Belief, knowledge and passion may be enough to do any business but not enough to sustain it. Creativity is the one that does the magic. Without it, we might still be able to run the business but will be unable to bring it to newer heights.
As it is that change is the law of life, having a business will require it to constantly change to suit its customers' needs. Creativity is needed to keep this change constant. To have the creativity flowing, having a freedom of thought patterns might not be enough. Instead, having freedom to do the business in the first place will maximise our potential of creative energy. For this to happen, having a home business will be ideal.
Successful home businesses are said to be owned by largely creative people. With the never-seem-to-be-ending outbursts of new technologies and methods of doing home business, more opportunities have been created. It may not be necessary to make use of new technologies, however we can get ideas from them to better our home business. For an instance, when the act of article submissions was known to be the most effective way to market online, tons of software on automated article submissions were developed. We may not need to use them but who knows what ideas we can come up with from them.
Since two heads are better than one, we can tap creativity our from friends and relatives. Gathering constructive feedback from them proves to be very useful. Even if their ideas may not be the best ones, at least we can use them to improve or spark off new exciting ideas of our own.
A good way to start our creativity energy going will be to follow the following steps. They can aid us in focusing on problems that need to be solved and opportunities that need to be grabbed. Of course, there is no hard and fast way to get our creative thought flow because if there is, then it would defeat the purpose of wanting creativity in the first place wouldn't it?
1) Think of the current situation and what it takes to achieve the desired situation.
2) Identify the problems and ensure that they are genuine ones.
3) Analyse the problems.
4) Decide on what can be changed or improved to achieve what is desired.
5) Try making these changes or improvements and see how they work.
6) Use ideas and skills to make them work even better.
7) Review the solutions and see if they are feasible to implement.
8) Put them into action and see if the desired situation is achieved.
If this does not work, try repeating steps 2 to 8 again.
A good tip will be to think of paradoxical possibilities since we are living in a world filled with paradoxes.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Some thoughts on services marketing
Most firms realise the importance of service quality and customer satisfaction. However, it is often unclear on how to achieve these goals.
During the service encounters, when disagreements arise from problems and solutions, customer satisfaction is compromised. This highlights the importance of understanding behaviours and the types of events leading to customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Hence, it is vital to comprehend service encounters from various perspectives to assist firms in better educating both employees and customers. 100% service quality can then be better achieved.
Keeping this in mind, it is important to note that from the employee’s viewpoint, customer satisfaction largely depends on moments of truth (the interaction between customer and the employee).
The acknowledgement of existence of wrong customers and move away from the philosophy that “customer is king”. The reason is because organisations have been going on with the philosophy that customers are right all the time and as a result they had to suit their services in order to satisfy their customers. Organisations could have been right with their services initially but had to change for their customers without realising that the customer could have been wrong. For an instance, a guest in a hotel was informed of the policy that if they want a change of any facility, they should call before a certain time in order to have it changed. If the guest finds something not satisfactory and complains about it after the required time and the organisation accommodates to the guest even though he/she is in the wrong, that organisation is going by the policy of “customer is king”. Organisations should be more aware of the customers’ attribution theory when dealing with customers.
Attribution theory refers to situations whereby people point fingers at others when faced with a disagreement rather than realising that the fault could have been theirs possibly.
Creative thinking about customer roles and management of customer expectations can be done. By having this, service personnel would be more prepared to respond in various situations. They can be more sensitive to different cultural backgrounds of customers. For an instance, sales persons in a retail store must attend to different customers accordingly since different customers have different personalities. Creative thinking should be successful to the extent that there should be role congruence for both customers and employees.
These are some critical issues for organisations to consider in order to better their services in satisfying their customers.
During the service encounters, when disagreements arise from problems and solutions, customer satisfaction is compromised. This highlights the importance of understanding behaviours and the types of events leading to customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Hence, it is vital to comprehend service encounters from various perspectives to assist firms in better educating both employees and customers. 100% service quality can then be better achieved.
Keeping this in mind, it is important to note that from the employee’s viewpoint, customer satisfaction largely depends on moments of truth (the interaction between customer and the employee).
The acknowledgement of existence of wrong customers and move away from the philosophy that “customer is king”. The reason is because organisations have been going on with the philosophy that customers are right all the time and as a result they had to suit their services in order to satisfy their customers. Organisations could have been right with their services initially but had to change for their customers without realising that the customer could have been wrong. For an instance, a guest in a hotel was informed of the policy that if they want a change of any facility, they should call before a certain time in order to have it changed. If the guest finds something not satisfactory and complains about it after the required time and the organisation accommodates to the guest even though he/she is in the wrong, that organisation is going by the policy of “customer is king”. Organisations should be more aware of the customers’ attribution theory when dealing with customers.
Attribution theory refers to situations whereby people point fingers at others when faced with a disagreement rather than realising that the fault could have been theirs possibly.
Creative thinking about customer roles and management of customer expectations can be done. By having this, service personnel would be more prepared to respond in various situations. They can be more sensitive to different cultural backgrounds of customers. For an instance, sales persons in a retail store must attend to different customers accordingly since different customers have different personalities. Creative thinking should be successful to the extent that there should be role congruence for both customers and employees.
These are some critical issues for organisations to consider in order to better their services in satisfying their customers.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Getting through life
We encounter problems in our lives on a daily basis. Most of the time we face them or just run away from them but do we ever ask ourselves whether they are really problems? Are they really problems or do we just perceive them to be. We have to ask ourselves whether problems really exist. More than often, we choose to believe that they are and that is where the problem starts, in believing that they are really problems (No puns intended). Sometimes they can be genuine problems but we do have an option in believing that they do not exist. Of course, that does not mean that we should take them to be invisible because that is not going to solve the problems since the problems really exist. We can simply take them as they come and not take them too seriously. Don't take life seriously because you can't come out of it alive. ~ Warren Miller If we see a problem as our own, we start feeling negative energy. We would not be able to think straight. We start worrying and worrying takes way too much energy. A lot of unnecessary energy goes to waste. On the other hand, it helps to take a step back and look at the problem from an external perspective. It will help even more if we do not treat the problem as our own. It works because when we imagine that the problem is not ours, we do not feel the pressure of it. Hence, we are able to find solutions with a clear mind. Speaking of imagination, there is an Italian movie which goes by the title of "Life is beautiful". It conveys a wonderful message on how a man makes use of his imagination to help his young son get through life as prisoners of war (POW) in a Nazi camp. By making him believe that everything happening around them is a huge interactive point-based game, the man succeeds in ensuring that his boy is comfortable with the place and the situation. Such is the power of imagination. It does not help us to avoid the problem, it instead guides us through the problem without letting its pain take effect. Life is not really life without problems. Being human beings, problems happen to us all the time. We should learn to accept them as part of life. It's just that we should not give them a chair to sit on.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
The truth about habits
Habits are very dynamic tools. Our daily habits have the power to control the direction of our lives. It is in them that decide what we deserve.
Habits thrive well in a condition known as comfort zone. This is probably the main, if not the only, reason why people become slaves to old habits and refuse to change for the better. This is why old habits die hard. The simplest of habits are embedded in our minds subconciously. They are so much a part of our lives that we do not stop to think whether it is right or not. Yet, changing it would make us feel awkward and strange. We basically perform our daily actions the same way every single day. It starts from the time we wake up. The way we squeeze the toothpaste onto our toothbrush, the way we brush our teeth, the way we take our shower, every trivial action is done the same way subconciously that we do not even have to remember. The lack of need to remember; that is the reason for habits to exist in the first place.
The same goes for our emotional and thought patterns. By changing habits, we change our lifestyle and possibly perceptions. This will lead to success if carried out in the proper way. Most people are only willing to change temporarily but not permanently. So how do we make it a permanent change in order to better ourselves? Of course we need discipline but before discipline we need to have a clear objective. We need to keep in mind on what are we going to achieve. Without a clear objective, having discipline will seem like a tasteless military regime.
Belief goes hand in hand with habits. For an example if we want to become a millionaire, we should first believe that we are one. We should be like one but that does not mean we can start spending like one because that is not going to help much. Be like one means to do what it takes to become a millionaire because once we start believing in ourselves, we start thinking positively. We think of ways to become a millionaire and with the right mindset, we will find ways to become a millionaire. Then with our belief, as a form of support, we start taking actions. Actions start with the right habits. Going back to our above-mentioned point that in order for us to have discipline to keep performing our new habits, I had mentioned that we need to have a clear objective. In our millionaire example, when we have a clear objective aiding our new habits, we will become a millionaire eventually. Its as simple as that and there is no rocket science being explained here. That means anyone can become a millionaire, seriously.
It all starts with the right thought, supported by a positive attitude, followed by actions, which influences our habits and the clear objective which provides the discipline to sustain our new habits. Also, we should remember that it is not a question of "can we do it?" but it is actually "will we do it?"
Habits thrive well in a condition known as comfort zone. This is probably the main, if not the only, reason why people become slaves to old habits and refuse to change for the better. This is why old habits die hard. The simplest of habits are embedded in our minds subconciously. They are so much a part of our lives that we do not stop to think whether it is right or not. Yet, changing it would make us feel awkward and strange. We basically perform our daily actions the same way every single day. It starts from the time we wake up. The way we squeeze the toothpaste onto our toothbrush, the way we brush our teeth, the way we take our shower, every trivial action is done the same way subconciously that we do not even have to remember. The lack of need to remember; that is the reason for habits to exist in the first place.
The same goes for our emotional and thought patterns. By changing habits, we change our lifestyle and possibly perceptions. This will lead to success if carried out in the proper way. Most people are only willing to change temporarily but not permanently. So how do we make it a permanent change in order to better ourselves? Of course we need discipline but before discipline we need to have a clear objective. We need to keep in mind on what are we going to achieve. Without a clear objective, having discipline will seem like a tasteless military regime.
Belief goes hand in hand with habits. For an example if we want to become a millionaire, we should first believe that we are one. We should be like one but that does not mean we can start spending like one because that is not going to help much. Be like one means to do what it takes to become a millionaire because once we start believing in ourselves, we start thinking positively. We think of ways to become a millionaire and with the right mindset, we will find ways to become a millionaire. Then with our belief, as a form of support, we start taking actions. Actions start with the right habits. Going back to our above-mentioned point that in order for us to have discipline to keep performing our new habits, I had mentioned that we need to have a clear objective. In our millionaire example, when we have a clear objective aiding our new habits, we will become a millionaire eventually. Its as simple as that and there is no rocket science being explained here. That means anyone can become a millionaire, seriously.
It all starts with the right thought, supported by a positive attitude, followed by actions, which influences our habits and the clear objective which provides the discipline to sustain our new habits. Also, we should remember that it is not a question of "can we do it?" but it is actually "will we do it?"
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
To be a leader
I have some thoughts on what it takes to be a leader in general. No puns intended for general as in an army general but it was meant generically. Anyway, being a leader fully involves paradoxes as you will get to see in this article.
A leader should know the art of being a good follower as well. Same concept as a good conversationalist. A good conversationalist has to be a good listener too, paradoxically. In fact, what would probably be challenging for a leader to do would be to know when to follow and when not to. Following does not mean giving up or giving in but leading from behind. Leaders should be willing to give others a chance to lead. Speaking of which, they should be learnable as well. Do good teachers make good leaders? Probably yes because they need to possess leadership qualities in order to be an effective teacher. For an instance, we would have come across teachers who allow their students to teach their peers sometimes, since some students learn better when being taught by someone of the same age.
The society demands leaders to be ones who are beyond the natural negative emotions like anger, hatred, jealousy, revenge, selfishness etc. Yet, they still need to be forgiving, jovial, kind and understanding. Leaders should not just lead but also lead by example.
Creativity is an essential charateristic too. Mahatma Gandhi, one of the best examples of a leader in history, was creative with his general approach. He thought of non-violence when every soul could only react violently. In other words, he responded while others reacted.
"Don't react. Respond" - Zig Zigler
Moving on, I think a leader should know the team members individually. When managing the team, poor leaders play the game of checkers while successful leaders play the game of chess. In the game of checkers, every piece is the same. They move the same way and get slaughtered the same way. Bad leaders treat all their members the same way with self-same expectations. Chess on the other hand, is a game with unique pieces. They move differently. Prior to this concept, good leaders would be able to identify each and every individual members' working styles to a certain extent and be able to utilise them in the right manner. It makes it easy for the team as well to explain things to the leader, knowing that he will know what they are into. The team members would be more willing to open up to the leader if they are facing any difficulty. Also the leader has to make them feel special and important by involving them whenever necessary. Needless to say, giving credit for a good job done would boost their morale tremendously. The leader gains respect this way.
Having people skills are of paramount importance and technical knowledge alone can never be complete for a leader. Having said this, it was no wonder that Andrew Carnegie was the "king of steel" once upon a time not because he knew a great deal about steel but because he knew how to deal with people who were working for him. In fact, his employees knew about steel more than him.
These are just some of the tips to be a successful and well respected leader. Before wrapping up, I shall translate a few lines from an old tamil song.
"Generosity makes a philanthropist; dutiful makes a warrior; patience makes a saint; whilst these three make up a leader".
A leader should know the art of being a good follower as well. Same concept as a good conversationalist. A good conversationalist has to be a good listener too, paradoxically. In fact, what would probably be challenging for a leader to do would be to know when to follow and when not to. Following does not mean giving up or giving in but leading from behind. Leaders should be willing to give others a chance to lead. Speaking of which, they should be learnable as well. Do good teachers make good leaders? Probably yes because they need to possess leadership qualities in order to be an effective teacher. For an instance, we would have come across teachers who allow their students to teach their peers sometimes, since some students learn better when being taught by someone of the same age.
The society demands leaders to be ones who are beyond the natural negative emotions like anger, hatred, jealousy, revenge, selfishness etc. Yet, they still need to be forgiving, jovial, kind and understanding. Leaders should not just lead but also lead by example.
Creativity is an essential charateristic too. Mahatma Gandhi, one of the best examples of a leader in history, was creative with his general approach. He thought of non-violence when every soul could only react violently. In other words, he responded while others reacted.
"Don't react. Respond" - Zig Zigler
Moving on, I think a leader should know the team members individually. When managing the team, poor leaders play the game of checkers while successful leaders play the game of chess. In the game of checkers, every piece is the same. They move the same way and get slaughtered the same way. Bad leaders treat all their members the same way with self-same expectations. Chess on the other hand, is a game with unique pieces. They move differently. Prior to this concept, good leaders would be able to identify each and every individual members' working styles to a certain extent and be able to utilise them in the right manner. It makes it easy for the team as well to explain things to the leader, knowing that he will know what they are into. The team members would be more willing to open up to the leader if they are facing any difficulty. Also the leader has to make them feel special and important by involving them whenever necessary. Needless to say, giving credit for a good job done would boost their morale tremendously. The leader gains respect this way.
Having people skills are of paramount importance and technical knowledge alone can never be complete for a leader. Having said this, it was no wonder that Andrew Carnegie was the "king of steel" once upon a time not because he knew a great deal about steel but because he knew how to deal with people who were working for him. In fact, his employees knew about steel more than him.
These are just some of the tips to be a successful and well respected leader. Before wrapping up, I shall translate a few lines from an old tamil song.
"Generosity makes a philanthropist; dutiful makes a warrior; patience makes a saint; whilst these three make up a leader".
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Helping the self before helping others
As a huge observer of paradoxes and that too of life's parodies, I have strongly believed in this paradox since young. That of helping oneself is of paramount importance before helping others. We cannot effectively help others if we are in need of help ourselves. Perhaps it will be better if I relate this to an organisational context which I experienced when I was in the Army.
Back in those days, actually just more than a year ago lest I sound too old, I was working in this department of the highest division of the largest formation in the Army. I have to mention that the department is of high level so as to highlight the importance of having good internal resources for workers to work with. Being at the Head Quarters level, where the administration gets extremely busy, we needed relatively fast and reliable computers to work with. We had a buggy version of windows 95 and there was a total lack of basic hardware which made it all the more difficult to transfer information on a daily basis. I had failed to make my supervisor see the importance of having good resources to work with. So this is the scenario in the organisation. In fact this is congruent to how most companies function today.
Most companies, in the quest for satisfying customers, keep cutting down on costs. The problem is that they do not know how to differentiate necessary and unnecessary costs/liabilities. By having less than adequate resources for employees to work with, they easily lose pride and satisfaction in doing their jobs. This affects their performance and in turn brings down the overall quality of an organisation's products and services. Being customer-oriented is not enough to succeed, keeping the employees is equally vital. By keeping them happy, they would feel appreciated and see themselves as an integral part of the company's strength.
Relating back to our initial paradox statement, companies have to help themselves to be well equipped before providing value to their customers. They have to serve themselves internally before serving externally.
This is the same concept when people, being people, invest so much effort, money and time on unnecessities and invest none for their health and well-being of their emotional state. It boils down to their obliviousness of the fact that we need to help ourslves before helping others.
Back in those days, actually just more than a year ago lest I sound too old, I was working in this department of the highest division of the largest formation in the Army. I have to mention that the department is of high level so as to highlight the importance of having good internal resources for workers to work with. Being at the Head Quarters level, where the administration gets extremely busy, we needed relatively fast and reliable computers to work with. We had a buggy version of windows 95 and there was a total lack of basic hardware which made it all the more difficult to transfer information on a daily basis. I had failed to make my supervisor see the importance of having good resources to work with. So this is the scenario in the organisation. In fact this is congruent to how most companies function today.
Most companies, in the quest for satisfying customers, keep cutting down on costs. The problem is that they do not know how to differentiate necessary and unnecessary costs/liabilities. By having less than adequate resources for employees to work with, they easily lose pride and satisfaction in doing their jobs. This affects their performance and in turn brings down the overall quality of an organisation's products and services. Being customer-oriented is not enough to succeed, keeping the employees is equally vital. By keeping them happy, they would feel appreciated and see themselves as an integral part of the company's strength.
Relating back to our initial paradox statement, companies have to help themselves to be well equipped before providing value to their customers. They have to serve themselves internally before serving externally.
This is the same concept when people, being people, invest so much effort, money and time on unnecessities and invest none for their health and well-being of their emotional state. It boils down to their obliviousness of the fact that we need to help ourslves before helping others.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Ignorance is bliss - A different perspective
We are familiar with the saying "ignorance is bliss". We are also familiar with the surface meaning (note "surface meaning") that not having knowledge of something is a good thing due to its lack of disturbance to the mind. I have thought of a meaning of this phrase from a different perspective. Probably this is the actual inner meaning to the phrase. All right here goes Thana's perspective on this. Let me inject a saying upon this saying. We know the phrase "the more we know, the more we realise that we don't know". Based on this phrase, we know that the more we learn new things, the more we realise that we don't know some things. This is simply because whenever we learn something new, we come to know that that there is much more to learn about it. This is very much akin to an iceberg. By looking at the tip of an iceberg, we realise that there is so much more to be seen of the iceberg. Coming back to our original phrase, by knowing something new, we come to know how ignorant we are of the depth of that subject. Hence, "ignorance is bliss" may not refer to our lack of knowledge. It ironically refers to our awareness of ignorance resulting from the knowledge of something. By having this awareness, we achieve the good feeling of bliss. Henceforth we have the meaningful phrase "ignorance is bliss". I hope the knowledge of this phrase from my perspective has brought bliss, if you know what I mean. Haha, just kidding!
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