04.20.07

Past and future learning

Posted in Cognition and Learning, Corporate Life, Behavior, Startup, Personal at 9:07 pm by ngkaboon

Sometimes, I get the feeling that there is nothing left to learn, but each year, despite being in a relatively poorer environment, there is something new to learn. In the start up, I learn about perceived fairness and the not so glamorous side of running a business. It made me understand better what the work contract is about. I also learnt that my technical skills have not gone away but in fact, have grown more powerful when integrated with the corporate skills I acquired.

In the year spent with the pharmaceutical company, I have clearly identified my strength in gathering business requirements. I have gone into a completely new domain and understand the needs better than some of the people who have been in the business for a long time. A large part of it is due to the in-depth understanding of the domain, developed through easy access to domain knowledge (from internet), learning broader domain knowledge beyond the work scope and building relationships with people who are willing to impart the knowledge.

I also get to know my weaknesses and preferences better, which can also be considered as another form of learning. I cannot work in an environment where open discussion is suppressed. I produce my best work under a good boss (but the good bosses have a tendency to be too open and soft in pushing certain points across). I always have this feeling I am unfairly treated in terms of human resource issues, e.g., office space, pay, etc. I still do not know the right things to communicate to senior executives.

In terms of future learning, I need to start working on higher level skills like wielding my intuition more effectively and confidently and to be able to regulate my emotions. On the former, I realized my intuition is usually right but I do not have the conviction to insist on my gut feel. There is this tendency on wanting to do some things. On the latter, I tend to  get frustrated too easily and have this tendency on wanting to even things up. I need to be able to discard the frustration and begin each day with a fresh page. In times of elation, I need to be able to control my excitement over unqualified successes. On the other hand, it also does not mean that I have to think negatively constantly to avoid disappointments. I must be able to control the mental states of anger, happiness and sadness more effectively. With a well-balanced emotion and powerful intuition, I should be able to reach to the next level in terms of problem-solving capabilities.

10.26.06

Premium Services

Posted in Market Research, Startup, Service at 10:53 am by ngkaboon

I have paid a lot on money on premium services. These people are in a market flooded with a lot of similar offerings, but somehow they are able to charge a premium and yet, still maintain a healthy stream of customers.

They have these characteristics

1. Their offering is entirely unique.

The offering may be generic but what they give as add-on is totally unique. You go back to them because you like that unique combination and you have no choice, because you cannot go to the generic provider and achieve the same outcome.

2. They make painful things painless.

Premium dentists come to mind on this one but in general, if you have something that is hard to do, or painful to do, these people can make the process entirely painless.

3. They make complex things simple.

In the same way as the above point, they make a lot of seemingly complex task or organization, amazingly simple and straightforward.

4. They give you beyond top-of-the-class service.

So for example, you know the best in hotel is Ritz Carlton, but these people simply blow the best-in-class into bits, by giving you services that is far and beyond of what you expect of a best-in-class service.

 

05.10.06

New thoughts for a new startup

Posted in Corporate Life, Behavior, Startup at 5:45 am by ngkaboon

I edited these points briefly for something i wrote elsewhere. Maybe it’s applicable to real life and largely inspired through 20% startup - 80 % corporate exposure I have.

  1. Do a little everyday. A little step is better than no step at all. You can program. You can read and research about the vision. You can establish the values on how the project would be runned.
  2. Communicate everyday. If you cannot, communicate through documentation is better than none at all.
  3. Communicate with yourself through documentation.
  4. Communicate with everyone else because they are your potential users.
  5. To have content for communicating, you have to read. 80% of what you communicate is your interpretation of ideas from somebody else.
  6. Keep an open view. Seek out opinions. No one knows for sure on which decision is best given everyone is living this particular scenario for the first time.
  7. Trust your instinct of understanding the users and tranform the product to meet what your instinct guides you to understand from the users.
  8. Do not translate directly from what the user want to your product
  9. Understand yourself because you are your first user.
  10. What you do is revolutionary, be it the peopleware you are establishing, or the product you are releasing, and this what will be the why to guide your how.