Thinking Through

I remember many years ago, when I have just started work, one day my director propped over my cubicle wall and asked me, how do you decide what solutions to choose to implement? I then said I would choose the simplest solution to do because of the maxim the simplest is the best.

He half-shook his head and walked off!

Now, many years and moons later, I understand why he did that. The key is that even though the solution finally chosen may be the simplest, what has to take place prior is the now often heard cliche -- Think Through.

But what is thinking through and how do we think through.

My analogy is that thinking through is like drawing a map. Say you have a friend who has never been to Singapore and wish to make his way from the Woodlands Custom to Chinatown by himself but with a benfit of a map and directions.

A no think-thru solution will be hop on a cab and tell the driver to go to Chinatown. A slightly more detailed solution will be to inform where is the taxi-stand, how much are the rates, how long the journey will take, are they sur-charges and on reaching Chinatown, which location to alight, which are the sights to visit and etc.

An even more thought-through solution is to offer besides taxi, the option of taking public transport and that includes options like bus or MRT. So with each option there are the associated details. There is also the option of driving and correspondingly more options.

But you get the drift: the map starts off a blank sheet and the more you think-through, the more populated the map becomes and hence the more choices one can make.

For work, bosses like options because they need to manage risks and consequences and most importantly costs and their trade-offs.

In my next post (or posts), I will attempt to share some insights gleaned from my personal experience.

See who blinks first

I listened to an interesting but rather sad story that depicts how'practical' and overly kiasu people has become.

W was at a wedding dinner and when the soup dish came, the table was surprised that the bottle of chinese vinegar was missing. W said he took the initiative (which was nice of him) to ask the waiter for one. Due to language problems, the waiter did not understand what was needed and when he finally returned with the vinegar, all the bowls of soup had been consumed and all at the table did not have the marginal benefit of a better tasting soup.

I asked W why didn't he just pop over to the next table and 'borrow' a bottle after they are done with it. He replied "Why should I do it when the others could have?"

I call this the 'see who blinks first' syndrome and it extends in my personal observation to 'who drives the car to lunch', 'who initiates payment after meals', 'if the person who pays first doesn't ask me, I am not volunteering to pay my share', etc. It extends into the office as "who replenishes the paper in the common printer', 'don't speak up so I don't get arrowed', etc.

Of course, sometimes the amount is small (especially for drinks) and how much petrol are we talking about for a 10 min trip?

But isn't it better that one is more 'automatic' and is sensitive to reciprocate goodwill so that more of it can grow. Goodwill, like trust, is hard to build but easy to destroy.

Keong's Wedding

Keong took me by surprise one afternoon in August when he called from Geneva to inform that he will be holding his wedding event. After all, I had just been pleasantly surprised in June when he returned for the Water week and promptly asked me to meet his girlfriend. So how did the girlfriend become the wife so quickly.

In his speech, Keong took pains to emphasise that no, his wife is NOT pregnant but spoilt the message by ending with 'Not that I know of!'

In his rather touching speech, in thanking his parents, he described his father as an excellent role model for him and his siblings for his diligence and willingness to take hardship (刻苦耐劳) . He also thanked his mother for her selfless love.

Some photos below of the happy occasion.


Emcee for the event. My close to 15th (I think) experience.

补天计划 - Video (2)

补天计划 - Video (1)

Its my mama.

Penang - Recollections

I recently visited Penang for an eating trip. Some observations:

1) Cleanliness - Penang is generally as clean as Singapore. Walking down the streets of Georgetown, one does not get the impression that bits of litter were randomly dotting and marring the landscape. Either the locals were very civic conscious or like Singapore, they have an army of cleaners.

2) Face Masks - Unlike Singapore, where H1N1 is already full blown and here to stay in the community, it is still nascent in Penang and local media were reporting on the increasing numbers of infected cases and precautions. What was different from Singapore was the willingness of the locals to wear face masks which I observed to be aplenty in the streets of Georgetown or in the airport.

3) Taxis without meters - It is unsurprising that the government have been unable to implement charging by meters in taxis. The taxi drivers are earning much more by charging lump sum. Even the grossly inflated charges are now standardised. The taxi driver will pull out a laminated printout with a table of the standardised charges. Internet websites' advice to travellers to negotiate fares have been made redundant.