*Virus Alert* - iCloud

iCloud just wiped my calendar off lappy. I can't sync any events back from the iPhone. It all started with the iPhone iOS 7 update. The sneaky Apple bastards put iCloud as one of the prompts during the iOS 7. Gullible me clicked and setup iCloud, thinking it is another Dropbox service I can use for personal stuff between Apple products. Biggest mistake. The damn thing took over Address Book, iCal and several other data and pushed everything to iCloud. So now I couldn't access till I'm connected to the net. Hey, I'm privacy adverse, I don't like governments going through my stuff. It's private! Yeah, naive me. Stupid.

So I try to reverse the whole thing by deactivating iCloud. The damn thing is like a virus, embedding itself all over the other programs. Disabling address book thankfully allowed a copy to be saved on lappy. iCal is another story all together.

There is no selection of leaving your calendars on Mac! So the calendar on lappy is now wiped and I can't get it synced back from iPhone. One possibility of getting it back may be switching iCloud but why in the world would I infect my devices again with this crap. So iCal is a useless program on the lappy. Great ... I can no longer log calendar invites from email and then push them to iPhone. Good job Apple. iCloud is simply the single biggest bull of a program. I thank Dropbox for not selling out to Apple.

Well Apple you now have a disgruntled customer whom you have just tipped towards Android. I've always been a loyal Apple customer, preferring it to Android due to Apple product's usability and intuitive user interfaces. But since that edge is no longer evident (clearly gone with Steve Jobs), there is nothing holding back this angry consumer. And don't get me started with the mess that is iOS 7. Phhffff.

*Update an hour after this post - Calendars on iPhone are now gone too. Wonderful ... now I need a new device to keep my calendar going forward. Let' see, Samsung S3 looks good, Windows Phone starting to look good too.

**Update half hour after last update - Meimei's brilliant suggestion to restore looks to have fixed it. iPhone's calendars are back and iCal looks to have the same synced too. It may be just a fluke, we'll know if it is really restored in a few days. I'm still not swayed from switching, this episode has given me the impetus to explore others. Better keep my options open and not be stuck in a deliberately controlled and restrictive ecosystem.

Home Cooked Goodness - Teriyaki Cod Fish

Expensive but still cheaper than in a restaurant. Meimei does it better too. Encouraged her to cook this every week.

Battle Nations

I'm on a new game again. iPhone games don't have the sophistication to hold my attention for too long. Most are pretty one-dimensional and repetitive. That's not to say they are not good games. They satisfy the basic need for leisure, in small ounces mostly.

Recently I've started on Battle Nations. It's like a watered down version of  a village building coupled with turn-based combat game. It reminds me of the many past games I've played like Xcom, Civilization series, etc. The problem with such games is that there is a sense of continuity where you need to time actions to progress. So here I am, checking the game every other hour. Fine with me given my current situation at the office. It helps me through the day :-)

Equating Rewards To Efforts - Part 2

Following my earlier rant, I've decided to give further thought to the concept of fair rewards. So what's fair? This is a question that never has the right answer. You can say that fair is what everyone else is getting. But then you have some getting way above what they deserve and those at the pole opposites. 

Just take the few folks in the current team at the workplace (this excludes the ones on contract). They are paid 40-50% more than what they are worth in terms of skills and scope of work. A senior accountant being paid 6K+ but has never prepared a tax comp nor audit papers. An accountant in late 20s drawing 5.5K but doesn't have an accountancy or finance sense, no idea about tax, just does the transactional postings, clueless and careless in his work. My guess is most of the other older folks in the company are just as overpaid. With this sort of pay, they think they are the shits and big guns. The company is literally telling them that they are doing the right thing. But wait a second, these are the same people who saw through the two failed audits! If they are that good you shouldn't have failed in the first place isn't it?! But if you ask if they think they are being fairly paid, don't be surprised that they may gripe they are being short-changed!

Then there is me, the manager, being paid a few hundred above the senior. Well I don't profess to have special skills nor expertise that attracts a premium. But surely I'm due for much more in comparison of contributions to improvements. As my follow manager puts it philosophically “It’s not about the amount they pay you, it’s about showing how much they value you.” “By overpaying the team and paying only a few hundred more for a manager, you feel the company does not value the manager’s contribution, which in most cases are a whole lot more than your average staff.”

So coming back to the idea of fair rewards. Conceptually you expect that for a quantum of effort you receive an 'equal' returns. What is equal is naturally different for every single individual. Graphically you would find the chart as follows.

Ok so fair returns is relative, a straight constant upward line as efforts increase.  In reality, you would never receive this proportionate return. You are more likely to receive something in the lines of the Norm line. This is what most people have come to expect from work efforts. At the low levels of effort, the corresponding return is low as there is nothing material to offer for exchange. As you progress near 100% you start to see rewards. It is still off the relative line, due to others enjoying the fruits of your labour. Like how your boss receives recognition and rewards for your work. Well, part and parcel of workplace. I've benefit in previous employments as well from managing staff who produced good work. I do make a point of singling them out for commendation to the senior leaders so that their reward returns are improved. They have all received promotions in my time as their boss :-)

The distance between the relative and norm is the motivation quadrant, the hope that drives you to push yourself. It's also self-fulfilling on motivation. Rewarding at this level is likely to draw the notion that extra efforts are being appreciated, thereby motivating the person further. A good place to target in rewards for your team.

Moving below the line sits the quadrant of disappointment. It's not pure disappointment if you are just slightly below the norm. There are still remnants of motivation factor, to go that extra bit in hopes of achieving par. Also other factors contribute to the perception of unjust. I wouldn't mind if my boss is getting more glory for my work if I see him or her as a good boss. Yes my returns are lower than par but I'm willingly to take that sacrifice in the short term since I'm confident my boss would reward me fairly eventually. Or I think my boss deserves the rewards of my work as he/she takes care of me in other ways, such as giving me exposure and pieces of work which are challenging yet at the same time huge learning opportunities. In the absence of such mitigating factors, rewarding at this level de-motivates the person. The increments of returns are not worth pursuing, hence restricted efforts hovering below 100%.

Naturally the zero reward for efforts is the line of decency. You put in efforts but no rewards are forthcoming. A prime example in the area of finance is where the business asks for financial data. You spend hours preparing the data. They take it and use them for their presentations, analysis and whatever not. Do they ever credit you for it? Nope, it's part and parcel of the animal called business partnering. Oh well that's ok I supposed, so long I am not blamed when something goes wrong on the use of that data. The data is only as good as its source and the experience and know-how of the person interpreting it.

Any returns below this line goes into the realm of blasphemy. Sadly this is where I am at the moment, see Current. You can argue that the line should be above decency since I'm getting paid a monthly salary. But wait, I would get a salary likewise at another company. And the persons enjoying my efforts are drawing a salary as well. Hence it's a wash, a non consideration in terms of reward perceptions. A sad status to be, one which goes against every sense of logic and fairness.

On a brighter note, there are companies or periods in time where rewards goes above relative perception. I've had the good fortune of experiencing this once before. I was literally working 12-14 hours every other day and more frequently during project peak periods. I had blind commitment to the cause, not fazed by the hours required to get to the objective. Motivational commitment.

At the current company I suppose the commitment quadrant can be applied to the overpaid folks. As we are working towards outsourcing, the management must be worried that people would leave before we complete the migration. Hence they overpay to attract them to stay, or to prevent them from finding a corresponding job as their skills and scope cannot draw the same level of remuneration anywhere else. I call this coercive commitment.

So putting it all together forms the Pokpok Effort Reward Matrix. I should remove the green line since this is a very very rare occurrence. With any sense you would never give negative rewards since it may attract indiscriminate forms of retaliation from the disregard of decency. But I've left it there to illustrate the nonsense I'm getting and show that it does happen. They are lucky I'm not really the guerrilla suicide bomber that would take them down blindly. It's tiring to fight these corporate folks, you'll never win alone. And its a given loss in Singapore since we lack employment protection of any sorts. Tough luck Pokpok *shrugs*

If you plot the lines on a BCG product matrix, the current line takes the quarter of the Dog. Relative is your cash cow, the sweet spot you want. Exceptions are definitely your stars, they don't last forever but are special when they arise. Your norm is your typical question mark. It fluctuates depending on your circumstance. Drawing from this, my current job went from a question mark at the start to its current status as a Dog on its deathbed *growls. Hence the logical reaction is to minimise investment and source for exit strategy for Dog and redirect focus on the Cash Cow - Studies.  In the meantime I look for my next Star job. Logical deduction translating to logical action of leaving on the dot everyday. See, that wasn't so difficult to figure out huh.

Equating Rewards To Efforts - Part 1

Newton’s 3^rd Law – “To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction … “

Newton’s law is applied in the area of physics but if you think about it elementarily it is something we as humans have come to expect in the continuum of right and wrong. For every effort there is an equal reward. Naturally what constitutes equal is highly subjected to perceptions and wants. If it satisfies a need, it is a valued reward.

Just today I bumped into my boss in the lift as we are leaving the office.

Boss: “So Pokpok, how is your exam preparation coming along?”

(her eyes gaze towards the lappy and 2 piece printouts I was carrying)

Pokpok: “Ok, it’s still 2 months away.”

Boss: “So what subjects are you taking?”

Pokpok: “Risk and strategic management.”

Boss: “Oh that’s heavy for you.”

Pokpok: “It’s ok, I had to take six the last time around.”

(looks of bewilderment*) Boss: “Six? Why did you have to take six? When was this?”

(light bulb blinking in head**) Pokpok: “My modules are every half yearly. I had six during Jan to Jun.”

Boss: “Oh it’s half yearly? So why did they make you take six?”

(further looks of confusion with eyes darting to the ground in thought*) 

(fake smile) Pokpok: “There were two electives and they don’t have it every semester.”

Boss: “Ah I see …”

(cautious nods, coupled with brain trying to comprehend the situation*)

Thankfully at this time the lift open to my floor. I hastily bid a goodbye and walked off.

* The bewilderment – I’ve been leaving on the dot since end of Jun. I complete my contractual eight hours a day and off I go. She must have assumed it is because of my studies and exam commitments. So when she hears I actually have two this term and six when I was working long hours from Day1 to Jun, the whole paradox fell apart for her.

** An ‘ah-ha’ moment, discovering why she was looking weirdly at me as stated in *. Though it is a guess, I’m confident it is a good one.

The predicament – I am on improvement program after all the efforts in helping the company pass their internal audit, setup templates for audit and tax to ensure continuity, rework any of their processes for more efficiency, planned and execute the pilot outsource training for BPO project (the useless PM took my template and rolled it to every region), etc.

Passing the internal audit was no mean feat, given the hostile environment and utter incompetence from some of the folks here. They had already failed twice before they finally sought new members to tackle the problem. I had spent countless hours poring over the processes, streamlining and structuring them. I drove and implemented the changes which not only solved the control issues but also addressed the staff resource constraints. I can say with utmost conviction that I went extra miles, above and beyond what a normal accounting manager knows to do, to achieve the objectives. Yes I might have ruffled some feathers along the way but it was inevitable given the aggressive timeline. And the end result … a totally incommensurate return for my efforts. Full effort, negative rewards via punishment!!

The best part of this whole situation is that the improvement program is just a facade. The company prides itself in never retrenching or firing anyone with exception of fraud or gross misconduct. They hold dearly to this creed and rely on other means to make people leave. I joined the company last July and was to be confirmed in Jan. It wasn’t till mid March that I was told that I’m being put on the improvement program. The factors which they explain contributed to this state were a total distasteful sham. Despite the subsequent open discussions with boss and HR, my objections were not addressed. They even ignored my followup emails on the topic. They were hell bended on shoving me out.

We were in the midst of the internal audit when they told me about this and the outsourcing project came after that. Even though I was literally shafted, I still kept to my professional conduct and diligently did my best to help the team achieve the objectives. I pride myself on being a responsible person, building contingencies and even mitigating plans for my eventual departure. Every template or work product has procedures or someone copied so the team knows what to do in my absence.

In the same period between Jan to Jun I had six modules for my MBA and the going was tough. My grades suffered as I dedicated my time to work. In hind sight it was better to have focused on my studies. But if it were to happen again in another company, I might have done the same as I hold true to my professional esteem. I don’t regret giving my all to work even though the returns from studies would have been longer lasting. I’m stupid in that way. Though it is late, I've since wised up to the place. No more sacrifices.

"No good deed goes unpunished" - Clare Boothe Luce

So it’s been six months since my official entry into the improvement program. And there hasn’t been anything done on my status, I’m still on probation and the imaginary improvement program. There are no initiatives, training nor assistance to help me improve as part of the program. My boss acts as though nothing has happened. They are just waiting for me to leave to whitewash everything.

I wasn’t expecting any actions from their end, they are painfully inept in so many ways. It is plain as day and night that they have judged me to be someone to be rid of when the leaders promoted my chief antagonist. That has shown clearly they believe every word of complaint from the bitch and none of my responses. They are not the least bit interested in me, the sooner I leave the better.

At the back of my mind I've kinda always expected they would do this. You see, they have always kept information from me, not letting me know about the on-goings in the company. Till today I still do not have the access to view payroll data, unlike my direct report accountant. He is in the distribution on payroll for corporate together with my boss. Funny. And my scope involves mostly the transactional tasks which are to be outsourced. Any activity pertaining to the future state of finance business partnering is given to my counterpart FP&A manager. In essence that is correct since that's what FP&A managers do. However, certain bits like TP reporting and whatnot goes there too. To be fair the FP&A manager has constantly ask me to takeover the TP piece. But no I would not beg to do something. If it is meant for me, it should be boss handing it to me. And she should have done it off the bat and not now after it's been to someone else. I'm no longer your 'go-to when things go nasty' person. So it is not improbable that they had always intended to use me for the moment to get through the tough period and then discard once the objectives are met.

There are days when I've thought about quitting and be done with it. But then again, why give them the luxury of calling the shots? If I leave, I leave on my own terms. Why leave there and then, giving them time to look for a replacement before the year end? No, I'm not staying with retaliatory motives. I've been looking for a job since June but I won't short change myself simply to get away. I'll find a proper interesting role, one which hopefully doesn't involve grand scales of fail like this place. Also there is the consideration of my buddy FP&A manager. He is asking that I leave only next January. Nice chap, hate to disappoint him, but I'm still undecided. Anyways its hard right now with the slowing job market, so he might just get his wish.

So while waiting for that to happen, I'll fulfill the bare minimum of my obligations. Zombie through eight long hours of boringness a day (I'm involved in even lesser things now) and then off to meet Meimei. My day now starts when I leave the office.

From The Land Of Epic Fails: I Need A Saw

A metal piece under my desk. Irritating, bugs me whenever I cross my legs. Gives me blue blacks on the knees. I need a saw ...

Fruits Galore!

Happy dessert. So colourful and sweet. A yogurt to top off the healthy meal factor.

Tian Wai Tian Fish Head Steamboat

Not out of the sky, very close to the ground. Prefer the one at Beach Road. At least we tried it once.

I Should Have Assess The Risk Of Studying Risk Management

Just finished the Risk Management Workshop. Ok, so what did we learn from 3 long days? Risk Management is about Identify, Assess, Respond. Errr, uh-huh so why are students paying thousands to hear these 3 steps? I learned the same already in Prince2.

The professor was a disappointment. Well I wasn't expecting much in the first place since the nonsense of the individual assignment. But seriously he was reading off the workshop notes! Damn, I could read it myself thank you very much. I signed up for this elective to understand practical frameworks, tools and applications for risk management, not listen you go on and on about how "banks are useless, all you have to do is use 20 buzzwords" or "accountants have not a clue about risk" or "public sectors don't do risk management at all, it's all a lie". Dear professor, if I wanted to listen to a cynical old man complain about everything under the sun, I wouldn't pay for it, I expect to be paid for it!

I wasn't the only one suffering. A look around the class and you will find at the best of times about half are listening. On the dryer portions, everyone was just spaced out, eyes fixated on their laptop screen or simply snoozing. There wasn't anything to look at anyways, there were not workshop slides nor any engaging topic to hold our attention. It was either stare at this sad old man or read your emails or in the case of the persons beside me, surf the net. I did try my best to listen, I put my laptop away and tried to make the best of the sessions, while fighting off the sleepy bug.

So 3 painful days of listening to this old prick and not any better for it in terms of understanding how to manage risk. A lot of concepts and stories about how corporates didn't do it and how they end up in their bad state. But nothing really practical you can use to apply at the workplace. I suppose all these professors are just to market their consultancy services. They are not going to teach you how to do it, they just want to create 'awareness' that you have to do it, AND you should use their services ...

Risk management hinges on the awareness of it and whether your company's culture actually account for it. Imagine telling your bosses about risk and how we shouldn't do this or that or how we should spend extra monies to mitigate them ... the next thing you will find is the door out of the office. Most bosses are only interested in you helping them achieve their targets, its not about being professional and giving the best option, its about giving what other higher ups want to hear. So risk management is as useful as the management agenda. If they don't want to do something I'm sure they'll find a ton of risks and how dangerous it is. And if they are bend on doing something, all risk are shafted under the carpet. A tool of convenience. That's the route to success folks, management 101. 

La~La~La~ New Karaoke Entries

New entries into the Karaoke album.

周杰伦 & 温岚 -屋顶

五月天 - 恋爱Ing

许志安 & 许慧心 - 恋爱凭率

劉德華 - 我愛你

成龙 & 陈淑华 - 明明白白我的心

張學友 - 每天愛你多一些

李克勤 - 紅日

I've yet to master the first 10 but that doesn't mean we stop adding good songs. If I can sing half of the songs well, I can confidently join Meimei to stage a karaoke concert!