Archives

12 April 2011 11:13

Tiger Mom as CEO

What’s wrong with the “made in China” model?

JOHANNESBURG - Amy Chua a Chinese American and self proclaimed Tiger Mom, recently set the cat among the pigeons with her manifesto on parenting the Chinese way.  Without mincing her words Chua cocked a snook at western parenting models which build self esteem, value learning through play, emphasize social skills and develop emotional intelligence.

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03 February 2011 13:38

Who exactly do you think you are?

The unanswerable question.

JOHANNESBURG - My least favourite question in the world is “What do you do?” Are there some unspoken guidelines about how to answer this question? Are you supposed to define yourself in terms of the company you keep, as in “I work for X Bank”. Should you cite your impressive list of qualifications (please note class captain in Grade 5 does sound a tad desperate)? What about defining yourself in terms of “benefits” (I help clients with strategy and communication issues)? Spare a thought for stay-at-home moms (and dads) who always make me cringe with their “just-ness” (as in I am just a mom!).JOHANNESBURG - My least favourite question in the world is “What do you do?” Are there some unspoken guidelines about how to answer this question? Are you supposed to define yourself in terms of the company you keep, as in “I work for X Bank”. Should you cite your impressive list of qualifications (please note class captain in Grade 5 does sound a tad desperate)? What about defining yourself in terms of “benefits” (I help clients with strategy and communication issues)? Spare a thought for stay-at-home moms (and dads) who always make me cringe with their “just-ness” (as in I am just a mom!).

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17 November 2010 08:00

How much is enough?

Probably a lot less, and a lot more than we think.

JOHANNESBURG -How much is enough? A million bucks? Ten million? A billion?

It's always a number (only the currency denomination varies). Somehow there's an unspoken recipe for happiness around (maybe it's only a Joburg thing).... it goes like this - make enough money and only once this is achieved are we free to focus on other aspects of our lives. Enough money will automatically result in a satisfying life - ultimate happiness is certain. Isn't it?

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01 September 2010 01:29

Meetings: Work? Or just a waste of time?

Decision-free zones are drains on productivity.

"Are you lonely? Bored? Nothing to do? Well... no problem, just call a meeting! You'll get to sit around with your mates, get coffee and biscuits brought to you and discuss nothing of any consequence. Best of all, you don't have to do any real work and before you know it, it'll be time to head down to the pub."

I remember this poster from my early days in advertising and lately it has been playing in my head like an irritating, albeit relevant, ABBA "song worm".

It seems like meetings have become the holding pattern of corporate life - a safe, decision-free zone to hang out in, ironically at a time when we desperately need to land and tackle some very pressing issues.

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30 June 2010 07:24

The South Africa that we could become

World Cup lessons....strictly for the fans.

JOHANNESBURG - Vision, mission and strategic intent - the classic business school lingo which sees most people's eyes snow over like a faulty TV set.

The hyper analytical among us only make it worse by adding complexity in the form of graphs, maps models, and the like. Unless you work for a management consultancy or are doing your MBA, these potentially powerful concepts remain overused, meaningless buzzwords.

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