More rants - Malaysia's development model and talent discrepancy

1.       Emotional fortitude is not something I’m born with, rather it’s something I’ve to continuously work on. I guess the quiet leadership book, the short chats that I need to have with myself to maximize the interval between input and outcome, will have a good reference to continually improve this aspect.

2.       Emotional fortitude should follow principles and beliefs. And as much as these are non-negotiable, the over-riding programme should be one that carefully analyses any benefits, good, to overcome deviations, mistaken beliefs, misguidance. This is where the opening up of channels with the Most Powerful comes in. As long as this channel remains closed and no effort is done to open it, the threat of being misguided becomes very real and very urgent.

3.       This is where this current discordance and conflict comes in. While chugging along becomes an issue when coasting along is too self-limiting, then pushing the boundaries becomes an issue when I see things that I cant influence and I cant agree with. And in the end, a different conflict arises when I become unable to assert my beliefs nor able to resolve the discords.

4.       I’ve seen a lot on how the private sector works, influencing key stakeholders, asking for beneficial treatment (I loathe to use kickbacks here), the all-too ready public sector hierarchy to please selected personalities and people, to know that in Malaysia it’ll be very difficult to change the system. In that respect, I’ll have to place on record the very professional and elegant way of my organization doing its work in working within the system to benefit its only shareholder and main stakeholder.

5.       In this respect too, the key personalities that I work with are very “powerful” people in their ability to leverage influence, either through charm or through sheer weight of argument. The flipside to this is my anathema to using personal influencing behaviours and my belief in letting the truth win its side of the story, or getting the “truth” revised to reveal a more powerful truth. At this point in time, I do need to decide to abandon this dogmatic view of things, and see if I can be a part of this, either representing an organisation or representing the principles I believe in.

6.       The talent discrepancy is so obvious because money pulls talents away into where it becomes a powerful resource to train and develop people. The counter-prevailing argument to that is that ideology is a more powerful shaper of beliefs and character. The death of ideology in Malaysia, together with the impotence of amal Islami, makes the talent discrepancy too obvious and too painful to watch. Needless to say that talent development is a costly affair. But the components are in place. The people and the networks must be nurtured to make this system work. We should be working on a global model of development – and this is not to say that we should all duff our caps to the people in suits and the people in overalls are of a secondary level, but rather an admission to say that characters, beliefs and principles should be compared to some of the overarching belief systems being spouted within the globalization, sustainability, capitalistic dogma is being met head-on and overcome through the sheer force of reason.

7.       Being part of the system clouds our ability to reason, and because of that  there is a real need to stay out of the system and work tirelessly, berjuang, to place an alternate, better reality into the world.

Malaysia on a downward slope...analysis

1.       I’m disgusted with Malaysian Insider’s reporting and the comments that it attracts. It’s shitty articles, poorly constructed journalistic pieces, and the racist one-sided tunnel-visioned comments from the kind of readers that it attracts is just too much for me to take. I can take the time to deconstruct the sentiments (not arguments) of a foolish, uninformed crowd, but I do have other things to do.

2.       So, I’m going to ignore them. But, this should be at the back of our minds to correct this unequitable racial-tinged untruths. At least with Utusan, we can still use it to bungkus nasi lemak and lapik stuff. MI just takes away my time and I cant get it back. So, I should resolve to not go there anymore and leave it to the dogs.. and that should be the way we approach Raja Petra and his likes as well, bearing in mind the Quranic injunction for news borne by people you cant trust.

3.       Is Malaysia really on a downward slide? Only if we pay too much attention to the politician and the disproportionate airtime that they are getting.

 

More navel-gazing

1. What differentiates successful corporates to non-corporates?
*Learnable skills. Continually identifying competency gaps and persistently addressing them.
*Articulation of knowledge. Ability to churn ideas and emit short, wise pointers according to differing scenarios, levels of people comprehension. Effectiveness depends on being able to build up the right perspectives to impart wisdom.
*Attitude- or more should be more correctly termed as intention- niat, ikhlas, ibadah etc- how do they figure here? If it's just moral principles and obligations, it's insufficient as a capital for life's preparation for the akhirat, but could be capital for dunya.

2. How to squeeze 300 ppl into a 3600sf lot?
Need to do a layout plan for this. I'm sure it can be done.

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Financial management 101 thoughts for Anedge

Expenditure management

1.       Pay for the best quality possible at the best value possible in critical missions ie marketing, sales generation and product development activities. This means scouting, also getting the best networks to source for the best possible value. If it’s non critical missions, consider satisficing on quality, but do not skimp on value. If it’s talent or people, we should consider generously performance-oriented payments, and should be linked to realisable  returns where possible.

2.       Expenditures should only relate to returns. Allocate upfront budget for benevolent works, and this should be topped-up with realizable returns at the end of year tallying. Personal related expenses should be separated, or tagged only to drawn salary. Salary should be minimum, and not exceed RM500 per month. End of year performance related allocations is possible, as is equity-related dividends on realizable valuation.

 

Capital expenditure

3.       CAPEX should be considered where value of PPE in the event of depreciable asset should be asset-backed, and never be less than outstanding loan principal at all times. This is in regards to possible fire sale valuations.

4.       Investments should always consider exits as impossibly unrealizable assets only lock up cash flow, unless there is a possibility of additional refinancing.

 

Revenue generation

5.       Credit terms should be used sparingly. 30 day terms should be max. Take good care of government related clients, as they could be a source of pain. Delays in bureaucratic agencies, or too smart for their own arse clients withholding payment because of perceived inadequate deliverables. Insist on milestone payments, with at least 50% up front, and indulge in 5-15% delivery-related issues.

6.       For services, per hour rates should be consistent with top-range professional advice of at least RM800 per hour in terms of advisory work. Training delivery can take RM1000 per day. For specific engagements, consider ranges between RM5,000 to RM8,000 for specific 2-3 day work. Engage clients with these ranges, then address discounts up to 15% for repeat work. Consider ranges at 50% rates as introductory rates.

7.       For products, tally up costs first, including overheads – including sales and marketing expenditure which could be quite hefty, then add in a profit margin of 80% to final costing.

 

Cash flow management

8.       Ensure cash burn is at 9 least months. Between 6- 9 months should be at crisis level for revenue generation and realizable accruals. Below 6 months and emergency options should be activated. Below 3 months, exit solutions should be considered and damage limitation exercise put in place to prevent corporate liabilities from encroaching into personal liabilities.

 

Financials management

9.       Ensure at all times that the P&L and Balance Sheet items look as clean as possible. This is in anticipation for possible and potential scalable, step-wise growth of company. A strategic review must be done every quarter as short-interval reviews mean easier manipulation of problems and challenges. Opportunities to grow company 10x should be evaluated at same short intervals in the interim stages of 12-18 months.

10.   At all times, doa dan tawakal pada Allah. Refer to all the ayah on charity. And Anedge should pledge first and foremost its duty and commitment to charitable deeds while ensuring its sustainability over the long run. Target should be between 2.5% minimum to 15% max.

11.   Personal mindset should be that success of Anedge automatically becomes personal success for everybody involved. It is about devolving personal agendas to the success of an organizational agenda.

12.   At end of day, net profit allocation should be as below, in order of importance:

·         15% to benevolent causes

·         25% to directors, management and staff

·         15% to capital sources, either equity partners or loan repayment

·         30% to be reinvested

·         15% up to RM150,000 to business owner and founder