The 11th law

Forbes ran a piece on the 10 laws for our century i.e. Metcalfe, Moore etc…

Encompassed above should be the Golden Rule, the 11th law.

Committed to communicate and collaborate. Contribution.

Do unto others.

Racing to the top, but also helping others to get there.

I experimented with the Asian model of running a sales team back at MCI.

My boss gave me freedom to try it. We shared and split regional sales.

Results: team cohesiveness despite the big difference among us.

Not to mention we all reaped huge rewards.

Today, speed trumps sharing, which often slows down progress.

In the six months I have been in Vietnam, I learned this lesson: consensus leadership.

Don’t upset the system. What you give up (Western notion of personal achievement) you gain back in cooperation and collaboration.

When you crossed the Pacific, you entered a bubble, a fish bowl, where everyone sees and rates you with new lenses and new games, three moves ahead.

Perhaps Drucker knew it well after all. Forget “achievement”. Just “contribution”.

Chip in.

Larger pot. Pour in more water. My best meal here was “chao suon” after 40 years.

Just rice pudding, with one or two small ribs. But when you got to those rare bony ribs, you savor them. Eat them slowly.

Large pot, few meat.

Lost weight. But feeling happy. Sharing the pot with many, on a rainy night. Sitting on baby stools, watching scooters zip by.

Welcome to the fish bowl.

Where the 11th law rules.

Got to have that down, or else, it’s all high-tech, without high-touch.