Tag: India

Risks and Rewards

As the saying goes, you’ve got to enter the lion’s den to get the lion. No pain no gain.

Taking risks is not something for everyone. After all, we have all the safety measures built-in to our system: from seat-belts to “frisk-machines”.

Yet, in business as in life, risk is part of life, just like death itself.

Risk is associated with fear. When consumer’s sentiment is said to be “healthy”, it means people are more willing to borrow and invest. In short, to spend.

When it is low, it means greed is suppressed by fear.

Spint has just completed its purchase of Clearwire.

It has been a long ordeal.

Back in 1999-2000, these enormous acquisitions would involve much more risks, yet much less time.

(Ebert, number 4 Worldcom purchased number 2 MCI by stocks).

It was a wild ride.

Then the dot.com burst.

The key here is spectrum.

We move very fast on the ground (wireline) and in the air (wireless).

ICT on steroid.

With strong appetite for risks, which requires strong stomach as well.

No risks, no rewards.

In Asia, we got Singapore, India which showed strong leaderships, capable of risk-taking (social engineering and IT, respectively).

Before 1997 Asian crisis, these countries were looked upon as Miracles.

Leadership is lonely at the top.

Unintended consequences and the urge to take the path of least resistance will undo any bold moves.

If a leader has chosen all the safe paths since college (taking courses that would ensure an A, and a career that was well paid with least sacrifice), then the result would be leadership who is risk-advert.

Play politics.

Becoming all things to all men.

Catering to the whim and wishes of the majority to win votes.

That’s their rewards: popularity and being well-liked.

But risk takers have a different play book. Not foolish risk, but calculated one.

Gut-checking. With a lump in the throat. Screw it, let’s do it.

Those who take risks also face fear just like anyone else.

But went ahead and made the call anyway.

It’s called judgment and maturity.

It’s called, for the lack of a better word, Execute.

And it’s an art, with lots of practice and pain-taking efforts.

Not without consequences, among which unpopularity.

No risks, no progress (think of the Challenger).

Think of Marconi and his wintry towers.

Think of all-solar crosscountry flight (Amelia Earhart would be proud).

Think of Hoover Dam.

And millions of inventors and risk-takers who lost their shirts. And in the case of the owner of Segway, his life.

No risks, no rewards.

Learning as motivator

From papyrus to paper, from microfiche to microphone, we use technology for knowledge transfer.

Learning is a great motivator. Once started it never stops (in my death-bed, I probably still ask the attending nurse what all those charts mean, and why not this and that).

Don’t believe in learning curve (as if once you got over it, you own it. There will always be pace learning i.e. know, forget, know again as if for the first time).

Politicians on their first term barely learn how to get back from the underground of the Capitol or stay out of SE part of town (I heard it is now quite gentrified).

Coursera has been a great success. It harnesses technology to extend learning to the mass. Technology as slaves, not masters.

Lift them up, not put them down. I enjoy reading about the Indian IT and call center folks enjoy their night out at a disco, Chinese tourists flocking the streets of Paris or Vietnamese students coming to CAL State. Let them come. With traveling comes learning. With learning people are more open-minded.

Here in Vietnam, cable TV shows Hollywood car chase, guns blazing etc… With exposure  comes the exercise of choices.

Tolstoy doesn’t believe in true freedom of choice (free will vs predestination).

Still, the urge to learn, to discover, to connect and to advance one’s self is innate

The only difference between acquiring information online vs at Ivy League institutions is the socialization of knowledge. Upper-class kids would meet and marry (imperial alliance model) one another, hence perpetuating the ruling class.

But in those far-away lands (Timbuktu), with internet, who can stop a genius from acquiring information about protons, neutrons and electrons. Physics is physics. International grad students might stick out like a sore thumb given their speech and dress code (formal).

I saw kids in the Mekong Delta riding bikes, then crossing a river on ferry to get to school. And that’s on a sunny day. When it rains, I don’t see how they can get to school in dry uniforms (one heart-broken story last year. A boat full of students sunk and students never made it to school).

Learning as motivator.

Then, shoes and broadband. Thomas Friedman, author of the World is Flat, had similar ideas in the NYT today.

Learning as motivator.

The things they carry. Turn those swords into plowshares.

Angel of Death into Angel of Learning, Agent Orange into Agent of Change.

Broadband for rural, broadband against ruin.

Nobody can stop a man from learning. Not even in the confine of a prison.

Senator McCain was detained for a while in Hanoi Hilton. He now sits on Senate committees. Tell me he did not learn a thing or two while being detained.

Learning takes many forms and takes place when least  expected (even from the bottom).

To learn one must first be humble and teachable. One must be motivated even on a ferry-boat or one’s death-bed.

Twitter and Tolstoy

My new-year resolution is to get through Tolstoy‘s monumental “War and Peace.”

The characters and ethos were deliberate and elaborating (everyone wants a piece of the inheritance while the man was dying etc….).

Visitors were announced at the gate (no intercom), received at party etc….

Tolstoy’s imperialistic people have time on their hands. We don’t. We tweet, text and retweet.

But man’s nature remains the same: greed, exhibitionist, illusion of grandeur.

Trapped in their place and time, would we be doing any better?

How much is man a product of nurture vs nature?

With chip speed doubles every 18 months and Google Kansas City SuperFast Broadband, where do we go from here (or do we wish to go on to infinity?).

The I-pod cannot get smaller (Shuffle).

A tweet cannot be shorter.

If someone could think of something to debunk Facebook and YouTube, they probably would.

Faster, more efficient and more savings. All fine. But that doesn’t explain Newtown, 9/11 and gang rape in India. (as of this edit, it has just happened again, this time, to a Swiss couple).

Stuff that Taleb coined “black swan” in human nature.

It’s a vicious cycle. We think like this because we are taught to reason, to ask question (Socrates). But then we are inside the system, like cog in the wheel, unable to have the bird-eye’s view, to see the weakest link.

With new Congress sworn in this week,  I sincerely wish the freshman class have fresh eyes, and hopefully, committed hearts.

May they live out their terms and their years with honor and worthy of our votes. Just hope that while they tweet, they would remember Tolstoy. We still live reflexively as cavemen, with Black Swan and blind spot. Our blindness is built- in, and should not be viewed as a weakness. Just is. (no one has ever seen their eyes with their own eyes). But then, we need someone to point that out. We need a team. A partner. Someone who is both prophetic, yet pastoral. Condemn and console. Yes, we are imperfect products of our times. Just as Tolstoy’s people, of theirs.

The normalization of the abnormal

Some of us who still remember the Cold War remember how easy things were: black and white.

Everything else “Third World.”

Now, the Third World has emerged. Hence, we live in a multi-polar world.

More complicated world. More are at stake.

People wheel and deal.

Purchasing parity has become less of a parity.

Trading up and trading down. Things and places are interchangeable (Banana Republic , despite its name, used to carry made-in-India or the Philippines – no banana republic there).

Marijuana used to be a taboo. Now it’s legal in some states.

I am confused. My moral sense (put there by my parents who were born early in the 20th century) has been challenged and put to question.

Those foundations are constantly revised and compromised.

First by others, then myself (or else, I am looked at as a loser or an outsider).

Sounds like a teenage phenomenon. But it’s real. Flight or fight.

Cavemen syndrome still.

With technology moving so fast, energy consumed at break-neck speed, our sense of the world and how it should operate needs a relook.

The enemy is now our friend ( for example, Russia as supplier of oil and arms).

Our friend has become enemy (by abandonning us when the coalition calls for joint troops in the Gulf Wars).

What was abnormal has become normal.

In this multi-polar world, China, now the largest automobile market in the world,

doesn’t discriminate imported products, but its export ones are.

For the right reason (unsafe, copy cat etc…).

We have an image problem.

We need to improve our relations with others (who have also changed).

We need new friendnemies.

We need to normalize that which was considered abnormal.

Gay is the new straight , the pheripherals have gone mainstream.

It’s late-stage now for a lot of things such as globalization and world trade (finished products get shipped back to the US and Western countries, turning the US standing into a Third World status by definition).

I am glad we still agree on grammar points and earning points.

Do unto others as we would like to be done onto.

The only thing that is constant is change itself. Grow up!

People, Problems and Politics

In that order.

You just need to navigate the permutation and potential.

Great things are accomplished by and through people.

Yet at the same time, it’s people who drive us crazy.

When a big group with more EGO than ECO, we have faction and division.

Cliques and classes.

In India, an “untouchable” family finally had it. Their daughter got raped by the village powerful. And it did not stop there. They even bragged about it. Words got around back to the father.  Shamed and humiliated, the mother took it to court. Twice the shame, in hope of one right.

Now, that’s people, problems and politics.

At work, we don’t have such an extreme (not at the magnitude of Penn State).

But part of the process is to let leadership rise. People can be taught to collaborate by example.

The power of someone in the organization acting for the common good (without any one watching, or claiming credits).

At some point in our lives, we learn to trust ourselves. That no matter how bad, we only have one life to live, sharing it with the people not of our own choosing (family and co-workers – especially during the Recession). Hence, make the best of it.

Bigger picture. One Earth . One ozone layer above and one oil resource underneath. Be “earthful” i.e. mindful of late-stage Earth. We have been on steroid. We have been “Lances”. Now is the time to take stocks. Get rid of the water bottles. Start using hand-wash towels. String out a clothes line (solar energy instead of machine dryer). Maybe even hand wash our sneakers.

Come one. Park the car at the other end of the parking lot and start walking to the gym.

Brain storm on the refrigerator’s door to see how many ways our families can save by conservation (I saw a kid pick up soda cans tonight, with parental participation. Outta  girl!).

Of all the holidays, Halloween is such a waste (costume worn once).

Fourth of July as well. We keep shooting up and burning our hard-earned money for a politics we don’t even support (I know this is harsh and unsubstantiated. But look, the way the country is heading, we might as well be partitioned in two).

People, problems and politics. Can’t do with them, can’t do without them. Before 1984 (Personal Computer), we had spent most of our time talking and working with people. After 1984, we sit in front of the screen (all sizes), and interact with a machine. “It says here, you are not in the system” (what system? the clerk did not even input a ticket I have tried three times to pay for).

Not sure we have sacrificed people skills for computer skills. But society hasn’t progressed for the better as a result of faster data processing. We still have homeless people (perhaps more with high foreclosure rates), our educational standing has slipped, and we are not even up there in Competitive and Happy Index as a Super Power should. Go figure. Google it for yourself.

Fit for Future

Some live behind their times. Others ahead of them.

Tesla was definitely of the latter.

Wireless was his thing. Lincoln was another forward-thinker, enabler and en-actor  of abolition.

Our next hero is poised to deliver us from oil dependency.

That day will come, as surely as the sun rises in the East and set in the West.

The Earth will heal itself and the penguins will have kept their playground.

Just zoom out from history and take a look.

Unintended consequences happened. Columbus got lost on his way to India.

Mr Watson, come here (first phone call).

Last Saturday, at BALQON, we heard from the owner himself how he had made history: EV tow-trucks.

It could be done. And being done (freeing up the National transport fleet from oil dependency, at least 75%).

To prepare for the future, one sacrifices the present.

Think of SEAL or SAT  training etc…

One goal, one mind.

Fit for the future.

Nobody can beat the man whose mind was made up.

This is how he/she envisions the future.

And work backward from there.

What missing ingredients? What help to be solicited? Where would the resources be to make it happen?

Essentially, change agents are artists themselves: creating something out of nothing, ex-nihilo.

One main reason some of us don’t “fit in”, is because we are supposed to fit for other times.

We and they just don’t realize it.

When it’s time to go (die), these people are glad to depart, because their playground isn’t primarily Earth-bound.

Just passing through.

Meanwhile, we are beneficiaries of others’ invention, reformation and creation (a kid in China today enjoys playing Cityville on his/her I-pad, unaware of how many versions of fast computing prototypes the company went through to get there).

He or she simply builds on this baseline.

The rise of the rest.

It will never be enough. Never completely satisfied. This triggers a new wave of progress.

Fear of the Boogie Man or Dracula, for instance will be replaced by fear of the alien, life from outer space etc… From children’s fantasy to futuristic breakthrough. We will leave the past behind, the seen for the unseen. Be fit for the future.

Ennobling

You don’t have to be rich or poor.  Nobility is a choice.

A willful act of service. A realization that your words, which might injure someone, be best left unsaid.

WWII servicemen, having seen and heard all there was to be experienced, have put themselves through school (GI Bills) and affected the change we see today in America.

Ennobled, encouraged and emboldened.

The next generation saw the Fall of Saigon. This time, servicemen and women got jeered at upon returning home.

How long will it take to right the wrong? Agent Orange and secret agent.

No safety net for people whose call of duty is to protect others’ safety.

But if they did volunteer and serve out of noble causes and conviction, they will rise again.

The Phoenix indeed does rise from the burning ashes.

And so it goes.

Yesterday’s gone. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.

Rich or poor, gay or straight, nothing can stop you from being ennobled.

It’s a choice, not a birth right, unlike the European feudal system which is passe.

It’s time  to arm oneself with the best of knowledge (coursera) and connection (social media) to affect change.

Get out and vote. Get up and be ennobled. I am sick of having a dream. The journey of a thousand miles does begin with that single first baby step. Deal with innertia and get off that couch! Just Do It!

Nature as reminder

Scientists just found out that Earth is much older than previously thought. It certainly has a way to maintain itself.  Remember Tsunami and Fukushima? or the Louisiana oil spill and Katrina? At the time, we thought we couldn’t bear the grunt, but one by one, they are now behind us.

Same thing with this summer ‘s drought and consumer sentiment dip.

Yet, it is known that many companies are hoarding cash e.g. Apple .

In NYC, Chinese got in line to buy a few phones, just to hand-carry them back to Main Land.

Those phones were made by FoxConn, Taiwanese who contracted out to Main Land to begin with.

When users need tech support or help from customer service, the calls got routed to India or Philippines. To be cool and hip, one buys clothes that go with the phone.

Again, those clothes are now Made in Vietnam.

There are signs every where to remind us of a wider world out there unlike the man who ” while life goes on around him everywhere he’s playing solitaire” courtesy the Carpenter’s Solitaire.

When we say our bedtime prayer, people in the Far East are off to action. It’s like the story of a hare and a turtle. In a race.

When do we turn around to learn from others, from nature and its permanence?

The best gift we can offer the world and others is being ourselves. By being authentic, we allow them to be themselves as well. Break the ice. Break the silence. Break the barriers.

We are not marketers who try to segment our customer base.

We are people who need people (who make our I phones and our Nike shoes).

Remember, tonight, when we go to sleep, others in the Far East are getting up to punch in, at factories and farms (server) to maintain our data base or make our footwear. Be mindful and thankful that nature and evolution are both working in our favors. BTW, they are talking about I-phone 5 already. It’s a dry summer here, but it rains elsewhere in the world. The machine is off here, but they are humming 24/7 around the world. It’s a different world now but nature stands to bear witness to those changes, as always.

Less is more

In reading Steve Jobs, a theme keeps emerge: less is more.

He cut out the fat and all its distraction.

(being a veggie, he stayed true to form).

His closet was full of the same long-sleeve stretch shirt that defined his personal brand.

His take on wealth and money was also consistent with his 60’s philosophy.

Steve could be nice when he chose to, but working for him must have been a nightmare.

His current replacement was quoted as saying “someone must take charge and fix the problem in China i.e. suppliers”. Half an hour later, he turned to see the man in charge still sitting there “why are you still here?”. That man drove to SF airport and bought a ticket flying East.

It’s true that our world is better and certainly more beautiful with technologists like Steve who also doubled as art lovers (I-pod).

If life consists of only 0’s and 1’s, we would all be automatons.

Lucky for us, we got both Bohr and Beethoven, Newton and Nicholas Cage.

Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Yet people keep acquiring, acquiring, acquiring.

And the longer I live, the more I see this isn’t going to end.

The pursuit of happiness has meant the pursuit of things (think of exercising equipment for home you saw on night TV).

All I can recall from a Hermeneutic class was “a priori “(we read into a text what we had already thought it would say).  We have consitently misinterpreted the meaning of happiness. In fact, advertisers have done this for us (driving a Cadillac is cool. Hence, to be cool, you must own a Cadillac).

Those text-book writers managed to make complex something very simple.

Urban gangs could say “yo man, m..f…is a racist”. That would say it all.

In the age of Wikipedia, if we want to go in-depth about a topic, just click it and scroll down. The spread of information will multiply even more quickly than Gordon Moore had anticipated (IBM has found a way to save space in transistors, call it magnetization, as opposed to polarization as traditionally used). Devices will get smaller with longer battery life (Acer’s thinnest laptop).

But convenience and comfort don’t equate to happiness. Life has gone on for centuries unassisted by today’s accessories. A tribe in India (island) is still functioning without modern amenities. (Tourists tried to bribe them to “pole dance” for YouTube , raising the issue of “human zoo”.)

The happy countries index often lists Costa Rica and other S American countries.

Yes, quality of life index listed Scandanavian countries such as Norway and Finland. They got the oil, but equally distributed unlike Lybia. But happiness doesn’t confine to just Costa Rica as opposed to Costa Mesa (where South Coast Plaza Mall is located). Perhaps Steve saw something while living in India (My Sweet Lord).

Perhaps we too should reexamine what are the core things that make us happy.

Beauty is found in wild lilies and the grandest scene recurs at every sunset.

Sometimes we missed those moments of happiness, only to recognize them after the fact. Would it be simpler to give happiness the initiative to seek us out. I bet you it work out better that way.

Something to learn

IT workshops and seminars are happening on a weekly basis here in Saigon.

Monsoon season is almost over. Except for some cigarette vendors, the Sheraton  downtown could trick you into thinking you were somewhere else, like San Francisco.  Lunch was ready for a group of  CSO‘s and Software testers, uniformed attendants mingled with pony-tailed guests.

Something in the way he moves (my friend, that is).

This was his second time organizing software testing conference.

Forever curious, always testing, probing, “jazzing” his way in hope of “bumping” into the unexpected.

How do you debug something you have never used?

Put it through imaginary scenarios.

Use the parameters and practices.

Niche on top of niche.

That’s how one thrives in a “me-too” market (for instance, India now considers to open its retail market to MNC’s). Another “me-too” market with logo, look and label.

India will be the most populous country on Earth in the next century.

Watch out, retailers.

Follow the money.

Something to learn.

The IT talent pool there are unquestionably top-rated.

The question is, who is going to be number 2?

When India itself looks to outsource some lower-value activities so its engineers could focus on McKinsey‘s level, where would it place its chips?

Malaysia seems to “get” this as shown in its laser-focused software parks and tight coordination between academia and corporate entities.

Thailand has realized that more could turn out to be less.

Back to Korea, back to Singapore and Taiwan.

Expensive? Yes.

Quality? Also a Yes.

You get what you  pay for.

Something can’t be manufactured overnight like curiosity, creativity and connectivity.

I read somewhere that the British Intelligence Service made a job offer for who ever could hack into its  system.

Again, why not use the talent that is out there.

In our digital age, anywhere-anytime connectivity opens up tons of opportunities for both the good and the bad.

Never a boring moment.

7 Billion  people in motion.

Key board got tapped.

Cursors blinking and moving, one word at a time.

Thoughts are formed and sentences completed.

New age, new idea.

Something to learn, to test and to share.

Facebook promised to “blow us out of the water” when it unveils the new Facebook. I hope someone inside Facebook did a study on the New Coke.

It’s a historic brand mismanagement.

But then, because of New Coke, we now got Classic Coke.

Coca Cola still rules. Something to learn from. And that is, brand endures even when challenged. When it comes to people, it’s character and not charisma. No wonder companies like SouthWest Airlines just kept growing , methodically and efficiently year after year (per Collins). It would not be far-fetched to say the 10,000 hours that are required for an individual to acquire a new skill set, is also applied to companies as well. Something to learn and learn well, time after time, day in and out to develop second nature.