Feeding fishes for good karma

A few days ago, a Buddhist friend upon hearing my story and how i was feeling bit down lately suggested that i go to feed fishes with a loaf of bread at Rochor Road opposite OG nearer to DBS bank where there's a bridge over a canal.

We (my wife & me) found it a weird suggestion as how can feeding fishes improve or increase my good karma? Nevertheless, we decided to give it a try since there's no other important activities to attend to on Sunday.   ;-)

So we bought a loaf of bread and got MRT to Bugis before walking towards Rochor Road.. oh just before we had lunch at Rochor Centre i think.. The food court Kopitiam there has a stall that sells delicious BaKuTeh soup and stew dark pork leg. Simply wonderful!  ;-)

And to our surprise, the canal is filled with thousands of fishes!!! Mostly small ones.. not sure what species they were.. but from the picture you can see thousands were 'attacking' the single white slice of bread floating on the water.. 

We observed the fishes and found it quite interesting and relaxing.. i felt kind of funny or a little embarrassed throwing white bread into the canal.. hope i'm not breaking law.. few other people were fishing there too..  ;P

We also saw a bird trying to prey on the hungry fishes feasting on the bread.. It was quite a sight in the busy roads of Rochor, which is very near the city..

So, will feeding fishes with bread improves my karma? Mmm,.. at least it helps me relax, makes me feel good, recharged and in touch with a little nature and fishes.. Life's simple side.. 

Change Management

Change Management - Focus on TCS: Teamwork, Communication & Strategy.

8 Steps:

1. Define present state
2. Define future state
3. Communicate need to change
4. Plan change
5. Motivate change
6. Implement change
7. Assess change
8. Maintain change

IT Change Management:

1. Requesting change
2. Assessing change
3. Authorizing change
4. Implementing change

notes: 

• Prevent unauthorized change, minimize disruption, coordinate build, test & implementation.
  
• Fair Process. Not just focus on outcome.
• Fair process is not consensus. But gives ideas a fair chance - is what drives decisions making.

3 Es Principles:

1. Engagement - involve individuals in decisions that affect them.
2. Explanation - explain to everyone why certain decisions were made, and to gain trust.
3. Expectation - once a decision made, managers state clearly the new rules, targets or instructions. Focus that they understood.

Communication Cycle:

• Awareness, Understanding, Buy-in & Ownership
• Channels, website, newsletter, change agents, roles, commitment curve, target audience, key stakeholders, set & manage expectations.

Cause and Effects, and Conditions

i was and am still reading the book "The Universe in Single Atom" by Dalai Lama. Rather deep for me.. but beginning to see some light..  ;P

i like page 146 as it says "the Buddha himself argued that if one wishes to avoid certain types of results, one needs to change the conditions that give rise to them. So if one changes the conditions of one's state of mind, one can change the traits of one's consciousness and the resulting attitudes and emotions".

So, if i want to break free from my present problems and situation, i need to alter my thoughts first.. which will change my behavior and speech and affect the environment around me.. and likely it would bring a change to the overall results of my life.. 

Strategic Management

A. External Environment Scanning

• General Environment - PEST Analysis
• Industrial Environment - 5 Forces Analysis

B. Internal Environment Scanning

• Strengths - Identify Resources, Capabilities & Core Competencies
• Value Creation - Value Chain Analysis

C. Overall

• SWOT Analysis

D. Strategy Formulation/Development

• Define Strategic Options/Choices followed by Evaluation. Finally, put the selected options into Strategic Themes/Thrusts.

E. Strategy Execution/Implementation

• Develop Strategic Map with objectives, indicators & targets set.
• Use Balanced Scorecard.
  

Are your plastic bottle safe?

see video.

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Really inspiring! Must watch! ;-)

a nice plate of Chee Cheong Fun

A simple breakfast dish of Chee Cheong Fun (with Chai Siew embedded) always make me feel good & refreshed. And of course, not forgetting a cup of hot Coffee-C.   ;-)

Dream on

it's great to know there are people out there who still dreams.. many of us have stopped.. which is a sad thing.. 

Let's dream on.. 

Helping others to help yourself

"You can get everything you want in life 

if you just help enough other people to get what they want."

- American author & motivation speaker Zig Ziglar.

2 approaches to strategic management

Two common approaches to strategic management.

1. Opportunity based. Study the business environment. Identify gaps or opportunities. Acquire resources and capabilities needed to accomplish the tasks. Execute.

2. Capability based. Study the internal capabilities. Identify internal strength. Find opportunities in the external business environment that requires the strengths. Execute.

In both the above approaches, the company must think about sustainability and defensive strategies in the face of existing and new competitors.

Beijing Olympics Medals Score

Michael Phelps, Olympics 2008 swimmer - An Inspiration

Having read his story from a local newspaper i was and still am inspired.

Michael Phelps reminded me of the struggles many of us have and will go thru.. when it seems no one cares or bother to help, we have to be strong and stand tall.. yes, talent is important but if no one realise u are talented? Like the Phelps, people may think he's a goner in those early days.. just a 'hyperactive child' who cant sit still for a minute.. but later they realised he can swim! and extremely well.. ;-)

It takes a lot of hardwork too.. talent is only 1%, the rest is perspiration.. yup, he can sit still for hours to wait for his turn to swim when he cant sit still any other times.. Also, i do think that the right person to help uncover your talent and provide support will go a long long way.. in this case, his mother and few others who believe in him.

i will want to remember Michael for inspiring us all. Blessings! ;-)

Force and reaction

Every push you made,
there will be an equal opposite force.

HortPark - Really a great place for morning/afternoon walk

Great for friends and family outings.. take a walk at HortPark..

i went there last weekend and found it refreshing.. the bridge was a little scary as it was quite high up above the road.. but the park was fantastic! Just love the tress, flowers, bees, kids, beautiful environment.. ;-)

Ugly Faces ;P

Talent Management

i believe people management.. talent management is the greatest challenge in today's businesses.

really must learn to be careful, wiser and calm in handling people issues, conflicts,..

May Buddha wisdom be with me..

Life's hard but found some peace & happiness

To be frank, i found life's quite hard.. with inflation, looking for more biz, finding funding,.. it's tiring.. but somehow i feel better than before.. perhaps i found freedom to do what i want to do.. guess i must treasure what i have today.. ;-)

With my wife and supportive friends, i believe we can achieve whatever we want to achieve. Just do our best! ;-)

a sad case for the whole world

i'm sad to learn that the China Olypmics opening ceremony sweet little child singer lip-sync.. ;-(
And the real less-than-pretty child singer was backstage..

She was never openly acknowledged for her wonderful, tear-inducible singing.. So the organiser felt that 'ugly' child shouldnt be on stage.. It's funny cause i remembered i saw a older man signing on stage as well.. he aint good looking at all!

This is a step backward for China.. as mighty as they may in their economy success.. sad as they loose their basic human values..

Where does that lead us to? human extinction?

SPARE customer - conversion route

this morning i read something interesting on customer buying pattern - conversion route.. here i tried to capture some essence plus my own interpretation.. the concept is encapsulated in the acronym S.P.A.R.E.

S - Suspecting customer. The market segments you may be interested in but you have not decide yet.

P - Prospecting customer. Your target market segments. Marketing efforts will be pumped into here.

A - Actual customer. Converted paying customers. Actual brand/product/service is being experienced here by the customers.

R - Regular customer. If they like it, they become your regular customers with repeat buys.

E - Excellent customer. They like it so much that they started telling others their experience with the brand/product/service as well.

Beautiful voice.. Touching songs.. pretty child