NUTS #4 - No Title
Recently, Creative had just spent a few million dollars investing
heavily
in a company. The key person in the company was needed urgently to
launch a
new ".com" project that could be worth a lot more in the future. In the
era
of the Internet, timing is everything.
Then suddenly, he told me that he needed to go for reservist during
the
critical period. This meant that his whole team could be crippled
because
his leadership was not there. I told him that there should not be a
problem, as he could always apply for a deferment. In fact, the Deputy
Prime Minister has told me in the Technopreneur 21 committee that,
reservist duties should not hinder Technopreneurship because the
affected
reservist could apply for deferment and it would be considered
favourably.
So the staff wrote a letter to apply for deferment. It was rejected. I
told
him to write an appeal, mentioning Creative"s involvement and all the
relevant and valid reasons for such critically needed deferment. It
was
still rejected and we were running out of time.
I guess I had to step in. I wrote the letter personally again, citing
all
the reasons and the ".com" time-critical factors. It was still
rejected. I
was very upset by this. It was already the last working day before he
had
to go in-camp.
I had to call the officer personally. I identified myself, including
my
role in the Technopreneur 21 committee and appealed for the fourth
time.
The answer was still NO. after all the reasons were given, the answer
was
still NO. Well, they had liberalized then - if you were a new employee
of a
company, the deferment would be allowed. I argued strenuously that the
key
person was more than a new employee. He was a new employee of a
company for
which we had spent millions to acquire. No! An acquisition does not
constitute the equivalent of a new employee. A new employee IS a new
employee. Period. The rule book never said that the people in a new
acquisition are new employees. Therefore they are not "new employees",
regardless of the fact that their employee status are the same in
principle.
It does not matter if you are Sim Wong Hoo or the T21 chairman. NUTS
is
NUTS.
It almost drove me NUTS!
Fortunately, I heard from some people that I would get a better chance
if
I were to call the unit Commanding Officer. I asked for his name and
phone
number and the officer obliged. I managed to track down the CO on his
handphone at the very last minute. The CO was an understanding man
because
he was also a reservist and in the computer line. The deferment was
finally granted


NUTS #5 - Creative NUTS
We had our equal share of NUTS in Creative and they really drove me
NUTS
because they actually happened right on my head, the CEO of the
company.
Such is the persistence and universality of NUTS.
First example, the time I needed some CD-ROM replicated for some
last-minute
projects. I knew I had time because, we had an in-house CD-ROM
replication
plant and it would have taken less than one day to finish the job,
especially my small little job of a few hundred pieces.
But when my assistant came back, she told me helplessly that they
needed a
one-week lead-time. I almost jumped off my chair. This was a rush job
for
the CEO and they just threw back their standard lead-time at me, it
was
clearly written in their rule-book that the standard lead-time was one
week - for a rush job. So one week was what you would get even if you
were
the CEO of the
company, even if your job was very important.
I asked them who set the rules? They were the ones who set the rules!
I was
amazed how NUTS they were. Then change the rules, I told them.
Finally they did it for me in two days.
There were several of such examples within Creative. And the managers
sometimes fought with me because that was the only way they could
ensure
the quality of the products. Quality is good when we are shipping
products
to customers. But when we need to rush, it is always during the early
stages of engineering run, where we need a lot of samples to test.
Quality
then becomes secondary and time is primary. Staff with a NUTS
mentality
would not have the flexibility to do such a switch, unless you make
another
rule. And you can only live within the new rules.