The red pill vs. the blue pill

I was whining and complaining about work, life and exams to a friend. Interestingly, he gave me a very witty reply which got me thinking for a bit......

I'm not sure if these were the exact words he said but it goes something like this.....

"Take the red pill and see how fast and how deep the rabbit can dig a hole and run, take the blue pill and you will wake up feeling the same the next morning."

Thank you! I'm definitely going to take the red pills sooooooon...........Keep reminding me about the red pills :D haha!

Sunk Cost

Today we had discussion on cost in economic analysis - relevant cost, historical cost, opportunity cost, differential cost etc.

Prof L gave an example of lines and counters in McDonald's outlet where there are multiple lines operating concurrently. Assuming if line A was the shortest queue among others and you've decided to queue up at line A with 2 customers ahead of you. However, after 15 minutes of waiting, the line is still not moving but the other lines are catching up. What would you do? should you continue to wait since you've already waited for 15 minutes or should you move to another line?

The initial 15 minutes had been wasted and it cannot be recovered. In economic term, it's called sunk cost and decision made cannot be based on sunk cost unless it can recover the lost. Hence, it is only rational for a person to decide whether or not to switch to another line based on the probability of getting faster service by changing lines.

This is not something new but it was an 'a-hah' moment for me in class today when Prof L reiterate that economics is not only about supply and demand etc, everything in life can be explained in economics. Back to everyday life application of sunk cost, it is not neccessarily cost, but also time, effort and energy that have been incurred and cannot be reversed. Sunk cost is irrelevant in decision making and rational decision should be made based on the present circumstances because no decision we make now can ever recover the sunk cost.

I guess there are certain events in life when people encounter sunk cost dilemma and they can't help but to make decision based on the sunk cost. More often than not, they suffer the consequences of their decision.

Parable of the pencil

Mom had told once told me about the parable of the pencil during my highschool days and the message often resonate in my head. Sometime ago, a friend forwarded me an email about the parable and i thought it would be interesting to share:

Parable of The Pencil



The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. "There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."


"One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand."


"Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil."


"Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."


"Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside."


"And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."


The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.


Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.


One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.


Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.


Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make. [Additional note from mom: Yes, mistakes can be rubbed off, but if the wrong pressure is applied, even after it's rubbed off, the pencil will leave its mark on the paper. Likewise, although mistake can be corrected and be forgiven, it will still leave a scar which takes a long time to heal or worse, it will always be there]


Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.


And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.


Allow this parable on the pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special person and only you can fulfill the purpose to which you were born to accomplish.Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot make a change.

What's with the hoo-ha about superstar A.Lau being spotted at father-in-law's funeral ????? It's been so many days ...... Do we have no other more concerning news/issues to report?

"Doubt" - A superb movie!

I’ve recently watched a movie called “Doubt” starring Meryl Streep. It is an interesting yet thought-provoking movie about a nun’s crusade in unearthing the truth to the extent that it becomes a pursuit of wrongdoing, and causes her to step away from God. She has such doubts.


It got me into thinking like …….
What happens when the facts of a case can never be fully known with certainty yet he or she was given the right amount of facts to be suspicious of someone’s wrongdoing?


What actions would one take when in doubt about a case where evidence was loosely presented?



What happens when such actions turn into a wrongdoing in the pursuit of unearthing the truth?


Who would you believe to be innocent? Someone who denied the accusation by taking one step back, explain himself or herself and leave it for you to decide? Or someone who takes a step forward, fighting and defending all the way to prove his innocence?



My verdict: 8.5/10

More about DOUBT: http://doubt-themovie.com/

"IT"

"IT" is eating me up bit by bit....
and I really hate "IT"

What role do frontline managers play in your organization?

IMHO, i think most of them are firefighters and auditors while only a handful of them are genuinely interested in developing themselves to become a well-respected leader. How to measure and quantify the success of a leader? is it proven by the number of followers who had successfully developed themselves to the next level? the number of patents? the amount of influence he/she has in critical decision making process?

Although many would agree that all leaders can be a manager but not all managers can be a leader, interestingly, someone disagreed with me that not all leaders can be manager especially technical leaders. However, this was only a personal thought and it wasn't empirically supported.

Here's an article published by McKinsey Quarterly on the role of frontline managers.....


Are they…
players, performing assigned tasks themselves, and gaining additional leverage from those they supervise?

firefighters, who perform assigned tasks, identify and fix problems, and successfully confront unexpected everyday challenges or crises as they arise (e.g., handling irate customers, addressing production problems, identifying and eliminating defects)?

auditors, assigning and overseeing the completion of work by others, directly observing the conduct of direct reports, checking the speed and quality of their work, and intervening as necessary to maintain acceptable performance levels?

or are they true leaders, who spend most of their time directing and managing others, with an emphasis on motivating, coaching, and developing their direct reports?**********************************************************

Our experience suggests that a front line that’s too focused on executing assigned tasks can have insidious long-term effects. Such preoccupation leaves no time for efforts to deal with new demands (say, higher production or quality), let alone for looking at the big picture. The result is a working environment with little flexibility, little encouragement to make improvements, and an increased risk of low morale among both workers and their managers—all at high cost to companies.We’ve also found that remarkable performance improvement is possible for companies that help their frontline managers to become true leaders, and that successful approaches can be applied across many industries. A mining company that implemented such a program, for instance, enjoyed a 10 percent increase in tonnage per frontline employee. A bank branch found that cross-selling went up by 24 percent within a year. Total sales at a department store rose 2 percent in one six-month period.To unlock a team’s abilities, managers at any level must spend a significant amount of time on two activities: helping the team understand the company’s direction and its implications for team members and coaching for performance. Little of either occurs on the front line today.Across industries, frontline managers spend 30 to 60 percent of their time on administrative work and meetings, and 10 to 50 percent on nonmanagerial tasks (traveling, participating in training, taking breaks, conducting special projects, or undertaking direct customer service or sales themselves). They spend only 10 to 40 percent actually managing frontline employees by, for example, coaching them directly.

In contrast, the frontline managers at best-practice companies allocate 60 to 70 percent of their time to the floor, much of it in high-quality individual coaching. Such companies also empower their managers to make decisions and act on opportunities. The bottom-line benefit is significant, but to obtain it companies must fundamentally redefine what they expect from frontline managers and redesign the work that those managers and their subordinates do.