Maybe I'm just being difficult... but I get really peeved when I get requests from people who have no clue what they are asking. And this, I refer to people who think they know what they want (and therefore they request for it) but they have no idea how to get it done or what is required to get it done... and worse, doesn't take responsibility for their own role in getting it done.
A simple example is a question like "I need to market product X and reach out to potential customers through a website. Please help to do up a website for product X."
Seem like a pretty straightforward request, right? Wrong. Because when one probes further with basic questions like:
- What is product X?
- How is product X different from other competitors' products?
- How does product X fit in with the rest of the company's product?
- How should it be positioned to the customer?
- What are the benefits of using product X?
- What are the specifications for product X?
- How soon will product X be ready?
... the person who made the request had no clue. And I get especially peeved when that person happens to be directly involved in the development, marketing and positioning of product X. If that person, whose role is to drive product X, is not doing his / her job to act on his / her responsibilities and find out or even have some clue about these questions, how can he/she expect others to be able to support his work?
In other words, it is always very easy to say things and express what you want in words.... but you need to act on it and make sure you do your part too. If you did not, don't blame others...
Friday, February 20, 2009
Monday, January 05, 2009
Nightmares.....
I hardly dream when I sleep.... or rather, I hardly remember my dreams even if I do when I sleep. But last night's dream was an absolute nightmare.
I was dreaming that I was out with some friends on a tour bus, and suddenly there was this wave of ghostly spirits that appeared out of nowhere. Everyone on the bus was nervous because we knew we had to get out of there before the "ghosts" discover we are human and decided to harm us. It was even more strange that we found out the "waves" of "spirits" appear once every half an hour or something and the best we can hope for is to get out during that time when they are not around. As my friends nervously got out of the bus and gathered their things to escape, I found that to my horror, I've misplaced my belongings i.e. mobile phone, wallet. Without them, I couldn't get out because I had no money to take a taxi and I had no car. I was running to and fro frantically trying to search for them and none of my friends were able to take me with them. And it was difficult to run... as though every step I take was in ultra slow motion and I had to avoid bumping into the spirits. As my panic grew, the half hour was up and the next wave of spirits was due to appear again. Suddenly I ran past a table and I saw my belongings among the heap of stuff kept there, almost like a lost and found counter. I made a mad grab for my mobile phone and wallet....
... and I woke up. *Phew* it was just a nightmare... but strange one... Maybe I've been gaming too much... hahaha
I was dreaming that I was out with some friends on a tour bus, and suddenly there was this wave of ghostly spirits that appeared out of nowhere. Everyone on the bus was nervous because we knew we had to get out of there before the "ghosts" discover we are human and decided to harm us. It was even more strange that we found out the "waves" of "spirits" appear once every half an hour or something and the best we can hope for is to get out during that time when they are not around. As my friends nervously got out of the bus and gathered their things to escape, I found that to my horror, I've misplaced my belongings i.e. mobile phone, wallet. Without them, I couldn't get out because I had no money to take a taxi and I had no car. I was running to and fro frantically trying to search for them and none of my friends were able to take me with them. And it was difficult to run... as though every step I take was in ultra slow motion and I had to avoid bumping into the spirits. As my panic grew, the half hour was up and the next wave of spirits was due to appear again. Suddenly I ran past a table and I saw my belongings among the heap of stuff kept there, almost like a lost and found counter. I made a mad grab for my mobile phone and wallet....
... and I woke up. *Phew* it was just a nightmare... but strange one... Maybe I've been gaming too much... hahaha
Monday, December 08, 2008
I'm back
ok.... after a disappearing act for almost half a year, I'm back :)
and I'm craving for mahjong!!!!!
and I'm craving for mahjong!!!!!
Monday, July 21, 2008
The good ol' games....
hehehehe... I've resorted to playing old games..... and i mean really old Dos-age games. Been playing Might & Magic: World of Xeen recently and I wonder how many people really remember this one....
Hahaha....
Hahaha....
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Adventures of the missing notepad
Often in our lives, we face situations that require quite a bit of courage to confront and face up to. It doesn't even have to involve encounters with people in power, in terror or even encounters of the third kind. It can be a really mundane situation where one fails to find their courage. And my little notepad went on an adventure today that serves to show just that.
Came into my office in the morning and everything looked fine on my desk. Having booted up my computer, i went to get my daily dose of Kopi-O. By the time I came back 30 minutes later with the intention to prepare for an external meeting, I noticed my notepad went missing. And it's not a small, post-it pad sized thing. It's hardcover A5 sized notepad with quite a lot of pages on it... and obviously my scribblings of notes from other meetings and projects.
I clearly remembered I didn't attend any meetings the day before and it was still sitting at its usual position when I left the office the previous day. Where did it go? If someone had borrowed it, at least leave a note or something? My entire morning was burnt up in angry fumes... because I was frustrated that my notes could be gone. And I still needed some of that for reference for the projects I was doing.
Sent out a mass mail to the entire office asking that if someone had borrowed it or taken it by mistake to please return it to me. No news for the entire day and I was resigned to start a new one.
Two hours before knock-off time, it came back... by proxy, with an innocent looking post-it sticker on it saying someone left it in the boardroom. Someone?? hello? Is that person trying to make it seem that I misplaced it?? I wasn't even near the boardroom for 2 WHOLE DAYS as I was busy working on something at my desk. And the boardroom is situated way AWAY from my desk... at the OTHER wing of the building?
Come on... it doesn't hurt to just own up to it... whether that person had intentionally borrowed it for want of writing materials or taken it by mistake. But committed the act and then leave it in a meeting room pretending you don't know how it got there... that's just plain, absurd cowardice.
Came into my office in the morning and everything looked fine on my desk. Having booted up my computer, i went to get my daily dose of Kopi-O. By the time I came back 30 minutes later with the intention to prepare for an external meeting, I noticed my notepad went missing. And it's not a small, post-it pad sized thing. It's hardcover A5 sized notepad with quite a lot of pages on it... and obviously my scribblings of notes from other meetings and projects.
I clearly remembered I didn't attend any meetings the day before and it was still sitting at its usual position when I left the office the previous day. Where did it go? If someone had borrowed it, at least leave a note or something? My entire morning was burnt up in angry fumes... because I was frustrated that my notes could be gone. And I still needed some of that for reference for the projects I was doing.
Sent out a mass mail to the entire office asking that if someone had borrowed it or taken it by mistake to please return it to me. No news for the entire day and I was resigned to start a new one.
Two hours before knock-off time, it came back... by proxy, with an innocent looking post-it sticker on it saying someone left it in the boardroom. Someone?? hello? Is that person trying to make it seem that I misplaced it?? I wasn't even near the boardroom for 2 WHOLE DAYS as I was busy working on something at my desk. And the boardroom is situated way AWAY from my desk... at the OTHER wing of the building?
Come on... it doesn't hurt to just own up to it... whether that person had intentionally borrowed it for want of writing materials or taken it by mistake. But committed the act and then leave it in a meeting room pretending you don't know how it got there... that's just plain, absurd cowardice.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Ello one and all....
Yes, I'm still alive and I still remember I have a blog... As for whether I'm kicking or not... feeling a little low on energy after a long day (or rather a couple of weeks) of draining my brain juice to write some content for my work.
Recently I find I have a rather acid tongue... when it comes to vendors that perpetually stalk with daily phone calls to chase for the deal. While the offering may look attractive at first, daily calls pestering for decision to engage them can have quite a detrimental effect on that attractiveness. In fact, in the case I'm encountering, the negative impact the calls had on the deal has grown inversely proportionate to how attractive the offering seemed.
While sales gurus will encourage sales personnels to remain optimistic and follow-up with their customers / contacts regularly to catch an opportunity, I think they forgot to teach them when to lay off. Imagine I had to say things like "Don't turn stalker on us" or even "Your daily calls are certainly not helping the cause... we're getting peeved."
Hmmm.... bitchy? Maybe... but sometimes neccessary....
Recently I find I have a rather acid tongue... when it comes to vendors that perpetually stalk with daily phone calls to chase for the deal. While the offering may look attractive at first, daily calls pestering for decision to engage them can have quite a detrimental effect on that attractiveness. In fact, in the case I'm encountering, the negative impact the calls had on the deal has grown inversely proportionate to how attractive the offering seemed.
While sales gurus will encourage sales personnels to remain optimistic and follow-up with their customers / contacts regularly to catch an opportunity, I think they forgot to teach them when to lay off. Imagine I had to say things like "Don't turn stalker on us" or even "Your daily calls are certainly not helping the cause... we're getting peeved."
Hmmm.... bitchy? Maybe... but sometimes neccessary....
Monday, May 12, 2008
Clueless where to start
I hate it when I have to pick up a project right from the middle.... and worse if it entails something that is already in use and requires massive re-write.
Supposed to revamp the website but there's so much to do!! Every part of the website and its component is in use and being constantly updated at the moment, but the revamp entails a whole re-structure of the site as well as adding in new applications, systems and when "lived", training of people to handle the content updating and management too.
Grr.... this is one colossus of a project and I just dread lengthy projects....
Supposed to revamp the website but there's so much to do!! Every part of the website and its component is in use and being constantly updated at the moment, but the revamp entails a whole re-structure of the site as well as adding in new applications, systems and when "lived", training of people to handle the content updating and management too.
Grr.... this is one colossus of a project and I just dread lengthy projects....
