Be proactive – Begin with the End in mind – Put First Things First – Think Win-Win – Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood – Synergize – Sharpen The Saw. I love the ball game. One week after the course, I can still recall all the 7 habits perfectly. Other than learning the 7 habits, we got two extra things from the class. A new organizer and a new bank account, the emotions bank account.
The 7 habits start off with being proactive. Without being proactive, the other 6 habits do not apply. Being Malaysians in general, people tend to be reactive rather than proactive. It is a common sight in Malaysia that when a question is thrown to the floor, we take a step back and let others take the lead. Most of us prefer to see how and what other people do, in order for ourselves to have a benchmark. I had learnt that in order to be proactive, we must make ourselves the benchmark.
According to Covey, there is a maturity continuum among the 7 habits. High maturity requires well practiced private and public victories. In terms of private victory, I would say that I have been doing all 3 habits prior to this. I just need to sharpen them. What I really wanted to learn from Nuri is the public victory.
Firstly, is to think win-win. Personally, this is going to be difficult. I honestly don’t see how this habit will work. In every gain, there is a lost. For every penny earned, the money has to come from somewhere. It is just a fact of life that, it is impossible to make everyone wins. My motive is just to ensure that, in everything I gain, the least damage will be caused, including emotional damages. Secondly, I need to learn to understand other people first. More often than not, I ignore what other people think. I am also quick in making assumptions and jumping into conclusions. Habit 5 reminds me that most of the time; my old habit could be devastating. Habit 6 will be the eventual step after Habit 5. I want to apply all these habits into my life.
The most important thing about the 7 habits is not to know about it, but to really apply it. “To learn about it, but not to apply it, it is really not learning it.” I quote this from Stephen Covey. I am ready to take the step forward to be a highly effective person not just at work, but my life.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Week 7 @ Class of Lateral Thinking
Week 7 - emotions running wild. The huge side of my mind is on the NEP final exams, while the other side is basically contemplating that we are going to leave HCDC in another week.
So here we are, week 7 in Lateral Thinking class.
Prior to the class, I always believed that I am a creative person, given the right place and ambience coupled with sufficient sleep the night before. I electrify my creative neutrons by constantly asking myself, “What would a normal person do, given similar circumstances?” and I’ll just do the opposite. Similar to lateral thinking, I have a fixed point which is the ultimate objective of the thinking process to begin with. However, there wasn’t a specific subject matter to branch out from. I just let ideas run wild and make the best out of everything that comes out.
At the beginning of every thinking process, it is important for us to adopt the TOPI tool. We need to embrace the threats and look into the opportunities through the problems while identifying spaces for improvements. Through lateral thinking, the main point is to define a focus, brainstorming, harvesting and generate new ideas. We always need to challenge our ideas; we need to see what the restrictions are and how we can incorporate these bad points into the ideas to get the best out of it. This is when we can also apply the CBA tool, cut whatever that is necessary with specific reasoning and come out with the best alternative.
During the class, there was a great thinking method that I picked up. The method is having a random entry in your thinking process. This is extremely useful when your thinking process hits a dead end. For example, my department (Risk Management) always seeks new ideas in promoting a risk awareness culture in the bank. The norms of course would be mass emailing, stress balls, mugs, posters, etc. With the method of random entry, I can just put a random word such as ‘giraffe’ and come out with a variety of new ideas.
My personal opinion is that, while the lateral thinking process is intriguing, it must be used carefully. In life, there are many occasions where people overanalyze about things which are unnecessary. My advice is to put a question before the lateral thinking process. Whether or not, we need lateral thinking. And why? Secondly, if we adopt the lateral thinking process by de Bono, eventually it builds up a thinking pattern and wouldn’t that be not lateral thinking again? At that point of time, are we suppose to break the pattern of de Bono and form the Tutu thinking? I reckon we should.
So here we are, week 7 in Lateral Thinking class.
Prior to the class, I always believed that I am a creative person, given the right place and ambience coupled with sufficient sleep the night before. I electrify my creative neutrons by constantly asking myself, “What would a normal person do, given similar circumstances?” and I’ll just do the opposite. Similar to lateral thinking, I have a fixed point which is the ultimate objective of the thinking process to begin with. However, there wasn’t a specific subject matter to branch out from. I just let ideas run wild and make the best out of everything that comes out.
At the beginning of every thinking process, it is important for us to adopt the TOPI tool. We need to embrace the threats and look into the opportunities through the problems while identifying spaces for improvements. Through lateral thinking, the main point is to define a focus, brainstorming, harvesting and generate new ideas. We always need to challenge our ideas; we need to see what the restrictions are and how we can incorporate these bad points into the ideas to get the best out of it. This is when we can also apply the CBA tool, cut whatever that is necessary with specific reasoning and come out with the best alternative.
During the class, there was a great thinking method that I picked up. The method is having a random entry in your thinking process. This is extremely useful when your thinking process hits a dead end. For example, my department (Risk Management) always seeks new ideas in promoting a risk awareness culture in the bank. The norms of course would be mass emailing, stress balls, mugs, posters, etc. With the method of random entry, I can just put a random word such as ‘giraffe’ and come out with a variety of new ideas.
My personal opinion is that, while the lateral thinking process is intriguing, it must be used carefully. In life, there are many occasions where people overanalyze about things which are unnecessary. My advice is to put a question before the lateral thinking process. Whether or not, we need lateral thinking. And why? Secondly, if we adopt the lateral thinking process by de Bono, eventually it builds up a thinking pattern and wouldn’t that be not lateral thinking again? At that point of time, are we suppose to break the pattern of de Bono and form the Tutu thinking? I reckon we should.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
God wants you to know
On this day of your life, Shawn, we believe God wants you to know ... that your pilgrimage to God is your pilgrimage to yourself.
It's never too late to start, and it's never too soon to take one more step on your pilgrimage.
It's never too late to start, and it's never too soon to take one more step on your pilgrimage.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
What Are Words - Chris Medina
Lily,
Cuz what kind of guy would I be
If I was to leave when you need me most
Cuz what kind of guy would I be
If I was to leave when you need me most
Week 6 @ The Malaysia Financial System
Six weeks gone and I am now more familiar with how the financial system within the country works and how Bank Negara comes into the picture. I must say, the more I learn, the more I am falling in love with the Bank and I am ever motivated to do my part to contribute to the Bank (the nation).
Bank Negara objectives are simple, promoting socio-economic development and preserving financial soundness and stability.
Prior to NEP, I always think that Bank Negara is the only organization that controls monetary matters within the country. I know nothing about the Security Commissions or even the LFSA. All I know is SC is a government body and that LFSA is a body that regulates the offshore financial matters. After the class with Shireen, I learn that Bank Negara manages components with regards to money as well as insurance, while SC deals with stocks, bonds, derivaties, etc, and LFSA manages everything under the sun in Labuan. Of course, there are some overlapping between SC and the Bank such as the capital market services.
Of course, I am not going to share what we can read from the slides.
When George Soros flexed his muscles in 1997, I was still in Form One back then. I was told that the 1USD is equivalent to RM4.20 instead of RM2.50 the day before. I asked my mum what happened. All she said was, some guy in the states bought a lot of Ringgit and decided to short them to make profit. Malaysia paid the price with the declination and volatility of the market and downgrading of our sovereign rating. Questions start popping up in my mind, wondering whether George was capable of outsmarting us all. After 13 years of asking, I finally got my answer from this class. We had strong fundamentals, but wasn’t able to avoid the crisis.
Since then, the financial system underwent a comprehensive transformation. Our banks now are capable of competing in international levels and that our financial sector is capable of meeting the evolving economic demands. The Bank has tested also strengthen the resilience of financial sector against and shocks while ensuring that consumer protections are not marginalized. The transformation has so far proven successful as Malaysia has gone through the worldwide financial crisis in 2008 without being heavily affected.
I would now say, I am proud that the Bank is capable to learn and grow from previous crises and we are still learning. Not only that we have now a strong conventional financial market, we have also reinforced ourselves as the international hub for Islamic financial services.
Bank Negara objectives are simple, promoting socio-economic development and preserving financial soundness and stability.
Prior to NEP, I always think that Bank Negara is the only organization that controls monetary matters within the country. I know nothing about the Security Commissions or even the LFSA. All I know is SC is a government body and that LFSA is a body that regulates the offshore financial matters. After the class with Shireen, I learn that Bank Negara manages components with regards to money as well as insurance, while SC deals with stocks, bonds, derivaties, etc, and LFSA manages everything under the sun in Labuan. Of course, there are some overlapping between SC and the Bank such as the capital market services.
Of course, I am not going to share what we can read from the slides.
When George Soros flexed his muscles in 1997, I was still in Form One back then. I was told that the 1USD is equivalent to RM4.20 instead of RM2.50 the day before. I asked my mum what happened. All she said was, some guy in the states bought a lot of Ringgit and decided to short them to make profit. Malaysia paid the price with the declination and volatility of the market and downgrading of our sovereign rating. Questions start popping up in my mind, wondering whether George was capable of outsmarting us all. After 13 years of asking, I finally got my answer from this class. We had strong fundamentals, but wasn’t able to avoid the crisis.
Since then, the financial system underwent a comprehensive transformation. Our banks now are capable of competing in international levels and that our financial sector is capable of meeting the evolving economic demands. The Bank has tested also strengthen the resilience of financial sector against and shocks while ensuring that consumer protections are not marginalized. The transformation has so far proven successful as Malaysia has gone through the worldwide financial crisis in 2008 without being heavily affected.
I would now say, I am proud that the Bank is capable to learn and grow from previous crises and we are still learning. Not only that we have now a strong conventional financial market, we have also reinforced ourselves as the international hub for Islamic financial services.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Week 5 @ Class with The One and Only, Jackson Ng
My journal will be solely on the modules. I leave the comments on the coordinator for the others. LOL =p
I was glad to learn that business presentation was part of the NEP program because I really want to know how to deliver killer substances and yet not too ‘corny’ when I am presenting especially when it comes to something a little more technical. Besides, I always have great ideas for my presentations but I always fail to deliver them due to my stage fright.
There are a few things I picked up from class. The 8 steps in a convincing presentation, stating the problem, describe the negative effects, your recommendation, key features of the recommendation, benefits, evidence of the benefits, summary and the action that should be taken. This is a very useful tool not only for presentation but also for my usual conversation with people to sell an idea.
Always remember, “There is no perfect presentation because there is no perfect audience”.
Another thing that really got into my mind is the usage of props. It is pretty funny when I got a CD talking about the success of multi level marketing while I am presenting a topic related to my first love. But I must say, the prop really helped a lot in getting the attention of my audience.
To conclude, I have learnt some good points and bad points about my presentation techniques. Starting off with the good points, I have a good and clear voice. I have the ability to speak very loudly. From this session, I learnt that, I sometimes speak too fast. I might have problems delivering my ideas out to my audience in the future. This is something that I must work on. On top of that, speaking clearly and having the right pace really gives you an additional on-stage charisma.
I looked back at some videos and photographs taken during when I am presenting, I also learnt that I have an unconvincing body language. I hunched during my presentation, I move around aimlessly and I tend to put my hands into my pockets. All these show my lack of confidence when delivering my ideas. This is the other thing that I need to take note of.
I am glad to meet people like Mithra, Tania and the others for really presenting well. I learnt so much from them.
And lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone for crying in class. It was kind of embarrassing too for me. I just wanted to show the sadness that Han Hui was having trouble with. Unfortunately for me, I went a few steps too far. Thanks Katie for the WET tissue and thank you all for the hugs and concerns. Not forgetting to thank Akmal on behalf of everyone for his feedbacks on everyone’s presentation. I honestly find it very useful.
I was glad to learn that business presentation was part of the NEP program because I really want to know how to deliver killer substances and yet not too ‘corny’ when I am presenting especially when it comes to something a little more technical. Besides, I always have great ideas for my presentations but I always fail to deliver them due to my stage fright.
There are a few things I picked up from class. The 8 steps in a convincing presentation, stating the problem, describe the negative effects, your recommendation, key features of the recommendation, benefits, evidence of the benefits, summary and the action that should be taken. This is a very useful tool not only for presentation but also for my usual conversation with people to sell an idea.
Always remember, “There is no perfect presentation because there is no perfect audience”.
Another thing that really got into my mind is the usage of props. It is pretty funny when I got a CD talking about the success of multi level marketing while I am presenting a topic related to my first love. But I must say, the prop really helped a lot in getting the attention of my audience.
To conclude, I have learnt some good points and bad points about my presentation techniques. Starting off with the good points, I have a good and clear voice. I have the ability to speak very loudly. From this session, I learnt that, I sometimes speak too fast. I might have problems delivering my ideas out to my audience in the future. This is something that I must work on. On top of that, speaking clearly and having the right pace really gives you an additional on-stage charisma.
I looked back at some videos and photographs taken during when I am presenting, I also learnt that I have an unconvincing body language. I hunched during my presentation, I move around aimlessly and I tend to put my hands into my pockets. All these show my lack of confidence when delivering my ideas. This is the other thing that I need to take note of.
I am glad to meet people like Mithra, Tania and the others for really presenting well. I learnt so much from them.
And lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone for crying in class. It was kind of embarrassing too for me. I just wanted to show the sadness that Han Hui was having trouble with. Unfortunately for me, I went a few steps too far. Thanks Katie for the WET tissue and thank you all for the hugs and concerns. Not forgetting to thank Akmal on behalf of everyone for his feedbacks on everyone’s presentation. I honestly find it very useful.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Week 4 @ The Flat World (World Economy)
The world as I know it, only went round for a few years before becoming flat again. Geography tells us how the world is round while the world economy says otherwise. More significantly in the past few decades where we had seen the domino effect of financial crises, how one country (if not continents) collapses after another.
There are a few afterthoughts that I’ve got from the class with Jenny.
Firstly, the world is getting smaller and smaller with all the economical linkages. The world trades and cross border investments have increased exponentially in the past 3 decades as far as globalization is concern. Producers and investors are no longer satisfied fighting over small pies available in their local market. I think at some point in time, China will assemble almost all the consumer products available in the market and that they are scatter all over the world. However, not all the parts were produced in China. I had a chance to visit a Japan based factory in Kota Tinggi, Johor last year. Apparently, they produce the metal parts for the Blackberry logo (behind every BB phones in Asia - I was amazed because the process requires super high precision machineries) before sending them to Foxconn in China. See how a Canadian firm appoints a Japanese manufacturer who engages its Malaysia factory to produce parts to be sent to China and finally to be marketed around Asia?
Secondly, the world economy dominance has started to spread globally. We all would agree that in the past, major economies such as the US, England and Japan almost single handedly dictates the directions of the economy. In recent years, the likes of China, India, Russia and Brazil have joined the ranks. Economic conditions within these countries play a major role in setting the economic atmosphere across the regions. Luckily for us, the boom of these ‘awakening giants’ soften the blow of the recent subprime mortgage crisis that spurred a worldwide financial crisis. In many aspects, developing country such as Malaysia depend a lot of the wellbeing of such giants. We could see now that Malaysia is ‘decoupling’ from the US and able to grow under our own steam.
But most importantly, I fell in love with economics and am very much inspired by the people that we have here in the Bank. Being in JEK has now become a silent desire of mine. I would definitely want to emulate the likes of Jenny, Allen or even the governor herself if not outperforming them some day. Not only to mention the personal satisfaction that it gives me, being part of the economics team in the Bank really gives me a direct way to contribute to the nation and its people.
There are a few afterthoughts that I’ve got from the class with Jenny.
Firstly, the world is getting smaller and smaller with all the economical linkages. The world trades and cross border investments have increased exponentially in the past 3 decades as far as globalization is concern. Producers and investors are no longer satisfied fighting over small pies available in their local market. I think at some point in time, China will assemble almost all the consumer products available in the market and that they are scatter all over the world. However, not all the parts were produced in China. I had a chance to visit a Japan based factory in Kota Tinggi, Johor last year. Apparently, they produce the metal parts for the Blackberry logo (behind every BB phones in Asia - I was amazed because the process requires super high precision machineries) before sending them to Foxconn in China. See how a Canadian firm appoints a Japanese manufacturer who engages its Malaysia factory to produce parts to be sent to China and finally to be marketed around Asia?
Secondly, the world economy dominance has started to spread globally. We all would agree that in the past, major economies such as the US, England and Japan almost single handedly dictates the directions of the economy. In recent years, the likes of China, India, Russia and Brazil have joined the ranks. Economic conditions within these countries play a major role in setting the economic atmosphere across the regions. Luckily for us, the boom of these ‘awakening giants’ soften the blow of the recent subprime mortgage crisis that spurred a worldwide financial crisis. In many aspects, developing country such as Malaysia depend a lot of the wellbeing of such giants. We could see now that Malaysia is ‘decoupling’ from the US and able to grow under our own steam.
But most importantly, I fell in love with economics and am very much inspired by the people that we have here in the Bank. Being in JEK has now become a silent desire of mine. I would definitely want to emulate the likes of Jenny, Allen or even the governor herself if not outperforming them some day. Not only to mention the personal satisfaction that it gives me, being part of the economics team in the Bank really gives me a direct way to contribute to the nation and its people.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Week 3 @ The Code of Ethics (and Conducts?)
My definition of the code of ethics, CoE is ‘A set of rules created due to the nature of the organization where each employee is required to abide should they be employed to ensure that the working environment and reputation were not compromised’.
Having heard so much about being a central banker prior to joining The Bank, I kind of had an impression on how strict The Bank is going to be. Being someone that just doesn’t abide by the rules, I can’t help but wonder if I would be a good fit in the organization. Somehow, I joined. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like breaking the rules, I just feel that one should behave with integrity and honesty to oneself rather than behaving so, just because the regulations say so.
Being brought up in a single parent family, my mum had always brought me to her office everyday to ensure that she can keep an eye on me when she’s at work. Being a multinational organization, one would expect the lengthy CoE. Being the innocent me, I always pop up questions such as why the men have to wear ties even when the sun is blazing hot. And why do people behave and talk so differently when they are inside the office. As I grow up, I learn that everyone within an organization is governed by two sets of rules. One being the written CoE and the other, I would name it the “unwritten” CoE. Well, that is the real world, isn’t it?
Anyway, let’s get back to topic. Having worked in a different organization before joining The Bank certainly gives me something to compare to. Other than the generic guidelines on sexual harassment (Yes, Tania and Huihui, sexual harassment), punctuality and the ‘what’s not’, The Bank and my previous employer is totally different in their CoE. Being an American company, there are certainly more leniency within the CoE. For example, the non compulsory tie at work and the casual Fridays.
Since joining Bank Negara, I changed from hating ties to loving them. I really believe a tie actually changes one’s professionalism outlook. Having a tie, it shows that your job is relatively more serious and you really mean business. Being a central banker now, I feel that it is a necessity to portray such image.
Regarding casual Fridays, I really have to disagree to the saying of casual Fridays make people lazy at work. In fact, being in a casual outfit made me work better as I feel more comfortable and a little more stress free. My creativity blossoms under such conditions.
It is really an open verdict on the importance of the CoE. I shall leave it for everyone to decide for themselves. What I learn most in life is that, rules and regulations will never ceased to exist. The important thing is that, we must live true to ourselves and never do things that will reflect badly on the organization and the people you are involved with.
Having heard so much about being a central banker prior to joining The Bank, I kind of had an impression on how strict The Bank is going to be. Being someone that just doesn’t abide by the rules, I can’t help but wonder if I would be a good fit in the organization. Somehow, I joined. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like breaking the rules, I just feel that one should behave with integrity and honesty to oneself rather than behaving so, just because the regulations say so.
Being brought up in a single parent family, my mum had always brought me to her office everyday to ensure that she can keep an eye on me when she’s at work. Being a multinational organization, one would expect the lengthy CoE. Being the innocent me, I always pop up questions such as why the men have to wear ties even when the sun is blazing hot. And why do people behave and talk so differently when they are inside the office. As I grow up, I learn that everyone within an organization is governed by two sets of rules. One being the written CoE and the other, I would name it the “unwritten” CoE. Well, that is the real world, isn’t it?
Anyway, let’s get back to topic. Having worked in a different organization before joining The Bank certainly gives me something to compare to. Other than the generic guidelines on sexual harassment (Yes, Tania and Huihui, sexual harassment), punctuality and the ‘what’s not’, The Bank and my previous employer is totally different in their CoE. Being an American company, there are certainly more leniency within the CoE. For example, the non compulsory tie at work and the casual Fridays.
Since joining Bank Negara, I changed from hating ties to loving them. I really believe a tie actually changes one’s professionalism outlook. Having a tie, it shows that your job is relatively more serious and you really mean business. Being a central banker now, I feel that it is a necessity to portray such image.
Regarding casual Fridays, I really have to disagree to the saying of casual Fridays make people lazy at work. In fact, being in a casual outfit made me work better as I feel more comfortable and a little more stress free. My creativity blossoms under such conditions.
It is really an open verdict on the importance of the CoE. I shall leave it for everyone to decide for themselves. What I learn most in life is that, rules and regulations will never ceased to exist. The important thing is that, we must live true to ourselves and never do things that will reflect badly on the organization and the people you are involved with.
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