The basics of management are often supplanted by “sexier” jargon, ideologies, or fads, especially in the 21st century. However, are the basics dead? No. The simplest ideas are sometimes the litmus test for leadership and management.
Category: Leadership Page 1 of 25
Seamus Phan – writes on everything related to running better businesses, including leadership, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, agile/lean, process management, quality, philosophy, etc.
The recent events around the world showed me one thing – some people can make simple things ridiculously complex and ultimately fail, while fewer other people, a select few, are able to make complex things ridiculously simple and succeed. It is simple, just as any coder knows, the more elegantly simple the code, the less vulnerabilities and the faster the execution and results.
If you venture along the old quiet Telok Ayer Street, you may still catch a glimpse of one of Singapore’s oldest food establishments, the 90 years old Tan Hock Seng bakery. In November 2021, this old shop will close for good, serving the locals for the past 90 years and passing through 3 generations. It is an iconic brand no less, and one that took decades and nearly a century to hone. And it will be gone. Brands, need time to build, and good brands that last, need LOVE to build. What then, is the power of heritage in a brand?
Have you seen how many “bricks-and-mortar” businesses were bricked in various nations due to rather draconian crisis measures in these two years? Are these decisions even smart or wise in relation to preserving the economy moving forward post-crisis? I think not. And there are reasons.
My late grandparents and late mum were prudent, never indulged in luxury, and only accumulated wealth made by their bare hands through labor. They had no rich or powerful parents to siphon from or depend on. My mum came here to struggle with my dad in an extremely difficult landscape against various odds too painful to detail.
Gaslighting. It is a word that seems new, but is not quite new. It is an emotional abuse where abusers slowly and steadily strip the confidence of victims, by conditioning the victims to doubt their own thoughts, memories, timelines, events, and even sanity.