Huff Puff....and blow it all away into the Blue Ocean

What's the most difficult part about a weight loss regime (assuming you're not on weight loss drugs and liposuction)??

The diet? Nope. Just eat a spoonful less rice per meal....how difficult is that???

It's the first kilometer of a 4 km jog.....that's what it is..... It is the point where all the lazy muscles are just waking up. The stretch and use of the lesser known muscles that makes it feel like a rusty machine just kicking into life. Muscles that scream out "GIVE UP" when you're only on the 300 meter mark and at 500 meters it plots with your lungs to make you feel a little more breathless as you break into a very un-sexy sweat....ughhhhh

That's pretty much how it feels like when I wanna stick to my resolutions as stated in my previous entry. Oh and its nothing to do with the weight maintenance or the running....that's ok despite the dramatic introduction earlier about the perils of jogging......

So here goes....

Book review #1 (of 12)

This month's book of choice is Blue Ocean Strategy - by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne

Now this is an interesting book, and by interesting I mean of late I've been hearing so much about it. Seems to be a fad in Malaysia to be excited over something very intensely and let it die off fast too once the commotion settles. Blue Ocean Strategy has been frequently quoted in many of the policy making meetings and conferences held by the Malaysian Govt (esp the Health Sector). Every other speaker in the task to appear knowledgeable use this bombastic term "Blue Ocean Strategy" like Abra-Cadabra to a Magician in hopes to woo listeners into their abysmal chain of thoughts.

The main cover has a background of a blue ocean (WOW....Original idea huh?) and big bold words "BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY" and with quick summary "How to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant" and published by Harvard Business School Press (If it's good enough for Harvard, it's good enough for anyone)

Coming back to policy makers....yeah so I've attended a handful and without fail, the most exciting speaker of any day would be the one who must almost always include the phrase Blue Ocean Strategy (I'm gonna make it short into BOS from now on....hmmmm BOS......how uncanny!!), and like magic show in their next point within the same speech would be the phrase "By doing this.... we create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant"....

Again like magic...the crowd will be mesmerized and people will either start to clap like a toy monkey or most people will nod their head and whisper "BOS....BOS..."

So I gotta know....do people really know what they are talking about....or is it just a hyped up phrase that a few use and no one reads about it but everyone agrees to it (hmmm sounds almost the same principle as how gossip works....)

So after painstakingly reading it, and I do mean painstakingly.....here is the breakdown.

This book (or shall I say post dissertation publication they call a book) employs the general principles of Kaizen through the PDCA process (Plan-Do-Check-Analyse) in combination with the SWOT analysis (Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat).

That's it......really.

The rest of the book is repetitive review (won't even call in depth analysis) of many many many companies that were successful because of the PDCA + SWOT technique. (But since PDCA + SWOT has no term, they call  it BOS)

To be fair, the jist of the book can be summarised into an analysis whereby -
1. Eliminate industry standards that are taken for granted (aka useless, negligible ones)
2. Reduce non productive standards
3. Increase productive standards
4. Create new opportunities
5. Recognising the types of customers (Purchasers / Users / Influencers)

Of course, like all good theories there must be a disclaimer, which BOS states that no company that they reviewed has been successful eternally despite using the Blue Ocean Strategy method. Which brings to mind then what's the point of teaching something that has a finite usefulness and cannot adapt? Does BOS really work or is it a theoretical reasoning for the emergence of capitalists?

What's my take on it?

Perhaps CREATING uncontested market space to make the competition irrelevant is not enough. One must still learn to ADAPT and INNOVATE to stay ahead. Not just one step, but two or more steps ahead. Take Steve Jobs for example, who was able to create a never seen before Supply and feed the people to Demand it later as seen with the iPod, iBook, iMac, iPhone, and iPad. Towards the end of his life, his successors have yet to Create anything exciting, and failed badly to Innovate on the iPhone. So much so until poor Siri has been frequently called as Silly in the Chinese speaking community here who have a problem to pronounce the letter "R"

I'd give this book a 4/10 for having wonderful examples of companies that created new demands in their respective industry, but the write up could do more than calling a combination of past models as their own strategy.

Till the next book....huff puff huff puff....

New coins.....Starring.....David?

So I've allowed myself to be a little ignorant of late with the development of the country.... I was aware of the new notes for the Malaysian currency that was launched at the end of last year, which will see new denominations using the polymer notes that were experimented for the RM5 in 2005. With the 3rd series launched in 2011....we see the return of the RM20 (brown) and the RM100 (deep purple...not the band) notes. All notes are donned with designs inspired by Malaysian flora and fauna, bar the RM1 notes that have the Wau (Kite) design.

Along with that were new coin designs that I could not make up the new designs because the photos were so blurry and hence paid no attention to it. That was until I picked up one recently and checked out the 10 cents design....

 So....the notes are as shown.....

But here's the more interesting scoop...

50 cents (not the singer/rapper....) floral design

20 cents ......more flower design....orchid i believe

5 cents.... Islamic design....cool

10 cents.... 6 pointed star design??? hmmmmm I wonder who did the design and who approved of it haha...

Oh twinkle twinkle David's star....how I wonder how you got this far.....

(wonder if there will be a recall due to security issues *wink*)

Rewinding a year back next year

Long hiatus.... Often wondered why I stop writing for more than a month and its not like me to keep quiet. There's always much to say, but perhaps not enough to share. Yet i recall, it has not been my nature to seek an approval on what is worthy to be read.

Let that be the final lesson of 2011 and the first lesson of 2012 for me.

Round about this time last year, i wrote of Steve Jobs and his challenges. Within the year Mr Jobs is no longer with us. Pancreatic cancer....its a real bitch of a disease to have. Most people don't know they have it till its too late and don't live long enough to enjoy the remaining years versus the remorse and pity hours they spent on themselves. Mr Jobs had a long duration before his inevitable demise, yet with him he fought till the end.

As I reflect upon his death and how the world mourn at the loss of a great mind, a revolutionary person who change the world. Many say we will never find his parellel. Not many of his generation has surpassed what he has achieved. Its not difficult to agree, and not difficult to disagree.

Every death of a star, means a new rising star will be born.

While the far reaching rays of Steve Jobs begin to fade into legendary memory, so should the world require the light from another star to feed upon. We're just waiting for it to go viral and cult-like.

Which brings to the next point....resolutions.

I hated resolutions or the coming of each new year. My dad would always ask the same thing each year come 31st December or the afternoon of 1st Jan (in case i managed to slip out on the eve) and its always "boy....what's your resolution for the year?"

Each year i made repeated ones that don't make sense and would lie to get over with it. I suspect my dad knew of my non intention to participate but let me off easy because i answered something as opposed to nothing.

Today I ask people I meet (because its an ice breaker) and most adults answer that they don't believe in resolutions. To them its like rules that were meant to be broken. So if you are going to break it, then why make it? If you know deep inside you can't achieve it, why make a farce and lie only to renew the vows the following year of things not achieved for the previous year?

I likened this process as "if you know you're gonna die in the end, then why bother living?"

however, i do admit, that i too did not differ much from the response of people I interviewed. I had the same view of why make promises that I cannot keep? I believed that a serendipitous and happy go lucky attitude would be able to lead me, as long as i have the courage to move in that direction. After all, doesn't luck favour the brave? Seems to work well in movies and tv.

"I want to go somewhere, i don't know where, as long as it's anywhere but HERE"

Serendipity. Happy go lucky. Let fate decide. These are descriptions of a journey, not a destination. For many years, i took it as a destination and realised that I have gone EVERYWHERE but I' still HERE. Because we start from where we were comfortable but irritable, and we journey back to the place we last felt comfortable.

So while i will serendipitously return back to my comfort zone, there are places that I want to go and things I need to achieve. So here are my resolutions for 2012 no matter how small it is.

1. I will run a mini marathon of 10km by mid year
2. I will attempt (but may not finish) a half marathon of 22km before the year ends
3. I will not allow myself to bloat beyond 72kg
4. I will start my MBA in health administration by April, and complete by 18 months
5. I will read a book a month at least

5 is enough. Beyond that i'd just be fooling myself. Doubt i have the time for a 6th decisive resolution. But then again, i'll need some other for next year I reckon.

Thank you all for a wonderful 2011.

For the times I don't say enough, thank you dad for everything. For the lessons you taught when you were around but I didn't seem to learn. And for the lessons I learnt in your absence but through my reflections. You have been my secret idol that I don't glorify but have come to realise. Love ya.

(ps... No no no....fatherhood didn't teach me that....)