The 51st Consultant

Penang, 8 September 2011 – A decade ago, a representative of a Japanese conglomerate asked me, what I can contribute to an existing team of 50 internal consultants. That question deserved some serious thinking time then and now.

Companies spend hours with their consultants going over action plans after action plans, analysing problems, to find out the cause-effects and improve on existing performances. There are situations where the owners of the companies are former consultants themselves. They were the experts in their chosen field be it engineering or accountancy and they chose not to audit themselves, rightly so.

Every assignment has its distinct differences and roles for just about everyone. There can never be enough internal or external specialists to do an excellent job. To easily test this basis, conduct a satisfaction index after a project through questionnaires from a collection of clients. Despite all the efforts, there is still room for more improvement!

Three important elements that the 51^st person should bring in:

Creativity: The key to unlocking a successful case is not 1 or 50 consultants but what is the creative solution for that particular problems contributed by the team. You may have 1,000 chefs, but you still cannot decipher the 11 secret herbs and spices of KFC or the recipe to Coca-Cola without the “Person”. Someone who is daring enough to try and push the limit, shares the fruit of success and failures -- ultimately producing fair results.

Application: It is better to fully cook right than to start a potentially half-done job. A company attaining ISO 9001 for mere marketing highlight achieves lesser satisfaction comparing to actually understanding the entire Total Quality Management and daily applying the philosophy to better satisfy the customers. Having reduce errors by 75%, increasing customer call turnovers by 200% and efficiently handling customer complaints rather than avoiding complaints over period of 2-5 years are definitely more complete than gambling with a 50:50 chance of getting more customers from advertising, “I am certified” in the year.

Change: Even though there are 50 people in a project room, the mere presence of one charismatic 51^st person invigorates everyone. New positive energy, freedom to re-make decisions, fresh ideas, clearer priorities. Unlimited feeling. Perhaps even a new side-project that links up with the Main.

Looking back 10 years ago, it had been wiser to have walked away and affirm later what it takes to be included as the 51st consultant. The constant review of the same tricky question, how can I contribute more, keeps me truly alive.

Benjamin Franklin and a Tutorial on Business Letters

April 6, 1777

"Sir, I have just been honoured with a Letter from you, dated 26th past, in which you express your self as astonised, and appear to be angry that you have no Answer to a Letter you wrote me of the 11th of Decemeber, which you are sure was delivered to me..... Whoever writes to a Stranger should observe 3 Points;

1. That what he proposes be practicable.
2. His Propositions should be made in explicit Terms so as to be easily understood.
3. What he desires should be in itself reasonable.

Hereby he will give a favourable Impression of his Understanding, and create a further Acquaintance... Now is happen'd that you were negligent in all these Points." --- Benjamin Franklin, in a tutorial on business letters from France to a stranger who identified himself only as "Lith".

This Day in Business History

by Raymond L. Francis, pg. 246

19 August

1851 Soft drink entrepreneur Charles Elmer Hires (b. 1851) began selling a ready-to-drink beverage made from 16 different wild roots, herbs, bark and berries in bottles in 1886. He selected the name "root beer" when a friend commented that hard-drinking miners would be attracted to root beer than to herb tea.

1870 Financier, stock speculator and adviser to presidents during and after the two world wars, Bernard Mannes Baruch -- A millionaire by 30, he said in 1955 on his 85th birthday,

A man can't retire his experience. He must use it. Experience achieves more with less energy and time.

1883 Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, the French fashion designer/entrepreneur/said to be Nazi spy or lover to one, who ruled over Parisian haute couture for 6 decades, said,

Innovation! One cannot be forever innovating. I want to create classics.

Highlight Issue: Why Some Companies Fail to Live to Expectations

For the past months, it is being observed that Top Management failed to deliver as promised.

Whilst it is good to note that Corporate Malaysia attempts to split the work of a Chairman/Managing Director with the day-to-day running of CEO/General Manager, a word of caution must be explicitly offered:-

Choose your people wisely.

Nowadays, Top Management being CEOs and other titulars are from younger generations which are tech savvy and enterprising. Their aggressive attitudes and egos in life are fast-paced and honorific -- which can be both pros and cons.

Pros -- equal minded business partners are willing to work with those who pursue dreams at a shorter life span. Why be profitable by the 7th year when it can be done in 3 years with good partnership?

Cons -- over-promising, #1 in suggestions and #last in carrying out actual work. Resulting: poor results.

Here, bad CEOs highlighted their lives to the public -- from one Facebook entry of a young CEO,

"Its a boring job" and the personal interests are all the political-activities such as anti-this, anti-that of non-business related affiliations.

Perhaps he wants to emulate the styles of Sam Wal-"mart"ton, Michael Dell or Tan Sri Tony Fernandez, people who live life to the fullest and interacting with the people around them. However, these people rub positive image and positive beliefs.

It is no wonder, a used to-be great company which had millions in profits ending up with millions in losses over short-term period after management restructuring.

If the CEO finds his job boring, little wonders what the staff feels about his/her job over there.

“STRATEGOS – The New Era

A General observing an on-going battle with his military advisers - Strategos

Strategy and Strategic derived from the Greek root-word, Strategos. It is a title meaning, General or Leader and are used to this day. Over the years, the words are used as reference to Office or Command of a General where all the works of leaders are made to be carried out.

So where is the General’s Office? It used to be on top of the hill overlooking at the battle formations of troops lying across the plains. There are leaders who lead from the front – Guan Yu, Alexander, Napoleon, – who used horses for height and speed advantage. Technology and rival tactics changed all that.

Natural leaders like Ulysses Grant are among the first to recognise leaders need not be in frontline to be able to see, control and plan how things to go in battles. This cut the risks of losing the person who thinks on saving lives of others. What happens if the leaders are to die first in business? Whole organisation will ultimately fail.

Being involved in strategy has been the key activity for our firm. Unfortunately some professionals misused the word strategy when they are actually in the field of planning, accounting and other major aspects of organisations. This was the problem encountered by Bower (McKinsey), Drucker (Father of Management) and Henderson (BCG) when defining their art.

2011 represents a new era where leaders of the World are to conform new sets of international rules of conformity after disastrous this few years in almost everything we did from money markets, constructions to diplomacy.

The Strategos / Leader shall lead the way.

Win-Lose Proposition in Life

From an innocent question of a manager from Fortune 100, “What is new in MIENS?” - it became a signature course at year-end 2010 with Intel, Alor Star’s Nursing College, Penang’s Nursing College having participated and a few more in the books.

MIENS has always been on research and development of solving management problems and understanding of leadership activities. So much so, our Principal – Erasmus teamed up with Dr Daisy Kee (USM) and Prof. Dr Zainal Ariffin (UNITEN) to work on a leadership book in 2009. What is new? We took off to the tangent with W-L Proposition in Life which explores the largely unwanted part of Conflict Management theory – Win-Lose or Lose-Win.

Do You Know?

After accumulating feedbacks from various excellent organisations be it Private (Pvt) and Public (Pub) sectors, these are some strong trend indicators to suggest the following:

1. 99% started out looking for the top position in career.

2. 22% (Pvt), 77% (Pub) are well-equipped with a career path plan.

3. 10% (Pvt), 44% (Pub) willing to take smaller roles.

4. 33% (Pvt), 54% (Pub) currently have other occupations such as MLM, Insurance, Tupperwares, etc.

5. 67% (Pvt), 86% (Pub) are willing to swap loyalty to the other industries when their “other occupation” turns better.

T'was a Time - Tribute to Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu

Just before his 90^th Birthday, I’d met up with Tun at the appointed time. My purpose was to write his biography.

Our 4-hour conversation was kept behind closed doors and at his request, no records were to be made.

I asked two insight questions: How was the critical thinking done that leads to the fateful decisions made after 1969? Would Penang be as dynamic as Singapore or Hong Kong?

He took time to answer one of the questions. Unfortunately like the other two would-be personal biographers before me, he had chosen not to reveal his life-story. I miss this Old Free dearly who rightly deserved to be our King’s Scholar – Erasmus Koay

8 GOLDEN RULES OF #BUSINESS

1. RESPECT OTHERS, RESPECT YOURSELF.

2. BUSINESS AND SOCIAL FIRST.

3. ANY GREAT EMOTIONS, TAKE IT ELSEWHERE.

4. FOR WEALTH THEN CHARITY.

5. DELIVER AS PROMISED.

6. CONFIDENTIALITY AMONGST MEMBERS.

7. TIME IS BOTH YOURS AND MINE.

8. TIMELY AND ACCURATE INFORMATION, AS BEST AS POSSIBLE.

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GENERAL ORDERS

1. SPEND MIN. 1 HOUR MIN. #BUSINESS PER DAY ON PURE BUSINESSEFFORTS. FILL IN FORM 1 TRANSACTION AS TO WHOM YOU TALK TO, SUBJECT MATTER. RETURN THE FORM AT END OF MONTH TO #SOPs FOR REVIEW. #AOPs ARE TO ASSIST IN TALLYING SCORECARDS, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.

2. TRY NOT TO FLOOD. IF NECESSARY TO EMAIL ALL MEMBERS ON THE LATEST ARTICLES, THOUGHTS, IDEAS, PROPOSALS YOU MAY HAVE TO GAIN THEIR INTERSTS.

3. ONLY REGISTERED MEMBERS WILL GET TO KNOW THE WEBSITE, ONCE THEY HAVE EMAILED THEIR PROFILE INFORMATION, NATURE OF BUSINESS, CONTACT NUMBER COMPLETE. FORM 2 MEMBERSHIPMUST BE USED FOR ALL REGISTERED INFORMATION.

4. PRESENT YOURSELF AS A PROFESSIONAL AS TO WHAT YOU HAVE DONE AND WHAT YOU CAN DO, DON’T BRAG. GOOD JOKES ARE WELCOMED.

5. IN DOUBT OF BEHAVIOURAL RULES, ASK OPs.

6. SOPs ARE LIMITED TO 3; AOPs ARE TO BE MINIMUMLY 7; EVERY MONTH END, ALL OPs ARE TO VOTE AOPs TO BE SOPs BY HIGHEST NOMINATIONS. ALL PREVIOUS #SOPs ARE TO BE ORDINARY OR VOICED MEMBERS (PER THEIR OWN REQUESTS).

7. FOUNDER/SUCCESSOR IS A TITULAR ROLE AND FOR EMERGENCY USE ONLY.

8. VOICE SHALL BE GIVEN TO MOST ACTIVE MEMBERS ON DAILY STATION BASIS. GUESTS ARE ALWAYS WELCOMED.

9. WEBSITE ON MEMBERS INFORMATION / DIRECTORY SHALL BE KEPT CLASSIFIED.

10. ALL OPS CANNOT KICK, BAN FOR ANY REASONS UNLESS DEFYING GOLDEN RULES, GENERAL ORDERS, STANDING ORDERS, SUPPLEMENTARY RULES. FORM 3 MUST BE USED FOR ANY BANs. (SEE STANDING ORDERS ON KICK/BAN)

STANDING ORDERS

KICK/BAN

1. PRIOR TO KICK, CITE NON-COMPLIANCE TO ONE OR MOREPARTICULAR RULING WITH 1^ST WARNING. NO APOLOGY REQUIRED.

2. REPEATED OFFENCE, KICK WILL BE PROVIDED WITH CLEAR CITED REASONS.

3. IF OFFENDER REMAINS SELFISH AND DO NOT BEHAVE CONSTRUCTIVELY, THEN A BAN WILL BE IMPOSED AND CAN ONLY BE UPLIFTED BY ANY OF THE OPs THE NEXT DAY. FORM 3 SHALL BE USED.

4. PERMANENT BAN – TO BE DISCUSSED WITH FOUNDER/SUCCESSOR.

MANAGEMENT

1. FOUNDER/SUCCESSOR CANNOT INTERFERE WITH ANY DAY-TO-DAY MANAGEMENT OF #BUSINESS UNLESS HE IS TO MASS DEOP ALL #SOPs DUE TO DISSATISFACTION.

2. OPs CAN BE ABSENT WITHOUT NOTICE DUE TO MANY REASONS INCLUDING BUSINESSES AWAY. NO CHECKS AND NO TEMPORARY OPs NECCESARY.

3. NEW RULES TO BE PUBLISHED – WILL BE REVIEWED ONCE EVERY 3 MONTHS (QUARTERLY MEETING) ON A FIXED DATE AND TIME.

4. A RESOLUTION WILL BE PASSED BASED ON THE MEETING, AND ANY ITEMS TO BE VOTED SHALL BE DONE BY EMAIL. NO PROXY VOTES ALLOWED. VOTES SHALL COME FROM FOUNDER/SUCCESSOR, SOPs AND AOPs AND RESPECTED VOICED MEMBERS. SIMPLE MAJORITY IS SUFFICIENT FOR STANDING ORDERS. 75% VOTES MAJORITY IS SUFFICIENT FOR GENERAL ORDERS AND CONSENSUS (100%) IS REQUIRED FOR GOLDEN RULES. VERIFICATION OF VOTES IS BY EMAIL ADDRESS SIGHTED.

5. FORM 1, 2, 3, 4 SHALL BE REVIEWED AND VERIFIED.

INFORMATION

ALL BUSINESS INFORMATION SHALL BE PUBLISHED IN WEBSITE AND ARE FREE TO BID BY INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OR JOINT-EFFORTS. NO INFORMATION MUST BE KEPT BY ANY INDIVIDUALS, OPs AND FOUNDER/SUCCESSOR FOR HIS/HER OWN INTERESTS.

NEGLIGENCE IN OBSERVING THIS ORDER IS ALLOWABLE BUT DELIBERATE ACTIONS TO CONCEAL OR DISTORT INFORMATION FOR OWN USE WILL RESULT ANYONE IN AUTOMATIC AND TOTAL PERMANENT BAN OR IN THE CASE OF FOUNDER/SUCCESSOR REPLACED. NON-NEGOTIABLE.

MEMBERSHIP

NOT AUTOMATIC AFTER 14 FEBRUARY 2011. ALL MEMBERS MUST BE RECOMMEND BY 2 MEMBERS . HE/SHE SHALL HAVE A MENTOR OF SAME TIME ZONE (VOICED, OPS OR FOUNDER). IF NO SAME TIME-ZONE FOUND, A MENTOR SHALL BE ALLOTTED.

GUESTS

VISITORS, GUESTS ARE WELCOMED. MEMBERS ARE TO GUIDE THEM

MEMBERS

MEMBERS ARE REGISTERED AND SHALL ABIDE TO THE RULES SET WITHIN. FAILURE TO CONTINUOUSLY OBSERVE RULINGS MAY RESULT PERMANENT BAN. NON-WORKING GUESTS ARE INVITED TO BE NEW MEMBERS.

VOICED MEMBERS

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS OR THE VOICED MEMBERS ARE THE MOST RESPECTED, QUALIFIED AND WORK-EXPERIENCED MEMBERS OF HIGH CALIBRE WHO HAVE SUFFICIENTLY AND REPEATEDLY OFFERED ADVICE, BUSINESSES, IDEAS, ETC. THAT MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS OF #BUSINESS. THEY MAY EVEN BE FORMER WORKERS CURRENTLY RETRENCHED OR STUDYING.

AOPs

1. CAPTAINS OF #BUSINESS TO ENFORCE AND ALERT ON BEHAVIOURS.

2. HELP TO KEEP THE CONVERSATION IN ACCORDANCE TO THEME OF THE DAY OR ANY BUSINESS EFFORTS.

3. ASSIST SOPs IN MEETING OBJECTIVES.

4. TO APPOINT VOICED MEMBERS (IN TRULY EXCEPTIONAL CASES, FROM MEMBERS) AS REPLACEMENT AOPs, WHO SHALL BE INFORMED BY THE FOUNDER/SUCCESSOR.

5. MAJOR ROLES: PLEASE DISCUSS WITH THE AOPs AS TO HOW THEY CAN CONTRIBUTE.

6. TO VOTE AOPs AS SOPs AFTER 30-DAY OF SERVICE.

7. TO ORGANISE REAL-LIFE EVENTS.

8. NUMBERS MAY BE EXPANDED BEYOND INITIAL 7 DEPENDING ON PROJECTS.

SOPs

1. GENERALS OF #BUSINESS ARE TO LEAD.

2. SET THE THEME OF THE DAY(WEEK).

3. POST NOTICES. FORM 4 NOTICE AND ALERTS TO BE FILLED.

4. TO SET AND MEET OBJECTIVES.

5. TO SET AND REACH GOAL.

6. 3 MAJOR MANAGEMENT ROLES: MARKETING (INTERNATIONAL), BUSINESS, FINANCE

7. PLAN WITH AOPs ON ACTIVITIES.

8. TO VOTE AOPs AS SOPs AFTER 30-DAY OF SERVICE.

9. NUMBERS ARE LIMITED TO 3.

FOUNDER/SUCESSOR

1. TO ENSURE ALL RESULTS TABULATED BY SOPs BEFORE RELINQUISHING POSTS. IF RESULTS ARE WITHHELD BY THE ANYONE, THIS SHALL FALL UNDER STANDING ORDERS OFINFORMATION.

2. TO CONFIRM AND ANNOUNCE NEW SOPs/AOPs.

3. PLAN WITH SOPs AND AOPs.

4. UPDATE THEMES.

5. UPDATE WEBSITES.

EX-SOPs

1. CHOOSE BETWEEN MEMBERS OR VOICED MEMBERS.

2. CAN BE RE-VOTED AS AOPs/SOPs AFTER BECOMING MEMBERS OR VOICED MEMBERS.

3. LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE.

Old application: mIRC; New channel: #Business

Gong Xi Fa Cai,

Ever since the 2 newsletters been launched issued in Dec 2010 and Jan 2011, Advisor's Digest has been a little bit quiet. We are still considering running parallel communications.

Here's a 3rd way... consider using social networks such an old application like mIRC.

I have been in mIRC since June 1996 and over the years, it survived over ICQ and other setups which died off. We all certainly remember "ah-oh" before its been replaced by other VOIPs including now the popular Skype.

So why mIRC didn't die when the world has video-imaging and voice talk? Because its still the most basic way of chatting and feeling safe without someone looking at you or look into your private information. You can have your own nick(name)s as many as you want.

So what is #Business?

The intention is to have a unique business learning and business networking centre. We know some of the regulars and some have even become very successful. Unfortunately, some of these people have left mIRC and gone into the real world.

Business world is about who you know, what sort of relationship you have with them usually starting from social-relationship, grew up in school together and one day, working side by side. Some even become husbands-wives. Others, great friends.

So take this opportunity to promote #Business and lets prosper together.

Erasmus