Author: Michael Yung

Around 55 years ago, a father and his son started a cosmetic cream factory. At the time, no company could supply them with plastic caps of adequate quality for cream jars, so they had to start a plastic business. Obviously, plastic caps alone were not sufficient to run the plastic-molding plant, so they added combs, toothbrushes, and soap boxes.

Then, this plastic business also led them to manufacture electric fan blades and telephone cases, which in turn led them to manufacture electrical and electronic products and telecommunication equipment.

The plastics business also took them into oil refining (as plastic is a by-product of oil) which needed a tanker-shipping company. However, the oil-refining company alone was paying an nsurance premium amounting to more than half the total revenue of the then largest insurance company in the country. So they started an insurance company to cover that oil-refining company.

Time flies … and nowadays they have chemical, energy, semiconductor, fiber optic, satellite and electronics industries … all started from a small cosmetic cream business.

This company is in fact called Lucky-Goldstar, and as you may know it from its’ another name – LG from Korea.

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“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; hate less, Love more; and all good things will be yours!” Swedish proverb

I actually thought that may be it is time to wrap this things up as it really occupies a lot of my time; until I saw the following line the other day in Pacific Coffee’s black board … then I thought … hmmm … may be there are more things to write … and the line is:

It’s not a matter of how good you are, it’s a matter of how good you want to be.

Yes, how good we want to be ? And how good / bad we are today ? In fact, it is the perfect time to answer these questions – i.e. no matter how bad or how good we are this year, it is time to plan and do something, to achieve “how good we want to be” next year …

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Then I came across another line when one of my friends asked me to critic her speech …

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. – Vince Lombardi

Oh how true it is … do you have the “will” to achieve the above ? And your personal goals ? Frankly not all of us have a strong will as most of us have some very good excuses on not doing the best thing, and some of us may simply want to have an easy life. If you have this sort of thinking then let me tell you, you really need to do your best, deliver the greatest and exceed any standards; then one day you will have an easy life. Life is not easy.

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In any case, December is a festive month and I wish you all have some good fun later this month.

But bear in mind, spend some time to think about how we all shall improve next year (and let me know if I can help, in any way), as the old saying goes …

War ship is safe in a harbour, but war ship is not build for that.

Who invented light bulb ?

I think most of you will promptly provide the wrong answer: Thomas Alva Edison. Truth is, the famous inventor’s 1879 debut of his incandescent light trailed others by decades. Check out here :

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bllight2.htm
http://www.ushistory.net/electricity.html

So why does he get all the glory? Mostly because of what he did next – get his creation to the mass … Edison and his team of engineers spent years building the entire electric system, from light sockets and safety fuses to generating facilities and the wiring network. Only then did the electric light flare into the innovation that lit the world.

Same for inventing a light bulb, we need to get our services to the mass public, build the whole system and perfect the whole system … You, me, the colleague sit next to you and all other colleagues in the company, are working hard to create the next eCommerce magic …

Then, try another quiz …

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But, what is our competitive advantage ?

One possible answer is in the book “The five dysfunctions of a team” by Patrick Lencioni

“Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.“

In the same book, it says …

“If you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.“

I suppose everyone of you have your own answers on your own competitive advantage and whether you are a team player … and of course I have an answer for myself and for each one of you as well … what I can say is our competitive advantage, in this regard, is still not strong enough. Let’s work harder, and together, to become a stronger team.

What a strong team can do and will do ? Somehow I found most answers in this gangster movie (one of my favorites) :

http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/mission.htm

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There were three articles written by a Chinese chap 4 years ago, but still treated as bible on how to build an eShop. Kinda simple stuff, but still suggest you to read it (especially if you are the web developer) on the technology and ….. his writing skill.

http://www.devshed.com/c/a/PHP/Building-an-ECommerce-Site-Part-1-Building-a- Product-Catalog/

And of course, the book I mentioned in previous section.

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I am not fan of Superman, but when Mr. Reeve left the world couple of weeks ago, I searched his quotes / books / movie soundtracks on the web like crazy …

“As the old saying goes, you better know what you want because you might get it and you’ve got to accept it. Whether you succeed or whether you encounter adversity you always have to believe in your worth as a person. That’s what counts.” Remarks at a success seminar in Portland, Oregon, February 6, 2001 – Christopher Reeve

“Great meal. What pots did you use?“

Imagine you ask the above question to your mom and I am sure you will probably get some serious lessons from your mom straight-away. It is rather simple – the most important factor behind a great meal is the chef (i.e. your mom) but not the tool she use. And what about you ask the following question to a photographer ?

“Great photo. What camera did you use?“

And this ?

“Great web site. What database / web server / programming language / design tool did you use?“

You know, we have to remember our role – it is not the tool that develops the web site and web application, but it is us. We can develop / operate / monitor a good web site no matter what tools we use, we can also develop / operate / monitor a poor web site with the same set of tools. So if next time you were asked that question, answer the asking person that you and your colleagues did the great web site, not the tools.

But if I asked you “Poor web site / application, what tool did you use?”, I would expect answer like “I will check and resolve the problem, as soon as possible?”.

You know, it makes no sense to pass the ball around and waste our time in passing the ball. We have to own the skill, knowledge and problems. We have to solve the problems by finding out the root cause, as soon as possible, but not leaving it to another person in another day.

Mind you, as in my previous newsletter, if we did not cure our Achilles’ Heels, some one in the market will replace us – you and me – in no time. So, if you found a problem, solve it. If you have a good idea, share it. If you have a colleague need your help, extend your hand to help. If you have to work late to do all that, work late to deliver that – it is your job.

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In the old days, if something was dented or had a gash in it, or even if it had a hole in it, they used to fill the damaged area with wax, and then they would cover the wax over with a coat of paint and sell the item as though it were undamaged. In Latin, “Without Wax” is “Sin – Cere”.

Oh now you see, next time you end your letter / email with the word “sincerely”, it means “without wax” and it means “there is no cover-up and from the bottom of my heart”.

So … my sincere thanks (i.e. without wax) to those who worked very hard.

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“Be a professional in all that you do.“