An opportunity!

A colleague of mine who was scheduled to go to a training had to pull out. An opportunity was presented to me. There is a chance to upgrade myself!

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is the topic, and hopefully if all goes well it'll be one of my stepping stones toward achieving the managerial dream! :)

Leaders don't need to do the technical work... Leaders need to make the decisions.

Are passion and strength mutually exclusive?

• Passion – boundless enthusiasm


• Strength – capacity or potential for effective action


• Mutually exclusive – unable to be both true at the same time

How do we best fit people into the respective job scopes? Do we assign people based on what we think their strengths are? Or do we allow them to choose their own job scopes based on their passion?

How far do strength and passion intersect? Or are they mutually exclusive? Do we assume that someone’s passion is never their strength, vice versa?

How do we set the balance between personal development and organizational excellence? How can we compromise between project effectiveness and personal satisfaction?

How can we align strengths and passions in order to bring about an organization of inspired individuals that love what they do?

Am I that blur?

My colleague asked me to read an email from A to B, where A is trying to push some job responsibility to B (which is not any fault of A's team). My colleague's concern was that A sounded quite harsh to B, while B was just trying to find a compromise to the problem that can be jointly resolved if A and B discussed it.

I looked at the email and said it's ok, cos in the work-sense, it's the job that matters. And therefore, emails should be read with no emotion.

Well, my colleague was very concerned about this, and telephoned B to find out. Well, B was quite unhappy with A's email. B felt as if all the responsibility is being passed from A to B. What to do?!

So I start to think, am I really so blur to all this "sensitivity"? Alex also labeled me as someone very transparent, very easy to read and manipulate. Am I really? I don't know. But I know that I'm very accomodating, too accomodating at times. Sometimes it really brings me to a certain level of tension, and yet I can't bring myself to shout at the person who is manipulating my kindness.

All this is part of self discovery I suppose. But what's more important than self discovery is self improvement. And I intend to pursue it. Life is more than just 1's and 0's. There are so many aspects to consider, 99% of which revolve around people. I need some people skills drastically!

Mundane observations

The coffee machine in my office ran out of water. Apparently, the water used is more expensive than normal water dispensers. Therefore, we are so dry out of espresso, choco-chino and nescafe white coffee. The only remaining coffee source is the pathetic coffee powder in the pantry, which, although gives a strong brew, doesn't really taste good. Moreover, the biscuits have mysteriously disappeared. The tea-ladies are not filling the cookie jars. I wonder is it because we have run out of budget, or because they're just plain lazy.

It rained quite heavily this morning. The surroundings look hazy/misty. There was a smoky smell in the air this morning too. Now the air looks misty, but it could be haze. With water levels in the dams running low, are we suffering a double crisis of water shortage and air pollution!?

INCOVAR has kick-started another camp, which will be scheduled to take place somewhere in November. Got a lot of story lah, but I think I won't publish it ;)

A tribute...

Lower Management needs to manage technical issues.
Middle Management needs to manage people.
Higher Management needs to manage conceptual ideas.

Normal People talk about people.
Average People talk about events.
Wise People talk about ideas.

These are some of the gems of wisdom I picked up from my personal mentor.

Thank you for triggering me to be a better person (you know who you are).

Haze is expanding?

Apparently, the haze has migrated to Penang, according to various postings. Even the MMS reports extremely low visibility in parts of Penang (Butterworth is down to 2km).

And there are also reports of haze slowly clearing in Subang and KL. But here at my office, it still seems very polluted, though less than yesterday. The sky is still yellow, however.

So, hopefully my weekend in Penang will not be spoilt by stupid Indonesian b*st*rds who don't give a damn about the typical subang boy >:(

Haze is bad

I can't really remember when the haze started, but I do remember looking out the window and seeing blankness (and no it's not the sky). I can't see the toll plaza on Sprint Highway, I can barely see the apartment buildings next to PD1, and speaking of PD1, the whole place is engulfed in white smoke!

Yesterday the company gave out face masks, ours is the N95 mask that can filter out 5 microns dust particles. It was being rationed: only 1 per person, we had to submit names.

I can't even walk outside without using the mask. The air is that bad. We have not resorted to wearing the masks indoors yet. Our office is still quite insulated, except for the toilet windows which are open.

They say the haze will continue for at least another month. More haze -> less rain. Less rain -> more haze. It's an unending cycle. I missed out on the hailstorm phenomenon in Subang Jaya. Apparently it was not caused by cloud seeding, but it was actually natural!

This weather really reminds me of so many dystopian settings that writer Philip K Dick envisioned in his stories. "Blade Runner" (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) comes to mind.

Arghhh going to Penang to escape the HAZE!!!

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I can't see clearly now...

I look out the window.
I see whiteness.
I can smell the air.
It stinks.

When will the haze be gone?
Oh when will the haze be gone?
When will the haze be gone?
And when will the haze be gone?

:P

Bangkok again?

Got unofficial news that I'm headed for Bangkok in October. It depends on the availability of manpower here actually. It's for some training, so it's either me or my colleague who will be going.