I just attended a session on how to encourage technology entrepreneurship. There were many issues discussed, but I think these two are important.

a.) Numerous references were made that one way to create entrepreneurship is holding business plans competition. This is I think important. The person who knows technology may not understand business, and you need both technical and business expertise to make both work. Over the last few years, I have talked and worked with many people who tried to form technology companies Read the rest of this entry »

This is from Fortune May 29. There are now 694 million global internet users that are age 15 and over. The US Leads with 152 million, while China follows with 75 million. Israelis spend teh most time online, almost 58 hours per month.

We lived in an information society. With 24 hour news on TV, texting, internet and a mobile phone almost within reach every minute of the day, we are on dangers of information overload. It is said that there is more information on a Sunday edition of the New York Times than somebody 200 years ago has accessed to in their whole lifetime.

The challenge becomes which information or data should come in for decision making, and which are accurate? In general, it becomes a formidable challenge. 10 years ago, you would go to the library Read the rest of this entry »

Admittedly, I have not been very responsive in updating the blog. Since march this year, I have accepted the challenge of our business chamber of commerce to organize the Cebu Business Month. It has been a whirlwind of activities from organizing sports competitions, business conferences, and exhibits.

One of the events we are organizing is InTourPreneur, which is an Information Technology, Tourism, and Entreperneurship Conference and exhibits. We are putting together over a hundred exhibitors, a web design contest, a job fair, a quiz bowl, golf competition, a business awards night, and a conference which has over a hundred speakers. We are targetting over a thousand delegates from all over the country.

It has been a very busy month, and fingers crossed, things will turn out well this June, and I will be able to blog on a normal basis again.

One of the things that is preventing us from becoming better and happier is envy, which is one of the deadly sins.

We need to free our reins from never ending comparison with others.  When a person from a developing country looks at a person from a developed country, he cannot understand why that person could be unhappy since from his standards, the person already has everything he does not have, and which he considered to be necessities for having a good life.

However, more often than not, we are unhappy and under pressure, not because we don’t have enough, but we yearn to have more, because the neighbor has more.

This is underscored by a quote by a famous executive in the IT industry who is believed to have said, “It is not enough that we succeed.  Our competitors have also to fail. “

This was also believed to have been true even in communist countries.  This was supposedly an anecdote that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev told US Secretary of State James Baker III about the difficulty Russia has in its psychological transition to capitalism, after so many years of communism…

” A Russian peasant finds a lamp by the side of the road, and rubs it. Out pops a genie.  The genie tells the peasant he will grant him any wish.

The peasant tells the genie, “you know, I have only three cows, but my neighbor Igor has ten cows.”

“Would you like twenty cows?” , the genie asked.

“No, ” says the peasant.” I want you to kill seven of Igor’s cows”.

I am not saying we should not benchmark ourselves, our abilities, and our performance with others.  That is healthy competition, and spurs you to do better.  But do we need also to compare also the size of our diamonds?

My eldest son ( age 11) thinks his two younger brothers are nuisances. My second son ( age 9) thinks the youngest ( age 4) is also a nuisance to him.

For parents of 2 or more children, I guess this is not something that is alien to you.

Sibling rivalry happens, no matter how you manage them.

The youngest one, for instance, wants to get everything his brothers have. When we buy some books for the first one, he also wants to have his book ( even if he does not know how to read). He also wants to play with the computer ( even if he does not know how to operate). He wants to get his share of TV, his share of food, his share of toys, and his share of attention.

He plays with the video machine, or the computer and does not know what exactly is the objective of the game. But he gains pleasure in able to control the movements, and influence the cursor.

His constant scream is “Let me participate. Let me be part of it. Let me feel important! See me influence and control the computer and do this! I want to do everything my brother does, and I can do it better! ”

When we grow up, we will be able to do a better job to mask our emotions, and we will also be able to reveal less of our natural selves especially if we are not with our own family.

But the constant scream in all of us , “I want to be part, I am as important and as capable a member than anybody, I want to feel important” will still be there, and is an important need for everybody and ourselves that we need to recognize if we want to be successful in our interrelationships.

History is replete with examples how people will go to great lengths and sacrifices to assert their pride and dignity. We all have this innate need to feel that we matter.

The person who knows how to manage this within himself, and in his interrelationships with others will be the more successful manager and businessman.

Go Deep to Jump High  ( on life)

I took this picture a few months ago at the Hong Kong Ocean Park.

It is a great show where dolphins jumped to heights of almost 20 feet up.

After the show, I chanced upon the pool, and noticed that it was very deep, then it struck me …

The dolphins have to go deep in order to jump high.  Without depth, there is no height…

Do you see parallelisms in the principles of life?

I noted that there are many people who spend a lot of time solely getting rich, or showing people that they are rich. Is that all we want to be remembered by?

If the only thing people will remember you by was that you were moneyed and rich, does that mean you have had a successful life?

Wouldn’t you rather be known for something else? As a caring parent, a learned educator, a respected businessman, a great storyteller, an effective manager, an eloquent speaker, a generous benefactor to the community, an accomplished tennis player, a loyal friend, a sought after chef, a noted linguist, an engaging blogger , etc.

Wouldn’t it be a good idea to start spending time on the things you want to be eventually remembered for?

I found these on ads from Businessweek. Sometimes the best quotes comes from a business vision which effectively encapsulates what the company does, and why it is important.

- You are what you hire. When it comes to being successful, you understand good people equals good business. And when you have the wrong people onboard, your company will most likely suffer. From morale to the bottom line, its just bad business …………MRI International

-There comes a time when execution is more important than theory………..Accenture

-Turn goods into good deeds…….. Gifts in Kind

- We develop leaders who develop people who develop business………Insead

-Success comes to those with the foresight to upgrade before the competition catches up……….National University of Singapore

Consider it solved…… Emerson

My company’s slogan for over 10 years is “Translating Technology to Business Strength“. While I am in the IT business, I wanted management people and customers to know that our value proposition is not that we are the best in technology, but we are best in helping the business succeed with technology.

Do you have great slogans you want to share?

The kids were playing nicely, when suddenly the youngest started to howl. Apparently, the elder brother had hit him.

“Hey, what happened?” I queried.

“Dad, he made me hit him.” my second eldest was apparently trying to justify his action.

He made me hit him? Isn’t that an incredible story? I can give an allowance since it came from a nine year old kid ( though I must slowly reorient him that taking responsibility for your own actions as well as its consequence is important) , because even in the workplace, and among adults, we hear this story. He made me fail… - we hear this said or implied often.

The knack is that we think and act like we succeed because of our own efforts, but we Read the rest of this entry »