Human Capital Asia Inc.

One of the most persistent personalities you will encounter in the gas stations are those sales agents offering credit cards that reward you with a 5% rebate when used to load gas or diesel. Over and above your usual credit card for shopping they offer an extra credit card just for loading processed fossil fuels into your car. The problem was not that people did not like the idea of having a credit card for gasoline but that one normally did not have the time to fill out the forms and whatever other requirements were needed to have the card. It’s a gas station for heaven’s sake and what a normal motorist wants to do is put the gas into the car and go. (more…)

One of the most overpowering temptations when growing up is to attempt to try to operate some gadget or equipment that we see adults use. Sometimes we even push it as far as ignoring all the warnings our parents give and still try to do something we were told not to do. When we throw caution to the wind we sometimes end up doing huge mistakes that are accompanied by oppressive and agonizing consequences. Maybe some of you remember being told not to drive the car by yourself because you’re not ready yet. As soon as no one is home and the car keys are available we start the car and begin our grand adventure. Less than ten seconds later our grand adventure comes to a close with you smashing the rear fender on the side of the gate and taking the gate down with you. We end up with more or less a hundred years of being grounded and sentenced to clean the toilet twice a week for the next fifty years. Very similar we suppose to the Monopoly game move were we are told not to pass go, not to collect 200 and head directly to jail. (more…)

A week and a half ago we had the opportunity to listen to a multi-awarded inventor talk about the machines he would make when he was still a child. One of his favorites was the toy crane he made with two halves of a milk can that was controlled by strings to pick up things like tennis balls and the like. He said he built this toy so that he would not need to climb over the neighbor’s fence to pick up the ball that his friends happen to be playing with. It made life easier for him and his playmates and the game did not have to be delayed longer than it should. As a young boy, he was on the lookout for ways to make life easier for him and for other people. He had, by wanting to simplify his life, devised a short cut to retrieving the ball that went over the neighbor’s fence. To some it would seem as an imaginative way to get things done, while others might conclude that it was a lazy boy’s way of getting the ball back into play. (more…)

Some things just don’t work well the other way around. Take for example the process of rewarding results so that you get to inject more energy into the organization. When wanting to extract new ideas from your team and continue to get exciting suggestions, the way it will work is to reward effort which in turn translates into results. All proposals offered by your team should be recognized. Even the most absurd of ideas should receive recognition. By doing this more of the get-up-and-go attitude will surface and everyone will be inspired to forward that so called “out-of-the-box” thinking. When your team is brainstorming, what you want is for the ideas to keep on coming. You don’t want them to pull back and begin pre-judging their ideas even before they can share it. Setting the tone for this can only be done if we decide to reward continuously for effort. (more…)

Most of us have handed out resumes when searching for a job. One look at the resume and the first thing you notice is that the record is flawless. From Kindergarten to University, nothing is more obvious than how many successes we have had in our lives. Our resumes reflect the age old adage that if you work hard, you can be and do anything you want in life. (more…)

Greg Mortensen, an American, author of the best selling books, “Three Cups Of Tea” and Stones into Schools”, has been able to build at least 130 schools, most of them for girls, in one of the most dangerous regions in the world – the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. This place is known to be the heart of the Taliban country and where many of the most wanted terrorists are trained. In his books, Greg describes how he and his team from this region were able to build the schools and how they were able to get permission from armed groups to allow their young girls to come to these schools. Here is an excerpt from the book Stones into Schools: (more…)

In a survey conducted by the American Management Association, 81% of the CEOs they interviewed, put forward the conclusion that innovation will be the key element that will insure the success of their business in the future. The survival of their organizations will most likely depend on the capacity to innovate and be creative. To advance and gain advantage in corporate concerns such as quality, employee relations, key products, customer loyalty, efficiency, profit, et cetera, will depend on the company’s ability to innovate. (more…)

Some of us can still hear it – our mother’s voice, reminding us to please remember to close the refrigerator door.  Every once in a while, not rarely, would we be told by our elders to commit to memory this simple house rule, “If you open it; close it.” When we were young this straightforward order meant that we were to the best of our abilities close any container, door, locker, cabinet or drawer that we opened. What was the principle behind this rule? Surely it was not about learning to be a specialist in closing refrigerator doors. It was definitely not about your mother wanting to simply practice her shouting voice. What we were being taught way back when we were kids was to learn how to end things well. We were being educated in the fine art of finishing things that we start. (more…)

What if you asked the people who work for you to make a list of the things they expect from you as their leader? What do you think would be written down on the list? The list would possibly have words like:

• To give hope
• To be fair
• To be honest
• To have integrity
• To be courageous
• To stand for what is right
• To accept mistakes
• To have a strong moral fiber
• And not hesitate to take chances. (more…)

Every day thousands, if not millions of new ideas are presented in meetings, and for every good idea there is the sinister voice of at least one team member saying, “Can I just play the Devil’s Advocate for a moment…” An untold wealth of concepts, plans, solutions are slaughtered by this simple phrase. The Devil’s Advocate position does not just present itself as a critical thinking tool but attacks any idea with every negative and downside opinion that they can muster. The Devil’s Advocate does not build on the idea but rather designs itself to tear down the idea even before it can stand. (more…)