Use me

So every time there is a meeting, my boss always grabs one of her associates (me being one of them) to go with her. It doesn't seem to matter if we have the expertise or knowledge for the subject of the meeting, someone goes with her.

So I have been wondering why? Why would she pull someone away from his desk - where he could potentially be more productive.

And I have just figured it out, the boss wants her associate there so, IF, there is follow-up work that falls on her plate, the associate is the one doing it.

But why can't she attend the the meeting herself and assign the task afterwards? Spare the associate from attending the meeting where he will likely not add a penny in the process. Because she doesn't want to explain the background information again. The logic is by attending the meeting the associate will somehow figure everything out himself.

So picture this, you are rushed into a meeting, knowing nothing of it, you sit through the meeting and don't say a word. Then one of the two things happens: meeting is dismissed and you have just wasted two hours of god knows what, or, you get a "ok, you know what to do right?".

I know I know, I really need to get used to the asian management style...

God bless

So what is the equivalent of saying 'god bless' in Chinese? I don't mean the direct translation, but rather the conventional way of expressing hope for the good or better.

It would be "加油" (add oil), so "god bless America" is equivalent to Chinese people saying "中國加油" (China add oil).

Well, just a thought.

In the time of war, heros emerge

I came to learn about The Romance of Three Kingdom when I started playing the computer game that was based on the history of it. In the game (or history, which I only came to know for playing the game), heros emerged during the time of unresting conflicts. Greed and egos drove the lords and their followers to untapped category of talents, and heroes became greater heroes when they were confronted by stronger opponents in battle.

The champions of these fighters on the battle field are very much compared to an elite group of managers in a business negotiation. Managers need to gather information, hypothesize opponent's tactics, take a position, formuate a strategy and then execute it.

And no, it is not experience that matter the most in a negotiation. I would give priority to nutural instincts. It is how you read your opponent, what you do to get more information and use that information. You can get some training, but a great negotiator cannot be taught, but born.

But, there aren't that many great business negotiators in our time as there were great heros at the time of the Three Kingdom. As the consequence of failure is much less dramatic.

If you lose a battle at war, you will likely be killed and get killed when you return to your lord. In business negotiations, the end result is often much less obvious, you could screw up but report that you have done the best deal given the 'circumstance', and what the heck, you even demand a salary raise. And if you do flunk it really bad, you get fired but then you are out of the mess you created. So it ain't too bad and life goes on.

Still, I say we shall stay in business (as oppose to being in the army or a dentist, unless you are a dentist that is cute like a bear, just like my dear friend David). Wars today are different, they are all about 'team' and individualism is no longer praised, so being in business is as close as you will get in making a legend out of yourself.

But negotiation should serve another purpose to the great masters. Ancient emperors would reward and penalize their generals base on outcome of the battle field (think 300), a manager's ability can be very much 'read' in a negotiation. You can really see how one hypothesizes, communicates, bonds with the opponent and strategizes. All in a nutshell.

So, if you ever have to test one's talent, put him at 'war' and just watch.