Gallup's Q12

After hundreds of focus groups and thousands of interviews with employees in a variety of industries, Gallup came up with the Q12 - 12 key questions that identifies strong feelings of employee engagement. Results from the survey show a strong correlation between high scores and superior job performance. Those that I highlighted in blue below are what I deem as "must-have". If you don't, maybe that's why you are feeling less than fulfilled in your current workplace and it may be time to move on.

• Do you know what is expected of you at work?

• Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?

• At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?

• In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?

• Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?

• Is there someone at work who encourages your development?

• At work, do your opinions seem to count?

• Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?

• Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?

• Do you have a best friend at work?

• In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?

• In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A page turner, just like his earlier book The Kite Runner. I read this on a bored Sunday at one sitting, and ended up with very sore eyes. Books like this are great, because they raise social awareness about issues that are happening in some dark corner of the world and casting them in real, human terms helps bring such issues closer to the public. But it is depressing to read and frankly I am feeling a little de-sensitized towards over-reported instances of war, oppression and violence. I am beyond "how can this happen?" but I have no answer to "how do we stop this from happening?" and perhaps the result of this is apathy, followed by attacks of guilt. The ending gives us hope, with the intending birth of another generation, and optimism that things can change for the better, hopefully not too long in the future.

汉代风云人物

西汉前期的风云人物有刘邦，项羽，韩信，萧何，张良，陈平，还有吕雉（吕后）等等，易先生以一贯清晰，稳重的风格，一一为这些人物的性格做分析与讲解。

“政治家要考虑的问题不仅仅是一件事该不该做，而且还要考虑能不能做，现在做还是将来做”。

“狡兔死，走狗烹；高鸟尽，良弓藏；敌国破，谋臣死”。

“用得着你的时候，他会用。用不着的时候，他就杀 - 这是历史的教训”。

刘邦的领导艺术：
1。 知人善任 - 知人首先在于知己，其次在于知彼。人贵有自知之明，自知之明是最大的聪明。
2。不拘一格。
3。招降纳叛。
4。不计前嫌。
5。坦诚相待。
6。用人不疑。
7。论功行赏。
8。暗中控制。

Grace Kelly's Bridal Gown

Lovely, isn't it? But only she can carry it off. Stunningly regal. The rest of us minions would look frumpy, at best. In this photo, she looks like a cross between Nicole Kidman and Gwyneth Paltrow (80:20).

Milton Friedman series

Am watching this on IdeaChannel.tv which is streaming the PBS series of "Free to Choose", essentially Friedman's views on the free market mechanism and its benefits. The series was first aired in 1980 and then updated in 1990. 30min into the video I'm already hypnotised, not really by the ideas per se but more the man himself. Don't know why, I just am.

品三国 （二）

续品三国 （上），易先生继续精彩的分析， 尤其后段他从重要人物的政治理想的角度的统一分析与见解，更是让人读得津津有味。比如曹操与诸葛亮的政治理想的共同点等。关于孙权的部分也不错，有很多地方可供参考。

孙权：“生存的时候不忘灭亡，安全的时候忧虑危险”
“夫战，勇气也。一鼓作气，在而衰，三而竭”
“敌进我退，敌驻我扰，敌疲我打，敌退我追”

孙权沉得住气，变得了脸，弯得了腰，也抬得起头。但这不代表他没有保留，没有原则，没有底线。

《留侯论》：

“古之所谓豪杰之士，必有过人之节，人情有所不能忍者。匹夫见辱，拔剑而起，挺身而斗，此不足为勇也；天下有勇者，卒然临之而不惊，无敌加之而不怒，此其所挟持者甚大，而其志甚远也”。

就是实在

“。。人可以清楚记得过去的事，人可以专注 正在进行的事，而未来一定会来，不必着急，那不该是一头咄咄逼人的文明野兽。像这样的节奏，她就有充足时间去相信在自己身上发生过的一切，无论是美好的无 论是遗憾的，就像一针又一针那样实实在在。在这般节奏里，每样事物的开端与结束都能心平静气地历历可循。一件事情，就是一件事情，完了还能将感情像缝到最 后一针打个结那样有个完整句号。然后将整幅手艺拿起来瞧瞧，付出多少，一目了然。”
--- 吴韦才

不慌不忙，按部就班。专注于现在，把握眼前所拥有的一切，就是实实在在地活着了。

If you can call this a moral issue

In my line of work, there are times when I'm bound by the need to respect client's privacy and not allowed to disclose the full or even real story to candidates. This is especially so with regards to reasons for rejection, client company info etc. As far as I can stretch the constraints, I give the true story, although very often this requires a bit of creative crafting and paraphrasing to ensure that the interests of the client are not compromised in any foreseeable way. But sometimes, I'm forced to say half-truths, which objectively speaking is unavoidable since my loyalties lie with my clients, who are afterall paying us for our services. Not being able to be completely upfront all the time with my candidates makes me uncomfortable because it goes against my values, although I recognise the need to put the client's interests first. I did not foresee grappling with this issue when I first came into this industry and the irony is that one of the reasons my previous workplace irked me was the secrecy shrouding the work and how it shaped the people there. Like how you never knew the complete picture, the overused excuse of "compartmentalization" or the "tsk-tsk" that came from those brain-washed folks when you were caught saying things you weren't supposed to and how it made me felt like an embarrassed bad kid. Of course, there isn't anyone to do the "tsk-tsk" now but myself at myself, when I know I should be or should not be saying certain things. No matter what, I am equally uncomfortable when confronted with half-/untruths whether I'm the originator or recipient of them.

I have tried to come to terms with this and resolved to be as clear and upfront as possible to my candidates rather than take the easy way out and fob them off with lies or worse, stop all communication (like RMs running away from their clients in the current financial crisis). This is the only way where I can continue in this line of work and make something out of it.

Skinny times

Apparently, the latest wage survey showed that a quarter of the total workforce in Singapore earns SGD 1200 or less. That's more than a million folks here, although I'm not sure if this figure includes foreign labour. Anyhow, in times like this when food prices and other basic necessities like utilities bills and even transport costs are rising faster than ever, plus plenty of job insecurity, one doesn't know whether to try and save more or earn more. Both seem equally difficult.

品三国 （一）

之前已经记载了这本书，但因为没有把它读完，所以并没多加评论。喜欢读史吗？喜欢《三国演义》 的 故事情节与人物吗？ 稍微对《三国》有点兴趣的朋友，一定会对易中天的《品三国》爱不舍手。易先生将《三国演义》里的虚虚实实一一解剥和分析，令读者更深入和正确地了解一些重要事件以及核心人物的性格与立场。譬如：曹操如何由英雄转变为奸雄，诸葛亮的高超的政治手腕 （诸某乃是政治家，非军事家。），诸葛亮与刘备的微妙关系和所谓“三顾茅庐”的来龙去脉，鲁素在孙刘联盟上所扮演的重要角色 （鲁素为孙权清算了要不要与刘备联合对抗曹操， 而诸葛亮和周俞则清算了能不能与刘战胜曹操）等等。上册尤其精彩，也将曹操这个人物作了一次非常细腻的分析与解说。


“帮助一个人，最重要的是不要让他觉得受了施舍。欠了人情，更不能老是提醒别人受了自己的帮助。”
“华而不实爱摆谱的人，是从来就成不了大事的。”

曹操妥善地处理了五种关系：
1。 名与实：名至实归，更重实际。
2。 德与才：德才兼备，唯才是举。
3。 廉与贪：重用清官，不避小贪。
4。 降与叛：招降纳叛，尽释前嫌。
5。 大与小：抓大放小，不拘小节。

曹操如何是一个好老板：
1。 智人善用，唯才所宜。
2。 令行禁止，赏罚分明。
3。 推诚取信，用人不疑。
4。 虚怀若谷，见贤思齐。

洞察人性，洞悉人心。 设身处地，将心比心。

“急之则并力，缓之则自相图。”

时机不到，条件不成熟，你不能硬来。时机到了，条件成熟了，也不能坐失良机。机不可失，时不再来。

Audacity of Hope

I like "Dreams from my father" much better than this, but I acknowledge it's sort of comparing apples to pears because the thrust and content of this book are different. Obama irons out his views ranging from values to international relations, and writes lucidly. But at times, he can drone on a bit too much and can come across as trying very hard to impress. His treatment of the highly politicized topic of race is good, but even better was his landmark speech on this topic in Pennsylvania earlier this year during the campaign. That was excellente.

iPhone

This is quite fun. Looks cool, feels cool and works cool. I'm so glad I got rid of that SE770i. The iPhone is fairly basic, like no MMS function but I like that it replaces my laptop and I can pretty much have access to Internet as long as there is wireless coverage, so it's good that Singapore is gunning for island-wide coverage including MRT tunnels. And $100 for this phone is a pretty good deal.

This left me screaming

Click for larger view

Something light

Haven't watched a movie (and a good one at that) for a while. So typically when I am starved of something, I'll overdose to make up for it. Watched Body of Lies and Madagascar II and both were very enjoyable. Body was rather formulaic but good action Hollywood stuff. Mag was hilarious, and a nice surprise because I was snoring through the first one. The snap decision to catch Number II was right, mainly because the scriptwriters beefed up the Penguins' part and the comic timing was near perfect.

Bear Farming

This really makes me sick. I cannot imagine a worse way to live a life. Let's do something, however small. Putting your name on petition is a start.

http://www.animalsasia.org/

http://www.endbearfarming.org/en/

http://moonbears.org/

The Greed Merchants

Fairly readable and explains clearly the complex relationships among different functions under one investment banking house, and how the banks leverage these relationships to gain profit at the expense of retail investors.