Wednesday, July 08, 2009

choices and hindsight

Rational people make choices by affixing their current circumstances to the options available. The actual process is actually quite simple. You make something fit into A, and imagine the product to be C, when all along, it is a B. People try to convince themselves on hindsight that their decisions are correct and justifiable at the point they made the decision. Few do admit their incapacity in making the right decision, and leverage on hindsight to vindicate themselves.

Just some thoughts on choices and hindsight.

iduntellu at 8:41 PM

Sunday, May 24, 2009

rantings

For the umpteenth time, i so dislike this hierarchy in the organisation. In this self-proclaimed meritocratic nation of ours, sad to say that the organisation is not. People in power do not have the capability of carrying out their responsibilities. But in many instances, the job gets done, because another person, someone inconsequential, yet important, does all the shit, so that the whole sequence can flow through. But, he is still disregarded, and neglected. It would be great if one day, this fry suddenly goes away. It would be interesting to observe what would happen to people with responsibilities. Seven more months.

Then again, they would find somebody else to help them do their shit.

iduntellu at 9:57 PM

Friday, May 15, 2009

Dreams from my father

Reading this made me rethink, what was all those big words about changing the world(what a weird revelation from this book). Do i really know what they mean? Or am i after some personal gains, yet hide it under the pretext of an altruistic notion. Stop deluding your self. It is about YOU. Not about the bigger house your parents and offspring can stay in. Not about the luxuries your future spouse can expend, or about the prestige of having successful parents for your kids you so long for, but about your desire to prove people wrong, to show them that you are better than what they thought you would be. To be somebody.

I admit, i want to grab money, not because of the fetish for the smell of rolls and rolls or notes or the googol number on the bank book, but that it would be the best barometer of success in our increasingly capitalistically skewed world. And the excesses which was built up the past few years (bubble which burst last fall) showed me the best way to achieve that goal. Being one of those fat cats.

I don't want to carry on thinking i am doing all these for a greater good, for some ideal which was vaguely existent. Being the fervent capitalist, this incentive would i hope, for the selfish me, spur me to work my socks off in varsity. Now i know what i am studying for.

iduntellu at 10:37 PM

Saturday, April 04, 2009

The Audacity of Hope

I have just finish The Audacity of Hope by the president of the United States. It is the first book i bought in quite a long time. I've gotten it shortly after his win, as i caught the obamamania which was rampant at that point of time. Everyone just wanted to get a piece of him. But i didn't really have any time to read it as i was burdened with the books i borrowed from the library. You had to finish the books from the library first, as there was a dateline for you to return them.

I felt that he was sincere and honest in his writing. He was clear and concise in his putting his thoughts to pen, something i am still grasping. Someday, i do want to be able to bring about my ideas as fluently as this man. There was a phrase, which he quoted from Benjamin Franklin, that i like very much, "I would rather have it said, He lived usefully, than, He died rich." The importance of one's life is not the amount he would have in his bank at his deathbed, but the work he did before he could do no more.

iduntellu at 11:18 PM

Sunday, March 22, 2009

A dream

I have been thinking, what do i want in life. I am probably 25% past it, based on the average life expectancy. And certainly, its time to make decisions on how to spend the rest of it.

There are many ways to live a life. Some people make laws, others break them. Some people make things, some others save lives. Some teach, some write, some cook. While some don't really do much. At this point of time, i have a rough idea of what do i want to do. Its something like a facilitator, who puts the resources to where they can be fully optimised.

You could probably make a whole lot from doing this, but that is not really what is luring me to it. Rather, its the status in the society, and the respect you get from others. People would take you into consideration before doing anything. You can have a say in how things are being done. It would be simply called "power".

And if i do get this "power", i would help make the world we live in a better place, not just for us to enjoy, but for the many generations to come. You can call this "responsibility". People who are in power fail to be responsible to the world that we live in. I want to come in to make things right.

These will sound far-fetched and quixotic. But hey! I am not in it just for the money. People in this profession have really made a mess out of our world, and i do want to do my part to ensure the ongoing turmoil will not happen again.

iduntellu at 11:27 PM

Sunday, March 15, 2009

An excerpt from a book from 2008's person of the year.

"... A tradition based on the simple idea that we have a stake in one another, and that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and that if enough people believe in the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done."

The difference between "the largest employer in Singapore" and some other more successful organisation is the people that makes it up. Enough people believe in the truth of that proposition, and hence choose not to act on it. Hence they get around problems and cover things up. Everyone continues to live their lives peacefully.

*the truth is subjective

iduntellu at 10:07 PM

Sunday, January 11, 2009

fast-food


Nice chicken


I am sure almost everybody patronised KFC for dinner before, and many would have the frustrating experience of waiting for a long time to order and collect their food. I went to KFC to takeaway dinner for my family today, and experienced this problem. McDonalds' then came to my mind. They used to have this system too, where the cashier have to double up to serve the customers food. This system is still effective at non-peak hours, where the crowd is not as large, and customers need not endure a long waiting time to get their food. But during peak hours like dinnertime, the plethora of customers would overwhelm the paucity of workers, leading to longer waiting time. Some workers might even panic and commit mistakes, like dropping the food or shortchanging the customer, which would not be good for the company. The former did happen to me

Evidently, their supply chain is failing them. For a start, they could adopt McDonalds' approach, where there is a cashier, and another co-worker packing the food for the customers. This could reduce the waiting time to make an order. The McDonalds' system do have some flaws. The supply of burgers to the worker packing the food is slower than the worker packing the food, hence resulting in a delay. This problem might not happen with KFC, where the workers would just pick up the fried chicken/burger/whatever from this heating shelf. This is a system where KFC can implement to better effect than McDonalds'.

Why is the shortening of queue time important to McDonalds', KFC or any fast food chain? They are labelled fast-food restaurants, and literally, are expected to deliver their food fast(but thats not the case). Decreasing the queue time could net potential customers, who were possibly put off by the long time spent queuing and as a result not patronising.

This is not a full-proof solution for the long queue time at fast-food outlets. Additional points to consider would be the pool of workers to carry out the suggested system, and the infrastructure in place in these restaurants, and the cost of implementing these 2 points. But the benefit of a better dining experience for customers and higher revenue for the firm would outweigh the cost. Customers would take some time to get use to any new system, as evident in the case of McDonalds'.

iduntellu at 8:47 PM