By changing your Thinking,
You change your Beliefs;
When you change your Beliefs,
You change your Expectations;
When you change your Expectations,
You change your Attitude;
When you change your Attitude,
You change your Behaviour;
When you change your Behaviour,
Your change your Performance;
When you change your Performance,
You change your Life!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
4 Wives
Once upon a time there was a rich King who had four wives.
He loved the 4th wife the most and adored her with rich robes and treated her to the finest of delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best.
He also loved the 3rd wife very much and was always showing her off to neighbouring kingdoms. However, he feared that one day she would leave him for another.
He also loved his 2nd wife. She was his confidant and was always kind, considerate and patient with him. Whenever the King faced a problem, he could confide in her, and she would help him get through the difficult times.
The King's 1st wife was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and kingdowm. However, he did not love the first wife. Although she loved him deeply he hardly took notice of her!
One day, the King fell ill and he knew his time was short. He thought of his luxurious life and wondered, 'I now have four wives with me, but when I die, I'll be all alone.'
Thus he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"
"No way!" replied the 4th wife, and she walked away without another word.
Her answered cut like a sharp knife right into his heart.
The sad King then asked the 3rd wife, "I loved you all my life, Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me campany?"
"No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to remarry!"
His heart sank and turned cold.
He then asked the 2nd wife, "I have always turned to you for help and you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?"
"I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can walk with you to your grave."
Her answer struck him like a bolt of lightning, and the King was devastated.
Then a voice called out: "I'll go with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go."
The King looked up, and there was his first wife. She was very skinny as she suffered from malnutrition and neglect.
Greatly grieved, the King said, "I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance!"
In truth, we all have the 4 wives in our lives:
Our 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it will leave us when we die.
Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, it will go to others.
Our 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.
And our 1st wife is our Soul. Often, we had neglected it in pursuit of wealth, power and pleasures of the world.
However, our Soul is the only thing that will follow us where ever we go. Cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, for it is the only part of us that will follow us to the throne of GOD and continue with us throughout Eternity.
Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.
He loved the 4th wife the most and adored her with rich robes and treated her to the finest of delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best.
He also loved the 3rd wife very much and was always showing her off to neighbouring kingdoms. However, he feared that one day she would leave him for another.
He also loved his 2nd wife. She was his confidant and was always kind, considerate and patient with him. Whenever the King faced a problem, he could confide in her, and she would help him get through the difficult times.
The King's 1st wife was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and kingdowm. However, he did not love the first wife. Although she loved him deeply he hardly took notice of her!
One day, the King fell ill and he knew his time was short. He thought of his luxurious life and wondered, 'I now have four wives with me, but when I die, I'll be all alone.'
Thus he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"
"No way!" replied the 4th wife, and she walked away without another word.
Her answered cut like a sharp knife right into his heart.
The sad King then asked the 3rd wife, "I loved you all my life, Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me campany?"
"No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to remarry!"
His heart sank and turned cold.
He then asked the 2nd wife, "I have always turned to you for help and you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?"
"I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can walk with you to your grave."
Her answer struck him like a bolt of lightning, and the King was devastated.
Then a voice called out: "I'll go with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go."
The King looked up, and there was his first wife. She was very skinny as she suffered from malnutrition and neglect.
Greatly grieved, the King said, "I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance!"
In truth, we all have the 4 wives in our lives:
Our 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it will leave us when we die.
Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, it will go to others.
Our 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.
And our 1st wife is our Soul. Often, we had neglected it in pursuit of wealth, power and pleasures of the world.
However, our Soul is the only thing that will follow us where ever we go. Cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, for it is the only part of us that will follow us to the throne of GOD and continue with us throughout Eternity.
Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Crazy does not equal to Stupid
A truck driver was doing his usual delivery to IMH (Institute of Mental Health)
He discovered a flat tyre when he was about to go home. He jacked up the truck and took the flat tyre down.
When he was about to fix the spare tyre, he accidentally dropped all the bolts into the drain.. As he could not fish the bolts out, he started to panic.
A patient happened to walk past and asked the driver what happened. The driver thought to himself, since there was nothing much he could do; he told the patient the whole incident.
The patient laughed at him and said "can't even fix such a simple problem.... no wonder you are destined to be a truck driver..."
"Here's what you can do, take on bolt each form the other three tyres and fix it onto this tyre. Then drive to the nearest workshop and replace the missing ones, easy as that."
The driver was very impressed and asked "You're so smart but why are you here at the IMH?"
Patient replied "Hello, I stay here because I'm crazy...... not STUPID!"
He discovered a flat tyre when he was about to go home. He jacked up the truck and took the flat tyre down.
When he was about to fix the spare tyre, he accidentally dropped all the bolts into the drain.. As he could not fish the bolts out, he started to panic.
A patient happened to walk past and asked the driver what happened. The driver thought to himself, since there was nothing much he could do; he told the patient the whole incident.
The patient laughed at him and said "can't even fix such a simple problem.... no wonder you are destined to be a truck driver..."
"Here's what you can do, take on bolt each form the other three tyres and fix it onto this tyre. Then drive to the nearest workshop and replace the missing ones, easy as that."
The driver was very impressed and asked "You're so smart but why are you here at the IMH?"
Patient replied "Hello, I stay here because I'm crazy...... not STUPID!"
Sunday, September 6, 2009
New Story of the Hare and Tortoise
Once upon a time, a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race.
The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race.
He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ.
The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race. The moral of the story is the SLOW AND STEADY WIN THE RACE.
This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with.
But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this story. It continues.
The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some Defect Prevention (Root Cause Analysis). He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax.
If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.
This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finished. He won by several miles.
The moral of the story? FAST AND CONSISTENT WILL ALWAYS BEAT THE SLOW AND STEADY.
If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisation ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap.
It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.
But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted.
He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route.
The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river.
The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river.
The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime, the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.
The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency.
In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you.
If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.
The story still hasn't ended.
The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the race could have been run much better.
So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.
They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back.
On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense fo satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.
The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have a strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.
Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.
There are more lessons to be learnt from this story.
Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure.
The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort.
Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is apporpriate to do both.
The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better.
When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca-Cola in the 1980's, he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke's growth.
His executives were Pepsi-focussed and intent on increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time.
Goizueta decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth.
He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces. Goizueta said Coke needed a larger share of that market.
The competition wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a Coke whenever they felt like drinking something.
To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since.
To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things.
Important lessons are:
fast and consistent always beat slow and steady;
work to your competencies;
pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers;
never give up when faced with failure;
and finally, compete against the situation. NOT against a rival.
by CAC Management Consultants International
The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race.
He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ.
The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race. The moral of the story is the SLOW AND STEADY WIN THE RACE.
This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with.
But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this story. It continues.
The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some Defect Prevention (Root Cause Analysis). He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax.
If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.
This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finished. He won by several miles.
The moral of the story? FAST AND CONSISTENT WILL ALWAYS BEAT THE SLOW AND STEADY.
If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisation ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap.
It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.
But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted.
He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route.
The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river.
The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river.
The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime, the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.
The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency.
In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you.
If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.
The story still hasn't ended.
The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the race could have been run much better.
So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.
They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back.
On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense fo satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.
The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have a strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.
Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.
There are more lessons to be learnt from this story.
Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure.
The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort.
Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is apporpriate to do both.
The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better.
When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca-Cola in the 1980's, he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke's growth.
His executives were Pepsi-focussed and intent on increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time.
Goizueta decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth.
He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces. Goizueta said Coke needed a larger share of that market.
The competition wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a Coke whenever they felt like drinking something.
To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since.
To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things.
Important lessons are:
fast and consistent always beat slow and steady;
work to your competencies;
pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers;
never give up when faced with failure;
and finally, compete against the situation. NOT against a rival.
by CAC Management Consultants International
Thursday, September 3, 2009
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