It's like I am in HK. tonight, we invited 3 business counterpart to dinner, but have one of the invitee to choose the restaurant, the echo to the restaurant is in Bali -- a far place from Taipei, cause the restaurant is run by one of the guest, we were OK with the decision, what comes last is until yesterday evening, I didn't know they are planning to bring their spouse to the dinner, 3 CHT manager with their wife will join the dinner with us.. so we need to ask our wife favor to attend the dinner with us, this last minute notice cause me lot of problem, fortunately enough, Fruit went for summer camp this morning, my mother can accompany with Sound - my son at night, so, we bring our wife to the dinner.
Bali is in the opposite side of Tamsui, a river shore waiting for development, Friday night is the traffic night, it took us 90 minutes to get the Bali -- we were astonished by the scene before us, the restaurant titled " Left Bank " is a place you can enjoy the river scene and watch the neon light across the Tamsui river. as we are VIP to the restaurant owner, the seating arrangement is so perfect, we were sit in private area in the open space and facing the river, the set menu was special made for us, it's like staying in Regent Hotel HK and enjoy the Victoria harbor, but this is Taipei county. the night is beautiful, young people playing basket ball in the night range. kids riding on bicycle, young couple stroll by the long shore, yellow dim street light make the night more romantic, after meal , we climb up the watch tower and review the entire Taipei / Tamsui, none of us watch the time.
A nice place to bring family there, a nice place to walk when the sun go down, a nice place to relax, a place you hardly believe in Taipei. on the way home, heard the radio talk show hosted by Tom, a talent marketer who become famous as the novelist and marketing expertise, we just spoke over the phone yesterday, I return him something belongs to him and receiving a thanks you card sent by him. 10 years since we know each other. now he is heading for the road he dream about.
Talking to Ben Yu benefit both, we've been exchange idea and thought for years on regular base, he is now a business consultant to varies company cross industry, we will raised at the same company before and been influence by the same mentor -- Mr. Hang, Mr. Hang is a gentleman equip with 2 sides -- one side demonstrate his elegancy and knowledge about everything, a scholar charter, the other side demonstrate his talent in running a bucketful business -- a tough one, investing banker, to perform the business intelligence, Mr. Hang need to play tough sometimes. quick response to the change and control credit to any possible risk, this is against the scholar charisma, please success with reason, Ben were there 10 years, I was there 6 years. but we are not in the same company-- even industry , Ben do the financing and investment, I run the entertainment sector;
Ben advise me yesterday that don't pull out my knowledge -- this is where my value is -- too easy, don't share everything with people who only want to suck my brain and catch my insight / experience, I am impress about his honest to me, as I always willing to help people, I seldom think of my knowledge is a valuable tool, shall be deployed somewhere instead of anywhere, and can't always cheat to yourself that Implementation is the key, even they take my brain, may not get the thing done, maybe I am wrong, but the advise is correct, my experience and expertise is my strength, how to optimize or maximize it is the key question, the employment contract for this company remain 18 month, as I am growing old -- even I may get to approve to join the YPO, I am not as flexible as young executive. I shall make my next move 12 months before the contact day.
Haven’t thought of release the URL to anyone, writing diary is something intimacy to oneself, but as time change, the old -fashioned way to keep t he secret with you now it outdated. the moblog claimed to be the next " Personal power " and this is a reverse trend compare to my younger days, as now sharing is important, publish your viewpoints, release yourself and express yourself becoming a normal behavior; I don't exactly know whether the rain falling from the internet, or the barrier created by screen, no harm at all, no matter how radical or erotic the message you want to carry, to the mass " unknown ", it's no big deal, this is like the freedom of speech -- now in the internet, you are free to express, by word, visual or audio.
When visit the blog Taiwan site, I do find lot of interest and literate know that there's a blog movement going on, the wave is high, since AOL provide the personal weblog -- the blog platform allowing the subscriber do their own things ( text, chat, video, or even mobile enable things -- I though the build-in camera transmission and mail to yourself is a smart discovery, I was wrong , as this is nothing new, you may even send to a public URL and do the live thing if you are able to sending videos ), I love to catch on the train and to surf the new wave, this is not the minority but to establish and building the trend; probably I am in the internet business long enough and could not figure out the world without PC or internet, I hardly image in the modern world, who do not get themselves an email and communicate via internet; the culture of blog will booming I guess. but I still don't know If I will release the URL to anyone.
This morning , I send Fruit to a mini Summer Camp -- organize by " Outfield environment protection association ", it's goal is to find the beauty in nature and to protect the earth in a good manner, the provoke to know , embraces , and love the nature before protect them, so, I send Fruit today to experience this camp. they will stay in a mountain, learn how to survive in wild life, learn how surviving skill and to appreciate what nature provide them, when check the program, I know some of the activity will cause Fruit panic such as climbing rock with rope, maybe this is a heritage from me, she could not fit herself well in a physical challenged environment, take me as an example, how many kid didn't climb the tree when they are little -- well, I am one of the few, How many teenage don't want to try the roller coaster ? Well, I am one of the minor. since she want to go, I encourage her to experience it, this morning , during our breakfast ( Fruit prepare my breakfast every morning for a while ), she even talked about some program she may burst out crying, but I am happy that she is willing to give it a try.
Product dept. call an urgent meeting to discuss the PHS ISP corporation, to tell the truth, there's no real benefit for us, they try to bundle the PHS wireless modem with the handset -- to me, this is to do the inventory clearance, mangers didn't aware of the risk we explored, but we subtly re-direct to right track, negotiation can be simple or complicate, but the rule itself is clear, take what we want in exchange to their need , First probe, then disclosure; set high when sale, buy low , the tactic involved is to manipulate the expectation. Product manger didn't think well about the negotiation strategy, but, we overcome it finally.
I want to explore blog more and learn more about the application is apply, by far, to write down my message in English with free bandwidth is the only benefit, I shall learn more about it's feature and try to utilize what blog provided, I will also want to visit local blog site and to discover what the young elite think and express using this personal news (media) platform.
Just done a great dinner with Helen and Jay -- 2 very capable mangers in our engineering team, I invited them to a small tiny Japanese restaurant, Ho-Shing, the restaurant which I heard a lot but been there only once recently; this little neat restaurant provide so called " Home made Japanese food " which means they are not cook with rare material such as Shark's Fin, Abalone, but using simple and easy to find materials then produce delicious dishes. the restaurant do accept early booking -- you can't book the restaurant one week or even 2 weeks before , they open for reservation on the date of your schedule dinning date. ( I thought this statement describe before ), tonight, we had the BBQ chicken wings. chess roast with fish cake, steam clam, Japanese salad, eel egg roll, cool rice noodle, we enjoyed it so much, Jay didn't know why he is invited, only Helen knew.
few weeks ago, Helen send out an email to all managers and accuse the inefficiency and not well planned project impact on our business operation and challenged all the mangers involved in this cross-dept. activity, it rose some concerns, COO send everyone mail to reiterate the importance of cross-dept. process management and as the same time, advise managers not to send mail like this to increase the tension between depts. I took Helen to Starbucks and try to find out why an emotional letter comes out suddenly without consult with her superior? to my surprise, her direct report knows and have no objection to her action, but when the issue break out, her superior didn't show up or to defense together with her, this make her very disappointed, so , I urge her to make appointment with COO and to clarify this awful situation and don't let the misunderstanding turn to liability to her , this is not easy, in return, I promise her, if she had the courage to make such an appointment, I will treat her a good meal. so we are here tonight.
Lead and work with talent , we need to be sincere, need to show the empathy and be honest, why we can walk until now for a new start up, is what I called , the good people effect, we don't create enemy internally, even we are a little bit slow. Don’t befit from the learning curve, but it paid off. to keep this momentum, we need everyone in the company do what they say, do what they think; service your colleague before service your customer.
Checked I final score on EMBA course, it was so closed, my international economy only get 70, the lowest score to pass the credit, OK, I don't care, as long as I don't need to make up any course and receive all the credit for the master degree, I recalled 2 years ago when I enrolled in the EMBA program and pursue my post-graduation study at NTU - the best University in Taiwan. I am the only student who didn't obtain the bachelor degree but win permission to the MBA program. ok, contrast won't make people think I am higher or smarter. the point is -- I never play a good student before and fail in almost all the examination I took before, by far to enter National Taiwan University is beyond everyone's expectation. so, I am a little bit saburis, maybe. but I am lucky to approach the graduation status.
This is a silent week so far; 2 major telecom operation may announce the merge this afternoon, one is our shareholder, so, this is an expected surprise to us, how to handle the follow up will take a lot of effort, I need to make an appointment with Leslie and check if he reviewed the Article of Incorporation before and how the relationship shall be developed.
I complete the YPO application form just now, it's as complicate as a project, next step is to seek my classmate -- a CPA at PWC to certify the statement before filing and sending the application. if time is right, my membership shall be arrived soon.
I took a day off and bring Sound to Ya-Tung hospital for examining his broken arm, he broke his arm a few weeks ago due to the misconduct of kindergarten activity, although the treatment was made immediately, I wish to seek the second opinion and obtain expert's comment before untie his ribbon scheduled on 23rd.
Chi-Hung is a very good doctor, he treated patient with care no matter you are familiar with him or not, he value the quality of clinic and spend decent time listening to patient, Sound took X-Ray again, when check the transparency, the bone reborn and return to it's position, we are all release, he can get rid of the ribbon on 23rd.
EMBA scheduled Terminator 3 premium was canceled, but Jasper and I went for dinner as planned, we have a guest join us -- Peter, another classmate who call me up by 6:30 and were seduce by me to join our dinner, Jasper pick the Thai restaurant -- Lemon fish, during the dinner, Jasper raise the issue about his law suit , as Peter is the director for Negotiation Association Taiwan, he gave Jasper a lot of advise and suggested him how to handle the case and bring win-win situation to the end.
A free day, I relax some in the afternoon, recap on some feelings and enjoy a day with no work.
browsing YPO website and learn something about this organization, established for more than 50 years , now with members exceed 8,000, holding the title of President; shall be the elite pool, I do hope the Taiwan chapter accept my application and I may experience what I never uncounted before; the interactive among elites.
I don't know what went wrong with her, words came out of her mouth hurt me; I don't mind if she really taking care of the family or contribute her every minute to house work, but I don't deserve it, this is not what I expected when returning home from office; her relationship with my parent getting soared, I am not forcing all of the family member shall treat each other equal, I don't want to glue the gap which she thought that will never be a day to melting the bad feeling. but why raise the issue back to 5 years ago and angry at me with unpleasant language, why ? my invitation to the MBA graduation trip is a good intention, if you don't want to go, then forget it, but why compare with the thing happen 5 years ago when we have a company trip, and leave you the unforgiving impression even though nothing happened. six instinct form woman will kill a man; emotional reaction will hurt the feeling, this is why I walked up to the attic and preparing my third speech this month and drafting the agenda; I will be quietly go to bad tonight, why? I don't deserve it.
Coffee break with managers is what I did to communicate with mangers who are 2 layer from me, I don't want to overrule what COO instructed or assigned job or project, but would like to invite their opinion and listen to their voice; this is what I found workable tactic when communicating with those non-direct report to you people.
Create a session like Coffee break tend to be casual and relax. we can deal serious with business issues or talk about what we enjoy after work, it depend on mood, situaiton and what subject I want to guild, I am a person who love to couch and to solve problem for those who worked with me, Coffee break make the company more heathy, managers knows that we do have a chance to share anything, and I alwayas expect to grant my help and be theri sponsor and supporter.
I arranged a lunch to release one of the company consultant from his current function, the notice was made before the contract expired, I have some experience to handle things like this, telling your colleague that they are about to leave, not due to the poor performance, but due to the change of structure and re-design the work flow.
I don't have any skill to deliver such a message, but try to be honest and fair, the paraphrase I use the most is " You are not disqualified to work with us, but we believe the world outside will suit to better and we believe you have a great future ahead of you " and to reduce the inferior sense; consultant is much easier to handle, the contractual binding is mild and the obligation between company and him is not so strong.
Release someone from his or her current job is a must learn for any mangers, push or pull, nice or ugly; to perform it properly take time and require experience, it happen normally between the one sending the message and the target receive it. so . the story afterward can be varies version, so, this is working life or life in working.
I restart the writing process for the " 100 songs ", I wish I can complete the writing by my next birthday -- Nov. 10th, one of the goal in my early 40's, the other in now approaching, to be the member of Young Presidents' Organization, the application form arrived yesterday, I will fill them and submit it within this week.
According to the central weather bureau, today is the hottest day in this summer, it set the record for electric power consumption in near 60 years. it's so hot, global warming cause the change of earth, home for dinner was not expected, I was treated with light dishes, it's too hot for people to enjoy eating, last night, I went to the Circle -- one of the old down in Taiwan, ate at the night market, those vendors running business like for decade, it's like grandfather taste those wonder street food long before; I love the night market food as well, the inconvenience are : you something sit on the balcony of street, and there's no air conditioning, for weather like these days, you sweat like rain, but, you can't resist from the great street food, so, I ate one flied oyster cake and one bowl of stew pork rice; that made my day.
Wanhu is another night market me and my wife eat often, there's a very old and famous shop selling ice -- this is hard to explain, it's ice shapes to power and put sweet toppings , it cool you down, the shop open for more than 70 years. I love to eat, I love to eat local food, I enjoy local taste.
I try to complete my Power point this afternoon, but could not concentrate enough, the story is there, but to create graphic to the text was really a big deal, I don't have the juice to further polish the power point and sit / stuck to what I am now, the subject is easy for me to express, deal nothing with technology teams, reflect on what I did before and what I did now, I added on a subtitle " My view to the mobile entertainment - a close look from the entertainment / communication / service provider view point ", tomorrow is the due day to submit the speech outline, shall be simple, I don't want to release too much of my insight until the day of presentation, this is an indirect way to protect my intellectual property.
Mr. Han asked his secretary to call my a call this morning, it warned my heart, as one the tycoon and the leading chicken meal provider in China ( number one so to speak ), his call in regard to my apply for YPO give my new hope, we met 6 years ago in one of the charity event hosted by Eric Chen, I remember the gala if for raising environmental protection fund to save endogenous specie in northern west China, the photographer Mr. Hung Chai Wen is the spot light at the gala, I bough 2 of his photos as well, during the session, I am sitting next to Mr. Han, we chat and then friendship developed, I have a chance to invite his son to dinner and to let him know how to achieve his musical goal but at the same time to fulfill the dream of the family - a heritage of born with silver spoon, this is quite an unique encounter, I don't exact know if the young man take my advise, I over heard that he take double master study, if this is true, then my influence was there.
Recently, I read about Mr. Han from important and leading business periodicals in Taiwan, he become the captain of the family and the company become the No. 1 chicken meal supplier in China, I am glad to be reconnected again, especially when the message send were " Roger helps me before, so I want to speak to him first ", I told my wife this story, not all the second generation from the wealthy family shed the novel blood and keep normal people from their life. I wish to extend friendship with him, Leslie, Eric. if I may.
Lies, White lies, the lies you do to protect the relationship between you and the party, you set a good ground to explain what you did, a very convincing and compelling story to support a " never existing " status, and to make believe you are doing everything you can to benefit the other party.
Lies. White lies, in personal and in professional life, you make an excuse and telling yourself this is the reason; you lies. they lies, who don't lies?
It's a hot summer day, it burns your body, as the same day, it burns my soul; I woke up and preparing myself to Taipei railway station, a calling from my heart said " to do or not to do, this is the question ", took the bus from home to the Railway Station, this is my first time taking the city bus since I have a car and a driver; I am not familiar of what's the tolls, and didn't aware what I just take will not go to the Station, it's a between block transportation; when get off on middle of my first journey, I end up taking taxi continuing my soul searching.
I was there 40 minutes before the meeting schedule, fooling around and see tons of Pilipino gathering around the Station building, enjoy the free air condition in such a hot weather, and to chat with friend coming from Philippine, Finally, the clock shows 9:30, I called upon her and we meet and take the 9:45 train to Fu-Lung where the Guang-liao Rock Festival took place, on the train, she plays with my PDA , this is how I arrange to avoid any embarrassing, we arrived at 11:15, first time we did is not heading for the beach, but to eat the famous Railroad Lunch Box, and shadowed ourselves in a small Cafe for 2 and half hours before went for the Rock under the Sun; during the 150 minutes, we did exchange a lot, to be honest, we get to know each other better, I understand to enjoy Sun or Rock or Beach wasn't her choice anyway, but as this is the purpose to be there, so I insist to be in the beach and check what's going on before we call it an end.
It's really hot, we saw lots of young muscle man didn't hesitate to show their body to others. dart, good shape and looks healthy, I am too old to play this old tricks, walking on the hot beach is like touching to her, so, I decided to stay there for 40 minutes, then we head it back to the Station and took the 4:30 pm train back to Taipei.
I didn't raised any sensitive question, didn't paraphrasing in further communication, didn't inviting her feeling toward anything may burst out to emotion, I am well controlled; she is a smart girl, but not playing smart, but fully understand that I didn't want to put ourselves in a tie, in a situation that break up what we enjoy and previous about.
In my PDA diary, I call it " The end of the day ", a responsible man response to his duty, I am not quite sure how long the wave will gone, but, I know I am the person who controls, I shall hold on the rope, don't let go the rope of feeling, don't drop the rope and falling into the situation that you could not handle, it burns, not only the body, but the heart. I didn't extended any invitation to the future, some open question can be treated as the “courtesy” , she is smart, smart enough to read my mind. this is feeling in one day, it begin in the morning and end up by the night.
I do hope we sleep well, enjoy what we have and blessing each other, from the heart, not any action.
