As I was commuting to work one morning, I noticed these advertisements sitting on the handle bars in the bus. Perched strategically where your hand would be, they offered a special promotion for a new F&B outlet for those who bothered to bring them there.
While the idea was pretty novel (kudos to SBS-Transit or Comfort-Delgro), I thought that the adverts could be further improved with some enhancements:
In this day and age, change is the only constant. Global economic uncertainties, socio-cultural shifts and technological breakthroughs make it necessary for organisations to adapt and transform themselves to remain relevant.
The question, however, is how one can drive change successfully in a stage littered with numerous failures.
The nine muses of Greek mythology (courtesy of Greek Myths and Mythology)
Inspiration often comes in the most unlikely and inconvenient places.
For example, I may be sitting in front of my computer all ready to write a “change the world” blog post. I strain my brain. I close my eyes. I try to create. Unfortunately, I end up watching Youtube videos, responding to an oh so witty tweet, or comment ad nauseum on my friends’ Facebook updates.
Agents Chloe Jocelyn (Missy Peregrym) and Frank Parker (Manny Montana)
Imagine this nightmare scenario.
Ms Lim Sinni and Ms Penny Low of Social Innovation Park
Have you heard of social innovation?
According to Wikipedia, social innovation refers to “new strategies, concepts, ideas and organizations that meet social needs of all kinds… and that extend and strengthen civil society.” Those that are well planned and orchestrated could trigger social movements that address critical gaps in our world today.
Teamy the Bee (courtesy of Singapore Visual Archive)
Teamy the Bee should be worried.
Labour productivity in Singapore has dropped by 1.9% in the last quarter, making it the 3rd quarter by quarter decline. With the manufacturing sector showing a 3% growth in productivity, it is clear that the service sector is the main culprit for productivity drops.
How do companies like GE, Wal-Mart and Honeywell succeed? What is the secret of Jack Welch, one of the most legendary CEO in the business world today?
The answer, according to Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, is Execution. Subtitled The Discipline of Getting Things Done, the New York Times bestseller emphasises the importance of execution in business, how companies with an execution culture conduct their business affairs, and its three core processes: people, strategy and operations.
A perennial favourite amongst my family members, Kipling has carved a niche for itself with its selection of well designed handbags, haversacks, satchels, wallets and suitcases. Arrayed in an attractive range of colours, designs and styles, Kipling offers something for everybody.
What I find unique about Kipling is that furry little simian dangling from the zipper. My son goes ape over those little critters. He has amassed a tidy little collection of different gorillas in shades of orange, green, red, brown, and black.
Written by Ken Blanchard of “The One Minute Manager” fame, together with his co-authors John Britt, Pat Zigarmi and Judd Hoekstra, “Who Killed Change?” is a whodunnit with a business twist. The slim volume is easily read in one sitting and imbues one with useful pointers when implementing change management.
The plot goes like this. Somebody in the ACME organisation has killed Change. In this case, Change of course represents Change Management – a very necessary ingredient for enduring organisational effectiveness when things no longer become business as usual.
In the world of business, we’re often focused on our customer value proposition. What makes our products or services stand out in the marketplace? How do we draw the right customers at the right price?
The unfortunate thing, however, is that we often neglect to pay attention to the most important stakeholders in our organisation.
Namely, our employees.
