#7

Life is tough and rough, but tough time never lasts 🙂

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I recommended quite a lot of books before but there are two books I wish I have read those earlier. The first is Rich Dad, Poor Dad and the other is Jack: Straight from the Gut (Jack Welch story). Both of them changed the angle I see things a lot. If you have the time, grasp the books and I am sure, these worth the money and time.

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A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100 yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a enjoyment to run the race to the finish and win. All, that is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, fell down over a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy. They slowed down and looked back. They all turned around and went back. Every one of them. One girl with Down’s Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, “This will make it better.” All nine linked arms and walked across the finish line together.

Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes.

Why? Because deep down we know one thing �What matters most in life is more than winning for ourselves. What truly matters in life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course.

#6

One of the books I am currently reading is “Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed” and it’s amazing. All designers shall buy it … 113 design guidelines and 50 websites get deconstructed and criticized. And for those who want something else, try “NetSlaves: True Tales of Working the Web“. A reality-check of the world-wide-web development.

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“Winning with teamwork demands a commitment to the cause, trust in teammates, and the adoption of a mind-set that puts the team first.”

#5

“Customer service is not a department – it is an attitude. And it is a little thing that makes a big different.”

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Be prepared to take up new work, and work in long & odd hours. We will do all these for one simple reason, to survive.

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Months ago I recommended you all about the book “Who moved my cheese ?“. Understand that not many of you are interested in reading after a long day. So let me just summarize the whole book in one sentence – Some are prepared for change and survived well, while others are surprised by it and have a difficult time.

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I have two this month :

  • “Snow flakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together.”
  • “If you’re not riding the wave of change … you’ll find yourself beneath it.”

#4

How can I help you with ?

The above sentence may sound a bit weird, funny, awkward to most of you. In fact, many of you have never said it before to your internal customers, external customers. But to many, it’s a sign of good service, and a sign that the problems will be taken care of. On the other hands, time to time I heard the following two sentences from some of you:

I don’t know, it’s none of my business …

I believe most of you (if not all) did not mean what you said, but to the one who get your answers – it’s a sign of poor service, poor attitude and down right poor job being done. Obviously, you shall tell your customers – “I will check and get back to you as soon as possible”. Don’t bother to tell the customer that another staff can handle it – you shall simply take up the job, ask the colleague(s) who’s expert in the problem area to fix it and then revert to your customer. That’s a one-stop shop.

I am not an English teacher per se, but I want to let you know that it’s time to further improve our working attitude and be more customer-focus. As a matter of fact, I believe most of you (again, if not all) are providing top-notch services to many others. But again, there is no limit in quality improvement – you all can do it better.

In that poor economic environment, we have to improve ourselves just to stay afloat and we cannot afford any poor service, poor attitude and anti-professionalism.

Be alert. Life is not easy anymore.

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Understand that you all won’t have the time and desire to buy new books week after week. But recently there is a very readable article – i.e. the President Bush’s address to the Congress on 20th September. As you may aware, the speech may be one of the most important one in recent years and surprisingly, it is very comprehensible.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html

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Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated. ~ Lou Holtz ~