Category: Leadership

I love old brands, just as I love old eateries in the streets of Taipei and Kyoto. To me, a good brand is not necessarily a giant full of glitz and dazzle. A good brand should be old, with all the badges of honor of survival through decades or more, with people holding on generation after generation, with just passion and love. To me, money does not make a good brand - the heart does. (more…)

Yes, a movie can have revelations for business, entrepreneurship, marketing, branding, and leadership. The latest craze is Top Gun Maverick, featuring the long-awaited return of Tom Cruise reprising his role as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a test pilot and then Top Gun instructor for a suicidal stealth mission. It is a great adrenaline rush for many of us aviators, and many who aren't. So, what did I connect the film with in terms of business and leadership? (more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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? (more…)

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. (more…)