Tag: Organization

Trust as currency

I have had great team experience.

Been looking for an encore.

When team works out, we can skip the prelim and go straight to solving problems.

It saves a lot of time. Besides, trust binds us together.

Online, it’s hard to know who is who.

Hence, trust online comes at piecemeal.

Tit for tat.

Amazon has earned our trust (click here and the books get delivered ).

Or, as kids, we know we will get picked up after school. So we learn about trust.

Lovers expect Valentine cards. Trust.

Government deducted our paycheck. Hope they pay out when we are old.

Trust (hopefully they don’t keep moving retirement age).

Without hope and trust, we would go array.

Can’t function. We need that certain amount of predictability to operate.

Expect the best, plan for the worst.

The best compliment one can get is “he/she can be trusted”.

Past behavior and consistent nature tend to increase trust.

Knowledge of each other and yes, a few fights in between, also deepens trust.

Conversely, trust issues are up there in company’s priorities (escorting a sacked employee to the door).

Been there, done that.

Somehow we need to build trust into organizational culture (cash donation for self-served lunches. Not only it saves company’s time – but also can serve as an exercise in trust. Conversely, the fridge at work is the worst place when no one is in charge).

Transparency, constant updates, keeping people in the loop, on the same page etc… all build trust.

Leadership skills. Communication skills. Group huddle. He who trusts others will receive it in turn. Trust as currency. And this currency tends to multiply.

The trust virtuous cycle. Keep investing in it.

Taking chances

Peter’s Principle states that line managers are often promoted “beyond their level of competency”.

In other words, a technical guy, best at his job, ends up being the boss who has to crawl his way through business dilemma and personnel issues.

In life, however, some problems cannot be solved at the same level where they had first occurred. Bully problems at school, for instance, need intervention. Or as recently as this morning, Sandusky‘s sin exposed and dealt with in public.

It’s a call to take chances, to take risks if we were to make any progress.

This Recession has drawn out both the best and the worst in us.

Some of us rose to the occasion. Diversify ourselves. Or take the high road (going after our passion or non-profit work).

Others just checked out. Drifted.

I have met a bunch of expats who kept staying in-country indefinitely.

Extended vacation.

Or permanent student.

Profitable venues i.e. financial and housing sectors are hitting bottom.

We are left with the “sure things”: food, clothing and shelter (renting).

Even families once so close now seem so far. Recession pull them apart, that was.

My friend reminded me how long it took Japan to get through its V-shaped recovery. 18 years.

Ouch! I will be dead by then.

Still there are things that need risks: crossing the street, eating one more bite of that greasy foods or banking on the elusive thing called love.

Friends went into fields which are quite different from their academic and career backgrounds. That’s risk-taking.

I spotted excitement and adrenaline.

For VC‘s, they need to hit 20% of the time, to cover the other 80% failures.

Still it’s worth it.

Still taking that chance.

Still go for it. Or else it wouldn’t be solving the problem at a higher level.

Because after all, many of those problems cannot be solved if left where it started.

But beware of over-promotion (beyond one’s level of competency). Peter’s Principle.

1+1=3

Organizations go through many life cycles before winding down, or absorbed in a M&A.

Here in Vietnam, fluidity is the word that describes the dynamics of organization.

Like organism that evolves with its environment, organization here often bends and changes beyond recognition.

We know the solution is embedded in the problem.

Yet we need to affect change slowly.

Harmony is key.

Disruptive behavior is not encouraged.

Yet to grow, organization has to build disruption into its timeline.

As long as 1+1=3

Synergy.

Organizational change is a microcosm of a larger trend, similar to the rise of  BRICS.

The South-South axis will influence emerging nations much more than North-South Imperialistic past (as of this edit, there is a book out entitled “The End of Power”, in which the author argues that power is more fleeting and transient than ever before).

For instance, students from Vietnam are offered choices to study in Australia, Singapore and US.

Yet for financial reasons, they cannot pick US, their premier destination.

With option A, they come back only know Australia as the outside world.

Yet Australia takes its cue from the UK and North America.

Hence, two-step flow of cultural change.

This trickle-down effect is accelerated by the internet and network effect.

Voila! We got a borderless world, whether we like it or not.

Open U and Open Door.

All we need now is open mind, to welcome change.

Young mind will take in anything.

Just build, and they will come.

Be courageous, and be flexible.

1+1 might equal 4 here in Vietnam.