If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything
A couple of weeks ago, an ex-colleague sent me a list entitled "Maharishi's Guide to Zen". Why much of the content are written in humour, some of them makes a lot of sense, like the title for this blog. As I read this particular entry, I cannot help but remember the recent events in the news, namely the AP issue.
Leaving that aside, I have had many experiences where I have been told that our competitors does thing one way so that I will give approval based on that information, then a few weeks later, that same competitor now does the same thing differently, for the same kind of deal. Unfortunately for these folks, I keep a record of what I have approved (memory not so good at this age) and all of sudden, they are back pedalling.
And this reminds me of a story that I have heard quite some time ago.
Four friends who were in college together have one final paper to go before graduation. The night before their final paper, there was a carnival in a neighbouring city which they wanted to attend. They went, had a great time, one thing led to another and they ended up over-sleeping and missed their paper. On returning to campus, they agreed to cook up an excuse and told the professor that they had a puncture that morning and had to get the car towed to the workshop to get the tyre repaired. Since it was unforseen and it's not their fault, could the professor let them sit for the final paper. The professor thought about it and decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. So he asked them to come back the next morning to sit for the paper.
On the following morning, the students went into the classroom to wait for the professor and congratulated themselves for having pulled of the excuse. At the appointed time, the professor came in and handed out the paper. The test will be for a hundred marks. On the first page, there were 10 questions and each question was worth 1 mark. On the second page, there was only 1 question. It reads, "for 90 marks, which tyre?"
20+ years ago (now you have an idea how long I have been working), I attended an interview with an electronics company in Penang. They were conducting the interview in a hotel in KL. The interviewer asked the candidates to rate themselves in terms of intelligence. I replied '7'. He said that's unusual as most people will say 9 or 10. Then he asked me how I would rate myself in terms of honesty. I replied '9'. I was called to attend a second interview in Penang after that. However, I decided not to pursue that position as I was offered another position then in Shah Alam.
Since we cannot anticipate how others will act, we can only ensure that we can live with our actions, like the guy in the glass.
Leaving that aside, I have had many experiences where I have been told that our competitors does thing one way so that I will give approval based on that information, then a few weeks later, that same competitor now does the same thing differently, for the same kind of deal. Unfortunately for these folks, I keep a record of what I have approved (memory not so good at this age) and all of sudden, they are back pedalling.
And this reminds me of a story that I have heard quite some time ago.
Four friends who were in college together have one final paper to go before graduation. The night before their final paper, there was a carnival in a neighbouring city which they wanted to attend. They went, had a great time, one thing led to another and they ended up over-sleeping and missed their paper. On returning to campus, they agreed to cook up an excuse and told the professor that they had a puncture that morning and had to get the car towed to the workshop to get the tyre repaired. Since it was unforseen and it's not their fault, could the professor let them sit for the final paper. The professor thought about it and decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. So he asked them to come back the next morning to sit for the paper.
On the following morning, the students went into the classroom to wait for the professor and congratulated themselves for having pulled of the excuse. At the appointed time, the professor came in and handed out the paper. The test will be for a hundred marks. On the first page, there were 10 questions and each question was worth 1 mark. On the second page, there was only 1 question. It reads, "for 90 marks, which tyre?"
20+ years ago (now you have an idea how long I have been working), I attended an interview with an electronics company in Penang. They were conducting the interview in a hotel in KL. The interviewer asked the candidates to rate themselves in terms of intelligence. I replied '7'. He said that's unusual as most people will say 9 or 10. Then he asked me how I would rate myself in terms of honesty. I replied '9'. I was called to attend a second interview in Penang after that. However, I decided not to pursue that position as I was offered another position then in Shah Alam.
Since we cannot anticipate how others will act, we can only ensure that we can live with our actions, like the guy in the glass.
posted by Guy in the glass at 7:05 AM
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