interesting discussion ensued to determine how to make sense of the information collected.

Was it obvious that since the "personal" values are personal hence it is difficult to see? Or is it a cause for concern?

I think what we wanted to establish was this: even if these values are "personal", if people live by these values it would have been evident, personal or otherwise.

The School Leaders then posed an interesting question that, how if these personal values are lived out by individuals, what kind of impact would this make at the organizational level.

To this end we need to understand why values at personal level are extremely critical to organizational success.

Where in an ideal senerio where everyone in the organization lives by a set of timeless principled values, that would translate into a culture where everyone takes personal responsibilty for what happens and hence a no-blame culture becomes possible.

In other words we are speaking about an organization made up of individuals who have personal mastery. For such an organization three things will happen.

1) People choose how they would respond to any given situation.

2) As these individuals take personal responsibilty for the outcomes of their actions.

3) Knowledge work becomes possible.

Let's discuss these in turn. Choosing your responses to any given situation is like, yeah so what if the weather is gloomy, if life throws you a lemon you make lemonade.

These individuals will not complain about the kind of pupils we get. Nor will they complain about the lack of resources or support.

These individuals will find the best ways to address the cohort issue. Seek ways to work with parents, innovate their teaching practices, experiment with different techniques, and so forth. Of course it is easy to point the fingers at the children. But this will not be the style of such individuals.

Even if they tried all ways possible and yet not meet their targets, they will accept personal responsibility. It is just not their style to blame it on the child.

And because of their attitude, they would be creating work that will also benefit future generations as the kind of work they do will be worthy of retention and shared for the benefit of those that come after them.

You may realize that this is also true for any smaller outfit like a work team or a committee.

Next time, take the opportunity during your next discussion or meeting to identify such individuals on the team. How can you tell? Listen to their conversation. Is it focused on "what others can or should do" or is the emphasis on "what I as a member of the team can do".


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

How do you express yourself?

Different people do it differently. Some of us don't even realize that every single one of us has the need to do it.

What's yours?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

How my life fell apart due to my addiction

I confess. I am an addict. I have been addicted to it since I tried it in January this year and I didn't know the extent of my addiction until this week.

I am addicted to my Blackberry.

About three years back, I attended the neuro-linguistic programming certification course. During the course, my single-minded focus was on searching for a personal success process, whereby every individual, if they were to follow this success process will experience success.

I wanted to derive my own success process as I see myself as a creator and its what I enjoy doing a lot. So instead of going through a series of trial and error, the process of literature review commenced.

Essentially, the review led me to Anthony Robbins, Robin Sharma, Stephen Covey, and eventually David Allen.

The final conclusion was to follow the FranklinCovey's method where one would divide his world into four quadrants, where the emphasis is to focus on the important but not-urgent quadrant. This is where it all matters because it is where these are areas that do not act on us and hence we must act on them.

There is the FranklinCovey planner where it is designed to get you started by crafting your personal mission statement and clarify your values. From there, you set your goals and based on your different roles you decide what you'd do on a weekly basis.

The trick is not to fall into the trap of spending all your time on the important and urgent quadrant; where eventually you may get a lot done but not move towards your goals.

When I got my Blackberry in January this year, there was a Google ad that appears frequently about "Covey on Blackberry". After clicking on the ad, I was more convinced than ever to get it. It was an amazing tool (ToDo Matrix) as it allows me to set up tasks and reminders.

My reliance on it was like clockwork. Until the Blackberry suffered over-heating problems (other than dropped calls, track-ball issues, and slow browsing speed) where it forced me to bring it in for repairs.

That's when my life really start to fall apart. There is no system now that reminds me of what I need and must do and also the lack of proper task management really caused a great disruption to my life.

That's when I decided to review the FranklinCovey planning system. Perhaps its the way I've organized it but when things happen during the week (which they do rather frequently) I find myself sometimes not being able to complete some tasks and over time it caused me to feel lousy.

And feeling lousy because of task not done is further fueled by the fact that each week, I see that task again and again.

Hence, the fact that my Blackberry was being sent for repairs was in a way a blessing in disguise! Yes, I am using a loan set but its never the same unless it is your own phone.

So, that's when I decided that a refinement of the process to allow for things to happen is way due! Hence, in my recent assessment and review of my planning process, I decided to re-read David Allen's Getting Things Done.

This time round, what appeals to me was the concept of "defining the work that you do".

He quoted Peter Drucker, where "in knowledge work... the task is not given; it has to be determined. 'What are the expected results from this work?' is ... the key question in making knowledge workers productive. There is usually no right answer; there are choices instead. And results have to be clearly specified, if productivity is to be achieved."

Upon reading this, it was like an enlightenment for me! As a result it led me to re-think the FranklinCovey's planning system.

And I think I got it down like this:

- Personal mission statement is still important and must be crafted, reviewed, refined over the years. It is also a statement that tells us what our purpose in life is and by that extension, who we are (our identity).

- Our identity speaks about who we are. And who we are is determined by our purpose in life and will also determine the values and beliefs that we embrace.

- Our values will determine our actions. And we all strive to behave consistently with our values. The more consistent we are, the more trust people have in us. And the more trust we've earned, the larger is our circle of influence.

- However with the best of intentions is not enough. We must certainly have the necessary competency to undertake a task. Hence, we will need to "learn and grow".

- And then faced with two category of "things", we need to make our choices. I see that because of what our purpose in life is, we would have a set of goals that we want to achieve so as to make our lives meaningful. That is one set of "things". And in our weekly planning, we need to allow for such events to take place or else we will always be faced by the other category of "things".

- The second category falls into what I'd call goals that were assigned to us. Unless you report to no one, then this category does not exists. But if you are like me, this category not only exists, it sometimes consumes us. It is here where we can, nay, need to ask ourselves, 'what are the expected results from this work?' And unless we are clear on the expected results, we cannot choose the most productive way to handle it.

Your friend,
Melvyn
(Sent from my Blackberry Bold)

How my life fell apart due to my addiction

I confess. I am an addict. I have been addicted to it since I tried it in January this year and I didn't know the extent of my addiction until this week.

I am addicted to my Blackberry.

About three years back, I attended the neuro-linguistic programming certification course. During the course, my single-minded focus was on searching for a personal success process, whereby every individual, if they were to follow this success process will experience success.

I wanted to derive my own success process as I see myself as a creator and its what I enjoy doing a lot. So instead of going through a series of trial and error, the process of literature review commenced.

Essentially, the review led me to Anthony Robbins, Robin Sharma, Stephen Covey, and eventually David Allen.

The final conclusion was to follow the FranklinCovey's method where one would divide his world into four quadrants, where the emphasis is to focus on the important but not-urgent quadrant. This is where it all matters because it is where these are areas that do not act on us and hence we must act on them.

There is the FranklinCovey planner where it is designed to get you started by crafting your personal mission statement and clarify your values. From there, you set your goals and based on your different roles you decide what you'd do on a weekly basis.

The trick is not to fall into the trap of spending all your time on the important and urgent quadrant; where eventually you may get a lot done but not move towards your goals.

When I got my Blackberry in January this year, there was a Google ad that appears frequently about "Covey on Blackberry". After clicking on the ad, I was more convinced than ever to get it. It was an amazing tool (ToDo Matrix) as it allows me to set up tasks and reminders.

My reliance on it was like clockwork. Until the Blackberry suffered over-heating problems (other than dropped calls, track-ball issues, and slow browsing speed) where it forced me to bring it in for repairs.

That's when my life really start to fall apart. There is no system now that reminds me of what I need and must do and also the lack of proper task management really caused a great disruption to my life.

That's when I decided to review the FranklinCovey planning system. Perhaps its the way I've organized it but when things happen during the week (which they do rather frequently) I find myself sometimes not being able to complete some tasks and over time it caused me to feel lousy.

And feeling lousy because of task not done is further fueled by the fact that each week, I see that task again and again.

Hence, the fact that my Blackberry was being sent for repairs was in a way a blessing in disguise! Yes, I am using a loan set but its never the same unless it is your own phone.

So, that's when I decided that a refinement of the process to allow for things to happen is way due! Hence, in my recent assessment and review of my planning process, I decided to re-read David Allen's Getting Things Done.

This time round, what appeals to me was the concept of "defining the work that you do".

He quoted Peter Drucker, where "in knowledge work... the task is not given; it has to be determined. 'What are the expected results from this work?' is ... the key question in making knowledge workers productive. There is usually no right answer; there are choices instead. And results have to be clearly specified, if productivity is to be achieved."

Upon reading this, it was like an enlightenment for me! As a result it led me to re-think the FranklinCovey's planning system.

And I think I got it down like this:

- Personal mission statement is still important and must be crafted, reviewed, refined over the years. It is also a statement that tells us what our purpose in life is and by that extension, who we are (our identity).

- Our identity speaks about who we are. And who we are is determined by our purpose in life and will also determine the values and beliefs that we embrace.

- Our values will determine our actions. And we all strive to behave consistently with our values. The more consistent we are, the more trust people have in us. And the more trust we've earned, the larger is our circle of influence.

- However with the best of intentions is not enough. We must certainly have the necessary competency to undertake a task. Hence, we will need to "learn and grow".

- And then faced with two category of "things", we need to make our choices. I see that because of what our purpose in life is, we would have a set of goals that we want to achieve so as to make our lives meaningful. That is one set of "things". And in our weekly planning, we need to allow for such events to take place or else we will always be faced by the other category of "things".

- The second category falls into what I'd call goals that were assigned to us. Unless you report to no one, then this category does not exists. But if you are like me, this category not only exists, it sometimes consumes us. It is here where we can, nay, need to ask ourselves, 'what are the expected results from this work?' And unless we are clear on the expected results, we cannot choose the most productive way to handle it.

Your friend,
Melvyn
(Sent from my Blackberry Bold)

How is it like currently, really?

In the context of setting a big hairy audacious goal, Jim Collins talked about the need to confront the brutal facts. Its whether we know how is it like currently, really.

To be able to continually create the vision that you desire, Peter Senge mentioned that we must know the current reality. Again, its about whether we know hos is it like currently, really.

I believe that if we are looking at organizations as a collective sum of individuals; then perhaps it is important for us to examine issues at the individual-level, then scale it up to the organizational-level.

Going back to Senge's theories about learning organizations; one fundamental underlying factor that must be there is personal mastery. Because if we want to continually create the vision that we desire, he said we'd need to examine the current reality.

Now, imagine if we examine the current reality and all the issues that we surface are, what we call, other people's problem; then there are only two things left to do. One, sulk. Two, blame others or wait for others to fix those problems. How's that for personal mastery?

In Covey's language that would be a reactive habit of highly ineffective people, as opposed to being proactive as a habit of highly effective individuals.

Because someone who has personal mastery would then look at the current reality and ask; what are the issues and how can I influence it? Based on the core theory of circle of influence that's when we work on areas or work with people, which we have influence over. And work hard at it to gain the trust and establish engaging relationships with others to expand that circle of influence.

So, today I'll like to share with you a key tip from Philosopher Abraham Kaplan that we can apply immediately as a leader of self and/or as a leader of others.

First, identify if the issue at hand is a problem or a predicament.

Kaplan distinguished them as follows: a problem is something you can deal with, a predicament is something you have to endure.

A good way to do this is to ask ourselves:

The issue at hand, can we:

(a) change it - is it within my circle of influence? Can I do something about it?

(b) change self - if we cannot change it then we will change ourselves so as to deal with it.

(c) live with it - we might not be able to change it or change self, so can we live with it? If we can't, then that leaves us with the final option, which is to

(d) leave it.

One thing to note is, whatever choice you make, you have to be happy with the decision. :)
Your friend,
Melvyn
(Sent from my Blackberry Bold)

Rules of Engagement - Insights from "The Student-Teacher Relationship" by Schlechty and Atwood (2001)

We came across an interesting and relevant article titled "The Student-Teacher Relationship" by Schlechty and Atwood (2001).

Summary of Article:

• Teacher-Student relationships, like all forms of relationships are reciprocal. It is said that when a teacher "lost control" of the class, it is actually the student or students who "gained control"

• Teachers are influenced by students who control resources that are social in nature and consist of power (the capacity to influence), where these students who have access are because of their relative positions in particular social systems

• Student as Boundary Threat: teachers are more likely to response to the influence of students whom they perceive to have contact with powerful community members

• Student as Insider: a student's capacity to successfully influence the teacher may also be based on his relative position within the social system of the classroom

Linkages to School Context:

• Quality of School Experience: the article touched on two key components in the QSE's "Social Process", namely "Teacher-Student Relationship (TSR)" and "Peer Relation (PR)"

• SEM: it is also reflected in our SEM Criterion 5.1 where we examine the processes of identifying students' needs, SEM Criterion 5.5: Student Leadership

• Quality of Relationships: in the core theory of success, we all understand that quality of relationships is the critical link that binds all other areas, hence based on that it is assumed that with a weak link in relationships, success becomes difficult to sustain

Possible Recommendations/Insights:

• Investing in relationships is, according to Stephen Covey, a Quadrant 2 activity, which means you need to act on it as it does not act on you. Hence it is important but not urgent. As a result, we sometimes ignore investing in relationships as we are too focused on working on things that are "urgent". It is "urgent" to finish the syllabus. It is "urgent" to just get things done first. And we neglect "investing in relationships"at our own peril.

• Before we invest in relationships, we first need to understand that you cannot give what you do not have. For instance, if we do not have the knowledge, skills, and attributes; then it is difficult for us to "give" or teach others. On the same note, if we are not "secure" (as in feeling insecure), then how do we share or teach others how to be secure? In the classroom, if the teacher is not a lifelong learner him/herself, how can s/he encourages or be an example for students to become a lifelong learner?

• Therefore, one of the underlying foundation that one must have is "personal mastery". As an extension of a Peter Senge's 5th Discipline, Stephen Covey's 7 Habits, John Maxwell's 5 Levels of Leadership, and Jim Collins' Level 5 Leadership; we propose a three-level of "mastery"; namely Personal Mastery, Engaged Mastery, and Professional Mastery.

• In the Principles of Engaged Mastery(TM), we discuss about the 9 Principles that one must observe; where the first four principles (self-discipline, vision, rectitude, and legacy) are focused at a "personal" level. Once one has demonstrated their minimum mastery of these principles, they will then be prepared to move to the next level of "engaged mastery".

• At the "people" level (for engaged mastery), individuals will need to learn the rules of engagement. First, the "mind-set" is "we engage another person with integrity". This would mean, before we engage another person in conversations or for professional matters, we need to be clear in terms of our intentions. Covey calls this "Think Win-Win".

• The "skill-set" requires for engagement include learning to listen, learning to build rapport, learning to pace and then lead. As a process, we sometimes felt the urge to lead then listen.

• And the "tool-set" that is useful for honing the skills is the SCORE Model, which is used for coaching purposes (coaching is also a Quadrant 2 activity). If one has the "mind-set", "skill-set", and "tool-set" of engagement, s/he is then seen as exercising principle number five of the 9 Principles of Engaged Mastery.

• To exercise the remaining four principles (Synergy, Abundance, Leverage, and Empathy); we can then bring in the "professional" context. Here is where we identify the various environment in which we are operating in and that will decide the kind of "skill-set" and "tool-set" that we can use. But in order to do all that, we must have the "mind-set" at the level of Professional Mastery, which is "to engage another person with integrity to progress towards a common purpose".

Three things you can do:
So, the next time there is an opportunity to engage another person, you can do these three things:

1. Set your intentions before you start your conversation,
2. Exercise the principle of "engage" where you must engage the other person with integrity, and
3. Practice the three "Ls" of listen, learn, then lead

Your friend,
Melvyn Tan

The First Law of Ecology

Before we talk about ideas, we need to understand ecology.

Well, basically the term "ecology" was first coined by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866, who defined it as "the comprehensive science of the relationship of the organism to the environment."

The key words here are "relationship" and "environment". We need to understand that in the larger context of an all encompassing environment, organisms are related to each other one way or another.

Which leads us to the quote by Barry Commoner that "the first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything".

And from my observations, people who are deemed as innovative and enterprising are usually those that are able to put two seemingly unrelated areas together to create a new way of doing things.

One of the greatest individual with that ability is Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo is a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, and writer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.

Another, perhaps, lesser known individual is Reed Hastings of "Netflix". Netflix rents movies on DVD using the Internet as the ordering platform and the postal service as its delivery system. How Hastings came up with the idea was because of a "late fee" that he incurred for returning a movie late, as the rental services charge a rental for the movie and a late fee for not returning on time.

As he was driving to the gym, he thought about the gym's business model whereby they charge a flat fee and do not monitor his usage. And that's how he came up with the business model for Netflix. Netflix has a huge library of movies where customers can choose from. It charges a flat monthly fee but restrict rental of up to four movies at any one time. Customers are sent their selection through the postal service and provided with a return envelope. They can choose to return the movie at any time and they can only rent another movie if they return the current ones.

Here is a classic example of using a business model of one industry to tackle an issue of another. At LINE Consulting - Singapore, we have also experimented with a similar idea in the past where we observed how the software industry was using the 30-day trial for their programs so as to enable the potential customer to experience it before buying. It has paid off handsomely through our LINEAR™ Program where Schools get to experience the kind of work we do before deciding if they want to engage our services.

One more example that we can quote is that of combining a cellphone, an iPOD, and an internet access machine; iPhone. When Apple introduced the iPhone it was not only a phone to die for, it also set the industry standard for smartphones and cellphones alike. Its touch-screen function is unrivaled (Samsung's Omnia doesn't even come close). Of course there are many other flaws, which Apple claims the iPhone 3G-S addresses those concerns such as battery life, copy and paste function, and an anachronistic 2 mega pixel built-in camera. Of course with Apple's ingenuity in marketing solved many of those issues.

With the above as the "mind-set", we will need to look at what is the "skill-set" required here. And that is to be able to bring together two or more seemingly unrelated areas together in creating a value proposition.

Three things you can do to enhance this skill that you already have is this:

(1) Over the next seven days, while driving or riding on the sub-way, pick any object that you come across. Then set a target for yourself to come up with as many uses as possible for that object. For instance, on day one, after picking an object, set yourself a target (say 7) and then challenge yourself to come up with seven usage for that object before you reach your destination. After doing that for three days, then set yourself a higher target, maybe 13. And then either you scale this target by increasing the number or by keeping the number but shortening the time frame. After doing this for seven days you would have activated your mind to finding relationships for a chosen object.

(2) For the next phase of another seven days, you would want to randomly pick not one, but two items such as "elephant" and "newspapers" and look for possible combinations from these two items. For instance, here we may think of using elephants as a logo for a newspaper or using newspapers to educate the public on why they should not buy ivory products. Again, set a target for each exercise and scale it over the seven-day period. For this, you would have developed the ability to find relationships when given two seemingly unrelated items.

(3) Now, for the next seven days, you will then identify a work area where you want to see improvements or you have an issue with. You will then search for plausible solutions by adapting practices from other industries. For this phase, we just want to explore possible solutions, so throw that "critical mind" of yours out of the window. Because having honed your skill-set of finding relationships in the first two phases, you are now better equipped to see the interelatedness.

Once you have done this exercise for 21 days, you will be prepared for using the "tool-set" provided by James Webb Young, in his little (but important) book titled: "A Technique for Producing Ideas".

Young stated that the key talent in generating new ideas is an ability to find relationships and patterns among things you already know. Which is why we want you do that exercise above to first hone the skill.

Now, with this five-step process you now have a structure or approach to help you generate ideas that work. Briefly, the five steps are:

Step 1: define the problem - frame the problem not too broadly or too narrowly.

Step 2: research relentlessly - it prompts lots of different thoughts about how to solve the problem. Some people call this step "brainstorming".

Step 3: let it cook - trust your subconscious mind to find patterns, combinations, and possible solutions to the problem.

Step 4: catch the ideas as it flies by - be alert to possible solutions that may come up, capture it - this is where you have to program your conscious mind to catch it.

Step 5: shape and polish - run the solutions in your head, with a group of people, "future pace" it and see what kind of criticism (real & imaginary)

For details on the five-step, please pick up a copy of Young's book or simply drop me an email for detailed description of these steps.

We hope you will experience tremendous success here. Please drop me a note to let me know how you are doing.

Your friend,
Melvyn
(Sent from my Blackberry Bold)

Consistency

One of the key lessons I've learned from John C Maxwell when he was in town recently is consistency.

If you think about it, isn't it true that the real leaders are those that are consistent? Its not just about doing something only when it is convenient or when we feel like it.

For instance, when Lance Armstrong was training for the Tour de France, he didn't train only if the weather is good or when he is in the mood. He trained daily and day by day push himself a little further until he was ready for the race.

Take John C Maxwell as another example. He is committed to five key actions every single day and the result of it is that he's got a book published almost every year. The five things he is committed to are; read, write, ask questions, think, and file.

So, let's see how we can put this into action.

First, ask yourself this question; "what might be the list of things that you are committed to doing every single day?"

You may start with just one single action that you are committed to doing it consistently everyday for at least 21 days. For some of us it might be praying, for others it might be setting their intentions for the day before they start their day, while some may choose to read their goals every day when they get out of bed.

Second, ask yourself what is/are the reason/s why you chose that particular action. It is usually helpful if that action will lead you closer to your goal.

Certainly we are more likely to commit to that particular action if the motivation is towards an end-in-mind that we want to work towards. For example, some of us might choose to save ten dollars a day because after a certain time the amount saved will allow us to buy something we want.

Third, and most crucial is to ask ourselves; how is this action consistent with our values and beliefs? To illustrate this point, we just need to ask ourselves; how do we tell if someone is practicing what s/he preaches? We see if that person walk-the-talk.

For instance, in our work environment, the people who have your utmost respect are those that live out their values. Also it would be really tough for one to commit to an action that is incongruent with their values. If we believe that "you can't teach an old dog new tricks"; then it would really be trying for us to want to commit to looking for opportunities to develop people evryday.

That said, please take this opportunity to ask yourself; what might be an action that you will commit to doing it consistently on a daily basis that will help you move towards a goal and that that action is consistent with your values and beliefs.

Your friend,
Melvyn
(Sent from my Blackberry Bold)

Been up in the "mountain"...

Dear friends,

You might notice of late that I've been quiet on the blog scene. In case you're wondering; I've been conducting some research and readings in three areas, chiefly; (1) leadership, (2) ideas, and (3) culture.

Over the next few weeks I will be writing again to share on my research and what I've learned and also to provide some useful tips for application.

And boy, am I excited about some of the findings that could help us answer some questions such as:
- how does one create an organization where everyone is willing to serve and lead?
- what is the best possible way(s) to sell an idea? [read: your vision, goals, and objectives]
- what do we do with people who do not conform to our organizational values; how do we change their mindset?

All three areas are relevant to any industry or sector, but of course you'd notice by now that my heart lies in the school sector.

But nonetheless, you will find these findings generic enough to be applied to whichever industry you're in; essentially because these are timeless principles.

To ensure that you do not miss out, I'd encourage you to sign up for the automated delivery of the articles into your in-box so that you can refer to it at your convenience.

You may sign up at this link (http://bit.ly/mASJg).

Thank you.

Your friend,
Melvyn
(Sent from my Blackberry Bold)

Singapore, 44 years on...

As the Nation celebrates its 44th birthday this weekend, it is indeed exciting to take a sneak peek where Singapore will be 44 years from now.

But before we whip out the crystal ball, perhaps our history will give us a clue or two.

Back in my PSB-days, I was privileged to be chosen as one of the trainers for PMP, or Productivity Management Program. It was one of the compulsory programs that all officers have to not only attend, but also sit for a test. Failing which, the officer will have to re-sit for the course and the assessment, till s/he passes.

It was a course to inform or perhaps educate Singapore's journey towards a first-world nation. Briefly, we cover the progress from a labor-intensive economy to a capital-intensive one. Where machines replaced people (and lower value added work); it pushed the country to look at productivity. In other words, for each person employed, we should see an increase in output.

Then from capital-intensive, we moved to an investment-intensive one. Which means we no longer just focused on getting machines in, we are watching how each investment dollar can bring about a higher level of output.

Its not that we were crazy about production, but the higher the output, the higher our gross domestic product. Which in lay terms mean higher income per person. Then between the time I left the service up until now, it was generally focused on the service economy.

For a country to shift its dependence on services; we need two critical elements. One, people (and smart ones at that). Two, ideas (and good ones at that). However one may argue, the statistics speak for themselves. While we aim to tilt the scale towards a service economy, it is not working as well as it should.

One could argue that while Singaporeans are smart; ideas and good ones are far and few between. So, where does this leave us?

A common factor that runs through the years in keeping the country afloat is the inbound element. In the 70s to even till recently, Singapore rely mainly on foreign multinationals, foreign direct investments, foreign talents, and the likes. And this will also be the cornerstone of this country's development in the next forty years.

Imagine Singapore in 40 years time. Where would it stand in the global economy? For a start, the global economy will definitely be Asia-centric. Much like it has been US-centric in the last 100 years. In the year 2053, the world economy will be dependent on Asia.

However there is but one problem. Asia has a more diverse culture than Europe or US. Income disparity will also be wider than Europe or US. Language. And educational level too.

Where does Singapore fits in? Well, for a start, there will still be the dependence on foreign ideas. How it would pan out? This is my read.

This is the future.

In 2053, Singapore will be a mini-Asia (ex Japan and Korea). What that means is that, if you are from Europe or US; or even some other parts of Asia, you will come to Singapore. Because it is here where you will find a mini-Vietnam, a small India, a taste of Mongolia. How could this be possible?

One word, education (both pre-employment and continuing education).

And all this is possible because the government has developed this place to be an education-hub. And with good quality educational institutions (both mainstream and private), you will naturally draw talents to this place. If in doubt, count the number of brilliant people going to the US.

Once you draw the talents to this place, they will see for themselves the kind of possibilities and opportunities for them. Hence these foreigners after getting their education here may choose to stay here for a while. And since this place is highly competitive, if you don't make it, you leave. Just like New York.

So, for those who stay here, they are likely to be the ones that are more competitive, more enterprising, more resourceful, and of course, more good ideas. Hence, instead of looking at foreign investments, it is now foreign ideas.

It is good, as with the influx of new ideas, it will enable the country to generate a higher income or gross domestic product. Because ideas are not dependent on physical resources, ideas are non-competiting (meaning if you have an idea it doesn't cause me to be poorer of), ideas are exponential (meaning a simple idea can generate 1000%, 10,000%, or even 1,000,000%), ideas when mixed with other ideas can become a new idea, and the list goes now.

In other words, a country that depends on ideas will experience abundant wealth. As there are no limits. Hence, the government needs to create an environment that ideas are encouraged, ideas are given chances to be nurtured, ideas can lead to more ideas!

So where does this leave us?

One word - education.

What our Schools are currently doing will not only ensure the survival of Singapore, it will also increase the likelihood of survival for Singaporeans. It is time we ask ourselves, how are we nurturing ideas creation in School.

Do we give enough emphasis to encourage ideas? Not just for the kids, but what about the teachers? Are we ensuring that we are able to harness knowledge? Get our teachers to create knowledge? Do we have the systems to select, collect, and capture knowledge? Will we become a true knowledge-based economy?

Or will we see our children becoming employees (nothing wrong in becoming an employee) to these foreign ideas? Where because our children are unable to generate better, more valuable, creative ideas than the foreign ideas?

In summary I recommend three things we can look at:

(i) idea mind-set: we need a shift in paradigm towards being idea-rich. You don't need to have lots of money to be rich. You can be idea rich. What it means is that, banks should ask for ideas as collaterals. We also need to shift the mind-set towards "the best idea wins". So let's examine our own mind-set. How strong are we?

(ii) idea skill-set: we need a different set of skills. For instance, the ability to synthesize now becomes really important. Are we able to put two ideas together and come up with an even better idea? Or maybe to do a one+one = 100? Do we have the necessary skills? Its not just about being creative. That's so 2000. Its now about who have the ability to also sell those ideas.

(iii) idea tool-set: our environment must facilitate the growth of ideas. How do we give people the tools to make their ideas work? What kind of tools are these? Some are tangible, some are not. Laws are necessary but the societal acceptance of ideas abound is equally necessary.

Remember Victor Hugo said, "No army can stop an idea whose time has come."

Your friend,
Melvyn
(Sent from my Blackberry Bold)