Do people understand what change is all about? Posted 11/28/2006 4:02:09 AM Lately, cries and prayers for change are heard all around us. Such changes are hoped for both in abstract forms – change in lifestyles, spiritual and/or emotional being, morals, outlooks in life, dreams and ambitions, etc – and material or specific forms – changes in the form of governance, institution leaders, laws and policies (even constitutions), technologies, budget allocations, educational materials, business processes, etc. Even generations are required to have a certain “change” in them to have its own identity (e.g. Generation X vs. Generation Y vs. Baby Boomers). But what is the reason behind these changes? Is it to attain a certain level of “perfection”? Yes, change is inevitable, but what everyone has to keep in mind is that changes must be carefully planned and conceptualized, implemented and evaluated not for the benefit of the self only but for the good of the majority affected by it. When a certain change is made, the whole “process” in which the change is implemented alters to some degree. It could be as small as skipping an irrelevant process (such as gurgling mouthwash instead of flossing) to revamping a whole process (constitutional changes, elections, altering end-to-end business processes). Whether the outcome would be good or bad, the process is still changed; and whether the change be undone, an alter effect has already been achieved. A particular desired effect for change is to achieve a “perfect process” in the environment where the affected individuals exist. But does anyone fully understand what perfection really is? Perfection is an illusion – it does not exist. No one can reach a state of perfection since change is inevitable. Perfection is also subjective, as the perfection of one is either insufficient or counter-progressive in the eyes of at least one other individual. It is not a matter of “it is perfect for me and I don’t care what others think of it”, otherwise the change would be a failure in terms of productivity and efficiency (since it is not for the good of the majority). Perfection, or the belief that one exists in it, is also counter-productive. When one exists in this illusion, chances are that the individual would block out change. Although these people would want to believe that change is unnecessary, it still is inevitable, and refusing change would cause undesirable effects, such as the inability to adapt to one’s environment. For example, when the term Utopia is mentioned, a lot of people would automatically have an image of the Garden of Eden, or the extreme opposite – a fully automated world. In both cases, there would be a lot of elements lacking that would contribute to the community’s progress which, if not implemented, would cause a slowing down of progress and eventually a full stop to it. The concept of perfection is instilled in everyone ever since we all started to think. From all parents wanting to have a “perfect child” to individuals hoping for “perfect lives”, these concepts have been major factors to the individual’s desire for change. This becomes problematic when change is coercively imposed either by the people around the individual or by the individuals upon themselves. Subtle to harsh and dramatic to sudden changes are implemented to alter a person’s way of thinking and lifestyle, but more often than not these changes are not for the good of everyone, but for a few chosen individuals who exist around the person who is subject for change. The individual, not the family, is the most basic element of a society, and it is for this reason that individuals are now attacked by agents of change. For reference, these can just be observed and compared to previous strategies and campaigns – from churchgoers having to attend Sunday mass as a community to the introduction of the TV mass; election campaign materials from being publicly displayed to being personally sent to an individuals homes; or advertisement from being broadcast to being sent to individuals via SMS. The question that one has to ask himself is not “what happens next?”, but “is this change relevant?”. One major difference between man and beast is the ability to reflect. Reflection is not exclusive to those who implement change, but to those who accept change as well. Change happens in a two-way channel: the sender of the idea shares and the recipient either concurs or rejects. It is not omnipotent and unstoppable – and this is the one concept that a lot of people fail to realize. It is not the social acceptance and popularity bourn out of siding with the majority that makes a person important. The importance of the individual only comes out when a carefully reflected decision is made for change or against it. Change is not always on the “good” side, nor is it on the “bad” side, if there are such sides. It just happens or gets postponed and developed. It is the understanding of these changes by each individual in the society that makes a decision which will define whether the change is for their progression or stagnation and regression. Individuals need to move away from the trial and error method and adapt a more reflective approach. The end result of change is not perfection, but progress. Living in an ideal world does not mean that we have to be stagnant in it; rather, changes for adaptation and progress have to come into the picture at some point. Careful reflection must be done so as to cast aside counterproductive or self-centered changes. Expressing one’s reflective opinions must be instilled in each individual of the society. After all, expression is not an ability, but a right. (1) Comments

WHY GOOD EMPLOYEES LEAVE Posted 10/9/2006 8:14:32 PM Early this year, Arun, an old friend who is a senior software designer, got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing a specialized software. He was thrilled by the offer. He had heard a lot about the CEO of this company, a charismatic man often quoted in the business press for his visionary attitude. The salary was great. The company had all the right systems in place - employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office, the very best technology, even a canteen that served superb food. Twice Arun was sent abroad for training. "My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been," he said soon after he joined. "It's a real high working with such cutting edge technology." Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Arun walked out of the job. He has no other offer in hand but he said he couldn't take it anymore. Nor, apparently, could several other people in his department who have also quit recently. The CEO is distressed about the high employee turnover. He's distressed about the money he's spent in training them. He's distressed because he can't figure out what happened. Why did this talented employee leave despite a top salary? Arun quit for the same reason that drives many good people away. The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was published in a book called First Break All The Rules. It came up with this surprising finding: If you're losing good people, look to their immediate supervisor. More than any other single reason, he is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why they quit, taking their knowledge, experience and contacts with them. Often, straight to the competition. "People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. "So much money has been thrown at the challenge of keeping good people - in the form of better pay, better perks and better training - when, in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue." If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers. Are they driving people away? Beyond a point, an employee's primary need has less to do with money, and more to do with how he's treated and how valued he feels. Much of this depends directly on the immediate manager. And yet, bad bosses seem to happen to good people everywhere. A Fortune magazine survey some years ago found that nearly 75 percent of employees have suffered at the hands of difficult superiors. You can leave one job to find - you guessed it, another wolf in a pin-stripe suit in the next one. Of all the workplace stressors, a bad boss is possibly the worst, directly impacting the emotional health and productivity of employees. Here are some all-too common tales from the battlefield: Dev, an engineer, still shudders as he recalls the almost daily firings his boss subjected him to, usually in front of his subordinates. His boss emasculated him with personal, insulting remarks. In the face of such rage, Dev completely lost the courage to speak up. But when he reached home depressed, he poured himself a few drinks, and magically, became as abusive as the boss himself. Only, it would come out on his wife and children. Not only was his work life in the doldrums, his marriage began cracking up too. Another employee Rajat recalls the Chinese torture his boss put him through after a minor disagreement. He cut him off completely. He bypassed him in any decision that needed to be taken. "He stopped sending me any papers or files," says Rajat. "It was humiliating sitting at an empty table. I knew nothing and no one told me anything." Unable to bear this corporate Siberia, he finally quit. HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find public humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted. The second time,that thought gets strengthened. The third time, he starts looking for another job. When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job." Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, too nit-picky. But they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. When this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over a seemingly trivial issue. It isn't the 100th blow that knocks a good man down. It's the 99 that went before. And while it's true that people leave jobs for all kinds of reasons - for better opportunities or for circumstantial reasons - many who leave would have stayed - had it not been for one man constantly telling them, as Arun's boss did: "You are dispensable. I can find dozens like you." While it seems like there are plenty of other fish especially in today's waters, consider for a moment the cost of losing a talented employee. There's the cost of finding a replacement. The cost of training the replacement. The cost of not having someone to do the job in the meantime. The loss of clients and contacts the person had with the industry. The loss of morale in co-workers. The loss of trade secrets this person may now share with others. Plus, of course, the loss of the company's re****tion. Every person who leaves a corporation then becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse. We all know of large IT companies that people would love to join and large television companies few want to go near. In both cases, former employees have left to tell their tales. "Any company trying to compete must figure out a way to engage the mind of every employee," Jack Welch of GE once said. Much of a company's value lies "between the ears of its employees". If it's bleeding talent, it's bleeding value. Unfortunately, many senior executives busy traveling the world, signing new deals and developing a vision for the company, have little idea of what may be going on at home. That deep within an organization that otherwise does all the right things, one man could be driving its best people away. (1) Comments

Bagyo Posted 10/4/2006 5:52:49 AM I just want to share to all what happened recently in our town. We experienced super typhoon. 40 people are missing and 30 people are dead. I live in an urban town. As a matter of fact, I live in a busy city just like New York. Telephone lines are down and electricity were off for 4 days. You can imagine how much losses it brought to companies and other businesses. Needless to say, classes and work are suspended. Finally the work resumed after 4 days of suspension. You'll be surprise by the different comments and opinions of the people around me. They said that the typhoon should have been damaged more electric and telephone establishments so that we wont have to go to work for a longer time. And they are wishing for another super typhoon to come to our town so that work and classes will be suspended again. Let me clarify my story. The people who are dead and missing are those who live in squaters. Those are the less fortunate people who cant buy decent homes in a subdivision. They are the ones who build their houses beside the street/road or under the bridge. They are the one you see in the street begging for money and food. And majority of them are criminals. Meaning, juvenile delinquent, carnaper, kidnapper, drug addicts...name it. These are the people who commits crime due to poverty. So in short,people on the upper middle class dont mind them at all. But I feel sorry for them. I know how it feels like to have lost someone you love. I wont trade 30 lives for 4 days work suspension. They might be the town's trouble makers, but life is life. (0) Comments

chicken pork adobo Posted 9/25/2006 12:39:15 AM Chicken and Pork Adobo The Philippines is south of China, North of Indonesia, and no where near Latin America. Thus, you may be wondering why I have a Filipino dish on my Latino page. In 1521 Fedinand Magellan reached the island of Samar and claimed the entire archipelago for Spain. 44 years later when Philip II became king of Spain colonial rule was established that lasted about three centuries. Following the Spanish American War the United States got control of the Philippines in the Treaty of Paris of 1898. By the End of WWW II, the Philippines became independent. Spanish and Asian influences can both be found in their cooking styles. In addition, I just happen to like Filipino cooking and the following is one of my favorite dishes. 1 cup white or cider vinegar 1 cup water 2 tablespoons peeled and crushed garlic 1 teaspoon salt 3 bay leaves 1 teaspoon black pepper 3 pounds of chicken (large pieces or hacked small) 2 ½ pounds pork butt cut into 1 ½ inch cubes 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons peanut oil (optional) ¼ cup of red wine (optional) hot sauce or dried hot peppers (optional) 1/2 cup to 1 full cup of brown sugar (optional) Variation: Some Latin countries have an almost identical recipe, except they add the optional ingredients: red wine, hot sauce, and brown sugar. These are not traditional additions in the Philippines. You can use either your favorite chicken pieces (thighs and legs are frequently used) or "hack" one whole chicken. Hacking refers to cutting a whole chicken into small pieces with the bone still in. Leaving the bone in the pieces helps to retain moisture and shape. You do not want to make this dish with boneless chicken. In a large pot bring to a boil the vinegar, water, garlic, salt, bay leaves, hot pepper, and black pepper. Add the cut up meat cover with the brown sugar and once again bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add the soy sauce and the wine and cook an additional 10 minutes. Remove the meat and continue cooking the sauce until it is reduced by half. Optional: While the sauce continues to cook, you may want to brown the chicken and pork pieces in a hot skillet with the peanut oil. If you used large chicken pieces (ie leg quarters) skip this step. Serve the meat and the sauce over white rice. (0) Comments

wag mo ko lapitan pag may kailangan ka lang Posted 9/22/2006 2:31:05 AM People seem to be so nice when they need something from you. May it be material or support. But after giving them what they want they change. As if they never knew you. I just cant understand how people can be so pretentious. They really have to step on someone else's shoes to be recognized. (1) Comments

Dealing with OAs Posted 9/18/2006 6:18:58 AM I have 2 officemates who seems to be like an onion paper. Everytime you have to talk to them about something negative about themselves they'l cry a river which is very irritating. And the thing is the other one is already 32 years old but she acts as if she's 18. I really dont wanna deal with them and until now i dont speak to that person because of her narrow mindedness...I hate over acting and I dont like talking behind people's back. That's why i go to them and tell them my concern when Im pissed off of them. I used to do that with my friends way back college and high school and Im very tactful with what I say. I just cant understand why these women acted like they never heard anything bad about them. And if they only knew people talk behind their back bec of their attitudes. My main concern is I look like the evil girl and they're like my victim. I was seen to be immatured and tactless. What Im doing is that when Im not in the mood to you, i said so. If it is not work related business i dont see any reason to deal with these women. This is my letter for 'T' You are a back stabber. You might not accept it but you are. You have 2 faces. You look like an innocent victim but for me you are the predator. Your breath stinks same as your attitude. Hell with you. Mind your stinky breath first before miding my business!!!! You bitch!!! This is my letter for 'Y' I dont know why I got into trouble with 2 dragon lady. Same as 'T', your breath seems like you didnt clean your mouth for decades. Your teeth are like decomposing fossils. At first I like you but now I see your true color, and you're a witch. You are the most hypocrite person I ever saw. You cant face me bec i'l gonna kick your dirty ass. So you get people's sympathy and make me look like a devil. And worst, you spread your legs to get money. For there's nothing wrong with that really, but appearing like your a virgin is a different thing. U slut!!!! PATHOLOGICAL LIAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BURN TO HELL BITCH. For now...since i have to go, that's all i have to say abt these two dirty bastards!!! more to come...since you have me in the blog. (1) Comments

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