2011 - A Year of Change

And so we come to the end of another year, a year of many changes in my life.

The biggest change happened at work when the company I work for divested its business in September 2011. As a result, half of the workforce were transferred to the other company and a restructuring took place. My Corporate Communications department changed name to Marketing Communications (Marcom) and got parked under the Business Development & Marketing division.

After the divestment and restructuring, I was (and still am) the only person in Marcom and was afraid my new boss would not approve my 2-week leave to travel to Europe since I have no backup staff. But she's a gem and approve she did my leave and that's why I managed to travel to Europe recently.

Visited a few places this year:

• Phuket, Thailand
• Paris, France
• Barcelona, Spain
• Madrid, Spain
• Thurles, Ireland
• Killkenny, Ireland, and
• Few other towns in Ireland like Templemore and Cashel.

All those travels made me a happy woman :-)

Now that 2011 is behind us, what will 2012 bring?

"What will 2012 bring?" The famous gargoyle in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France pondering as it looks out to the city of Paris.

I'm looking forward to new work challenges, the London Olympics, Euro 2012 and more travels (for sure!).

Here's to a great and wonderful 2012 !!! 

Happy New Year !!!

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year

Image source

I don't feel the Christmassy spirit in the air this year.

Maybe it's because of the stress of an event I'm organising. The event will be held in early January and till today many things are not decided yet.

Despite being the Christmas week, I've been working late this entire week. I also didn't do any Christmas shopping or even browse through the malls to see the lovely deco and listen to the carols. How sad is that ...

I wish I could leave my work behind and travel to Europe to see the Christmas markets there. I've read and seen the lovely pics, and those markets are indeed pretty and charming.

So before I sound like Ebenezer Scrooge or a wet blanket, let me sign off now. I need to go back to work and continue dreaming of those lovely Christmas markets.

Till my next post, Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year ... everyone ...

And so I'm offering this simple phrase,

To kids from one to ninety-two,

Although its been said many times, many ways,

A very Merry Christmas to you.

Moving Office

Sorry for the silence. I was busy moving office.

Now let me tell you something about moving an entire organisation from one location to another - it's a total bitch that takes up lots of time and energy. But Management always insist it has to be done for the progress of the company, for a more condusive working environment, for branding, blah, blah, blah ...

Moving office was also a crash course in PC hardware - we had to dismantle our PCs for the movers to pack. And we had to assemble it back on our own at the new office. For people like me who can never tell the difference between one cable to the next port, taking photos was the best option.

And just before we bid farewell to the old office, all staff were to place their phones in a common area - my cubicle. So my last memory of my cubicle looked like this:

And after all the boxes and stuff have been moved to the brand new building, unpacking was another bitch.

I plan to keep my brand new ergonomic chair wrapped in its plastic sheet for as long as I can. I wanna be like the Chinamen who never seem to remove the plastic sheets from the seats of their brand new car.

Boss in a Crappy Mood

After so many weeks of literally shaking legs at the office, 2 major events will take place next month with both events falling a week apart. As such I'm rushing to complete whatever that needs to be done.

My boss has been in a crappy mood since the one whom she reports to is giving her a hard time with these 2 upcoming events. And she takes it out on her staff.

Just 2 weeks back she called me a bloody fool to my face. And she used the F-word on her staff. I think I've lost all respect for her.

Cookies From Macau

Today is a Monday and I need to update my blog. But I don't have anything interesting to share and I'm suffering from writer's block due to insufficient sleep.

So I'm gonna show you what my boss brought back from Macau for the folks at the office. She was on holiday there last week.

These cookies are made using green peas and are quite hard literally on the teeth - don't like. I think they are also available in Malaysia albeit packaged differently.

So that's my very short Monday blog post for you.

Holiday Souvenirs for Colleagues

Souvenir stalls in Bangkok.

Do you buy holiday souvenirs for your colleagues whenever you holiday out of country?

Well I don't, and I don't plan to start because they'll expect it everytime.

But I've got a few thick-skinned colleagues who have the cheek to ask every single time I return from a holiday.

Come on ... I've already spent hard-earned money on the flight, lodging, food, ground travel, entrance fees, etc. And you expect me to buy holiday souvenirs for you? You can dream on, brother ...

These buggers have no shame at all.

I've heard of a case where a supervisor threatened his subordinates with poor appraisal scores if they didn't buy any holiday souvenir for him. His subordinates eventually made a report to human resources and he got into trouble. Why go through so much trouble for some stupid holiday souvenir?

The next time if any of my colleagues asks, I'm gonna reply, "Buying holiday souvenirs for you is not part of my job description."

Career in a Rut

Today is Monday, the start of another nothing-to-do-at-work week.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been literally shaking legs at work. Every morning I come to work, switch on the computer and surf the net till I knock off at 6.00pm.

This total lack of activity is driving me crazy!

I wonder why my boss decided to employ me in the first place. Does she need that many people in the department when almost all of us are lazing away?

I know I should be grateful that I have a job, especially in this economic climate where there's unemployment everywhere. But I can't help feeling redundant and stupid.

I feel that my skills and knowledge amassed through the years will deteriorate and wither away, leaving me incapable of performing up to expectations in my next role, wherever and whenever that may be.

I miss the adrenaline rush of planning and organising an event. I miss writing a press release and the satisfaction of seeing a high media value for a campaign I've worked on. I don't get to do all that in my current employment.

I think I seriously need to take a good, long, hard look at my career. To see where I'm heading in the next 5 years. And hopefully I'm able to salvage what's left of it.

Why I Won't Do An MBA

There was once I asked my god daughter if she was interested in doing an MBA. She said "definitely not". She came to that decision after having close encounters with an MBA grad whose realm of knowledge consists of handbags, handbags and only handbags.

I used to have a deep yearning to study for an MBA. I thought having an MBA would open career opportunities for me. I also bought books on MBA and spoke to many MBA students to learn from their experiences.

As I grew older, my interest in doing an MBA started to lapse. This is because of my own experiences with many MBA graduates who did not live up to their name of MBA grad.

I personally know of MBA grads holding senior positions in big corporations who:

• Thinks that a Six Sigma Black Belt is a martial arts qualification.


• Argues that in accounting, if the actual amount spent is higher than the amount budgetted, it would be a positive (+) sign instead of a negative (-) sign. OMG!!!
  
  
• Have never heard of Blue Ocean Strategy.

• Is in-charge of Corporate Social Responsibility but doesn't know what's 'OKU'.
  


• Consistently copies what other departments and companies are doing in related areas of work.
  


• Speaks like an uneducated person.

(I could go on and on ... but it would only embarass MBA grads everywhere.)

I wonder what did they learn in the 2 years or so studyng for their MBA. Did they use the time to play marbles?

On the other hand I personally know of many non-MBA graduates who have made a mark for themselves in the corporate world without having an MBA tucked under their belt. They are intelligent, well read and matured in their thoughts and actions. Kind of reminds me of the movie Good Will Hunting (look below for a brilliant dialogue from the movie about acquiring knowledge without having formal education).

I'm not saying that doing an MBA is a bad thing and that all MBA graduates are ignorant. It all depends on how the student uses the opportunity to learn as much as possible and make him/herself a more knowledgeable and better person during their MBA studies.

And more importantly to always keep abreast with current affairs by reading, reading and reading after graduating. Learning is something you do from womb to tomb.

At this point in life, I feel that it's not having an MBA that matters, but how interested I am in acquiring knowledge. And I can do all that through many avenues like reading, surfing the internet, attending courses, exchanging ideas with friends, etc.

But also at the end of the day, to climb the corporate ladder, it's not what you know, but who you know that counts.

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Brilliant Dialogue from Good Will Hunting


Chuckie: All right, are we gonna have a problem?

Clark: There's no problem. I was just hoping you could give me some insight into the evolution of the market economy in the early colonies. My contention is that prior to the Revolutionary War the economic modalities, especially of the southern colonies could most aptly be characterized as agrarian pre-capitalist and...

Will: [interrupting] Of course that's your contention. You're a first year grad student. You just got finished some Marxian historian, Pete Garrison prob’ly, you’re gonna be convinced of that until next month when you get to James Lemon, then you’re gonna be talkin’ about how the economies of Virginia and Pennsylvania were entrepreneurial and capitalist back in 1740. That's gonna last until next year, you’re gonna be in here regurgitating Gordon Wood, talkin’ about you know, the Pre-revolutionary utopia and the capital-forming effects of military mobilization.

Clark: [taken aback] Well, as a matter of fact, I won't, because Wood drastically underestimates the impact of--

Will: ..."Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social distinctions predicated upon wealth, especially inherited wealth..." You got that from "Work in Essex County," Page 98, right? Yeah I read that too. Were you gonna plagiarize the whole thing for us- you have any thoughts of- of your own on this matter? Or do - is that your thing, you come into a bar, you read some obscure passage and then you pretend - you pawn it off as your own - your own idea just to impress some girls? Embarrass my friend?
[Clark is stunned]

Will: See the sad thing about a guy like you, is in about 50 years you’re gonna start doin' some thinkin' on your own and you’re gonna come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life. One, don't do that. And two, you dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a fuckin’ education you coulda' got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the Public Library.

Clark: Yeah, but I will have a degree, and you'll be serving my kids fries at a drive-thru on our way to a skiing trip.

Will: [smiles] Yeah, maybe. But at least I won't be unoriginal.

Greenhorn Commander

Yesterday a new subordinate joined my team. Both of us will work on Corporate Social Responsibility projects and activities for the company.

Gone were the days where I was a one-woman show, enjoying the freedom of doing whatever I want, as long as the work gets done with quality. Now I have become a 'commander' with someone to supervise and to take responsibility for.

I'm gonna take this opportunity to polish my soft skills – management, communication, supervisory, delegation, etc. apart from being a good role model to my new subordinate who is a fresh grad :-) Carpe Diem!

I still remember when I was a greenhorn executive just stepping into the corporate world. I had many superiors and colleagues who taught me a lot about the corporate world and how to survive in it. I am eternally grateful to them for the knowledge they shared with me.

Now that I’ve reached middle management level in my career, I have to take on more responsibilities including having to supervise my subordinate. And I hope I'll make a good leader like what my former colleagues did for me. I bet it’s gonna be a fun-ride all the way!