Something for deliberation (34)

You think.....you feel.

Or you feel.....you think.

You can be smarter than the customer but you cannot be more important than the customers.

You cannot think like that because if you think like that, you will feel like that.

And that's how the not-so-likeable attitude is formed in people in business who sell things or provide services.

Something for deliberation (33)

Let's say X can help you to do your job faster and with better result. And as a result of that, you can get more job. And let's take X as one type of tool or technology.

Would you buy, invest in X with money you have to borrow, to do and get business or you will wait until you have good business and use the profit to buy it?

Something for deliberation (32)

Due to globalisation and advancement of Information and Communication Technology, getting a job done is no more a problem ; it's a given.

It's not so much of technology and tools have made the the human factor redundant but in making the job easier to be done by those who do the job, making the job easier to be learned, making how to do the job easier to replicated. Not many can claim monopoly on " I know how to do this job ". The availability of this player and accessibility to them have contributed to making getting a job done not being a big problem.

Value is not in " you know how to do it " but in " how fast can you get it done ".

Something for deliberation (31)

What made a plumber? What made a wireman? What made a brickslayer? What made a glazier? What made a fabricator? What made a contractor? What made a draughtman? What made a designer?

What they know? What they do? How they know? How they do their work?

Actually there is no secret to know what they know. It's PLAYROLE. It's something people do by design.

All the jobs are done with the assistance of tools and technology, one way or another ; some involve more of it than the others.

It's technology and tool that make the job more than that person himself!

Have you ever found a keysmith working without that trade's machine and tool?

Have you ever found one designer presenting his work without the software?

In playing role one must understand the importance of tools and technology and the necessity of investing and keeping up with the related and relevant ones.

Something for deliberation (30)

Overheard this conversation between two two friends.

Friend A : That guy is smarter, more important and cool because he speaks English!

Friend B : Why do you feel this way? Why is he smarter because he can speak English while you cannot? You can speak Thai but he cannot, how about this ? And why are you less smart, important, cool than him?

Perception is very important. Know how to do a job, the technical part of it is not EVERYTHING. One has to remember that while one can speak English whereas others cannot but there are others who can speak Thai which one cannot! And the people who speak Thai, learn and know the same way as the one who speak English does!

And to know is not hard. It is learning it and practising it. Perception is important. You must feel good about what you are doing. You must have the confidence you can do it.

Something for deliberation (29)

Experience is not the number of years working. Experience is the amount of things known through willingness to learn new things and unlearn old irrelevant things.

You will find some senior staffs in an organisation expecting to be paid more because they have been working many more years. They feel slighted when younger staffs are paid more or being given higher position.

I always like to tell the technical man, those who use skill to work. There is a limit to how the job is done. Once the limit is reached, additional years doesn't make anymore difference to the knowledge of how the job is done.

Position must come from merits, results and not the number of years with the company.

Something for deliberation (28)

As the facilitator cum contractor for the job, I too must understand my job description / definition in order to play my role effectively.

No matter how much I help my workers to do what is their job, I still must pay them even if I cannot get payment from my customers. Helping them in their job will not mean I can be excused for not doing my job, what is my responsibility.

If I know my role well and fulfill that part of my responsibility, it is OK that I go back to sleep when I am free, instead of helping the workers in doing their job.

Something for deliberation (27)

If nobody is responsible for a specific job, that specific job will not get done. There is substantial truth in the saying : EVERYBODY'S JOB IS NOBODY'S JOB.

Job description of the departments and players involved in getting a job done must be defined and understood by all parties concerned. The keywords are : GETTING ONE'S JOB DONE AND NOT ANY OTHER JOB.

The point of this post is : In order for one to play one's role well, one must understand one's scope of job and responsibility ( as per the job description ).

Something for deliberation (26)

There exist some unwritten ethics or code of conduct in our industry set by the old / past players. It may be something not punishable by the law if it is broken but it is observed nonetheless so that there is order and harmony among the players for the work to get done.

Just like in any other game, how can it be played when there are no rules?

You can fight hard to get the business. Competition brings out enterprise, so they say. But when the deal has been sealed, there must have order and harmony among the players of the jobs. Industry rules, the unwritten codes come into play.

Long term business dealing is built on the foundation of trust, integrity i.e "I stand by the ethics" and not solely on "I know how to do the job". I have commented in the earlier post this : not at any one time will you find that there is only one clinic or accounting firm at any given place.

Something for deliberation (25)

The responsibility of a contractor involves more than just knowing how to do the job, the technical aspect of it ; it also involves the ability to work as a team and KNOWING ONE'S POSITION.

One must know the chain of command / communication in executing one's role as a contractor.

I had this advice given to me by one Mr Lim, a main contractor, when we first started out :
When you have the customer asking you for opinion , information, tell him, " I am here to do the work under the instruction of Mr So-and-So ( the main contractor ). I know and can do just that. More than that, please refer to Mr So-and-So." With this work policy, you can have a lasting working relationship with your main contractor.

Many contractor don't see it this way : To the sub con, the main contractor is his customer. The customer of the main contractor is NOT the customer of the sub contractor. Thus, the sub con does not take order from the customer or deal with him in any direct manner.

Something for deliberation (24)

How can I be unfair due to my price being higher when I deliver the job to you in the manner and at the time we both agreed, and I collect from you the amount as agreed, nothing less and nothing more than the agreed?

My uncle shared with me this : If you make more by cutting corner or giving something lesser than the agreed, you are shortchanging the customers ; this is cheating. If you are able to negotiate and convince your customer to secure a higher price (higher profit ) on a willing buyer willing seller basis , that is doing business and there is nothing not fair about it.

Something for deliberation (23)

I need a lorry to transport the goods, what difference does it make whether I own that vehicle or I hire it?

Under such circumstances, ability to arrange for the transport to have the goods sent to it's destination in manner and time agreed is more important than whether or not one owns that lorry being used to transport the goods. Is that not right?

Laminated glass - simplification

Laminated glass is made by bonding two pieces of glass with a piece of film and adhesive. Glass tint comes from the colour of the film being used to bond the glass. The features of laminated glass are :

1. Filter out ultraviolet rays.

2. Absorb sound.

3. Various tint to match the colour theme of surrounding place.

4. Cutting down transmission of heat outside in and inside out of the premise, thus saving energy.

5. When the glass cracks, the splinters will adhere to the film and not scatter ; this characteristic makes laminated glass a high safety glass.

6. Tint and thickness type : 6mm+, 8mm+, 10mm+, 12mm+, Clear, Blue, Green, Bronze and Grey.

One-and-a-half leaf swing door on floor closer

Photos of a one-and-a-half leaf swing door on floor closer that replaced a wooden door at the fire exit.

Suspended sliding door / Hanging door without bottom track

Hanging door without bottom track aka suspended sliding door has the following features :

1. Many designs and colours for the in-fill panel such as polystyrene, acrylic, airbrush fiberglass, colour glass or the standard type of glass.

2. Aluminium frame with new finishes as well as powder coating which has a wide range of colours to choose from.

Single sliding door

Single sliding door is used for rooms in office and showroom for the following reasons :

1. It does not take away space from the existing opening for the door.

2. It does not take up extra space in the room it is being installed when the door is opened.

3. The room looks neat and organised with a sliding door in place.

Suspended sliding door

Suspended sliding door is used in the production area of a factory for the following reasons :


1. Trolley, hand truck, hand pallet truck which are used to move the products will not damage the track as there is none in use.

2. There will be no extra manhour spent to clear the track of sliding door which is a dirt trap. If this is not done, the roller will get spoilt easily.

3. It doesn't take up space from the opening of the door.

Something for deliberation (22)

We had dinner at one of the seafood restaurants in a fishing village last weekend. There are around ten restaurants along that stretch of main road in the village.

My children were hungry when we reached there. To avoid waiting too long for the food, I went to the restaurant that had the least cars in the open car park . From the car park, I could see only few tables occupied and there were few workers standing by the tables.

As usual when we went to seafood restaurant, we ordered for prawns, crabs, fish. The taste of the food was acceptable but the size and freshness of the seafood was below par.

It was at this time our conversation led to these points :

1. The restaurant with the least customers / business will get smaller, less fresh seafood supply as compared to the rest. All of the restaurant operators may be getting their supply from the same supplier.

2. The restaurant with bigger crowd / sales will get bigger, fresher seafood supply and get more customers, better sales.

3. The seafood supplier will give the bigger customer bigger, fresher supply as he can order larger volume.

4. The restaurant with bigger crowd / better sales will keep getting bigger, fresher seafood supply and further improve on his sales while the restaurant with least customers / business will keep getting smaller, less fresh supply and his business will not improve much if it does not get worse.

The pattern of how things take place like the one faced by the restaurant operator are also faced by other businesses. The vicious cycle must be broken or rather avoided. So, if business is not good, don't wait for things to happen. Make things happen. Or else things will move in cycle, dictated by the pattern.

This is one trap to avoid so that one doesn't fall into the vicious cycle which has a high degree of predictability if not a certainty which is.......sure-die.