catching the train
Originally uploaded by b8b8ng.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
give me my part and then let me alone to do it
Visit www.cbiz.cn for the latest content
"What's he really doing?"
12-Jun-2006
By John D. Van Fleet
Shanghai - An ordinary night in Shanghai, watching an old DVD, Red Dragon. The first scene features an orchestral performance (and a flautist who appears for the only time in the film, because the part becomes parts -- served as amuse bouche to an unsuspecting group of diners), and my Shanghainese friend asked me this question about the conductor.
"He's the conductor - he leads the orchestra." As I answered, I wondered whether this otherwise worldly young lady had missed Western 'classical' music during her exposure to things non-Chinese, or whether I had misunderstood the question.
The latter. "I know that - I mean, why is he so important? Don't the players already have their parts in front of them?"
"They do, but the interaction between the conductor and the players is like yeast and dough - the combination yields something quite beyond the sum of the elements themselves."
"How much difference can it make - the players practice their parts, right? Isn't their job to play the notes accurately, so that each persons' part contributes to the whole sound?"
"The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. If the players were merely to appear on the stage and play their notes, even if they had a flashing light or similar to maintain the tempo, the result would be vastly different. The conductor influences not only tempo, pitch and relative volume, but the nuance of each player's or section's sound. A good conductor also weaves the various players and sections together. A famous conductor once said the difference between a mediocre orchestra and a great one is the difference between light and lightening, and the difference is primarily the conductor."
As I was talking, I realized how the discussion related to my work. I lead a service-sector organization (education) here, and I have found that a peculiarly difficult part of my job getting our staff, particularly the new ones, to stop working as if their jobs are specified tasks, walled off from the rest of the operation, and to start working as integral members of an interactive, communicative 'orchestra' of people aimed at creating an excellent environment for our students. My friend's question reminded me exactly of the occasional attitude of some of our staff: "give me my part and then let me alone to do it."
I can understand why people here might work in such a way:
- For centuries, the majority of people here were strongly motivated not to communicate regarding their work. Communication equaled potential for more work, or more trouble.
- And for decades, very few had the ability to extract marginal gain by providing marginally better service. Sellers could not compete, because the state controlled price and supply. Moreover, in a desperately poor economy, service quality was a luxury the system couldn't afford.
- Plus, many people I meet have never experienced what it's like to be a part of an organization that is well integrated in an effective way, and therefore achieves more than the sum of the parts. Rather, their experience is often that integration and communication degrades performance, because in a system with no incentives, nor training in how collaboration can work, such collaboration results in empty conversation or worse: the more powerful arbitrarily delegate tasks to the less so.
Moreover, while the ranks of players eager to get into an orchestra are legion, the number of people here in China who even understand great service delivery, let alone yearn to be part of great service organizations, is not.
So a key challenge service-sector leaders face here in China is this one - how to get the parts to play together so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts? I think I've started to find answers - they include giving the team the actual experience of great vs. poor service, and also allowing them to gain tangible benefit from changing. In our operation, we've designed an incentive system that is more detailed, and offered more frequently, than anything I've ever seen in the West, so our staff can start to feel some benefit, quickly, from being willing to change their mindsets. I also take them for training/experiential learning at great service providers in the city, such as top hotels and restaurants.
But a large component of change-driving comes only with stubbornness (on my part) and time. When our organization started operations more than two years ago, our team were skeptical of many of my strategies and plans. As we've developed into a sector leader, they've gradually become aware that working in ways that characterize great service organizations brings major incremental benefit to the overall organization, and wins high praise from our students.
And I gain an additional benefit -- watching their worldviews change, and watching them grow, is one of the most rewarding professional experiences I've ever had.
So -- following my conversation with my Shanghainese friend, I think I'll buy our staff a season pass to the orchestra.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Macau News
Macau's Banco Delta Asia terminates NKorea business, calls for US response AFP via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance Thu, 16 Feb 2006 7:07 PM PST BEIJING (AFX) - Macao's Banco Delta Asia has terminated its North Korean business and will implement a new anti-money laundering program, ...
(AFX UK Focus) 2006-02-17 10:49 GMT: FOCUS - Macau set to sustain gaming boom; hotels/infrastructure a concern Interactive Investor Fri, 17 Feb 2006 3:12 AM PST HONG KONG (AFX) - Macau's booming gaming industry will likely sustain its growth in the years ahead largely on the emerging wealth of mainland Chinese tourists, but the euphoria over business opportunities from the boom is tempered by forecasts of hotels oversupply and the massive infrastructure requirement to support the expansion.
Bally Gaming and Systems announces opening of new office in Macau ATE On-line Fri, 17 Feb 2006 2:30 AM PST Log in to remember this page. Email this Bally Gaming and Systems, a business unit of Alliance Gaming Corp., announced today that it has opened a new office in the Bank Of China Building in the heart of Macau S.A.R. to provide sales and service support for its slot machines, systems and table management business efforts throughout Asia.
Action on Macau bank may hit Sino-US ties: lawyers Reuters via Yahoo! News Thu, 16 Feb 2006 10:46 PM PST Lawyers for a Macau bank accused of helping North Korea launder money have told the U.S. Treasury action against the lender could affect U.S.-China ties at a sensitive time for talks on the North's nuclear programs.
Banco Delta Asia Has Terminated Its North Korean Business and Will Implement a New Anti-Money Laundering Program PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance Thu, 16 Feb 2006 9:21 AM PST On behalf of client BANCO DELTA ASIA S.A.R.L., Heller Ehrman today issues the following statement:
Famous gather for Packer farewell CNN.com Thu, 16 Feb 2006 5:35 PM PST The rich, the famous and the merely curious are gathering in Sydney Friday for a State memorial service commemorating the life of Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer.
Rice Says U.S. Pursues N. Korean Counterfeiting Probe (Update1) Bloomberg.com Thu, 16 Feb 2006 8:52 PM PST Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will pursue its probe into alleged counterfeiting of U.S. dollars by North Korea, while trying to arrange new talks on North Korea's nuclear program, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
North AMERICAN MARKET TO BOOST PROFIT OF AUSTRALIA'S ARISTOCRAT Asia Pulse via Yahoo! Australia & NZ Finance Thu, 16 Feb 2006 11:32 PM PST Machinery / engineering A vibrant North American gaming market is expected to underpin a big jump in annual earnings for poker machine company Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. (ASX:ALL).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)