Tag: United States

Dilemma and Decision

Leaders are tasked and paid to make decisions.

Hard calls. Tie-breaking calls. Go for the Gold, or take the safe route.

Coach Joe Paterno had a lot of wins, but many were taken away from him because of one mis-step.

Pope Benedict XVI , however, did call it quit (right timing).

And Tesla–Solarcity–Space X? the jury is still out on that one risky “pal”.

No pain no gain.

One good thing about this brutal Recession: it separates the wheat from the chaff.

The wheat here might be Indie-Capitalism, sports diplomacy, soft-power influence…

We simply cannot afford full-scale hardware-driven conflicts as in years past.

First the Soviet bloc folded. And now, the US with Sequestration.

Our machine has gotten ahead of us, the cart before the horse.

If only we could disrupt ourselves, or press “reset”. One other way is to review the old play book and give it another try.

For instance, it’s quite couner-intuitive since the IT industry migrates to the Cloud away from the office, Yahoo wants its workers to head back to it.

They will probably work out of virtual stations, with wi-fi and white boards, to lunch in play room like in nearby Googleplex.

Dilemma and Decision.

Work and life balance.

Private cloud or complete virtuality.

Hybrid or plug-in EV.

Key Stone or kicking the can.

21st-century dilemma requires 21st-century leadership.

Who among us are ready and willing to step up to the plate!

He who lives in a glass house refuses to throw stones.

When looking at the game from that standpoint, executive’s high exit bonus  is not such a bad deal. It would cost more for them to stay on than to leave. Zappos learned this and paid its new employees a bonus for leaving than for sticking around. It’s the culture, stupid. Decision or dilemma.

Shared dishes

Suzie Wong. Suzie Q. Lazy Suzan.

All the S’s in stereotypes. All boils down to a round table full of shared dishes, each could easily meet  your dai;ly cholesterol quota.

Half roasted duck, half chicken ginger etc….

Hong Kong cuisine, served in Herndon (VA).

I thought about Nixon’s trip to China, and how many shared dishes he tasted then.

Now, we got Huawei branch in Herndon selling Symantec data storage equipment.

And Haier dorm fridges, well situated inside American campuses.

Right when Hollywood lamented the great days of “Emperor” (Gen MacArthur), the other empire has made inroads here, one dish at a time.

For here or for here?

It’s best to have it “for here” for these sorts of dishes (and fried rice to go).

Kids chowed down the rice, eyes glued to the I-pad’s screen.

(I-pad perhaps made in China also).

There you have it: the consequences of Ping Pong diplomacy (Ford exported – “ping” – cars to China, and Chinese goods “pong” back).

Those who trade tend not to fight (Bastiat’s Principle).

When we got here in the mid-70’s, there hardly was any “chinese” grocery stores. Now, several Lotte supermarkets are found in Loudoun Co.

Hyundai and Kia are sold side by side with Fiat and Audi.

Chinese buffet and American buffet. No ordinary Sunday.

Follow the money. Use all your resources. Cook up some secret sauce. Suzie Q, Suzie Wong, but be not Lazy Suzan.

Hard work and hard-earned money.

It’s all here, even in times of Sequestration.

Yes. There will be challenges in brand acceptance. Who wouldn’t! Ever heard of the horse-meat scandal in the UK and IKEA?

The story of WTO has many chapters, and each with its own sub-plots, full of conflicts. But in the end, let’s say 50 years from now, we hope to see a more humane and harmonious society around that same table, sharing dishes. Well, if India and China don’t go at each other in a contest for supremacy.

New Context New Narrative

When Starbucks opened its first store in Saigon, it must have been a big blast.

Centrally located, visibly in-your-face, upscale e.g. wifi and air-conditioned.

Early stage.

When I had my cup of Starbucks, like this morning, in a Virginian Mall, there was no fanfare, no fuss.

Late stage.

Same store and story (pour your heart into it) but in different contexts.

Geographical expansion, and brand extension (more international e.g. Starbucks on the Allure).

With each new day, we add-on to our narratives new twists and turns with challenges in between.

The story of Starbucks as a brand, or the stories of our lives as biographical history, both evolve and encompass elements outside of our control.

Good to great stories require comparable-in-size conflicts.

But for many of us, ambition and adventure are better lived out by actors on the screen than us on the street.

Still, experiencing the tranquility of an enclosed Mall vs the bustling round-about near Ben Thanh Market, I felt out of context.

My body is here, overcoming jet lag. But my mind still replay the sound and sight of Vietnam (where people obviously don’t need a coat or jacket).

I know the iced latte is more popular there, while in Virginia, in the winter, it’s the opposite.

And the tip? That remains to be seen.

To top it all, my sister ran into an old American GI who had been in Da Nang and Hue 44 years ago.

He couldn’t stop talking about his experience back in Nam.

Had he stayed on and waited long enough there, he wouldn’t have to come back across the world, in new context, for that cup of coffee.

I am sure when he first returned 44 years ago, he would have felt the same. The body is here, adjusting. But the mind is else where.  That’s how we are: facing similar set of challenges from the outside, but the interior reservoir and responses are different. It makes us different and unique. It is that pause, however long, between stimulus and response, that defines who we are e.g. Walmart door opens on Black Friday (stimulus), people push and jump for stampede (response).

Same Starbucks, two different localities. East vs West. “And now, the end is near, final curtain…. ” In our own way, each of us is a Star in this Starbucks universe. They can recreate the franchise anywhere, but there is only one you, in or out of context but only one narrative. Own it. Celebrate it and don’t forget to share it. Your personal brand is un-franchisable. It rocks!

Brand America

American Apparel ‘s tag line is “sweatshop free”. Nike‘s Just Do It (i.e. Just Buy It).

Apple‘s – Think Different.

Meanwhile, Haier and Huawei are trying to copy Hundai and Kia who tried to copy Honda and Toyota who had tried to copy VW and Mercedes. Brand building in and outside of America.

What would John Kerry ‘s “elevator speech” be?

That America is exceptional?

America has always reinvented itself?

Or it has lucked out, despite its short history (compared to other nations). Ironically, its short memory has been its strength – less dogma and insistence on a set way, more adapting and opened to adopting best practices (sort of leap-frogging its political history).

We have heard so much about brain drain (to America, it’s brain-gain).

Perhaps Brand America pays well, encourages mistakes and risk-taking.

Brand America is quite tolerant even forgiving (entrepreneur’s oxygen).

Brand America has always been youthful (Rock and Roll) and sporty (Super Bowl).

Brand America might have its British roots, but then Britain had to invade it again (the British Invasion e.g. the Beatles).

Brand America exports Hollywood and imports not Bollywood.

Brand America exports clean toilets (American Standard) and fast food.

Brand America leverages low-interest rates and cheap labor.

People line up to get in, many stay on, but some have left because of the recession.

Brand America advocates racial and gender equality, champions environmental and civil rights.

Brand America is indeed exceptional in the way it treats its weakest link – from pets to children – from the handicapped to the retired.

When values are at odd, it’s where Brand America shines albeit with vigorous debates and violent disagreement.

Brand America has enduring values that need constant refresh.

It is continuously transformed and transfigured: two World Wars , two Recessions and two Towers. Brand America’s strength lies in its people.

Free thinking and swift action. Some residue from Frontier’s Days won’t hurt. Shoot from the hip. You add to this train of thought. Because you are as much a part of the brand as I. Brand America’s tag line: reinventing you (from Eisenhower to Einstein), sweatshop free, but not free of sweat.

Georgetown on my mind

It’s been some years since my last visit to Georgetown.

Who could forget the last scene in Exorcist (which set standard for a whole new genre).

But first, a stop at my parent’s graves in nearby George Mason U.

Cold and crisp. Students were out for a jog, some even shopped for shoes. It’s President Day. President Obama however chose to spend time in Old Town Alexandria.

We were lucked out! Imagine what the parking would have been had he picked GT !

We found a spot on 27th St way pass the Mongolian Embassy (GT could be one of the most international cities besides NYC).

After deciding to pass on Miss Saigon (the restaurant, not the show), my brother and I settled for Johnny Rockets. Shakes and fries, peppered with music both of us can relate to.

It says on the mini juke box (next to the ketchup) that it costs only 5 cents per song.

Give Me Some Lovin., Lean on Me.

What a time! (50’s Innocence).

I even got extra milk shake (total one and a half glass). That explains why I feel  so full now.

Georgetown might be an open-air mall, but to me, it represents something else. It’s neither old nor new. Just classy. World-classy (well, with Pretty Woman, walking down the road… and gay guys too)  elegant, exotic and exclusive.

On days like today, President Day, one cannot help reflect on the making of the Republic.

How our taxes are collected to the dime, our parking meters to the minute and our library books to the day. Then how our leaders let it go to the cliff, fiscal cliff.

I know the Mongolians are watching. They have their embassy here. To see, to learn, and to relay “take aways”. One of the many things they probably won’t take home and take heart is that American spent first, save later.

Saw a shopper carry a pair of Nike out of the box. He probably just took them off display.

Now, that’s some “take away”. Just Do It. Run, baby run. Just watch out for the fiscal cliff. It’s tax time. Have we a lot to declare? to write off? to hide?

On the cover of The Economist, I noticed something about trillions of dollars of uncollected  off-shored corporate taxes.

I am glad to see across the river that Rosslyn is building out aggressively.  I root for many more Rosslyns and Georgetowns across the nation. Let’s build and they will come.

Why should world tourists flock to Paris and London? And Mongolian only put a diplomatic presence here, instead of urging their people to come, to spend, and even to stay. We need foreign currencies, in any shape or form. Let them pick the song on the juke box. Good for the house, good for the country. Happy President Day. Start thinking like one. After all, we all live here, and very likely, die here. Georgetown on my mind (courtesy of Ray Charles‘ Georgia on my mind).

If you could read my heart

In Eastern cultures, one relies on traditional matchmakers to “read” marriage prospects.

Online, we’ve got eHarmony.com or Match.com.

Over job interviews, we rely on body language, off-guard remarks and (in)consistencies to form an impression and to determine candidate’s culture-fit.

If only could you read my heart.

How are we to determine his/her reaction after the learning curve? We don’t.

But there are a few principles:

– one tends to act consistently with his or her own internal set of standard

– we subscribe to a social compact

– we seek to preserve a long-term win-win balance i.e. cheating doesn’t pay

– collaboration leads to synergy which in turn feeds the virtuous cycle

– we seek to need-fulfill from the bottom of the Maslow scale up (survival first).

I never forget the Northridge quake, when we couldn’t get to work.

Co-workers, Hispanic, Korean, American, Vietnamese, Chinese (Los Angeles office), were all “quake victims”.

Apparently, there was something bigger than ourselves (and our ethnic make-ups).

We cared for one another as fellow human beings and shared inhabitants of this fragile planet Earth.

If they could have read my heart then.

So, on this Valentine Day, may we – co-workers – assume first the role of fellow inhabitants: from the inner ring loved ones to the outer ring – the human family: black, brown and white.

Once that social compact is bought in, it is easier to work with someone, to empathize and to collaborate. Test your candidate, see what planet he/she is from. Does he/she even feel at all? Respect at all? Or just go about “doing my job” regardless. No man’s island. Especially on Valentine’s Day.

The ME who could’ve been

It’s Chinese New Year morning. Except there weren’t a lot of Vietnamese around.

They were here yesterday, and last week. But apparently, on this cold Sunday morning,

gym wasn’t their priority. Attention is devoted to festivals and festivities at the Temples, in the park and at the fair.

Like in-country counterparts, they would put on new clothes and carry li-xi envelopes ready to be dispensed, like an eager college freshman with stacks of condom supplies.

Here in Orange County, the festivities have only just begun. Bands were busy rehearsing, and bottles pre-ordered (up scale wine and dine).

I thought to myself, what a wonderful world.

Had I stayed my entire time in Vietnam, what the Me would have turned out?

– I wouldn’t show up at the gym on the first day of Tet either (none would be opened) and

would still fight the hang over from the New Year Eve’s celebration.

– I would drink strong cafe sua da (iced latte), perhaps from the only Starbucks in town.

– Sometimes people go the movies during Tet (since there aren’t a lot of entertainment venues that could accommodate an entire extended family). This year, Die Hard is opened on New Year’s Day in Vietnam.

Ten days before, they showed “My Nhan Ke” (femme fatale), complete with sword fighting and Crouching -Tiger Matrix-like effects.

– I would stay home early in the morning, for fear of being the first visitor to friends’ houses. Who would want to be blamed for the bad outcome of their entire year!.

Banh Chung (green-bean cakes) and pickled onion would be my brunch, since restaurant workers also stay home to celebrate their own Tet.

Then comes the dreaded part: the unwanted relatives.

They would want to reorder my life’s priorities by matchmaking attempts.

I would burn incenses for my deceased parents, offering fruits and flowers along with Banh Chung and confitures.

Tet in Vietnam or in the US is the same.

But the man I used to be (the Me in relation to others e.g. uncle, brother-in-law, etc…) has changed.

I work out, I read, I blog and frankly, I have become atomized and adapting to both virtual and western world.

My motto is to observe, filter and retain only necessary data (handling spam mail) for survival.

I want to connect the dots or else others would do it for me.

Instead of being the mini-we in We, I have become the Me on my own, with legs to stand on.

It’s like the spirits of the Dust Bowl. Rebuilding after the gathering storm, all on one’s own.

We are evolving into new creatures of the Web, where Who We Are is influenced by what we view, like and whom we share it with.

It won’t happen overnight, but it is evolving. The same way our taste for music and fashion by osmosis once shaped by our next up of kin (or closest friends).

Or else, how would we explain an entire generation falling in love with American Pie, Vincent, Say You Say me.

My friend mentioned Lionel Richie‘s line “easy as Sunday Morning”.

So it’s Sunday Morning. The Vietnamese who would otherwise show up at the gym, have taken it easy “like Sunday Morning”.

It’s new year. It’s a celebration. Time for feasting and eating. To broker marriages and business relations.

Even to forgive trespasses both from the religious (Sunday)  and cultural (Tet) stand point. Let us not fall into temptation. I am sure after these three days, (with gambling and drinking involved) many would find above prayer more meaningful if not personable. The Me who could’ve been should have taken it easy like Sunday morning.

Instead, I end up going to the gym all these three days and only take small bites of the bean cake. It’s brand simple, but a winning entry for our national contest for the throne. Back when the general consensus was that the Earth was square. And that it’s not good for a man to be alone on this very day. He has to be a mini-we in the context of a larger batch that hatched into a tribe called Lac Viet, ancestors of today’s Vietnamese. No wonder those “Individualized” stairmasters remain unoccupied on this New Year’s morning: everybody is reclaiming what’s they once were.

Say “cheese”!

I touched on this slightly in another blog. It’s about growing up never knew if my grandparents even smiled at all (I gathered this from the black and white photos in the family album).

We are still shackled by the analog world which tells us to stand straight and stare straight into the lenses (36 poses max).

Yet cameras are now built in the smart phones. It’s digital. It’s universal almost.

So why not say “cheese”! Every moment is now an event… the outing, the posting caught on camera.

Picture-taking used to be a Christmas event to document how babies have grown. To make post cards and greeting cards.

With online convenience, we now send greetings digitally. It’s fitting that I pen these lines an hour before the coming year of the Snake.

My parents used to whip up some poems to welcome the New Year and refresh our spirits.

It’s a necessary reboot.

Everyone works hard there in the East (more manual labor than Industrialized West). The hot weather makes you sweat all day.

A/C is for the white-collar folks.

If you were to document in photos a day in the life of an average worker in Vietnam, you would find that he/she gets up very early and tries to beat traffic and everyone else.  He/she either goes for a run before sunrise or not at all.

Then strong coffee. Then chopping woods, so to speak . People either divide up a huge chunk of meat, or newspaper delivery folks a huge pile of papers, or lottery sellers got their tickets at predetermined gathering points.

When the sun glistens, open air markets are already in full swing: fish and fruits, eggs and noodle.

People have breakfast and people have fights.

All in a life of an average worker. Traffic smog and traffic accidents. Back to and from work. Then the night life. In full swing. Snacks on wheels at night market. Bangkok or Saigon. On the waterfront, or back in the alleys. Life at its rawest. Capture it on camera.

Let it go not. Why wait. Things won’t stay the same. In our life time, we saw this digital revolution. At least, future generations can deduce that their grandparents indeed say “Cheese” for the digital cameras. Back when I had my TV internship, that regional station was still hanging on to half film (with dark-room processing of news reels) and half tape. I am sure it has gone completely digital by now.

Loosen those tight grips of the analog shackle. We have yet seen the full implication of complete digitization. Who would still laminate a classic book, knowing that it’s available on Kindle. Yes, we have seen rising unemployment, which was a result of automation and digitization, which in turn, is causing underemployment for others. The 55-hour work week will soon be reduced to 35, to accommodate incoming workers.

Work less, enjoy life more. What else can we ask for standing on giants’ shoulders and inventions of the 21st century. Cheers!

Go a bit more native

In 2000, after 25 years of being away, I made a short trip back to Vietnam.

What a culture shock (especially when I landed in Hanoi, where I had only heard about).

Twelve years. A dozen trips later. A little deeper into the alleys and byways.

I think I have touched on different parts of the proverbial Elephant.

Vietnam now has malls that are as sterile as the ones in the States (on weekdays).

The first Starbucks is having its soft-opening.

Raybans, I-phones and Vespas are as common as the remaining rice fields.

French colonial presence is confined in the centres with boulevards and sidewalks (just like in Cote d’Ivoire). But urban sprawl doesn’t stop there.

At the outskirts of Saigon, shops after shops compete for retail customers.

Fresh flowers are shipped in from the highland just in time for Tet celebration.

Coffee shops with Wi-fi serve up tea to go with coffee (East and West blended).

When you see a bunch of well-dressed Asian get off a bus, you know they are APEC tourists.

Or else, backpackers would try to hopelessly blend in with flip-flops and shorts. Lonely Planet. I read that guide on my first trip. Now, I rely on instincts and instructions from my taxi and scooter drivers.

Like any city, Saigon is divided into various social strata The upper crust lives behind iron-gates and tinted Mercedes.

Everyone else, crowded flats and scooters, wearing required helmets and optional surgical masks.

Fortune are made and lost here. One bubble after another. 1997 and 2008.

Not as severe as in Thailand. But the poor have always suffered, below the radar. They will probably continue this trajectory for a while, even with more foreign investments. With brands like Nike, Intel, Starbucks, KFC and Jabil , change is undeniably in your face.

Vietnam has grown out of the “war” box. It has evolved into an emerging market and “Happy” country (behind only Costa Rica). It is worth visiting and studying.

While people are increasingly materialistic, that alone is not what makes them  happy. Perhaps with the right mix, one can be content.

Let’s not forget, people do share the spoil, which makes them materialistic, but not yet individualistic.

To give is more blessed than to receive. But not for long since the mono-chronistic, individualistic and modernistic cultures are invading, and people start putting up fences and walls. Fences make good neighbors, as Frost put it.

But it also slices away those invisible connections people are born into for centuries, before the French, the American, the Russian and the APEC people arrived under the pre-text of global village. In truth, what do we know about life in a village? I certainly don’t. The US arm forces didn’t. Nobody did, except the people who had lived there, and now are living in the city. They too wouldn’t tell (I found “After Sorrow” by Lady Borton quite informing).  While I try to go a bit more native, they went the opposite (urbanized). Somewhere in between, we cross-path like two ships in the night. Oh, don’t forget to bring cash if you want to go a bit more native.

Retreat, retrench and return

40 years on since the last US combat boots pulled out of Vietnam.

Today, Starbucks lady returns, luring passer-by amidst the town square. Senator Kerry is getting his confirmation while a 40-year-old Vietnamese couldn’t tell an American from a Russian.

Vietnam is just a name, like Iraq will be 4 decades from now.

Vietnam today has Vespas (Italy), Mercedes (Germany), Honda (Japan), Kia (Korea), Haier (China) and La Vache qui Rit (France).

I enjoy reading translated literature from all over the world (sometimes direct translation without going through English).

40 years on.

The cyclos used to be common. Now they are relics of the past, confined to tourist districts only.  Machine is replacing muscles.

Then we buy gym memberships to exercise those sedentary muscles.

Talking about machine. News have been trickled in from BRIC nations: clubs from Russia and Brazil were burning (smoke machines for real, not just for special effects). The flip side of prosperity. Just like crime rates have been down  in NYC (people went online instead of walking the streets. 60% search inquiries were porn).

Home alone with hormones.

It’s easy to look at a poverty-stricken nation and make moral judgment (while a convict in developed nations would wear suits-and-tie sitting on the defense side of the bench, trying to deceive the jury just as he had done with thousands before).

40 years of regress and progress (Watergate to Bill Gates).

Good-hearted folks can’t help but see poor ROI the US have spent on arms.

Russia at least refused to play Russian roulette, so instead of pushing ICBM‘s, its leader went private, pushing Pizza (Hut).

We are evolving into a post-hardware era: software and soft power.

Those with thought leadership and social influence rule. And not for long.

Think not of the pyramid model. Instead, it is a kaleidoscope which keeps changing (the good side of this is if we can reinvent ourselves, we can reappear multiple times, like associates in Cirque du Soleil).

I am glad to see Starbucks here. I heard it is also opened in Forbidden City.

If Friedman is right (two nations are least likely to be at war when both have a McDonald) then perhaps Vietnam and China can avert another conflict, over coffee. American quintessential Starbucks coffee.