Sense of Satisfaction

Finally completed the migration of my selected HK works from that irritating and frustratingly-hard-to-use Wordpress blog to Blogger. Spent the entire day sprucing it up with images, proper layout, colours, fonts and everything else to give it the right feel. http://haikusea.blogspot.com/

Zen

不立文字

教外别传

直指人心

见性成佛

In a nutshell Episode 2

Rapid learning is an important clue to a person’s talent. Sources of satisfaction are clues to his talent.

Performance Management: Simplicity, frequent interaction, focus on future, keep track of individual performance and learnings.

4 Keys: Select for talent, define right outcomes, focus on strengths, find the right fit.

In a nutshell

Quite a useful handbook not just for managers but for anyone interested in getting good performance out of people. Talent is only talented when cast in the right role. It's not just about what one has in terms of innate abilities, skills or knowledge, but that these qualities are well-matched to the role in question.

3 kinds of talents: striving (motivations), thinking (how does he work as a person), relating (emotional aspects). Pare down to the essentials when evaluating a candidate; maybe 1 of each talent must-have.

Look beyond skills, experience and knowledge. How would the person fit into the organisation culture and values? Think about the type of management style and expectations and whether this person will fit. Look at the team members and assess whether there will be synergy.

Meeting Customers’ expectations
Level 1: Accuracy. Deliver what is expected.
Level 2: Availability. At your convenience please.
Level 3: Partnership. Empathy. From your perspective.
Level 4: Advice. Help them to learn and be better.

The critical SIX

1. Do I know what is expected of me?

2. Do I have the materials and equipment to do my work right?

3. Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday?

4. Have I received recognition or praise in the last seven days?

5. Does my supervisor or anyone seem to care about me as a person?

6. Is there someone who encourages my development?

Managing around weaknesses

a) Devise a support system

b) Find a complementary partner

c) Recast the person

Tootily campy

Hilarious and sometimes quite clever.

IBM Episode 2

Complementary reading to IBM Redux. But I like the style and organisation here better: more concise, straight-forward and easy to read and refer to. There is however some trade-off, at least that's what I suspect; some info has been omitted and the flow interrupted due to the author's choice of slicing up the story into "lessons" for the reader.

Why you should not be afraid to state your views

Because IDEAS rule,

not status, not authority, not egos.

Do the right thing

Click => http://www.slagoon.com/images/Sherman_SOS.pdf

Email Dr James Balsiger, Director, National Marine Fisheries Service to show our concern about shark conservation. jim.balsiger@noaa.gov

Good to Great

Another well-written, well-argued book by Collins. The man has a knack for putting ideas together in a persuasive, concise and punchy style that makes for breezy reading. Shows once again it's the style of writing as much as the content that makes good books great. Content-wise, there is much to chew over too, like the Hedgehog concept and the 3 interlocking circles (that sorta remind me of Venn diagrams). Plus, like what he argues, these frameworks can be applied to not just business but life as a whole. I am still mulling over the 3 circles: denominator of economic engine, passion and what can I be best at. The last one is particularly difficult but since it's an organic evolutionary process, I am going to give it some time, some thought and perhaps things will figure out themselves, somehow.

I am trying to diversify my reading, so.

This borrows heavily from Darwin's works. Still sorta trudging through the first part of the book which is on Sex, Romance & Love, basically all the Mars vs Venus stuff, which is honestly quite a bore. I am not very intrigued by all these psychological fluff about the differences between men and women. The next few parts on social status and family/friends relations should be better. (tbc)...

Episode 2: I gave up. Not very often I do that in my reading. But the subject matter just doesn't work for me.

Essence of Chicken - in words

This is HEAVY. Feels like the murthur of all strategy books in the biz world. 40 years of consulting experience and thoughts on competitive strategy compiled into a single read and delivered in punchy style. Apart from the content, the writing here is excellent; no fancy lengthy sentences or convoluted phrases masquerading as intelligent writing. Essays are to-the-point and concise. You could almost feel the words drawing blood as they zip across the pages. Should re-read and re-re-read.

What all managers should know and do

The Recruit section of the ST sometimes has useful stuff, like this:

When you have a problem in your organization, look up the ladder for the cause and down the ladder for solutions.

Never give responsibility without authority.

Delegate outcomes, not methods.

You get the behavior you reward.

Good to remember

The plural of anecdote is not data.

Poignant

The robin’s-egg blue kitchen looks out on the brown grass of the empty plains. The gas stove lurches away from the wall, and, in the wild yard, the white bones of a deer bleach in the sun. Plaster fragments litter the floors of the rooms, and down in the cellar a galvanized wringer washer stands watch by the long-dead coal furnace. In the upstairs bedroom, a window sash has slipped and become a trapezoid framing the abandoned orchard to the west. Two old cars rust nearby, caressed by the moan of the wind. The stone footing of a vanished barn stares east at wheat and grass. Ghost towns stud North Dakota, and this empty house is just one bone in a giant skeleton of abandoned human desire. - The emptied prairie, Charles Bowden

Double I

Interesting and Informative read. Brings to mind another tome: Wisdom of crowds - Surowiecki

It's amazing how dependant I have become on the search engine. In fact, on everything GOOGLE. Especially for what I am doing now. How to locate someone, something in the fastest time possible is not only necessary for success but also my sanity; I go nuts if I don't get what I want, fast. Google is doing a decent job but not enough. Relevancy is still not quite there yet all the time, at least in my opinion. It's true to say that Search has indeed changed our lives and it has certainly raised my expectations of relevant info being instantaneously delivered to me, plumbered by good network connection of course.

Heidrick & Struggles-EIU's GTI

Global Talent Map - heidrick.com

"Search firms need to continue to work much more strategically with companies; the ad-hoc filling of empty posts as they arise needs to be replaced by a holistic, focused and flexible approach which incorporates the assessment, development and training of existing executives alongside the recruitment of new talent." - more consulting, less selling; more partners, less client relations; more intellectual work, more thought leadership please.


"Managing potential paradoxes (strategic thinking vs focus on operational results; long term view vs short term views; cost-saving vs growth etc) is the key charactieristic of future top executives." - future? more like current.

Cheemilogy

Reading this makes me sweat.

Moolah - Dirty Pretty Things

Dirty Oily Wimps

Slimy Poli Schemes

Halli Brownie Pimps

Also read: Corporate Warriors - Peter Singer

Pick a name

I am treating this book as a let-me-intro-u-to-some-names-and-you-can-go-check-it-out kind of read. Other than that, not much insight gained. I must note though: Have a vision, tell a story. I think this phrase captures whatever he was talking about vision well. And of course having to execute whatever idea you have and attain results is another thing altogether. Usually that's where the greats pull ahead.

Mediocre

Not the story of course, but the way this is written. It's supposedly about Gertsner and how he changed IBM, but I got the feeling that Jerry York, his finance honcho, was more the man.