Reflections of a Business-Driven Life
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Thursday, September 30, 2004 |
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Leadership Quotes: (quotes) Here are some of the favorite quotes on leadership and management that I come across that I would like to share. The last quote is a great case of leadership by example: It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. ---- Brin we have, i fear, confused power with greatness. ----- Udall we thought, because we had power, we had wisdom. ---- Benet Children have never been good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. ----- James Baldwin 10:13:10 AM  comment [] trackback []
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Agenda Setters 2004 (news) Silicon.com havepublished the list of the top business leaders, technologists, entrepreneurs and politicos that help set the agenda for technology. I thought I knew the industry, but I really did not know 3 of the top 5 who are: ( I know Steve Jobs no. 2 and Tom Ridge no. 4) 1.) Ashley Highfield - director of New Media and Technologies, BBC 2.) Steve Jobs - CEO of Apple Computers and Pixar Animation. From NO. 1 last year. 3.) Niklas Zennstrom - co founder and CEO of Skype, revolutionary technology for peer to peer voice calling. 4.) Tom Ridge - US Secretary of Homeland Security. With $40 billion to spend, that makes him influential! 5.) David Blunkett - UK Home Secretary. Spearheaded the UK ID project, one of the biggest government IT projects. The others I would know ( that I did not expect to be that less influential) would be Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds who tie with at no. 7. Meg Whitman of Ebay at no. 13, Sam Palmisano of IBM at no. 27, Michael Dell of Dell at no. 34, Hu Jintao, China Premiere at no. 41, and Ratan Tata of India's Tata Consultancy at no. 45. Full List here.
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Wednesday, September 29, 2004 |
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Beautiful Manila!(tidbits)
We don't normally hear people say that Manila is beautiful ( much like you don't hear people from Los Angeles say they have a beautiful city either), and maybe it is just that we are looking from the wrong views. You see pictures of Hong Kong and Shanghai with all their high rises, and you are impressed. But take a look at this picture. This was actually the ad of a view from Fairways Tower in Fort Bonifacio and shows the Manila Golf Club and the Makati Skyline. Isn't that as good as any view of any city in the world?
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Tuesday, September 28, 2004 |
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Carcar Cebu makes world's biggest Shoe (tidbits)
There are many hidden treasures in the Philippines. One is the thriving shoe industry of Carcar which is about 1 hour's drive from Cebu City in Southern Philippines. Last year, the shoemakers of Carcar made what is unofficially the world''s biggest leather shoe. According to rumors, it will not be listed in the Guinness Book foWorld Records yet, because it is only a half pair of shoe. Plans are afoot to make the other half pair ... comment [] trackback []
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Monday, September 27, 2004 |
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Reverse Migration: From Linux to Windows (news) Ziff Davis - The number of enterprises migrating from Windows to Linux is a growing concern for Microsoft. But it's not a one-way street. Some companies—unhappy with their open-source experience—are making the switch back to Windows. [Yahoo! News - Technology] 7:19:41 PM comment [] trackback []
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Sun and Red Hat at War on Each Other (news) It seems that there is at least a word war between Sun and Red Hat, or specifically Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's President and Michael Tiedmann, Red Hat's Chief of marketing. If you want to get the details, check out the Register. It started that apparently Sun has been hurt a lot from Linux, and they decided they could not tackle Linux, but they could attack Red Hat. Previous postings of Schwartz have been critical of Red Hat as well as HP and IBM's support of it. Tiedmann retaliated with his own blog what he thought about Sun.
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7 Essential Resources for Small Businesses (news) by Jinger Jarrett click here to check out the tips and resources you can use to set up a small business online. 12:05:23 PM comment [] trackback []
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Linux support a 'black hole' (news)Industry murmurs about a lack of commercial support for Linux are justified, according to Education in the Workplace Institute director Ihian Mackenzie who believes the "free" nature of Linux is stifling its penetration in the business market. Mackenzie also says there are not enough skills available to administer Linux systems appropriately. ( click on title to read the whole story)
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Sunday, September 26, 2004 |
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Having your Cake and Eat it Too. (on life) I was just going over the latest survey of the Far Eastern Economic Review, one of the most respected publications which for the 11th year published their finding in a survey of Asian lifestyles, habits, aspirations and management techniques. In that survey, which spanned more than 10 countries in Asia, produced some really paradoxical answers. Although statistics were separated for 10 countries, and then averaged, I will present just the highlights especially on the Phils. The first figure is from the Philippines and the second, the average for the 10 countries of Asia: ( The FEER survey is presented in detail in the magazine, and highlights presented in their site here. ). Over 60% from the Philippines ( and over 50% from Asia) said they are spending more time in work, and almost a similar number ( 65%, 55%) answered that they are eating out more. Yet, they also said (57%, 47%) they are spending more time with the family, and more also ( 39%, 42%) are taking more vacation time. Even more executives ( 42%, 41%) said they are having to travel more for business reasons. All these numbers reflect that we really want the best of both worlds, and everything that we do seems to say we can do it! We want to travel faster, but also appreciate the scenery more. We want to read faster, and yet think and savor more. WE want to eat faster, yet enjoy the food better. Is it possible to do it? Yes, some few will be able to juggle it, while the majority of us will end up unhappy and desperate for trying to "get it all". We are never satisfied, and it is well we keep pushing the envelope, but maybe for some things, we need to rethink our basic assumptions ...
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Thursday, September 23, 2004 |
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Being busy without prioritizing (on life)
I debated with myself whether this goes under the heading of business, or whether it should be in life, but finally decided that being able to prioritize was not only something that you need to be effective in business, but also in living life. I tried to observe some of my colleagues and friends, and I think one of the things I observe is how many of us fail to prioritize. Many people just simply list down the things or task that they need to do, and often do one of the other. The more methodical will go through the list starting with task number 1, then 2, then 3 and so on. For most of us, we normally go through the list, and more likely do the easy ones first. Unfortunately, the easy tasks are seldom the most important ones, and therein lies the problem. We are now busier than ever, and few people really gets around to ever have the time to do everything they want to do, and there IS a problem when only the easy tasks keeps getting done, and more difficult and important ones keep being postponed. That would not be a problem if we force ourselves to realize that we are not really moving forward by keeping postponing the inevitable but unpleasant task, and somehow there is something in ourselves that keeps justifying that we were just too busy ( and we were already doing so many things – many unimportant things) that there was a very good excuse to hold off. Too often, there are arguments that why did you not do task A? and the excuse was that he was just too busy doing task B. It would be OK if task B was the more important, but what if it is not? Do you get the feeling that somehow, either in life, or in managing a business, you or the person himself is losing because they fail to prioritize? Maybe that is one of the essential skills you should start looking at if you are serious in winning in business …. and in life?
8:30:11 PM comment [] trackback []
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One of the Best Delicacies in the World (tidbits)
One of the food you should try if you have a chance is sea urchin, or fondly called by the Japanese as Uni. I have not seen it offered in Western restaurants, but it should be available in Japanese. The above picture is the raw form. This is the one that is full of thorns, but if you can get it fresh, and open it, it looks like as below. Some serve it with the original cask, but some just serve the inside. This has to be eaten fresh, but it has a taste that is out of this world!
8:17:22 PM comment [] trackback []
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High court 'rules' vs love (news) Here is an interesting bit of news .... The Philippine Supreme Court has upheld a pharmaceutical company's policy prohibiting its employees from marrying employees of a rival firm, saying that it is a valid exercise of management prerogative to ensure "maximum profit and business success." 7:50:45 PM comment [] trackback []
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Monday, September 20, 2004 |
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I just chanced through a great site called The Quotations Page and come across 3 great quotes by Mary Pettibone Poole: - People who are always making allowances for themselves soon go backrupt. - To repeat what others have said, requires education; to challenge it, requires brains.
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We are all Makers of the Flag (news and commentaries) /* This is a speech delivered by Franklin Knight Lane in June 14, 1914. 90 years after, it is still relevant and hopefully continues to give us inspiration and meaning. */ This morning, as I passed inot the Land Office, the Flag dropped me a most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say: "Good Morning, Mr. Flag Maker." "I beg your pardon, Old Glory,"I said, "arent'you mistaken? I am not the president of the United States, nor a member of Congress, nor even a general in the army. I am only a government clerk." "I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker, "replied the gay voice, "I know you well. You are the man who worked in the swelter of yesterday straightening out the tangle of the farmer's homestead in Idaho, or perhaps you found the mistake in that land contract in Oklahoma, or helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor in New York, or Pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming. NO matter; whichever one of thee beneficient individual you may happen to be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker." I was about to pass on, when the Flag stopped me with these words: "Yestrday, the president spoke a word that made happier the future of ten million peons in Mexico, but that act looms no larger on the flag than the struggle which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn Club prize this summer. "Yesterday, the Congress spoke a word which will open the door of Alaska; but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise until far into the night, to give her boy an edcuation. She, too, is making the flag. "Yesterday, we made a new law to prevent financial panics, and yesterday, maybe a school-teacher in Ohio taught his first letters to a boy who will one day write a song that will give cheer to the millions of our race. WE are all making the flag....." "But,"I said impatiently, "these people were only working!" Then came a great shout from the Flag: "The work that we do is the making of the flag. "I am not the flag: not at all. I am but its shadow. "I am whatever you make me, nothing more. "I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a people may become. "I live in a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heartbreaks and tired muscles. "Sometimes I am strong with pride, when men do an honest work, fitting the rails together truly. "Sometimes, I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and cynically I play for the coward. "Sometimes I am loud, garish, and full of that ego that blasts judgment. "But always I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try for. ""I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and enobling hope. "I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the largest dream of the most daring. "I am the constitution and the courts, statutes and the statute makers, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, cook, counselor, and clerk. "I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of tomorrow. "I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why. "I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution. "I am no more than what you believe me to be and I am all that you believe I can be. "I am what you make me, nothing more. "I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and your labors. They are bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, because you have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the makers of the flag and it is well that you glory in the making."
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Saturday, September 18, 2004 |
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How do you create a flood? (jokes) A doctor vacationing on the Riviera met an old lawyer friend and asked him what he was doing there. The lawyer replied, "Remember that lousy real estate I bought? Well, it caught fire, so here I am with the fire insurance proceeds. What are you doing here?" The doctor replied, "Remember that lousy real estate I had in Mississippi? Well, the river overflowed, and here I am with the flood insurance proceeds." The lawyer looked puzzled. "Gee," he asked, "how do you start a flood?"
What's the Bad News? (jokes) A civil servant is badly hurt, after falling down the stairs at city hall. He is taken to the hospital where he remains in a coma for several days. Finally an eye opens and his doctor tells him, " my friend, I have bad news and I have good news. first of all you'll never be able to work again. " " Okay", muttered the injured bureaucrat. " What's the bad news?" 5:33:01 PM comment [] trackback []
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Study: Taiwan, Singapore Lead Gov't Online (News). AP - A university study has found Taiwan and Singapore now lead the United States and Canada in providing government services online.
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Dispute exposes bitter power struggle behind Web logs (news) As commercial interests have increasingly dominated the Internet, Web logs have come to represent a bastion of individual expression and pure democracy for millions of bloggers.
2:52:51 PM comment [] trackback []
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Microsoft flip-flop may signal blog clog (news) As Web logs gain in popularity, critics warn that they are increasingly becoming the Internet's new bandwidth hog.
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Monday, September 13, 2004 |
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The Right Coopetition ( on tech) I have been in business and have been involved in the IT industry for well almost 20 years, and started on with an IBM PC with an Intel 8088 processor, 64K of memory, 2 360K disk drives, with Microsoft DOS 2.0. A lot have been said on the decision of IBM why instead of controlling the major components, they choose instead to get from outside suppliers. Intel and Microsoft were allowed to work with other manufacturers, and it can be said that IBM lost its control over the marketing and technology of the personal computer, and now holds less than 10 percent of the world PC market now. Of course, Microsoft and Intel now are multi-billion dollar corporations with the best margins in an industry where otherwise open standards and commodity margins reign. Apparently, especially in computer technology, corporations try to compete as well as cooperate with each other, and the decision on who to compete against really could well be one of the most important decisions a company can make. Should you cooperate with a competitor in pushing a standard, or should you develop your own? This question apparently makes quite strange bedfellows, as for instance, IBM and HP advertises Linux machines, and on other advertisements recommends Windows XP Professional. Of course, they also have their Unix and other systems, and both also develop their own processors. In the software world it is no easier. Microsoft sells business solutions in competition now with partners who they are counting on to push their platforms and development tools. Oracle is directly competing with SAP on ERP systems, and SAP is almost their single biggest customer for their databases. Competition sometimes get a little bit strange. For instance, Sun recently announced that their sales people will get commissions on the hardware that they sell, whether it is Sun, HP, IBM, or Intel machines as long as it is running Sun Solaris OS. Sun was among the companies acknowledged to be hardest hit by Linux. These alliances and coopetitions are interesting case studies, and I am following this with interest if only that it will probably intensify, and learning the proper lessons would equip us to learn better in the future. One of the defining moments was the announcement of IBM back that they were going to commit 1 billion dollars to develop Linux. I am not sure whether that decision was to pull themselves up, or it is just to pull Microsoft down. Their decision did put some credibility on Linux and allowed it to gain market share, but unfortunately, IBM does not own Linux, and it is starting to spin off IBM’s control. For sure, IBM have been successful in stripping the market off for Microsoft, but its own Unix , mainframe and OS/400 systems were also affected. While short term, this has allowed them to gain traction in service offerings, it is still a difficult issue to gauge long term. Just like their plan to hand off the processor to Intel, this decision may be the wisest or not so wise decision that they made, and only history will judge. Red Hat Linux is now actively pushing its own application server, and Suse Linux also wants to promote its development tool and application Server. Both are also working with database vendors like Pervasive and MySQL. Obviously, this will now come in competition with Websphere, DB2, and the other middleware that IBM is also pushing. The thing about Linux is that it is a double edged sword, and certainly Red Hat has been one of the beneficiaries of this -- something like being almost like Microsoft 20 years ago. They are now also starting to act like Microsoft -- if you think Linux is free, you have to think again. Maintenance support for Red Hat Enterprise per server now runs into thousands of dollars a year, and they are now starting to charge maintenance ( or fees, or whatever you call it ) for every server that you install it into. They need to grow their revenues because they are a public company, and it is almost inevitable they will charge more from operating systems, and also branch into other applications. Their market value suggests that investors expect them hit a billion dollar in sales within 10 years. How do you think they will do that? Obviously, by getting customers to pay them more and more. Other companies with similar vested interests will also be flexing their muscles. IBM engineers will go around saying Linux is great, but unfortunately Red Hat or most flavors of Linux will run just as fine on IBM servers, as well as those from HP, Dell, Sun or Intel Servers, and that will be putting pressure into everybody. The fact is that Linux has moved from being a social movement to a technology where companies have to make money. And they know historically, you cannot be making money selling things similar to everybody else. So just like Basic, dBase, Unix, SQL, and Java standards, every company will try to make their differentiation and extensions felt as their competitive edge. This will pull the technology certainly to as a hodgepodge of flavor and perceived offerings with its commonalities being increasingly deemphasized and ignored. It will start to sound ( if it is not already) like" my Linux is better than theirs, and you should therefore pay us more "or that kind of message. Many hardware companies think that they made a mistake before of inviting a fox into the chicken house over 20 years ago, but unfortunately, it seems like they are rectifying this mistake by inviting a few more foxes in. How it plays out, and who will be the winner will be everybody’s guess. But most certainly, it will be a battle that will not be as simple or obvious as many people will make it to appear. 10:39:39 AM comment [] trackback []
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Friday, September 03, 2004 |
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Fulfillment can be found in Many Places ( On Life) We form mostly our life’s theories on the people we meet, the circumstance we experience, and the books we read. As they say, if you spend your years in a suburban city, or in a big city, or you associate mostly with church going people, or hard nosed businessmen, then you can form radically different conclusions on life, people and business. These are not necessarily always correct, but then again, your perception defines your thoughts and who is to say you are not right? I looked therefore at people who work in emergency section of hospitals, and I see that they just constantly meet a stream of people who have been stabbed, robbed, or meet with bad accidents or illnesses, and I told myself that the people there will need a very strong contra dose of positive experiences, or they simply will form a very pessimistic view of life. I see people whose workplace, like some government offices, courts or police stations, is constantly bombarded with people trying to outmaneuver each other, and there has to be some very strong inner defense to make sure you don’t succumbed to a skewed view of life. For the last twenty years since college, I have been fortunate that I have mostly dealt with people who have been very determined and industrious to get better in life. I have also had the good fortune of associating with hundreds of good motivational self help authors who have strengthen me with their positive challenges on meeting life’s problems. Thus, I have formed the conclusion somewhat that most of the people can be motivated by a challenging job, and a clear plan of success. If you can show them a detailed plan on how they can become better people and success in life, then they will reward this back with dedicated and focused work. That has been the basis for the growth of my business, but occasionally, and more often, you do find that there are exceptions, and you start to revisit this theory on how applicable it really is. Obviously, this kind of theory is a little bit oversimplified, and some people will fault me why it took me so long to even consider that there are very obvious exceptions to this thinking, but many of us do form sometimes very straightforward stereotypes especially if our experience have been overwhelmingly pointing to the conclusion. Strong advocates of challenging jobs have obviously been professors, writers, or businessmen like me who undoubtedly make our career choices because we want jobs that would give us recognition and challenge, and we start to think that all people think like us. However, a survey did estimate that probably more than 60% of the workers actually is trying to meet their fulfillment in other areas other than their job. For a lot of people, work is simply something that will never excite or challenge them, nor do they expect growth opportunities. Many people would choose a higher pay, but would be content to receive their current pay if the extra reward would mean they get out of their comfort zones, or make them change their lifestyle to stretch out a little bit or make them venture into unfamiliar things. Work is just something that allows them to earn something to pay their bills, and many are seeking challenge outside work life in golf, sports, friends, bar hopping, or many are actually comfortable and happy spending this in front of the television set. More and more people are finding fulfillment in their families, and this is a positive development. The takeout of this is simple. If you find it your utmost challenge to grow your business and looking for people to work with you on it, it is well that you recognize and actually go out and get people who have similar thinking. Thus, your plan of action would strike a responsive chord. There is nothing more difficult than trying to convince somebody, however talented, who thinks their priority in life is their family, their religion, their leisure, and their careers ( in that order) and put him in a job that would entail commitment and dedication. As they say and I start to understand with ever more clarity – different strokes for different folks. comment [] trackback []
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Last update: 7/11/2005; 9:43:36 AM .
