...killer punch

...many successful entrepreneurs had experienced failure in their route to success...even one of the most talked-about companies, Apple used to fail decades ago... despite its innovative products, it failed to compete with Microsoft...until the right combination of innovative ideas and strategy turned the company around and make it one of the most successful companies in history...just like a boxing match...it is not the number of punches that count but the killer one...used to watch iron mike fight...he just absorbed normal punches from his opponents and wait for the killer punch...one big punch followed by several punches that knocked the opponents down...but i'm not gonna talk about boxing...what I wanna share is about vision, goals, ideas and strategy...i'm not a strategic guy so got to use my common sense hehe...we just finished a 2-day strategic plan workshop...four groups working on it...we adopt a popular model used by renowned institutions...it is a more systematic approach...good discussions, debates with many ideas came up...overall it is a good exercise...for our members to share the same vision, passion and understand the issues and challenges we are facing and together think of the possible solutions...we're young but have a big dream...to be honest, with the time frame given, our vision is a bit unrealistic...but only via unrealistic goals we can provoke breakthrough thinking...realistic goals only promote incremental moves...considering the fast changing and competitive environment that approach won't put us up there... the only thing that's lacking from the exercise is the killer punch I'm looking for...crazy radical innovative ideas that would help us leap frog to another level...fast...but looking at the positive side it is a good beginning for us all...happy to observe commitments from all members...thanks guys...really appreciate your contributions...together lets make it happen...
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...Big dreamer

It is amazing to observe how air asia has grown and created its brand...and in such a short time...air asia and its red colour is everywhere and in different industries...airline, football, motorsports etc...not to mention other businesses like tune hotel, tune talk, insurance etc...all emerged from its core business, airline...air asia may yet to be first in terms of brand value in Malaysia but its value has jumped almost 300% this year...it all started with a big dream (or dream BIG) and supported by sheer hard work, great teamwork, competent members and creativity...how they transform their crazy ideas into something workable and practical is amazing...often against the normal beliefs and philosophy...this is what b-schools should teach...to look at the other side of the coin, not what the theory said...air asia provide 'quality' services...may not be the best but what matters is they provide what the customers want...providing options that others don't...of course they stumble at the beginning...encountered many failings due to their rapid growth but look at how fast they fixed the problems...I guess being 'stubborn', stick the principle and beliefs are their other key values...remember reading his commentary about a year ago...tony said, "look at us "nine" years ago, when we started with "no money" and "no airline experience", we only had a dream to make "flying" affordable...something for us all to learn...cheers
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...I don't have the answer

...we're all doing our job, no question about that...look around us...at every level, everyone seems busy working...ok ignore the minority few that are busy chatting and gossiping rather than working...clerks with their routine jobs, bosses with their daily meetings...but have we ever wondered, despite all our hard work, why sometimes we don't achieve what we want? i think we need to take a break sometimes...just stop (but don't quit, that's your last choice), think, observe and reflect, then we'll understand and able to figure out what went right and what went wrong...let us be frank before we move forward...ask ourselves have we actually done enough?...are we not only doing things right but also doing the right things...are we just happy with what we have achieved?...or are there issues and challenges ahead?...i'm sure there are many, right? many issues need to be improved and challenges for us to overcome...but how do we prioritize those to realize our dreams? do we fail due to our inefficiency or simply due to our growth...are we running or are we just jogging?...if we jog we might be left behind...but if we run too fast we might stumble along the way...so do we get up fast enough to run again?...keep on stumbling may not be good as we might not be able to get up anymore...so what I'm talking about? do I have answers to all these? no I don't...what I'm suggesting is that we need to do reflections...but we can only reflect if we take a break...ain't it? anyway, whatever we do we should leave no stone unturned in our quest for quality...
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...Musyawarah

...some people (or bosses) like to talk about the musyawarah-muafakat concept or deliberation and collective decision-making...I'm not against it, in fact I'm with it...really, look at me, I'm serious you know hehehe...but it must be in its true sense (no ghost riders and apple polishing please) and used only when necessary as it may also decrease efficiency in the sense that it takes longer time...the concept gives an equal opportunity to everyone to express his/her opinion/interest...to make it effectivea, members and bosses need to be open to criticisms and differences...I always believe open discussions would stimulate ideas and encourage more innovative thinking...then only we can achieve the best decision...there's nothing wrong for being different anyway...being honest (not just kind and polite) is the key...no point having a meeting (many meetings) when members keep mum and only listen to what bosses said...avoiding responsibility is not a good culture if we want to move forward...just say what's in your heart but of course in a cool and good manner...that's what my mentor always remind me...it's hard to stay cool sometimes but I'm learning to...again this is just my 2 cents...one may agree or disagree...cheers
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...Teamwork3

...remember reading a book, a very interesting and a must read book... our iceberg is melting...a nicely written book by john kotter, HBS prof...even my boy enjoyed reading the book...the story is about a penguin colony in antartica where a group of beautiful emperor penguins live as they have for many years...then one curious bird discover a potentially devastating problem threatening their 'home', hence the urgent need to move to a safer place...unfortunately no one listens to him...like in our daily life, who wants to get out of their comfort zone anyway...jeng jeng jeng...then members of a newly assembled project team...comprises 6 very different, unique and crazy but passionate characters (one with leadership skills, credibility, communications ability, authority, analytical skills, and a sense of urgency) begin their heroic actions and clever tactics to overcome resistance to change and intractable obstacles...wanna know more? read the book then hahaha...lessons learned...teamwork is not just about forming a team...it is about a team of passionate and capable people who are ready to take up challenges and 'open to be different' while pursuing the same goals...'fight' if you have to but shake hands once its done...I'm not a management guru...far from it...I just love reading...and share my little experience and knowledge I have...like what my 2nd boss always said 'sharing is caring'... hehehe
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...Teamwork2

...talking about working in a team...agree that it is important...however, teamwork also has its negative side...i myself had several bad experiences...hmm ok 'bad' is a negative word...so lets change to 'not so good' experiences working in a team...few months ago we organized a big international event...the initial team comprised 35 members (mostly academics and assisted by few admin staff)...it looked very systematic with all the portfolios in place...though I think it was too big at that time but decided to keep mum...just wanna see whether its gonna work or not...most team members were just happy attending meetings and kept quite while giving their best smile...only few members 'contributed' by giving opinions...but that's the only thing they did though...after almost 6 months, the results were many meetings with no progress...time was running out...ok enough is enough can't wait no more...i then decided to dissolve the team, i mean the whole team...formed a new one, a much smaller team comprised only 4 members, assisted by 2 officer and sevral clerks and research students...alhamdulillah it worked and the event turned out to be a very successful and memorable one...in my welcoming speech, i said...'i hope the joy, sweats and tears in organizing this event will become a valuable experience for us all to become a wiser and humble person insyaAllah'...so i guess teamwork only works when all team members are committed and shared the same passion...sometimes what we need is just a few committed members to do the job...that's the lesson I've learned...gotta go now...feeling red already...
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...Teamwork

...tony fernandes is one of my idols...i just like a big dreamer and crazy guy like him...read his comments in The PEAK magazine...when asked about Air Asia success...he simply said...'too many people think that they are the reason for their success - it is rubbish. You only succeed with good people and if you do not have a good team behind you, you can forget it'...couldn't agree more with him...we can work alone to a certain extent only...when things get bigger we need to rely on people around us...teamwork...last week we were given a task...kinda mission impossible stuff...which normally takes about a month to be completed but we only have 5 days to do it...had no choice but to ask everyone in the office to do it together...its like a party...about 15 of us working 5 full days including weekend and thank Allah the Almighty we managed to complete the impossible task...lucky that I have a good team behind me...thanks a lot guys...really appreciate all your help and sacrifices...
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...Feeling RED

...today is d-day...Malaysia Cup 2012 Final, Kelantan versus ATM (red warriors versus gladiators)...no wonder I'm feeling red today hehe...the fact is I wasn't born in Kelantan though my parents and siblings are all kelantanese (my late father served in army @ ATM too)...so i kinda have both red warriors and gladiators blood hehe...and the fact that I only lived 6 years in Kelantan during my primary schooling can't deny me from considering myself as kelantanese...though rather unfortunately I can't buy land in Kelantan having carrying an ID with 06...all my kids are also born outside Kelantan...but they all speak kelantan dialect fluently...remember when we just came back from UK more than 8 years ago...the kids can only speak fluent english and kelantan dialect but not proper bahasa malaysia...anyway its gonna be fun tonite...doesn't matter who win...just have a good fight...both winning and losing are good lessons anyway...
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...Nasi kandar

Nasi kandar (search google if u don't know) is famous in Malaysia...but I don't really like it for various reasons (PM me if you wanna know why)...except one in Penang, the Kapitan Restaurant near Kapitan Keling Street...its clayport briyani taste marvellous...almost similar to the one I ate in Mumbai, though less spicy...enjoy it today with my beloved wife...but the topic today is not much about nasi kandar...we went to Japanese Consulate in Penang to apply for a visa to enter Japan...unfortunately we forgot to bring the copy of 2 documents...most offices in malaysia, while have photocopy machines, would still ask us to go to a photocopy shop somewhere and only come back once done, provoding the reason that they do not provide a photocopy service...but the lady at the consulate office was so kind, she kindly asked us which documents need to be photocopied and do it for us...and with a smile said its FREE...hmmm we save lots of time finding a photocopy shop in an area we're not familiar with...a big thank you to her...what a great service...remember my time in the UK when staff at the govt office there were kind enough to not just photocopied our documents but also helped us fill in the tax document we are not familiar with...hope govt offices in Malaysia can emulate the same...
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...Why leave?

Read an interview with anas zubedy, MD of a training consultancy company Zubedy...he previously worked with Nestle, a renowned MNC...he regards his experience with Nestle as the best...I like Nestle too...not much because of Milo or Nescafe haha but its effort in developing shared values principle...but when asked why he left when he regards his experience with Nestle as extremely happy...he said "the world is bigger than Nestle...I had dreams for myself and to actualise those dreams, I had to leave"...hmmm really like his answer...sometimes we have to make a decision, hard decision in our life...whether we're happy or not, if we have a dream or bigger agenda than go for it...
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...Can't sleep

Wanna sleep early but my brain keeps on working...past 12am now hmmm what to do...have my last cigarette and start updating blog and twit hehe...gonna have our strategic plan workshop next week...to chart our future direction for the next three years...can we be one of the top b-schools like harvard?...harvard is more than 100 years old, we are more than 1 year old...hahaha...but tony fernandes said...believe the unbelievable and dream the impossible...so can we make it?...I think the answer is no if we wanna be harvard...but the answer is yes if we develop based on our belief and uniqe ways...agree? Share ur thoughts with me...
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...What a day

Somehow I got back my adrenalin today after a frustrating week. Had 3 meetings today. Arrived KLIA airport 9.30am, then took KLIA express to KL Hilton to meet the Director of Sukkur Institute of Business Administration, Pakistan. Discussed about student & faculty exchange, research collaboration and joint development of case study. Then rush to Putrajaya for a meeting at the Ministry of Higher Education. We joint organize the first MOHE Entrepreneurial Award to be held on Dec 5th, still have to finalize few things. Then back to KL for a dinner discussion at Rebung Restaurant with our panel advisory member. He's a very experienced and wise guy. Need advice from him. Good dinner and nice chatting, learned a lot. Tough day but objectives achieved. Got to sleep early. Gonna have an early meeting tomorrow with another panel advisory member, chairman of a company at 8.30am. He's been helping us a lot in developing network with the industry. Another wise and cool guy, admire him a lot especially his confident and no worries style.. At 11am gonna meet another friend from industry before heading to airport to catch my flight back to alor setar at 1.25pm. Can't wait to meet and play with my 3 months old chubby son. That's all for 2nite guys...chiaooo
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...be different

London Business School Professor said, strategies that work during recession are counterintuitive to what managers believe...his opinion is similar to what Tony Fernandes said during his speech in UUM 2 years back...to have guts to challenge the status quo and do things differently...agree with him...we often hear people talk about out of the box thinking but in reality how many are actually dared to do so...contrary to the common belief, Asia Asia put on aggresive marketing during recession when no other companies dare to do so...crazy ain't it? Air Asia still flew to Bali to give support to Balinese people (after the terrorist attacked/bombing) when other airlines cancelled their flights...i also believe that at times, immediate outcome or profit is not the key thing...Air Asia's crazy way creates branding and loyalty, and of course long term outcome...we can see where Air Asia is now, the best low cost carrier in the world...not once but for 3 consecutive years...no matter what people said but they're the best...what's more amazing is neither Tony nor Dato Kamarudin the cofounder have a background in airlines industry...they're just a bunch of 'crazy' people with big dreams, who are willing to work hard and keep trying, and ready to go against the normal philosophy...hmmm...remember reading a quote sometimes ago that at times experience can be our worst enemy to move forward...nite everyone...
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...Gosh It Works

it really works...how cool technology is today (got to love my wife more now hahaha)...it is amazing to think how fast IT evolves over the past decades and how it has changed our lives and businesses...blog, facebook, twitter and many others are the play things...look at how top companies and b-schools like HBS make use of twitter...simple easy to use and very mobile, fast and effective medium to market products and update customers...also amazing to note how internet has helped many at various community levels to gain extra income including my beloved wife...wonder how IT gonna be in next 5 to 10 years time...but it also reminds us how far we are behind when it comes to IT...no choice but to keep up with the latest gadgets...
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...test

It has been many months since my last posting...past few months have been very busy and stressful... now found a new way of posting my thoughts via email...easy hah...with technology things are getting easier...you know who taught me this? haha my beloved wife who seems to be more IT savvy than me now...let see if it works...jeng jeng jeng
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