Innovation in Troubled Times

I was doing some research at work today and had chanced upon the blog from Air Asia's CEO, Mr Tony Fernandes, and what I saw got me thinking. Why, you ask? The reason is simple. Mr Fernandes, who is a CEO of a highly successful CEO of a budget airline in Asia, was using his blog to connect with people. Here was an innovative man who was reaching out to his audience and connecting with them; he even had a live chat facility for people who wanted to speak to him.

What's the big deal about this? This aspect is significant because of the industry. Take a look at newspaper reports on the airline industry. The airline industry is a troubled industry since deregulation and has become a competitive space. With the introduction of budget airlines, the legacy airlines (traditional airlines like Qantas, United Airlines etc.) began to suffer and flaws were showing up in their business models. The rise of the budget airlines, though, has not been simple especially in Asia where, unlike North America and Europe, acceptance of such airlines has been slower. Legacy airlines have had a stronghold here in Asia due to their resources and regulations. However, one airline, Air Asia, has come forth and established a stronghold out of Malaysia and has grown year on year where they are currently offering flights to London. This growth is amazing considering that several dominant airlines with huge resources and established brands preside here.

The success of Air Asia can be easily attributed to entrepreneurship; the man at the helm is visionary and an entrepreneur. However, entrepreneurship is a broad term; there is no real meaning to what is entrepreneur. For example, if I decided to venture out and begin my business, I am entrepreneurial but it does not mean that I will succeed. My take on Air Asia and the success of similar companies though comes down to innovation and marketing.

So why is innovation important during these times? Innovation is actually key to business today. Innovation is the ability to create something new or develop a new process upon an existing process to improve efficiency. Continuous improvement, as such, is critical to a company's survival because this creates a competitive edge; the sooner and the cheaper we bring a product to the market, the higher the revenue will be for the company. For example, Henry Ford innovated the assembly line which allowed him to manufacture cars for less and in turn, increase sales and revenue for his company. Similarly, a company like Air Asia figured out the formula to attracting more customers for their flights through marketing and no frills flights, which, in turn, resulted in increased revenue and passenger traffic despite a lower per seat charge.

If we were to apply this view to the current economic situation, we can see that there are some critical lessons we can learn.

1. During an recession, let's keep our heads intact and not be reactionary, Take a look around you, there are still many companies that are figuring out how to succeed and are succeeding, so don't be down.
2. As a Manager and leader, stop being reactionary, instead be innovative. Think of new ways to improve your bottom line. Bear in mind, cutting headcount and reducing pay is only a temporary measure. Don't believe me. Consider the following. A reduction in your cost base (i.e. layoffs and salary reductions) only constitute a one time improvement on your balance sheet for the year; however, if the company cannot generate new revenue the following year, the company would be judged on the previous year's temporary reduction. In this case, no new revenue may be generated. However, in troubled times, if a company focuses on innovating itself, the results would carry through for many years because it is a core improvement to the efficiency of the company. This can account for improved sustainability of the company. This is the difference!
3. Having an MBA or a whole lot of credentials does not ensure success. Business is practical and not based solely on analysis. Learn to look at business realistically; sometimes looking at the simpler things like getting closer to your customers may be the simple key. No MBA will teach you that (mind you, I am not discriminating against people with MBAs or credentials but I am just advocating practcality and not theory).
4. Innovate...innovate...innovate and focus on improving processes and bringing your product to the market for less; this is long term improvement and not temporary improvement for shareholders.

Ovearall, I believe that we should stop solely worry about controlling costs. Yes, cost control is important but we need to balance it out with innovation in order to ensure that revenue comes in. Bear in mind, many companies (even well known ones) have disappeared over the years because they have failed to grow with the times and have failed to innovate.

Believe me, there are great companies out there that are surviving the recession and growing; in my view, Air Asia's upbeat outlook is testament that vision, innovation and a good leader can grow a small company into a powerhouse to be reckoned with.

Knowing What is Important in Life

The issue of stress is becoming a growing concern for many people. Every morning as I flip the papers, all I see in the news is about how bad the recession is or which company is axing how many people. When we come to work, we face the stress of knowing that we may be next on the chopping block as companies go on "cost reduction" exercises on the premise that such reductions will aid in sustainability of the company. We face paycuts and lay offs which are becoming a reality and a part of our daily lives regardless of whether we are the ones undertaking the act or the subject of the action. The stress levels are rising.

Through this stress, it is very simple to overlook many things in our lives as we battle to retain our jobs and maintain our wealth; we worry if we will lose our jobs, we battle and jockey at work for positions, we essentially undertake a battle both inside and outside. Today, work is becoming the central topic of our stress. Also, this stress is becoming a part of our lives at home. Through it all, though, we forget one very critical aspect of our lives; work is a means for us to survive (i.e. to sustain our daily needs) but should not become such a stressful activity that we overlook more important things in our lives.

What is more important than your job and money, you ask? Well, let's put it this way...health and your loved ones. Take a look around you for a minute and look at your attitude towards work compared with your attitude towards your family. I was very surprised when I first began working in Singapore 3 years ago that it was common for many people to work extremely long hours and even after the long hours, work is still brought home. This shocked me as in North America, an employee was only required to work 40 hours a week and this is your only obligation to the company. The result of such long hours here is that family time is now missing with kids being raised by surrogate parents (e.g. maids, nannies, and grand parents) instead of being by their natural parents, lower marriage rates etc. Couple this with the current stress, the resulting mixture is a very disjointed family life.

What I am trying to say here is that sometimes it is good to take a step back and look at the situation with your life and take stock of what is important. Money is good but ultimately when you pass on, this all becomes nothing and amounts to nothing. Money and possessions do not become you and the more you crave, the more stress you get beacuse you will never be satisfied.

Your loved ones and your family, on the other hand, are the people who are your pillars of strength; they are ultimately the ones who stand by you regardless of whether you are rich or poor. In good times and bad times, your loved ones want to be with you and are willing to go through the troubled path with you. This, to me, is more valuable than the riches and possessions that I crave because the love from your loved ones is permanent but the satisfaction from possessions is temporary. Do be aware, though, that we cannot take this love and support from our loved ones for granted; we must invest into it so that it will stregthen.

The reason that I write this is because I have the love of a beautiful lady who has decided to stand by me through the good and bad times. I will admit that I am one of those who did bring the stress of my work back home but she has patiently listened to me. I have realized that this love is richer and more satisfying than all the possessions that I can possess because it is from someone who genuinely cares for me. I am filled with remorse sometimes, though, from my obssession with running the ratrace and being the "Best" but at the same time, putting undue stress on my relationship with her. Such stress and lack of consideration cannot be excused. I, for one, feel that it is time for a change!

So what can we do?

1. Learn to move away from bringing your work home. When at home, devote your time to your family; this is truly your treasure.
2. Talk about your problems at home with your loved one but don't drag it out into a protracted session or keep ranting and raving about work; nobody is interested in pure complaining with no conclusion. Also, your loved one is human and has feelings too; you are not the only one with problems.
3. Learn to relax around your loved ones. Remember: Everything will take care of itself in its own time; this has always been the way the universe revolved since the beginning of time. We are not God and we cannot change things but we can trust that things will happen in its own time. For example, since the 1900s, we have seen many recessions come and go but we are still here; we need to trust that life goes on.

I, for one, have decided that I will take a fresh outlook with regards to my life. I shall begin to put what is truly important to me, my wonderful darling, ahead of eveything else. Building a life and family with her is more important and I can trust that everything else will take care of itself.

This, I believe, is the true calling of my life. Start today and truly understand what is important in your life. Take stock and you will see that work stress is nothing that we cannot handle. I know what is important in my life now, do you?

No One is Totally Spared From Problems

Ever been in the circumstances where your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend was having a tremendous time coping with his life, it could be his career, health, etc. It got so bad that you feel you may quit on him or just break down and cry, hoping things will be good again.


I remember the incident, whereby, I held back and put on a brave front. It definitely help because the last thing that I wanted was to make matter worse. It also show to your loved one that you are calm and compose and that you and your loved one will work things out together.

In life, no one can be totally spared from problems. Problems can be very stressful not just for the person but also to the other people around. It can lead to anger and depression because the situation happened to him.

If this happen to your loved one, never avoid him. Even though he may not realize it at the moment, this is the time he needs companionship and understanding. Sometimes by just being around is enough to help the person through the tough time. Sometimes a short conversation expressing one's feelings can do wonders for him.

Never push him but offer suggestions. It will be up to him to decide what he wants to do next. The effort must come from him and support him towards the direction.

The Pay Cut Issue

Recently, I've been to a gathering and learnt from alot of my friends that their companies are retrenching staffs and those who stays on will get their salary cut.

The question I have today, is whether a paycut do help our career?

A company may ask its employees to take lower salaries to keep the organization afloat or to avoid massive layoffs. I find that the alternative is often having no job at all.

Former Yankees manager Joe Torre said at a press conference, “The fact that somebody is reducing your salary is just telling me they’re not satisfied with what you’re doing.”

Business may has slowed around your office. Well, at least you still have a job. But you will also learn that your salary is being cut.

Do read on when it comes to pay cut issues: (Abstract from Web)

Make No Accept-ion

-When your supervisor breaks the news to you about your pay cut, do not accept anything immediately. In other words, refrain from conveying any type of agreement, either verbally or in writing. If pushed, you may say something to the effect of "This is a lot to process right now. I need to think about this and discuss it with my family this evening."

What you want to do is buy yourself some time. Why? You need to find out all the facts surrounding a salary reduction before you accept it. A pay cut can affect your future severance package and compensation for unused sick or vacation days as those numbers are usually calculated based on your current salary -- as are unemployment benefits. Also, the reduced compensation could affect salary negotiations with future employers as your last salary of record could be significantly less than what you are really worth.


Questions to ask your superiors include:

- Is this a mandatory or voluntary pay cut?
- How much will your pay be lowered by?
- Who else is affected by the pay cut?
- How long will the pay cut last?
- Could there be retroactive reimbursement?
- How will this affect raises, bonuses and benefits?
- Are you going to have to work longer hours or take on additional tasks?
- What are the company's plans to turn things around?

Questions to ask yourself include:
- How much do you need this job?
- Do you have faith that the company will recover from this setback?
- Can you trust what your superiors are telling you?
- Is it time to move on?
- After gathering information outwardly and inwardly, you may want to speak with an employment attorney to explore all of your legal options and your rights.


It Pays to Negotiate

- Once you know the facts and think you may wish to continue at your current job, see if you can negotiate to make the pay cut more palatable to you.

- Some areas to negotiate can include your weekly hours and where you work. Suggest a reduced schedule, such as a four-day workweek. Or try to arrange to telecommute to reduce your commuting costs.

- You can also negotiate around stock options, if you still believe the company is viable -- and valuable. If you don't have any stock options, ask for some. If you have some, try to get more.

- Finally, ask the company for a written agreement around the salary cut, when your old pay rate might be reinstated and if there will be any recompense for lost wages.

Exit Stage Left

- Because most people are employed "at will," you or your employer can end the arrangement at any time and your salary can be lowered, as long as it is done for a legitimate business reason. But, if your pay has been cut by an unreasonable percentage, you may be able to quit and still collect unemployment benefits.

- If you have an employment contract, you may be able to refuse the cut altogether or at least quit and collect unemployment, but only if the contract states terms of compensation and says that your employer cannot alter the terms without your consent. The pay cut could constitute a breach of contract

- Finally, you can temporarily agree to the pay cut, update your resume. Begin applying for new jobs immediately and look forward to the future with a different employer.

Bad Times Bring Out the Worst In People At Work

The situation that we are in right now, is that, bad times bring out the worst in people. I have came across co-workers who back stabbed me or will do anything to get in good books, be it with the boss or the company's clients to boost their career status first.

That is the ugly side of human when faced with threat for survival. Because of the current failing economy and job loss, people fear losing their jobs and there are also those who have already lost their jobs. People start back stabbing their co-workers, or they blame and point fingers towards one another in hopes of increasing their own value.

The tactic may work for some in the short term, however, it could also result in failure. This is because, the work environment becomes stale and it will results in failing efficiency and productivity. And the business could dies.

Whether you were the person stepping on your fellow colleague or the one who was being stepped on; if we remain selfish and try to save only our own interests at work, we will fail. Not only will we bring down co-workers, but employer and the economy right now could suffer.

The economy does bounce back. So remember, never do things that you will regret.

For me to keep

The CLEO team are nice to invite me for a photo shoot on the letter that I wrote. Its featured on January 2009. I've got to keep this.

Towards Corporate Objectives

Sometimes, we came across people working in a company and somehow seems lost about why he is here in the first place. That is actually bad for himself and the company in the long run. A lot of communication about the company's objectives are not convey properly and clearly from the day the employees started working and that result in "bad hiring".

We often blame others for lack of motivation, that they are a bad hire or some are "in their own world". It never cross our mind that the root to the problems started from day one of his work.

We should develop staffs around a common goal. Helping them feel a part of something genuine, special, and important, and to inspire real passion and loyalty.

We all know that nothing will ever happens by magic. To be able to work towards corporate objectives, staffs and managers should constantly communicate objectives to their employees and be seen living them. A lot of time, people don't know where the organization is going and what it is trying to achieve in the future.

Victory comes from everyone sharing the same goals.

We must always think and look at the bigger picture. Successful companies are those that focus their efforts strategically. They are able to meet and exceed customer satisfaction and the business team needs to follow an overall organizational strategy.

Everyone in the organization must ensure they sees a benefit in order to make a company work.