Today was the launch of the new sales canvass and we had a party at a country club. A team building company was brought in to ‘improve relationships and teamwork’.
There was this game where we have to form groups, and pass marble from one end to the other through broken pieces of pipes. The objection of the game is to win through teamwork and proper planning and pass as many marbles as we can from one end to the other. We played a few rounds but we still fell short of the 168 marbles target by 9 marbles.
At this point, the organizer asked the VP of the company, ‘Shall we go again or stop? Do we want to hit the target of 168 marbles?’ The VP stood up and said ‘ Yes! We shall hit 400 marbles!’
Everyone knew that we could not manage the target of 400 over the past record of 159. That’s like more than a 100% increase in marbles and productivity. However, we cannot fail since this challenge was thrust upon us. So. We. Cheated. We put marbles in our pockets and empty them at the finishing point when no one is looking. Suddenly, all of us become sleigh of hands magicians.
When the results were announced, we reached and exceeded target. We had 813 marbles. Everyone cheered and laughed. That’s life aint it? Whatever happened to integrity and clean win?
Sometimes I feel that the management is at fault. Instead of brainstorming of how we can improve our productivity legitimately, they set us a too high target, a mission impossible and we had no choice but to cheat or not make it. In this way, they ‘forced us into it’. We have to make a lot of sales, do a lot of paperwork, and now on top of all that, we have one more target to reach and we are supposed to provide better after sales service. It makes me hopping mad at their unrealistic expectations. I , like yesterday, only have 2 hands, 2 legs and one voice. I can only walk at a speed of like 5km/h. And no, we still travel by regular transport and are not provided with helicopters or teleporting powder. Based on what then do they see fit to impose new demands on us?
Appropriate demands at the appropriate time in achievable doses serve as motivation. Ridiculous demands mean total disregard or cheating. If the company wants to achieve long-term gains, they should look beyond their noses and think of solutions beyond simply setting stupid impossible targets. Sometimes I wonder if the people had sat for so long in their ivory towers that they had forgotten what was it like to be out there on the streets, fighting for each sale and shedding tears and sweat. KNN!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Hooray! Wax & Wane is ALIVE!
Finally... not only one... or two updates... But a few! The volcano has erupted! Gone thy hibernation! Wax & Wane is ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yippie-yai-yai... Yippie-yippie-yay!!!!!!!!!!!
Good job, Pesky and uhh... wats dat name again erm... Pastamaniac!
Keep up the good work! I've been neglecting W&W too long... (Sorry Boss).
Hey Boss, we got private party this Sat after Groove Armada party. Wanna join, contact the President for details. We're not doing at his home a.k.a. STudio 9. Boring oledi. We're renting some place lah... Come, Boss!
Yippie-yai-yai... Yippie-yippie-yay!!!!!!!!!!!
Good job, Pesky and uhh... wats dat name again erm... Pastamaniac!
Keep up the good work! I've been neglecting W&W too long... (Sorry Boss).
Hey Boss, we got private party this Sat after Groove Armada party. Wanna join, contact the President for details. We're not doing at his home a.k.a. STudio 9. Boring oledi. We're renting some place lah... Come, Boss!
Monday, September 11, 2006
On money – the root of all evil?
It is interesting the things you find out about your friends when you join an MLM. According to me and my partner-in-crime’s observations, there are broadly three views on money:
1) People who feel that money is not important and they will learn to make do with whatever they have
2) People who feel that they will just be successful somehow someday and be rich
3) People who want to be rich and believe they have the best business plan and they do not want to hear or believe that anything besides their plan will work.
Technically, there is nothing wrong with any of the above views and I had also held the same views at different points of my life. However today, I think that money is definitely important, and if I do not have a plan, I plan to fail, and therefore I am open to any ideas that my friends have which will potentially help me to be financially secure. Which is why I joined an MLM.
Actually if you look at the history of retailing, this is the sequence:
1) Mum and dad shops. Where you buy stuff from neighbor hood stores and each store specialize in a certain type of goods.
2) Superstores. Where all kinds of goods are sold in the same place
3) Franchises. Where people pay royalties to market products under the same name.
4) Network marketing. Where word of mouth is king.
At various stages of retailing, there was huge resistance as people were reluctant to change. Network marketing is simply the next trend in marketing as it is cost effective and has more benefits to both the company and the users as compared to traditional ways of retailing. Even traditional companies like Gillette have a MLM subsidiary company, and Coca Cola has even distributed their drinks in Amway, the largest MLM Company in the world.
Of course, I might be completely off tangent here, and if that is the case, I welcome debates of alternative views. What surprises and disturbs me however, is how quickly people dismiss network marketing without even understanding what it is all about. We may be an educated bunch, but we are still looking to conform and to be as unobtrusive as possible, both in our thinking and in our behaviors. And we are still holding on to the adage old advice of working hard and climbing up the corporate ladder for money, which I feel was the golden rule of another generation, not ours.
Of course, I am not saying that MLM is the best and only way to become rich. There are many many ways and this is just one of them. It might not even be the one for you. But I am disappointed by friends who close their minds to new ideas, because this is a rapidly changing world, where the slow to change will be left behind. I am also slightly injured and insulted that some of my friends might even have the conception that I want them in so I can make money off them. Actually networking marketing is a team sport, where we can help each other to achieve health and wealth, and if I do not feel that it will benefit you, I would never had approached you. It is sad how people always choose to believe in the worst of others. Whatever happened to Enid Blyton world?
1) People who feel that money is not important and they will learn to make do with whatever they have
2) People who feel that they will just be successful somehow someday and be rich
3) People who want to be rich and believe they have the best business plan and they do not want to hear or believe that anything besides their plan will work.
Technically, there is nothing wrong with any of the above views and I had also held the same views at different points of my life. However today, I think that money is definitely important, and if I do not have a plan, I plan to fail, and therefore I am open to any ideas that my friends have which will potentially help me to be financially secure. Which is why I joined an MLM.
Actually if you look at the history of retailing, this is the sequence:
1) Mum and dad shops. Where you buy stuff from neighbor hood stores and each store specialize in a certain type of goods.
2) Superstores. Where all kinds of goods are sold in the same place
3) Franchises. Where people pay royalties to market products under the same name.
4) Network marketing. Where word of mouth is king.
At various stages of retailing, there was huge resistance as people were reluctant to change. Network marketing is simply the next trend in marketing as it is cost effective and has more benefits to both the company and the users as compared to traditional ways of retailing. Even traditional companies like Gillette have a MLM subsidiary company, and Coca Cola has even distributed their drinks in Amway, the largest MLM Company in the world.
Of course, I might be completely off tangent here, and if that is the case, I welcome debates of alternative views. What surprises and disturbs me however, is how quickly people dismiss network marketing without even understanding what it is all about. We may be an educated bunch, but we are still looking to conform and to be as unobtrusive as possible, both in our thinking and in our behaviors. And we are still holding on to the adage old advice of working hard and climbing up the corporate ladder for money, which I feel was the golden rule of another generation, not ours.
Of course, I am not saying that MLM is the best and only way to become rich. There are many many ways and this is just one of them. It might not even be the one for you. But I am disappointed by friends who close their minds to new ideas, because this is a rapidly changing world, where the slow to change will be left behind. I am also slightly injured and insulted that some of my friends might even have the conception that I want them in so I can make money off them. Actually networking marketing is a team sport, where we can help each other to achieve health and wealth, and if I do not feel that it will benefit you, I would never had approached you. It is sad how people always choose to believe in the worst of others. Whatever happened to Enid Blyton world?
This Day In History
Hey folks, this being my first post, I was trying to come up with something smart or witty. Then I saw the date and realized the significance of the day.
On this day 5 years ago, 2,973 perished through some selfish grand plan. Destruction paved way for what we came to know now as the "War on Terror". I was out at some mamak - while a friend was crying about being dumped earlier that day, everyone else was shocked what was happening on the mamak TV. Not too long after that, my first blog was born.
On this day 4 years ago, I saved my 51st blog entry. As the War on Terror picked up pace, so had residency on the blogosphere. Instead of mamak, I could now catch the latest soap opera and high drama among my friends unfold on their respective blogs and friendster messages. I also learned - don't laugh - how to upload photos onto my blog :P
On this day 3 years ago, my blog was at its peak. If expressing your feelings openly was therapeutic, try reading it after a year or two. While more and more people chose blogging as an avenue of uncensored expression, I began to question my sanity to publish one. At the mean time, the whole world questioned the sanity of a second Gulf War, in the name of vanquising terror.
On this day 2 years ago, as the world mourned for the dead in Madrid, I contemplated the fate of my blog. It was virtually dead. Not that I didn't have anything to say, but the problem was, I was expressing to an audience who had since went from demanding to intrusive. My way of life had become the subject of critique and validation. It finally dawned on me that maybe, my blog was a lost cause. Kinda like the War on Terror - yeah yeah we all heard that before.
On this day a year ago, the body count increased steadily. From Iraq to London, things seemed all too eeriely familiar - what happened to all the efforts so valiantly put forward by the leaders of the world? Haven't we talked about this last year, or the year before, or the year before that? You can only brainwash someone for so long with the same old headlines. Or maybe we all just need better distractions. Hmm what is my blogger password again....?
So here I am. Back to where it all started. This is officially my 3rd foray into blogging. As they say -third time's a charm. I have a bad habit - I either don't write, or I can't stop writing. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute something smart and wnw-worthy.
Remember Sept 11, not for whatever you read or see in the news, but for all those who lost their lives so unnecessarily.
On this day 5 years ago, 2,973 perished through some selfish grand plan. Destruction paved way for what we came to know now as the "War on Terror". I was out at some mamak - while a friend was crying about being dumped earlier that day, everyone else was shocked what was happening on the mamak TV. Not too long after that, my first blog was born.
On this day 4 years ago, I saved my 51st blog entry. As the War on Terror picked up pace, so had residency on the blogosphere. Instead of mamak, I could now catch the latest soap opera and high drama among my friends unfold on their respective blogs and friendster messages. I also learned - don't laugh - how to upload photos onto my blog :P
On this day 3 years ago, my blog was at its peak. If expressing your feelings openly was therapeutic, try reading it after a year or two. While more and more people chose blogging as an avenue of uncensored expression, I began to question my sanity to publish one. At the mean time, the whole world questioned the sanity of a second Gulf War, in the name of vanquising terror.
On this day 2 years ago, as the world mourned for the dead in Madrid, I contemplated the fate of my blog. It was virtually dead. Not that I didn't have anything to say, but the problem was, I was expressing to an audience who had since went from demanding to intrusive. My way of life had become the subject of critique and validation. It finally dawned on me that maybe, my blog was a lost cause. Kinda like the War on Terror - yeah yeah we all heard that before.
On this day a year ago, the body count increased steadily. From Iraq to London, things seemed all too eeriely familiar - what happened to all the efforts so valiantly put forward by the leaders of the world? Haven't we talked about this last year, or the year before, or the year before that? You can only brainwash someone for so long with the same old headlines. Or maybe we all just need better distractions. Hmm what is my blogger password again....?
So here I am. Back to where it all started. This is officially my 3rd foray into blogging. As they say -third time's a charm. I have a bad habit - I either don't write, or I can't stop writing. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute something smart and wnw-worthy.
Remember Sept 11, not for whatever you read or see in the news, but for all those who lost their lives so unnecessarily.
WnW's latest signing
WnW is proud to announce the acquisition of our latest member, Pesky, who has joined us on a free transfer from a previous blog.
"These are wonderful days for us," said WnW's president and blog boss, Pronaz, after the signing ceremony.
"We are delighted that Pesky, who is much sought after in blogging leagues all over the world has chosen to join us. Not only am I excited by the arrival of Pesky, but the entire team is too, and I am sure our supporters feel the same way. It's a massive coup for us."
Pesky, a highly rated blogger, will join the team pending the completion of a physical and the Blogger's Association approval of a blogging permit.
"These are wonderful days for us," said WnW's president and blog boss, Pronaz, after the signing ceremony.
"We are delighted that Pesky, who is much sought after in blogging leagues all over the world has chosen to join us. Not only am I excited by the arrival of Pesky, but the entire team is too, and I am sure our supporters feel the same way. It's a massive coup for us."
Pesky, a highly rated blogger, will join the team pending the completion of a physical and the Blogger's Association approval of a blogging permit.
Things they didnae want ye tae see - Parliament after-parties
Pak Lah daein some lines. Aye, he's one cool dude eh. Watch n learn kids, that's the prime technique.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
About Me!
Hello! I am the newest contributor to Wax n Wane, otherwise known as the guest correspondent from Singapore. My current favourite game is WCpool on my handphone. Every day, if I get too bored at work, I will hideout in the loo and play a few games to de-stress.
I am a sales exec by day, a MLM-er by night. Tues, I have to learn salsa and Wed, I have to go for lessons on business management which my uncle signed me up for. Sometimes I feel so tired because I have so many things to do. But I believe that one should always make full use of their youth and time to achieve as much as possible.
I am competitive and hate to lose. I am also very confident about my abilities, and sometimes come across as elitist and arrogant, although most people just think that I am a silly happy person. I can be very quick tempered and my face is like an open book, which means that diplomacy is not exactly my strong suit. I can be mean and sarcastic and make the most insulting remarks to people I dislike, but I make a very good friend to people I like. :)
I am very impatient and hate waiting and queues of any kind. I hate making small talk and answering boring questions. I love spending time chatting with friends and playing games, and I really want to play bridge competitively one day instead of playing mahjong, if only I can find the kakis.
I have two favourite quotes which have influenced me a lot in the way I think, and the way I lead my life...
- It is not the critic who counts, not he who points out where the strong man stumbles, and how the do-er of deeds could had done better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and dirt and sweat, whom if he succeeds, know the triumph of high victory, and should he fail, at least fail while daring greatly, so that he shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who knew neither victory nor defeat
--- Theodore Roosevelt
- Whatever kindness that I can do or show, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall only pass by this way once.
Having typed so much, it was nice to be writing something, something that I had abstained from for so long after being paranoid that I was revealing too much of myself on my previous blogs and being uncomfortable with the idea. Thanks to Pronaz who suggested that I should contribute here. Looking forward to knowing more about the fellow contributors.. heh heh :)
I am a sales exec by day, a MLM-er by night. Tues, I have to learn salsa and Wed, I have to go for lessons on business management which my uncle signed me up for. Sometimes I feel so tired because I have so many things to do. But I believe that one should always make full use of their youth and time to achieve as much as possible.
I am competitive and hate to lose. I am also very confident about my abilities, and sometimes come across as elitist and arrogant, although most people just think that I am a silly happy person. I can be very quick tempered and my face is like an open book, which means that diplomacy is not exactly my strong suit. I can be mean and sarcastic and make the most insulting remarks to people I dislike, but I make a very good friend to people I like. :)
I am very impatient and hate waiting and queues of any kind. I hate making small talk and answering boring questions. I love spending time chatting with friends and playing games, and I really want to play bridge competitively one day instead of playing mahjong, if only I can find the kakis.
I have two favourite quotes which have influenced me a lot in the way I think, and the way I lead my life...
- It is not the critic who counts, not he who points out where the strong man stumbles, and how the do-er of deeds could had done better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and dirt and sweat, whom if he succeeds, know the triumph of high victory, and should he fail, at least fail while daring greatly, so that he shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who knew neither victory nor defeat
--- Theodore Roosevelt
- Whatever kindness that I can do or show, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall only pass by this way once.
Having typed so much, it was nice to be writing something, something that I had abstained from for so long after being paranoid that I was revealing too much of myself on my previous blogs and being uncomfortable with the idea. Thanks to Pronaz who suggested that I should contribute here. Looking forward to knowing more about the fellow contributors.. heh heh :)
WnW's latest addition
WnW extends a warm welcome to Pastamaniac, the latest addition to the team from across the causeway. Yes, our very own correspondent from Singapore! Gives us an "international flavour" innit :)
p/s According the terms & conditions of our agreement, I am required to mention this - Pastamaniac is very 'lihai'. There!
p/s According the terms & conditions of our agreement, I am required to mention this - Pastamaniac is very 'lihai'. There!
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