This is an excellent article of expectations and realities of offshore outsourcing.  Here is my own interpretations on some of the myths that are presented:

a.) you cannot have it all.  You can’t have cost reductions, improvement in service, plus flexibility all thrown in.  Such would be too big an expectation.

b.) Getting the right partner matters - and a good partner may not be the cheapest.

c.) Too detaild or too lax contracts won’t work.

d.) YOu cannot ask your vendor to take on unlimited indemnities for failure.  In short, outsourcing does not abdicate you the responsibilities or the headache.

If it doesn’t work the first time, try and try again!

Seven Myths About Outsourcing - WSJ.com

In recent years, there’s been a seemingly endless boom in offshore outsourcing. But companies that think handing off an operation to an overseas provider is easy can get a rude awakening.

The transition often proves to be much more costly and complicated than expected. And companies often find that their high hopes about cost savings and greater efficiency don’t pan out.

 Luxury goods or rather super luxury goods are increasing at a fast pace.  Everybody wants to feel special, and I guess that is one of the categories a smart company will always know how to exploit.

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Forget about the $350 stilettos. Shoes with status these days come with $1,000 price tags. And $600 handbags have become so bourgeois. A-listers don’t want to be seen with anything costing less than $5,000.

t’s no secret that luxury sales have been booming over the past six years. But at a time when the average American is grousing about meager wage growth and feeling strapped by a 30-cent spike in the price of gas, splurging by the wealthy has risen to gaudy proportions as the super rich seek new heights in pampering, price tags and one-of-a-kind items that set them apart.

Complete story here. 

Have you meet people who are arrogant?  pompous?  haughty?

We may dislike them, but you will find that beneath many of them are human beings that probably have been hurt before, and therefore is putting on an air, just like you put on a body armor.  This allows them to bounche off their own feeling of inadequancy or insecurity, and bounce off the everyday arrows of life.

But there is more reason why you should not put on airs ( or armours), or to make sure that you are amiable and approachable.  Beyond the possibility that putting on an armour makes you odious, and unpopular, the problem is that a man in armor may not even know when he is attacked.

Your air means that you will be slow to see, slow to hear and even slower to feel.  You are not able to notice a lot of things that is evident to the perceptive viewer.

Your preconceived notions, as well as your feelings of inadequancy will hamper you from fully understanding situations or people, as you are looking people now through rose colored glasses.

Always try to be approachable, and always endeavor to be objective and observant by taking off those glasses.

When I was small, I get to read so many news items - particularly that Americans drive large cars, and gas guzzlers.  In Asia, since we don’t have the intricate highways or even very wide streets, and may more often use other means of transportation like ships, and trains, ( or motorcycles), it was always important that we don’t overspend on gas, specially as most parts of Asia, the price of gas is also heavily taxed and hardly affordable. So we normally drive small cars.

It has been suggested that a lot of money would be saved and greenhouse gas pollution would be solved if only Americans will drive smaller cars.

When I had the ocassion to visit the  United States, I understood why and now regard such simplistic generalized solutions as unworkable.  Americans spend a lot of time in their cars so it has to be comfortable.  They usually drive fast on freeways, and I can understand it is not too safe to be rammed by big cars and trucks at 65 mph if you are driving a small car.  But mostly, I think one of the things I gather is that if your speed is a 65 mph or 70 mph, a small car with 1300 cc or 1500 cc displacement will be strained, and overworked, and thus, is hardly more economical than a V6 car with the appropriate horsepower and displacement.  The overworked car will not last long, nor will it provide the proper ride comfort.

In short, gas efficiency is relative, and if you are driving normally long distances at fast speeds, you have to look for the car which has the appropriate horsepower  to deliver what you need.

Sometimes, trying to save on the wrong things may be a ‘penny wise and pound foolish ‘ decision.  At most times, it is still appropriate to get ( whether it is a car , an appliance, or an employee) the resource that has enough horsepower to deliver what you want to accomplish with some oomph to spare.

Last weekend, I went with my employees to a weekend overnight outing for teambuilding.  Part of the activities was a trekking session in which we would climb to the peak of the mountain which oversee the town.

I have not always been athletic, and have been wanting in exercise than I could care.  But heck, the mountain did not seem high, and I could do it.  I have always prided myself on my willpower.

I did it, but with a lot of effort.  There was a time when i really hesitated whether my willpower would be stronger, or exhaustion would just set in.

In a lot of situations,  we do tend to overestimate our willpower, or we delude ourselves that we are in control.  How many times do we sit in front of the TV screen, and shout to the people there that they should box harder, jump higher or run faster?  and how many times do we hear people say, " I could do it if I put my mind to it…  I was just not focusing on it much."

Indeed in many areas, we think we have willpower.  How many people say they can quit smoking when they want to, and yet have not after so many years?  How many people think that if they only focus, they would be successful in their diet, or if they focus on their work, they would excel or advance faster.

The truth of the matter is that we all overestimate our own willpower.  At the end, what counts on my being able to scale the mountain is not willpower , but constant practice and conditioning.

Which is what we should do in most things, instead of deluding ourselves  we could do it, but never trying. 

I am part of a nationwide grassroots movement that is encouraging entrepreneurship, by providing inspiration, mentorship and linkages.

We think our national culture, which basically encourages citizens to go to school, graduate and then get a job is too ‘constricting’.  Being entrepreneurial is still not being encouraged or frowned upon, and I remember then the  looks of my teachers who look at disdain at some of our classmates attempting to sell candies or other wares while I was still in high school.

Maybe indeed for many a developing country or actually everywhere in the world now, where take home pay will constantly be wanting and not enough, creating a merchant class who is resourceful and business savvy and enabling them to earn on the side, as well as providing micro finance capital might be a good way to grow the per capita income of an economy.

The best way to enable that is to encourage schoolchildren to set up small buy and sells, if only as part of the training, and allow that in the halls outside of classroom hours. If you think how Michael Dell was able to start his PC business in his dormitory, and how many of Silicon Valleys entrepreneurs started off their businesses in Stanford with the active participation and assistance from the school, we may be teaching our young well by encouraging and getting their feet wet in business early — in school.   

Might as well put in to the minds of our schoolchildren that peddling wares is not difficult, or shameful, and in fact is a good way to learn the ropes of business. 

Will it distract their schooling?  maybe.  Will it hamper their learning?  Most likely not. 

As Mark Twain says, " I want to make sure my schooling does not interfere with my education."   Making our people business savvy is certainly teaching them a skill they will use their whole life.  What do you think?

Japan’s 40 Richest - Forbes.com

The world’s second-largest economy may be on the rebound, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at our third annual list of Japan’s 40 Richest. The group’s total net worth is $79.2 billion, down from $88.5 billion. A net worth of $610 million was needed to make the list, $70 million less than last year.

At a board meeting of a business association for which I serve as director, we were debating on what to do since one of the directors had to cut short his term because of a reassignment.

So, we debated on what to do.  After an hour of discussing it, one director said, " hey wait, I’m sure our article of incorporation and charter should have a provision for this."

Which it did.  So essentially that solved the problem for which over an hour of debate did not.

I just noted that we have had many meetings on which we keep revisiting old issues for which past meetings and our process rulebook has already defined a solution.  However, by keeping the debate up, and soliciting new ideas and discussion whenever the same problem occurs, the meeting actually end up making the issue murky and confusing.

Maybe the next time there is an issue, a good way to find a solution fast is to check past records and minutes of the meeting, or simply consult the rule book.  Why keep reinventing the wheel?

Tomorrow’s Trends: Trends in outsourcing white collar work

I found some interesting insights in a Booz Allen paper concerning the growing trend in outsourcing white-collar work.

First, companies will increasingly go offshore for talent, not for lowering costs. The current thought process is that the main reason to outsource is to reduce costs. That may be true for more rote activates, but as outsourcing becomes more white-collar, companies will be looking for specific skills and talents.

A Classic detailed workout on launching a site during these days.

Guy Kawasaki, famous tech evangelist and author,  enumerates the steps and the expense of launching a social web site.

How to Change the World: By the Numbers: How I built a Web 2.0, User-Generated Content, Citizen Journalism, Long-Tail, Social Media Site for $12,107.09

4. I learned four lessons launching Truemors:

1.

There’s really no such thing as bad PR.
2.

$12,000 goes a very long way these days.
3.

You can work with a team that is thousands of miles away.
4.

Life is good for entrepreneurs these days.