Remembering Tracy Chapman

there was a time when i went gugu over Tracy Chapman. Her first album was simply GGGRREATT! and i always thought that she was a guy. those were the days when buying a cassette album was a luxury i could only afford if i skipped meals.

the 2nd Amazing Show Golf Tournament

It's a BIRDIE!!!! 70++ competitors, lot of prizes, good fairway. I must admit, it must have been the best golf day of my life. Not because my score was good, of course it was still shit, but because it was just fun. I was in the same flight as the chairman, his son, and my admin director. Now I seem to owe everyone for drinks to celebrate my first ever birdie on the field. 1 on, 1 put! yeahhh!!! I was so happy I could have passed out!

P.S. thanks to the management of Royal Northwoods for the venue, the good food and the good service. I lost my wedding ring last time I played there and it was returned to me immediately by one of the staff. I left my video cam in my cart, and that was promptly returned as well even before I noticed it was missing.

Why I even bother…

There are some things in life that advertently reflects on the amount of perseverance a person has over the desire to come to a conclusive point of harmony. My former boss always speaks of that beautiful word “harmony”. Ah… that magical word that surmises the relationship between life and a certain state that we may perhaps call happiness. That delicate balance between people and the world around them… an equilibrium of some sorts where a conformed co-existence allows one to both give and take…

So what the fuck am I really taking about…?

Simple case in point; one, it does not exist. No matter the amount of argument based on reason, fact is that harmony only exists because a certain amount of effort is put into the achievement of such state. Therefore, that amount of effort is tantamount to “work” and is therefore concluded as part of your daily stream of just coping.

I believe that real harmony is effortless. Of course that sounds utopian and will be dismissed by many as a whimsical cry from beyond what is achievable so allow me rephrase my earlier statement… I believe that harmony could be achieved with a sensible amount of effort. Sensibility therefore is dictated by an individual’s capacity to judge what is sensible and what is not. In my case, I would like to limit my parameters to what I may judge as “tolerable”. I’ve mentioned in the past that my threshold for pain and suffering is slightly higher than the average… but it does not mean that it is constant. There are good days and there are bad… same applies to all.

So why do I even bother writing something as whimsical and utterly useless a piece of crap as this scribble? It is because this is perhaps the point in my life where I question why I even bother making an effort to achieve harmony in some parts of my life when the effort always turns out to be an exercise in futility...

excerpts from what i wrote november 10, 2008 ... just wanted to record what was on my mind

The resolution

history is studied so that we may learn. It is time to go back to school for most of us.

"For the most part, expanding the market base will not be an easy task. Therefore it will employ a lot of sacrifices, a lot of trials and tribulations and finally a short-term negative effect for us because we should factor-in the possibility of mistakes, blunders and bubus along the way. But the ultimate bottom line should be to become pro-active and not reactive to a situation. Two years ago, we apprehended that the Korean market is a dying market because it is changing its behavioral pattern. Did we choose to address the situation? We did not. And here we are with less time and even lesser resources to deal with it."

"But once again, I would like to reiterate that I hope that our opinions will not be taken against us so that we could move in with greater ease. I hope that we will not be judged as harsh simply because we do not share the same opinion as with the Chairman’s “trusted” people."

......... excerpts from my marketing report April 25, 2008

So I guess the problem is, as it always was, is that we never move forward because there is no resolution to the problems we face. Most of my managers are very much intimidated by our existing market… a market that has made us into what we are now. But I always say, like all things, good or bad, the end always come.

Like any other business, the dependence on a single market segment is always bad. The market segment dies, the business dies with it. Any company therefore needs to be “market flexible” in order to sustain operations and therefore sustain its existence.

In our case, our dependence on one market segment ultimately brought us to this state of “emergency” as the chairman calls it.

The bottom line, despite the fact that the market segment grew with a positive 8.7% growth rate in 2007, our market share shrunk by 11.5%, there must be something wrong with that. Market flexibility is one thing, protecting and sustaining a supposedly “captured” market is another. Somebody apparently did not do his job.

If this market needs protection, then so be it. I am apparently thought of by my staff as a person with a “dangerous mind”, perhaps given that I think out of the box. But then again, that is why I am vice president… because I refuse to be complacent and play things safe. Danger is nice, calculated danger is better.

So I decided to make a compromise. A subtle war between old school and new, between complacence and risk-taking, I met with the chairman earlier and discussed a new proposal to break the marketing team in half. Develop a competitive spirit between the two teams and see who comes home with the bacon. Outputs shall be judged in a six month period in terms of increase in percentage from identified cluster market segments…

Two of my staff said that it might be misconstrued as a declaration of “war” and might put a strain on internal relationships. I agree, but then again I am in that state of mind. I simply was too amiable to everyone for the past years and too worried about being sensitive to others’ feelings. But the price of which will have to be suffered by this organization, so therefore there is only two paths to choose from, and I choose to take the path less taken.

The chairman said yes.

What I was expecting…

As luck or fate would have it, two members of the marketing were down yesterday. One just went through surgery, the other for an emergency. Although one of my staff just arrived from overseas the night before and I had the chance for a briefing before we had the marketing seminar meeting.

I am quite apprehensive of his arrival knowing his personality type so I forewarned him of the things to come… and sure enough, there we were…

The minute my marketing consultant started interviewing him about his marketing background, or lack of it, he sets off with the reply, “before I answer you, I have to know who you are and what you do”. Sort of like “what gives you the right to ask about who I am”? I just simply retorted that he will have to trust the vice president’s decision on this one.

Honestly speaking, if I’d have it my way, I’d keep the marketing team under wraps and simply propose a face-off between the factional sides and be judged ultimately with results. But then again, that would probably break the chairman’s heart. But then again, that may be the only recourse we have left to save what we still have.

BATTLE WEARY

When enough is not enough…

Working in a Korean company is both easy and difficult, much like the fact that I am both lucky and cursed.

Five years ago, upon my promotion as Executive General Manager, things all of a sudden changed for me as an executive of this company. My first out-of-town trip as EGM allowed me a glimpse of the difference between being a manager and an executive when our branch manager who incidentally three months prior treated me without much respect, personally fetched me at the airport to congratulate me on my promotion.

A year later, I would once again be promoted, this time to Vice President upon the announcement of the outgoing President’s resignation. The year that would follow would be the glory years both for me and this company. I had the almost total leeway of developing and implementing programs that probably helped in stabilizing what we used to have… and what we are now steadily losing.

A year of self-sufficiency and stability for us as a company, and a year of impending chaos for the corporation, made my life too sophisticated as the corporation expanded into businesses that is not within the core competencies of the people involved. Ultimately, the series of “bad” investments will compromise the financial and structural integrity of this organization.

As things went from good to bad, the position I hold eventually turns more significant as the primary damage control officer. This significance is of course interpreted as power, and most likely a threat… and every “bungled up” executives’ nightmare.

Yes, I must admit, that intelligence and significance is relative. Perhaps my significance is attributed by the fact that… well, you know where I am getting at. I’m a short guy, but I’m a giant among midgets and I rather feel uncomfortable by this fact.

My one year of independence as an executive did not last very long as I was pitted since then with counterparts… Korean counterparts to be exact whose tactic was primarily to strip me of my people’s loyalties by buying them off and creating conflicts left and right. Those were the hard times.

Eventually as eventualities would go, I am still here and they are not. Like most other things, sustainability and consistency are the keys to a successful career. Feigning intelligence, concern and value is very hard for one who is not genuinely equipped with such.

And in all these battles the last four years of my career, it is not I alone that suffered and is in possession of battle scars. It is the organization, it is the company and it is the business. I thought that last year’s hoax would have been the final episode of such useless and unnecessary battles… I thought that I have finally earned my rank with finality. Apparently, I am wrong.

I really do not want to waste my time in something as petty as position wars… I have proven myself more than enough and I am where I am because of what I’ve accomplished, not because I am Korean. But I am nevertheless challenged and will take this on wherever it takes me, if only to be able to work efficiently for the sustenance of this organization… without hindrance, without opposition and without the irrelevant concerns.

Note: A year ago, or to be exact 364 days ago, I wrote a blog rant detailing a gripe that made my head spin. http://casieplanet.blogspot.com/2008/01/we-are-at-it-again.html I can't believe ... as the title suggests, i'm at it again.

The RISK that is worth taking…

Marketing, marketing, marketing….

It is the headache that “somebody” in this office deserves. But it has to be somebody with enough competence to actually make a marketing plan and supervise the execution. It won’t be me! And it certainly is not anyone in this office since no one here has the competence for it. So, I did the next best thing. I hired a marketing consultant who shall attempt… I repeat, shall attempt to teach our people a thing or two about marketing. That is a very daunting task.

So despite the fact that the Chairman has not formally approved of this hiring, I went on ahead and did the hiring anyway since time is of the essence. Anyway, what’s a percentage of my salary as consultancy fee if it will mean a possible additional lease on the jobs of our significant employees? It’s a new year, so I guess that I’d better shift my attention from gripes to action and with finality see things through… but this is going to be a challenge.

Last week, I’ve set an interview for the marketing team members with the consultant and as I have earlier posted in this blog, it was quite amusing. I already know that not one of us has the competency for this tasking assignment but all that we were looking for were the potentials. And the potentials were? Not much actually, but since we’ve weathered every single storm over the last seven years, from time to time rose to the occasion and clashed head-on with every single challenge despite our inadequacies, I still believe that there is hope… but only if we work hard enough. Or if all of us admit and recognize that we need help.

So on we went to the workshop seminar phase. Elementary, I thought. But yes we were elementary in this field and we were just getting what we deserved. To top it of, it was a bunch of stubborn, spoiled and irresponsible elementary children. My so-called marketing director did not pass his assignment for the day and failed to wear the proper business attire. So did my Chinese marketing manager. It was as I had expected a sham in the making.

I must admit, I was quite pissed off. I have a swollen left foot due to an aggravated wound playing golf and I was wearing slippers for two days but I came in that day with a suit and torturous shoes. Ok, so there was nothing immediate that I could do about it but bear… uuhhh sssaaaahhh!!!

But then I kept remembering that I’m personally paying for this seminar…. My hard-earned always-never-enough salary… ooohhhh sssahhh!!!

I wish that I could spill more beans but I think that I’ve said enough. I’ve just written a memo for the marketing team, had a meeting with them and the other managers, discussed with a friend about it, and now the ill-feeling has subsided enough and has become tolerable… for the meantime.

The chicharon is good and so is the puto seko beside me.