Yes....most of the times, we are living our lives for the sakes of our children or our better half. Dare not "rock the boat" or live the way we really want.....but just keep or rein-in our expectations in order not to up-set our loved ones.
Guess we are asian....and that is the way we are bought-up to think that is the best way to go about our lives. As for me....there is no right or wrong about it, as only times can tell us whether that is the right or wrong moves.
Even...with all the lessons learned so far, I will not change much the way I live my life. If it is not good then....it is just too bad for me. I feel it is too late to change except that I will keep a lower profile in the future and to keep myself "calm" as far as possible. Hahaha guess I am not longer young....not nice to easily "lose" my head and "cool" over small issues.
About LOVE...that is a hard one, used to love passionately but I feel....it is better for me to rein this in as well. It has caused me much pain....and depression not too long ago until I am now "cold" and fearful about it.
It has also changed my mind about the way I used to think that LOVE is blind. Now...to me, LOVE is only blind for awhile at best esp for different races or for those with a big difference in age. It won't be able stand the "test of time" for long....becoz of our present "mobile" lifestyles. It is so easy to find friends of the opposite sex thru the internet or chat-lines that it loses the meaning of true friendship. Yes....I would agreed that true love is a great thing but how do we measure it? Sometimes....we mistaken it for a "lustful" relationship as this type of relationship also not stand up to the "test of time" test too. It won't be long to find someone else better or sexier esp when the other someone is "NEW" and more interesting.
My recommendation - go and see the korean movie "The king and the clown". It has deep meaning about human feeling and bonding. PEACE!
Friday, June 23, 2006
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Dogging Craze Has Brits in Heat....Interested?
Giving new meaning to the term "flash mob," the British have invented a new sex craze called "dogging" that mixes sex, exhibitionism, mobs and the Internet.
Dogging combines technology with swinging, cruising and voyeurism. To wit: Crowds big and small watch exhibitionist couples who've met on the Net have sex in cars, and sometimes join in.
"Dogging is the broad term used to cover all the sexual outdoor activities that go on," says the dogging FAQ at Melanies UK Swingers, a popular dogging site. "This can be anything from putting on a show from your car, to a gangbang on a picnic table."
Dogging appears to be popular and widespread, attracting heterosexual couples and single men and women of all ages, income brackets and backgrounds. Not surprisingly, however, dogging meets tend to attract more men than women. Dogging is most often practiced in cars at rural parks, lover's lanes and superstore parking lots. The term dogging has a number of suggested origins, but it probably refers to the "walking the dog" excuse proffered to spouses for an evening's absence. Dogging sessions are usually organized through the dozens of dogging sites and message boards that have sprung up in the last couple of years. Photos are exchanged and meetings arranged by e-mail or mobile phone text message.
At the meet, cell phones and text messages are used to confirm meeting places and, crucially, identities. Cameras and videophones are increasingly used to record what goes on. "Technology is vital and is the main driver (of the dogging phenomenon)," said Richard Byrne, a lecturer at Harper Adams University College in the United Kingdom who produced a survey (PDF) last year that found dogging to be a widespread and growing problem in Britain's country parks.
Dogging is so prevalent, 60 percent of U.K. country parks are affected by it, Byrne's report estimated.
In addition, cases of sexually transmitted diseases in some districts rose markedly last year, prompting health authorities to post safe-sex warnings on dogging sites, according to the BBC. One dogging group on Yahoo has 22,000 members. Although dogging has been growing in popularity for the last couple of years, it only reached the mainstream earlier this month when soccer player Stan Collymore, one of Britain's most famous athletes, admitted to attending numerous dogging meets. Naturally, Collymore's confession sparked a storm of tabloid controversy.
Dogging is becoming so popular, or so notorious, that a trio of music professionals this month released a single celebrating dogging -- and an accompanying sexy video. "Sex in public feels so right. Honk your horn. It's a dogger's delight," go the lyrics to "Dogging," a new single produced by URockers, a "collective of sexual anarchists born of the Internet," according to the group's site.
Members of the group claim to have met at a dogging meet. The trio are all music professionals, including a nationally known DJ and a high-profile producer who's worked with Kylie Minogue and Robert Plant.
The single is part of a forthcoming album called A Momentary Lapse of Income, which will be released later this year in the United Kingdom. The group is seeking a U.S. distributor.
"Last summer in England was one of the hottest summers on record and there was a massive upsurge in interest (in dogging)," said GRocker, one of the groups' members who declined to reveal his name and consented only to an interview by e-mail. According to GRocker, the dogging scene attracts people of all ages and backgrounds, but mostly middle-class, middle-aged heterosexuals. There is also a sizeable contingent of hot rodders involved, he said. "The modified car scene has added to the interest too," GRocker said. "Young people with custom cars meet in countryside public spaces ... which inevitably leads to them fooling around and having sex in public. So there's a strong relationship between kids with cars and swingers/doggers."
The scene also attracts technophiles. "I think mobiles and the Web have made a massive difference. Women I know feel much safer," GRocker said. "(Technology makes) it easy to find out where to go and what other folks are looking for. It's much easier to hook up with the right people and check out if they are cool or not."
According to Byrne, meetings are organized through several online exchanges, mainly half-a-dozen Yahoo groups, which form the backbone of information exchange in the United Kingdom. He noted there are also several dogging-oriented porn sites. Byrne said video and camera phones are used to record meetings. Byrne said he's seen people in the United States trying to set up trans-Atlantic video links for "virtual dogging."
"(Doggers) appear to be from all age groups," said Byrne. "We even came across someone who was 70. And they come from all sorts of backgrounds: professional, manual, etc. I think the majority though are in their late 30s to 50s age group." But Byrne warned that dogging is not all fun and games. As well as an increase in STDs, there are reports of sexual and physical assaults, robberies and blackmail (as in Collymore's case: The footballer was about to be the victim of a tabloid sting). There are also incompatibilities between those who use country parks during the day -- usually families and kids -- and those who use them after dark.
Nonetheless, dogging appears to be catching on in other countries, Byrne noted. "Up until now it's been really the U.K., but it has spread to Germany, France, Ireland," he said. "I think it is growing in (the) U.S. and Canada."
Dogging combines technology with swinging, cruising and voyeurism. To wit: Crowds big and small watch exhibitionist couples who've met on the Net have sex in cars, and sometimes join in.
"Dogging is the broad term used to cover all the sexual outdoor activities that go on," says the dogging FAQ at Melanies UK Swingers, a popular dogging site. "This can be anything from putting on a show from your car, to a gangbang on a picnic table."
Dogging appears to be popular and widespread, attracting heterosexual couples and single men and women of all ages, income brackets and backgrounds. Not surprisingly, however, dogging meets tend to attract more men than women. Dogging is most often practiced in cars at rural parks, lover's lanes and superstore parking lots. The term dogging has a number of suggested origins, but it probably refers to the "walking the dog" excuse proffered to spouses for an evening's absence. Dogging sessions are usually organized through the dozens of dogging sites and message boards that have sprung up in the last couple of years. Photos are exchanged and meetings arranged by e-mail or mobile phone text message.
At the meet, cell phones and text messages are used to confirm meeting places and, crucially, identities. Cameras and videophones are increasingly used to record what goes on. "Technology is vital and is the main driver (of the dogging phenomenon)," said Richard Byrne, a lecturer at Harper Adams University College in the United Kingdom who produced a survey (PDF) last year that found dogging to be a widespread and growing problem in Britain's country parks.
Dogging is so prevalent, 60 percent of U.K. country parks are affected by it, Byrne's report estimated.
In addition, cases of sexually transmitted diseases in some districts rose markedly last year, prompting health authorities to post safe-sex warnings on dogging sites, according to the BBC. One dogging group on Yahoo has 22,000 members. Although dogging has been growing in popularity for the last couple of years, it only reached the mainstream earlier this month when soccer player Stan Collymore, one of Britain's most famous athletes, admitted to attending numerous dogging meets. Naturally, Collymore's confession sparked a storm of tabloid controversy.
Dogging is becoming so popular, or so notorious, that a trio of music professionals this month released a single celebrating dogging -- and an accompanying sexy video. "Sex in public feels so right. Honk your horn. It's a dogger's delight," go the lyrics to "Dogging," a new single produced by URockers, a "collective of sexual anarchists born of the Internet," according to the group's site.
Members of the group claim to have met at a dogging meet. The trio are all music professionals, including a nationally known DJ and a high-profile producer who's worked with Kylie Minogue and Robert Plant.
The single is part of a forthcoming album called A Momentary Lapse of Income, which will be released later this year in the United Kingdom. The group is seeking a U.S. distributor.
"Last summer in England was one of the hottest summers on record and there was a massive upsurge in interest (in dogging)," said GRocker, one of the groups' members who declined to reveal his name and consented only to an interview by e-mail. According to GRocker, the dogging scene attracts people of all ages and backgrounds, but mostly middle-class, middle-aged heterosexuals. There is also a sizeable contingent of hot rodders involved, he said. "The modified car scene has added to the interest too," GRocker said. "Young people with custom cars meet in countryside public spaces ... which inevitably leads to them fooling around and having sex in public. So there's a strong relationship between kids with cars and swingers/doggers."
The scene also attracts technophiles. "I think mobiles and the Web have made a massive difference. Women I know feel much safer," GRocker said. "(Technology makes) it easy to find out where to go and what other folks are looking for. It's much easier to hook up with the right people and check out if they are cool or not."
According to Byrne, meetings are organized through several online exchanges, mainly half-a-dozen Yahoo groups, which form the backbone of information exchange in the United Kingdom. He noted there are also several dogging-oriented porn sites. Byrne said video and camera phones are used to record meetings. Byrne said he's seen people in the United States trying to set up trans-Atlantic video links for "virtual dogging."
"(Doggers) appear to be from all age groups," said Byrne. "We even came across someone who was 70. And they come from all sorts of backgrounds: professional, manual, etc. I think the majority though are in their late 30s to 50s age group." But Byrne warned that dogging is not all fun and games. As well as an increase in STDs, there are reports of sexual and physical assaults, robberies and blackmail (as in Collymore's case: The footballer was about to be the victim of a tabloid sting). There are also incompatibilities between those who use country parks during the day -- usually families and kids -- and those who use them after dark.
Nonetheless, dogging appears to be catching on in other countries, Byrne noted. "Up until now it's been really the U.K., but it has spread to Germany, France, Ireland," he said. "I think it is growing in (the) U.S. and Canada."
Friday, May 19, 2006
Learning and leadership by Jeffrey Immelt
Most people know about General Electric (GE), the most admired company on the planet, and its charismatic chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt. But here's something you may not know. At the core of Immelt's leadership philosophy and of GE's innovation engine is a concept as simple as it is powerful. In today's rapidly and ever-changing global business environment, the basis for success is not how much you know, but rather how quickly you can learn. Call it leadership through learning.
Immelt himself had to learn the CEO ropes quickly. His first day as the ninth chairman and chief executive officer in GE's history was relatively calm. But on his second day, September 11, 2001, the world changed forever. It was into this tumultuous environment that Immelt's leadership mettle and ability to learn quickly were tested.
Learn quickly he did. In his nearly five years at the helm, Immelt has guided GE in reshaping its business portfolio, making landmark acquisitions in health care and entertainment, and reducing the company's dependence on financial services. He has also been a driving force in reforming executive compensation, including his own, to be more closely linked to company and stock performance. As a result, like his predecessors in the GE corner office, Immelt has proved to be a guiding light, offering management ideas and practices for other companies to follow.
More About Jeff Immelt
Immelt began his GE career in 1982. Over the 24 subsequent years, he has held global leadership roles in GE's plastics, appliance, and medical businesses. He became an officer of the company in 1989. Immelt graduated from Dartmouth College in 1978 with a degree in applied mathematics and earned his M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1982.
He recently joined me in a discussion about innovation and learning for "Leadership by Example". Here are excerpts from the conversation.
How did learning become a foundational philosophy for you?
From a very early age, my parents emphasized education. They believed that a good education was the great social equalizer, something that stays with you your whole life and that allows anyone to live their dreams. At GE, I have the chance to see real learning and continuous improvement in action around the company and at Crotonville [GE's renowned training center].
On a day-to-day basis, how do you learn?
I benefit from the chance to meet and talk with just about anyone in the world. One of the perks of my job is that anyone will have dinner with me -- at least once. All you have to do is be curious about important issues and forward enough to go and meet with world leaders, thought leaders, social leaders, and other CEOs. So I can be out there learning from these people all the time and gaining new experiences.
What's the link between learning and leadership?
Every time we sit down to assess our people on leadership and decide who we want to promote, we look carefully at their ability to learn quickly. We believe that this is a core aspect of success in today's environment. We see it as a constant theme of good leaders. Almost every great CEO whom I've met is focused on continual learning.
At a macro level, I think learning is going to bifurcate society. You're going to see people who want to keep learning, especially about scientific or technical things. They're going to be fine. But those who don't are going to be left behind. There's going to be a broad separation of opportunities between those who keep learning and those who don't.
In the U.S., the college system is excellent. But the secondary education system is where people get separated. At GE, the largest source of our charitable giving and volunteerism is secondary education in math and the sciences. We put our money where our mouth is vis-à-vis the importance of education, especially in math and the sciences.
How do you bring an outside perspective into the company?
One thing we've done with all of our employees as part of the Crotonville experience is to make them go out and benchmark hundreds of companies every year.
Who do you benchmark, and what are you measuring?
The three companies that we have benchmarked the most are Toyota (TM), Dell (DELL), and Procter & Gamble (PG), each for a particular reason. From Toyota and Dell, we're looking at and learning from their process excellence. From P&G, it's their marketing and commercial excellence. If you compile a list of all the companies that we've benchmarked and take the top three, these are the ones that we admire the most.
To get a lot out of benchmarking, you have to pick up not just new ideas, but the processes around the ideas that these companies have been able to put in place to make them work. Ultimately, that's what's going to be the kind of thing that changes a company like GE.
Who are some of the business, social, and other leaders who have really caught your attention?
I'd have to put Warren Buffett, Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates on this list. I also get together as a member of a small group of CEOs around the New York City area. The others are Sam Palmisano [IBM], Ken Chenault [American Express], Steve Reinemund [PepsiCo] and Bill Weldon [Johnson & Johnson]. The five of us have gotten together once a quarter for the last five years to talk about important issues facing our companies and our jobs.
Outside the business world, there are quite a number of different individuals who I learn from, but one good example is economist and Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, author of "The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time". He has been a very important guy to learn from vis-à-vis social and environmental issues.
How do you think about growth and innovation for a company as large as GE? For any initiative to have an impact, the numbers have to be gigantic.
What we try to do is not run GE as one big company. Rather, we try to break it up into individual businesses and initiatives. And then we try to make size a source of growth, not an impediment to growth.
For example, five years ago, we were doing less than a billion dollars in China. Today we generate more than $5 billion in revenue there. In order to grow like that, we have to be able to leverage our size in a way a small company cannot.
It's hard for a company as large as GE to grow at, say, 40 percent a year, the way a $15 billion company might. But we're constantly looking for and finding ways to make size an advantage for us, not a disadvantage. Following this approach, I think we can consistently grow at a multiple of two- to three-times the rate of GDP.
In the history of innovation, it's generally understood that incumbents defend and protect, whereas new entrants attack and innovate. Do you agree with this premise?
I don't think it's necessarily true. What I would say is that if you're an incumbent, there's always a danger that you will protect what you have and become blind to new market factors. But the fact of the matter is that, when you know a marketplace the way we know health care, energy, consumer finance, and our other businesses, you can really dominate and innovate.
I tend to be a big fan of knowing a lot about markets and combining in-depth market and customer knowledge with a real predisposition for change. With that combination you can drive real innovation.
To that point, it's hard to find a company as enthusiastic as GE about destroying its own creations.
That's very true. I think its part of this company's DNA and something that Jack [Welch] helped create that endures today. But I also think that you have to combine this attitude with really in-depth market and customer knowledge to pick up on the trends and chase them down.
How valuable is sports as a laboratory for learning and leadership? You played football in college at Dartmouth. If you think back to your own development as a leader, what role did sports play for you?
I think it's huge. Sports combine a bunch of important things. It's about competitiveness; it's about teamwork; it's about knowing when to lead and when to follow; and it's about dealing with both success and failure.
I think competitive, collaborative activities, of which sports is a good example, all help shape very important skill sets for the business world. We look for people who have had teaming kind of events -- such as the military, sports, or theater -- activities that have forced people into group situations and made them learn how to collaborate and compete.
Three Leadership Lessons From GE's Jeff Immelt
Success in today's dynamic world is based less on how much you know than on how quickly you can learn.
Broaden your scope and experience by meeting and speaking with the smartest people you can outside your company.
Sports or other competitive collaborative activities are an exceptional way to develop leadership, teamwork, and the ability to deal with success and failure.
How do you bring an outside perspective into the company?
One thing we've done with all of our employees as part of the Crotonville experience is to make them go out and benchmark hundreds of companies every year.
Who do you benchmark, and what are you measuring?
The three companies that we have benchmarked the most are Toyota (TM), Dell (DELL), and Procter & Gamble (PG), each for a particular reason. From Toyota and Dell, we're looking at and learning from their process excellence. From P&G, it's their marketing and commercial excellence. If you compile a list of all the companies that we've benchmarked and take the top three, these are the ones that we admire the most.
To get a lot out of benchmarking, you have to pick up not just new ideas, but the processes around the ideas that these companies have been able to put in place to make them work. Ultimately, that's what's going to be the kind of thing that changes a company like GE.
Who are some of the business, social, and other leaders who have really caught your attention?
I'd have to put Warren Buffett, Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates on this list. I also get together as a member of a small group of CEOs around the New York City area. The others are Sam Palmisano [IBM], Ken Chenault [American Express], Steve Reinemund [PepsiCo] and Bill Weldon [Johnson & Johnson]. The five of us have gotten together once a quarter for the last five years to talk about important issues facing our companies and our jobs.
Outside the business world, there are quite a number of different individuals who I learn from, but one good example is economist and Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, author of "The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time". He has been a very important guy to learn from vis-à-vis social and environmental issues.
How do you think about growth and innovation for a company as large as GE? For any initiative to have an impact, the numbers have to be gigantic.
What we try to do is not run GE as one big company. Rather, we try to break it up into individual businesses and initiatives. And then we try to make size a source of growth, not an impediment to growth.
For example, five years ago, we were doing less than a billion dollars in China. Today we generate more than $5 billion in revenue there. In order to grow like that, we have to be able to leverage our size in a way a small company cannot.
It's hard for a company as large as GE to grow at, say, 40 percent a year, the way a $15 billion company might. But we're constantly looking for and finding ways to make size an advantage for us, not a disadvantage. Following this approach, I think we can consistently grow at a multiple of two- to three-times the rate of GDP.
In the history of innovation, it's generally understood that incumbents defend and protect, whereas new entrants attack and innovate. Do you agree with this premise?
I don't think it's necessarily true. What I would say is that if you're an incumbent, there's always a danger that you will protect what you have and become blind to new market factors. But the fact of the matter is that, when you know a marketplace the way we know health care, energy, consumer finance, and our other businesses, you can really dominate and innovate.
I tend to be a big fan of knowing a lot about markets and combining in-depth market and customer knowledge with a real predisposition for change. With that combination you can drive real innovation.
To that point, it's hard to find a company as enthusiastic as GE about destroying its own creations.
That's very true. I think its part of this company's DNA and something that Jack [Welch] helped create that endures today. But I also think that you have to combine this attitude with really in-depth market and customer knowledge to pick up on the trends and chase them down.
How valuable is sports as a laboratory for learning and leadership? You played football in college at Dartmouth. If you think back to your own development as a leader, what role did sports play for you?
I think it's huge. Sports combine a bunch of important things. It's about competitiveness; it's about teamwork; it's about knowing when to lead and when to follow; and it's about dealing with both success and failure.
I think competitive, collaborative activities, of which sports is a good example, all help shape very important skill sets for the business world. We look for people who have had teaming kind of events -- such as the military, sports, or theater -- activities that have forced people into group situations and made them learn how to collaborate and compete.
Three Leadership Lessons From GE's Jeff Immelt
1) Success in today's dynamic world is based less on how much you know than on how quickly you can learn.
2) Broaden your scope and experience by meeting and speaking with the smartest people you can outside your company.
3) Sports or other competitive collaborative activities are an exceptional way to develop leadership, teamwork, and the ability to deal with success and failure.
Immelt himself had to learn the CEO ropes quickly. His first day as the ninth chairman and chief executive officer in GE's history was relatively calm. But on his second day, September 11, 2001, the world changed forever. It was into this tumultuous environment that Immelt's leadership mettle and ability to learn quickly were tested.
Learn quickly he did. In his nearly five years at the helm, Immelt has guided GE in reshaping its business portfolio, making landmark acquisitions in health care and entertainment, and reducing the company's dependence on financial services. He has also been a driving force in reforming executive compensation, including his own, to be more closely linked to company and stock performance. As a result, like his predecessors in the GE corner office, Immelt has proved to be a guiding light, offering management ideas and practices for other companies to follow.
More About Jeff Immelt
Immelt began his GE career in 1982. Over the 24 subsequent years, he has held global leadership roles in GE's plastics, appliance, and medical businesses. He became an officer of the company in 1989. Immelt graduated from Dartmouth College in 1978 with a degree in applied mathematics and earned his M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1982.
He recently joined me in a discussion about innovation and learning for "Leadership by Example". Here are excerpts from the conversation.
How did learning become a foundational philosophy for you?
From a very early age, my parents emphasized education. They believed that a good education was the great social equalizer, something that stays with you your whole life and that allows anyone to live their dreams. At GE, I have the chance to see real learning and continuous improvement in action around the company and at Crotonville [GE's renowned training center].
On a day-to-day basis, how do you learn?
I benefit from the chance to meet and talk with just about anyone in the world. One of the perks of my job is that anyone will have dinner with me -- at least once. All you have to do is be curious about important issues and forward enough to go and meet with world leaders, thought leaders, social leaders, and other CEOs. So I can be out there learning from these people all the time and gaining new experiences.
What's the link between learning and leadership?
Every time we sit down to assess our people on leadership and decide who we want to promote, we look carefully at their ability to learn quickly. We believe that this is a core aspect of success in today's environment. We see it as a constant theme of good leaders. Almost every great CEO whom I've met is focused on continual learning.
At a macro level, I think learning is going to bifurcate society. You're going to see people who want to keep learning, especially about scientific or technical things. They're going to be fine. But those who don't are going to be left behind. There's going to be a broad separation of opportunities between those who keep learning and those who don't.
In the U.S., the college system is excellent. But the secondary education system is where people get separated. At GE, the largest source of our charitable giving and volunteerism is secondary education in math and the sciences. We put our money where our mouth is vis-à-vis the importance of education, especially in math and the sciences.
How do you bring an outside perspective into the company?
One thing we've done with all of our employees as part of the Crotonville experience is to make them go out and benchmark hundreds of companies every year.
Who do you benchmark, and what are you measuring?
The three companies that we have benchmarked the most are Toyota (TM), Dell (DELL), and Procter & Gamble (PG), each for a particular reason. From Toyota and Dell, we're looking at and learning from their process excellence. From P&G, it's their marketing and commercial excellence. If you compile a list of all the companies that we've benchmarked and take the top three, these are the ones that we admire the most.
To get a lot out of benchmarking, you have to pick up not just new ideas, but the processes around the ideas that these companies have been able to put in place to make them work. Ultimately, that's what's going to be the kind of thing that changes a company like GE.
Who are some of the business, social, and other leaders who have really caught your attention?
I'd have to put Warren Buffett, Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates on this list. I also get together as a member of a small group of CEOs around the New York City area. The others are Sam Palmisano [IBM], Ken Chenault [American Express], Steve Reinemund [PepsiCo] and Bill Weldon [Johnson & Johnson]. The five of us have gotten together once a quarter for the last five years to talk about important issues facing our companies and our jobs.
Outside the business world, there are quite a number of different individuals who I learn from, but one good example is economist and Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, author of "The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time". He has been a very important guy to learn from vis-à-vis social and environmental issues.
How do you think about growth and innovation for a company as large as GE? For any initiative to have an impact, the numbers have to be gigantic.
What we try to do is not run GE as one big company. Rather, we try to break it up into individual businesses and initiatives. And then we try to make size a source of growth, not an impediment to growth.
For example, five years ago, we were doing less than a billion dollars in China. Today we generate more than $5 billion in revenue there. In order to grow like that, we have to be able to leverage our size in a way a small company cannot.
It's hard for a company as large as GE to grow at, say, 40 percent a year, the way a $15 billion company might. But we're constantly looking for and finding ways to make size an advantage for us, not a disadvantage. Following this approach, I think we can consistently grow at a multiple of two- to three-times the rate of GDP.
In the history of innovation, it's generally understood that incumbents defend and protect, whereas new entrants attack and innovate. Do you agree with this premise?
I don't think it's necessarily true. What I would say is that if you're an incumbent, there's always a danger that you will protect what you have and become blind to new market factors. But the fact of the matter is that, when you know a marketplace the way we know health care, energy, consumer finance, and our other businesses, you can really dominate and innovate.
I tend to be a big fan of knowing a lot about markets and combining in-depth market and customer knowledge with a real predisposition for change. With that combination you can drive real innovation.
To that point, it's hard to find a company as enthusiastic as GE about destroying its own creations.
That's very true. I think its part of this company's DNA and something that Jack [Welch] helped create that endures today. But I also think that you have to combine this attitude with really in-depth market and customer knowledge to pick up on the trends and chase them down.
How valuable is sports as a laboratory for learning and leadership? You played football in college at Dartmouth. If you think back to your own development as a leader, what role did sports play for you?
I think it's huge. Sports combine a bunch of important things. It's about competitiveness; it's about teamwork; it's about knowing when to lead and when to follow; and it's about dealing with both success and failure.
I think competitive, collaborative activities, of which sports is a good example, all help shape very important skill sets for the business world. We look for people who have had teaming kind of events -- such as the military, sports, or theater -- activities that have forced people into group situations and made them learn how to collaborate and compete.
Three Leadership Lessons From GE's Jeff Immelt
Success in today's dynamic world is based less on how much you know than on how quickly you can learn.
Broaden your scope and experience by meeting and speaking with the smartest people you can outside your company.
Sports or other competitive collaborative activities are an exceptional way to develop leadership, teamwork, and the ability to deal with success and failure.
How do you bring an outside perspective into the company?
One thing we've done with all of our employees as part of the Crotonville experience is to make them go out and benchmark hundreds of companies every year.
Who do you benchmark, and what are you measuring?
The three companies that we have benchmarked the most are Toyota (TM), Dell (DELL), and Procter & Gamble (PG), each for a particular reason. From Toyota and Dell, we're looking at and learning from their process excellence. From P&G, it's their marketing and commercial excellence. If you compile a list of all the companies that we've benchmarked and take the top three, these are the ones that we admire the most.
To get a lot out of benchmarking, you have to pick up not just new ideas, but the processes around the ideas that these companies have been able to put in place to make them work. Ultimately, that's what's going to be the kind of thing that changes a company like GE.
Who are some of the business, social, and other leaders who have really caught your attention?
I'd have to put Warren Buffett, Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates on this list. I also get together as a member of a small group of CEOs around the New York City area. The others are Sam Palmisano [IBM], Ken Chenault [American Express], Steve Reinemund [PepsiCo] and Bill Weldon [Johnson & Johnson]. The five of us have gotten together once a quarter for the last five years to talk about important issues facing our companies and our jobs.
Outside the business world, there are quite a number of different individuals who I learn from, but one good example is economist and Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, author of "The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time". He has been a very important guy to learn from vis-à-vis social and environmental issues.
How do you think about growth and innovation for a company as large as GE? For any initiative to have an impact, the numbers have to be gigantic.
What we try to do is not run GE as one big company. Rather, we try to break it up into individual businesses and initiatives. And then we try to make size a source of growth, not an impediment to growth.
For example, five years ago, we were doing less than a billion dollars in China. Today we generate more than $5 billion in revenue there. In order to grow like that, we have to be able to leverage our size in a way a small company cannot.
It's hard for a company as large as GE to grow at, say, 40 percent a year, the way a $15 billion company might. But we're constantly looking for and finding ways to make size an advantage for us, not a disadvantage. Following this approach, I think we can consistently grow at a multiple of two- to three-times the rate of GDP.
In the history of innovation, it's generally understood that incumbents defend and protect, whereas new entrants attack and innovate. Do you agree with this premise?
I don't think it's necessarily true. What I would say is that if you're an incumbent, there's always a danger that you will protect what you have and become blind to new market factors. But the fact of the matter is that, when you know a marketplace the way we know health care, energy, consumer finance, and our other businesses, you can really dominate and innovate.
I tend to be a big fan of knowing a lot about markets and combining in-depth market and customer knowledge with a real predisposition for change. With that combination you can drive real innovation.
To that point, it's hard to find a company as enthusiastic as GE about destroying its own creations.
That's very true. I think its part of this company's DNA and something that Jack [Welch] helped create that endures today. But I also think that you have to combine this attitude with really in-depth market and customer knowledge to pick up on the trends and chase them down.
How valuable is sports as a laboratory for learning and leadership? You played football in college at Dartmouth. If you think back to your own development as a leader, what role did sports play for you?
I think it's huge. Sports combine a bunch of important things. It's about competitiveness; it's about teamwork; it's about knowing when to lead and when to follow; and it's about dealing with both success and failure.
I think competitive, collaborative activities, of which sports is a good example, all help shape very important skill sets for the business world. We look for people who have had teaming kind of events -- such as the military, sports, or theater -- activities that have forced people into group situations and made them learn how to collaborate and compete.
Three Leadership Lessons From GE's Jeff Immelt
1) Success in today's dynamic world is based less on how much you know than on how quickly you can learn.
2) Broaden your scope and experience by meeting and speaking with the smartest people you can outside your company.
3) Sports or other competitive collaborative activities are an exceptional way to develop leadership, teamwork, and the ability to deal with success and failure.
Teamwork, does that really matters?
Think career success is linked to popularity?
Think again.
To achieve greatness you have to make some people mad along the way.
A lot of my Stanford MBA students seem to want, above all, to be liked by their peers. They avoid arguing too vigorously with one another in class and tell me their goal is to build a network of supportive friends. They seem convinced that they'll have great careers if only they can develop reputations for getting along. In a class called "The Paths to Power," I try to disabuse them of that simplistic notion. And one way I do it is by introducing them to Keith Ferrazzi. Currently running his own consulting firm, Ferrazzi earned his MBA at Harvard in 1992 and quickly became a star at Deloitte Consulting. Starwood Hotels (Research) hired him as its chief marketing officer at age 32, reportedly making him the youngest CMO in the Fortune 500. In 2000 he became CEO of YaYa, a marketing and entertainment company, where he more than doubled revenue each year--even during the dotcom implosion. He sold the company to American Vantage in 2003.
Ferrazzi makes no attempt to hide his ambitions, and advises others to be equally forthright. When I invited him to speak to my class, he audaciously asked that I make his new book required reading. (He now denies doing this.) Then, in a talk sprinkled with expletives, he encouraged students to sort the people they knew into A, B, and C lists based on relevance to their career goals--and to spend more time with the A's.
With regard to their future jobs, Ferrazzi advised them to focus on activities they do well and stop worrying about being so well-rounded. Although he had promised to stay for two classes, he left halfway through the second to have lunch with a client. My students are usually put off by Ferrazzi at first, but they eventually see how an overwhelming drive not to offend can hamper a career. Take what Ferrazzi did when he graduated from Harvard. With offers from both Deloitte and McKinsey, he accepted the Deloitte job on one condition: that he could dine with the firm's CEO, Pat Loconto, three times a year. Deloitte agreed, and Loconto became a valuable mentor. By the time he left for Starwood, Ferrazzi sat on Deloitte's executive committee and had been nominated for partner. When asked how he dared to make a request that might threaten peers and shock his future boss, Ferrazzi says, "It gave me visibility and a leg up on my competitors." With all the talk about teamwork so in vogue in business education, he reminds us that colleagues aren't always on our side.
Those early days in Ferrazzi's career--before he had the power that comes with fancy titles--illustrate the advantages of being willing to make waves. Though he joined Deloitte as an entry-level consultant, Ferrazzi behaved like a senior partner from the get-go. Rather than spending all his time on detailed analysis--the bane of most junior consultants--he drummed up new business.
He founded the Lincoln Award for Business Excellence (modeled on the Baldrige Award) in Illinois, making himself president and persuading top Chicago CEOs to serve as judges and board members. Few people can summon that kind of courage so early in their careers, but actions like those put Ferrazzi in a position to be appointed partner, even though, by his own admission, he was not the world's best nuts-and-bolts consultant.
Of course, some people might say that if you anger enough people on the way up, they'll eventually take you down. Maybe, but it's also true that people like to associate with winners. When Ferrazzi first joined Deloitte, he would make a big deal at cocktail parties about what he had done and what he wanted to do. Fellow new hires were put off, but most of them eventually came to like him--or at least to understand that it was in their best interests to be on his A-list.
Many of us achieve modest success by being a standout in, but remaining one of, the crowd. Going beyond that means dealing with the inevitable consequence that some people will dislike you. Perhaps Steve Spurrier, the former Florida football coach who compiled a 122-27-1 record and won a national championship, puts it best. "If people like you too much," he says, "it's probably because they're beating you."
Think again.
To achieve greatness you have to make some people mad along the way.
A lot of my Stanford MBA students seem to want, above all, to be liked by their peers. They avoid arguing too vigorously with one another in class and tell me their goal is to build a network of supportive friends. They seem convinced that they'll have great careers if only they can develop reputations for getting along. In a class called "The Paths to Power," I try to disabuse them of that simplistic notion. And one way I do it is by introducing them to Keith Ferrazzi. Currently running his own consulting firm, Ferrazzi earned his MBA at Harvard in 1992 and quickly became a star at Deloitte Consulting. Starwood Hotels (Research) hired him as its chief marketing officer at age 32, reportedly making him the youngest CMO in the Fortune 500. In 2000 he became CEO of YaYa, a marketing and entertainment company, where he more than doubled revenue each year--even during the dotcom implosion. He sold the company to American Vantage in 2003.
Ferrazzi makes no attempt to hide his ambitions, and advises others to be equally forthright. When I invited him to speak to my class, he audaciously asked that I make his new book required reading. (He now denies doing this.) Then, in a talk sprinkled with expletives, he encouraged students to sort the people they knew into A, B, and C lists based on relevance to their career goals--and to spend more time with the A's.
With regard to their future jobs, Ferrazzi advised them to focus on activities they do well and stop worrying about being so well-rounded. Although he had promised to stay for two classes, he left halfway through the second to have lunch with a client. My students are usually put off by Ferrazzi at first, but they eventually see how an overwhelming drive not to offend can hamper a career. Take what Ferrazzi did when he graduated from Harvard. With offers from both Deloitte and McKinsey, he accepted the Deloitte job on one condition: that he could dine with the firm's CEO, Pat Loconto, three times a year. Deloitte agreed, and Loconto became a valuable mentor. By the time he left for Starwood, Ferrazzi sat on Deloitte's executive committee and had been nominated for partner. When asked how he dared to make a request that might threaten peers and shock his future boss, Ferrazzi says, "It gave me visibility and a leg up on my competitors." With all the talk about teamwork so in vogue in business education, he reminds us that colleagues aren't always on our side.
Those early days in Ferrazzi's career--before he had the power that comes with fancy titles--illustrate the advantages of being willing to make waves. Though he joined Deloitte as an entry-level consultant, Ferrazzi behaved like a senior partner from the get-go. Rather than spending all his time on detailed analysis--the bane of most junior consultants--he drummed up new business.
He founded the Lincoln Award for Business Excellence (modeled on the Baldrige Award) in Illinois, making himself president and persuading top Chicago CEOs to serve as judges and board members. Few people can summon that kind of courage so early in their careers, but actions like those put Ferrazzi in a position to be appointed partner, even though, by his own admission, he was not the world's best nuts-and-bolts consultant.
Of course, some people might say that if you anger enough people on the way up, they'll eventually take you down. Maybe, but it's also true that people like to associate with winners. When Ferrazzi first joined Deloitte, he would make a big deal at cocktail parties about what he had done and what he wanted to do. Fellow new hires were put off, but most of them eventually came to like him--or at least to understand that it was in their best interests to be on his A-list.
Many of us achieve modest success by being a standout in, but remaining one of, the crowd. Going beyond that means dealing with the inevitable consequence that some people will dislike you. Perhaps Steve Spurrier, the former Florida football coach who compiled a 122-27-1 record and won a national championship, puts it best. "If people like you too much," he says, "it's probably because they're beating you."
Thursday, May 11, 2006
On a movie bling
Yes....lately I am going on a movie bling with my honey, having fun and just holding hands. A movie is incomplete without having the na-chas, hotdog or pop corn set during the screening.
I am very passionate when it comes to watching movies...esp the sentimental ones or the funny korean movies. They are quite fun to watch.....damn serious acting.
Am looking forward to seeing "LIE WITH ME" ....next tuesday together with my honey.
I am very passionate when it comes to watching movies...esp the sentimental ones or the funny korean movies. They are quite fun to watch.....damn serious acting.
Am looking forward to seeing "LIE WITH ME" ....next tuesday together with my honey.
Monday, May 08, 2006
You are my sunshine
Well...the movie does reminds me of my situation not long ago and about myself and my attitude towards LOVE.
A simple....straight forward story about a man's love. Most time...men are simple creatures who love SEX, food, wine and music. Give them that and you control their well-being.
But for me...I find out that I don't fall in love easily or that love even exist hahaha.....then against all odds, I am a victim of it. It is both hell and heaven at the same time....so it depends on the moment of time. LOVE passionately and suffered the "HELL"...then you will appreciate the sweetness of simple moment of being "together" even doing nothing. Just like in the movie...the guy ordered coffee so that the girl can rest...and that he can see her rest and her smile. He is out of the world. Me...too, even just holding your hand or give your hand a massage, makes me "happy"...stupid me hahaha.
True Love....is a very deep feeling, there is no need for sex to get the high of it but of course if there is sex....then it will be even more meaningful.
I have my share of partners after you....younger, prettier but none can really replace you in my heart. One way to see if a guy truly love you....is to see how he will go out of his way to please always, not just one time but always....and he does acts "funny or even stupid" at times. I know becoz I do that and I can't help myself about it. I look "cool" when I am indifferent to the girl, meaning I don't really care what happen to the friendship or relationship...just maybe sex which I feel I can get it from lots of places...no issue at all in singapore if you know where to get from.
A simple....straight forward story about a man's love. Most time...men are simple creatures who love SEX, food, wine and music. Give them that and you control their well-being.
But for me...I find out that I don't fall in love easily or that love even exist hahaha.....then against all odds, I am a victim of it. It is both hell and heaven at the same time....so it depends on the moment of time. LOVE passionately and suffered the "HELL"...then you will appreciate the sweetness of simple moment of being "together" even doing nothing. Just like in the movie...the guy ordered coffee so that the girl can rest...and that he can see her rest and her smile. He is out of the world. Me...too, even just holding your hand or give your hand a massage, makes me "happy"...stupid me hahaha.
True Love....is a very deep feeling, there is no need for sex to get the high of it but of course if there is sex....then it will be even more meaningful.
I have my share of partners after you....younger, prettier but none can really replace you in my heart. One way to see if a guy truly love you....is to see how he will go out of his way to please always, not just one time but always....and he does acts "funny or even stupid" at times. I know becoz I do that and I can't help myself about it. I look "cool" when I am indifferent to the girl, meaning I don't really care what happen to the friendship or relationship...just maybe sex which I feel I can get it from lots of places...no issue at all in singapore if you know where to get from.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Your wish list or it is just wishful thinking?
What's on your Wish List? It seems to be a growing phenomenon all over the Web.
People are making up lists of their wants and desires (at least in terms of material goods)
and posting them on the Web for all the world to see.
I suppose that's one way of getting what you want.
But that really relies on a friend or family member seeing your list and perhaps buying an item for your birthday, anniversary, or holiday present.
It's literally a form of "wishful thinking."
Now, there's nothing wrong with thinking of those things we'd like.
It's only when your thinking stops there and goes no further that it becomes a kind of useless exercise.
The Broadway star Mary Martin had some choice words to say about that:
"Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes."
So, why not try a simple exercise?
Make your own Wish List of your goals or how you'd like to improve your life.
Include as many items as you like. Now, don't stop there. Opposite each item,
list something you can do to start to make that "wish" come true.
Make it a practical, doable step.
And get in the habit of repeating that step, week after week.
After repeating an action often enough, it becomes a habit, and you'll be on the way to making your own wishes come true.
After all, as Eleanor Roosevelt has said, "It takes as much energy to wish as to plan."
You may not have a fairy godmother to grant you three wishes, but you have something better.
You have yourself.
People are making up lists of their wants and desires (at least in terms of material goods)
and posting them on the Web for all the world to see.
I suppose that's one way of getting what you want.
But that really relies on a friend or family member seeing your list and perhaps buying an item for your birthday, anniversary, or holiday present.
It's literally a form of "wishful thinking."
Now, there's nothing wrong with thinking of those things we'd like.
It's only when your thinking stops there and goes no further that it becomes a kind of useless exercise.
The Broadway star Mary Martin had some choice words to say about that:
"Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes."
So, why not try a simple exercise?
Make your own Wish List of your goals or how you'd like to improve your life.
Include as many items as you like. Now, don't stop there. Opposite each item,
list something you can do to start to make that "wish" come true.
Make it a practical, doable step.
And get in the habit of repeating that step, week after week.
After repeating an action often enough, it becomes a habit, and you'll be on the way to making your own wishes come true.
After all, as Eleanor Roosevelt has said, "It takes as much energy to wish as to plan."
You may not have a fairy godmother to grant you three wishes, but you have something better.
You have yourself.
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