great views

We were invited to a US Thanksgiving dinner last Saturday night over at Pudong.  The complex was just next to the Citi building across the HuangPu by the Bund.  Friend of ours and his family rented this top floor (3 levels) apartment.  The photos were the night views from around the apartment, from different balconies on each floor.  I gathered, from the current rental rate, this 250 sq meters space probably costs him about RMB 42,000 per month in rent.  

The place is not that far from a #2 line subway stop.  Cool.  And it is also just next to the newly opened tunnel connected Puxi.  No traffic!  Quick get away from Pudong, the financial district.  

locate

I finally have everything Apple updated including my trusty side-kick - the iPad. It's 4.2.1 now. First two days I tried downloading, I had to stop as the estimated time kept jumping up to 24 hours after 30 seconds. Needless to say, lots of people wanted the update. Anyway, I finally did it this morning here in the Motherland in less than 30 minutes. Must be the U$ holiday.

I tried the "Find my device" feature on the Pad. The result was very accurate. Scary. I thought the location would be where the CO for my ADSL line originated from. No. This was not the case. Take a look at this picture from the Find feature. Wow... People that had visited Shanghai may recall the big construction site on ShiMen Yi Lu. The blue dot was exactly where my apartment building was on Nanjing road.

O yeah, after the 4.2.1 update my combination lock disappeared. Need to redo the combo lock from Settings.

impression

Further to the rescue action, when I said "UNKNOWN" about the other owner, it was from the non-communication action. One-way in and no way back. And when WE received finally received an email from this owner, the English language skill was so poor that we were taken aback. Now, that wasn't a good form of Credibility. And first impression was: "Wow, what was that?"

Good thing I had my Boulder training under my belt. Ha! Otherwise, my Schtick would have said "not worth my while". End of business. This time, I actually reminded myself that email is so "cold" and "can be expressionless". Evaluating a person using only email does not work. Email "content" may impress people to continue dialog due to the nature of doing business these days. I had to explain to my "OTHER HALF OF RESCUER" to give it a try. I was very glad my "OTHER HALF" was so good in aligning together. His "Respect others first & being humble" really makes things run smoothly and easy to work with.

In short, email impression should not be the only tool to evaluate a situation.

Rev

The rescue mission. Learning by listening. I have done lots in the past week. "Align" and "Adjust" talks a plenty. Enough to drive me into drinking my 3rd bottle of Tasmina Pinot Noir Red. I think I am led to believe the Pinot Noir bottle is my 500mL water bottle. Ha! The non-recyclable kind. At least I walk to and from the "office". A hike considered by the locals. Only about 3.4K one way or is that 4.5K. Distance, doesn't really matter anymore.

The rescue, yes. After listening.... The true purpose was known to US ("us" refers to the two rescuers of the biz). I did all the "talking" to draw out the "purpose". Talk about "Presence". In the end up till this Monday, WE have concluded that there is a major "communication" issue with one of the owners. Panic stricken. "visionary" to the point of self doubt and bouts after bouts of "Panic attacks". One good thing staying to OUR TRUE Purpose - the survival of the company, we got the message through that acknowledgement of staff's communication is very important. If "you" cannot express yourself, at least acknowledge the staff. WE were surprise to see on Monday morning with emails arriving to OUR mail boxes. Wow, responds. Even though it wasn't in Chinese as we were hoping for, but the act of "replying" was a good start. Good thing the staff emailed US knew enough English.

Listening, back to that. Our conversation on Monday shifted based on a "What is time for now" theme (Hence the Pinot Noir ;-) ) We shifted from topic to topic, "drilling", "probing", "illicit", "re-confirming we are here to help and to align". Finally, "Bingo"! We truly discovered two big pieces of information: 1) The "artistic" owner had finally realized that he had a communication problem. A very humble experience yet a very good "emotional discharge" as a Canadian coach from CLI would say and 2) we arrived at true Purpose of why a piece of "bundle" was so important to him and his biz partner. We aligned. Phew, it took over a week of "probing". This "Artist" owner said he had to think before expressing himself when we had our continuing "Rev's interviews". Well, that was by design. To invoke his inner thoughts rather than acting on emotion impulse. WE achieved a major alignment talk. There were so much "stuff" in his head that he believe "telepathy" was a form of communication. He was so "used" to just issuing commands that treating people in equal footing would go a long way.

And no, I did not use Rev's paper napkin approach.

This "Interview" was a break-thru. Thought provoking to the "Artist". We were ready to cut a big piece of "investment" from his portfolio due to "lack of funds". But in fact, that piece turned out to be very important to his "strategic" thinking. WE "might" be able to work with that. The word is "might". Artist and the reality of "situation" may still be far apart. WE will give it a go.

Yesterday, we had yet again an "Alignment" interview with the other half of the business owner. This one was a BIG PIECE OF THE UNKNOWN to US. This one would be the "make or break" or "go or no go" for US. The second owner was more "grounding" when talking to us. Let's just say with yesterday's talk, WE established "credibility" with her. Influence comes next. Perhaps "Impact" follows after. ;-) Will see about that. We spent almost 2 hours on the phone (You are welcome Ch in@ Tele com for blocking $kype and other "talking" IMs). Understanding the current company situation and hear what the two owners aligned and what not aligned. Not much news there. Basically, she aligned with us with "what WE wanted to hear".

WE are currently digesting the information. Moving forward, can WE "save" the company? We'll see. A major issue to resolve is putting the "Artist" communication in proper "channel" and "footing". Channel means not "what flows into his mind at the moment and starts dialing to the office to issue commands". Footing means "learn to speak properly". 15 years plus in this country and couldn't speak the Official dialect to the point of people understand, that would be bad.

blocked

Since last week every time we did the attempted to use Skype to all out to a landline overseas or Skype to Skype talk, magically our "Motherland" ISP router reset us after several minutes. Coincident? I think NOT.

Two reasons I could speculate: 1) boost the LD revenue, 2) "security" reason", 3) we are big and piss on you guys attitude.

This really pissing me off .

digging deeper

Two things...

One. People were digging deep into the contracting for the insulation work for that burned out building here. Last count 58 people died. And the culprits were arrested. Case closed. Took only 2 days. Fast and efficient huh? The Mounties should copy this fast resolved methodology? NOT. The culprits actually were not the "culprits". They were just farmers looking for work and got S H1t on. There was a bl og po$t couple days ago saying: " The gov't couldn't be touched. The real crook$ are gone, the "culprits" were arrested, and the people ended up paying for all the bill$". True. There was a news article online questioning how a contractor that has been "banned" from bidding on local contracts still got them. And got them by the lots! And... yes, and... last year this company reported an income of over 100million RMB but only had a profit of 400K RMB. Wow. Everyone was shock. The local gov't departments were keeping very quiet. VERY QUIET. Seems, the contractor sub-contract each floor to different companies and those companies each sub-contract off different tasks. In the end, the actual workers were temps from out of province farmers. Now, these workers could not even collect any wages. Interesting huh? This same contractor were the same that was cited of unsafe supervision, it was after another building caught fire just across the street from the Jing' axxx temple. That was during the "make is safe" pre-expo time. There were citations and "edicts" saying that company could not bid on any local gov't contracts. Then why, it made over 100M? Interesting.

Two. That biz rescue. We dug deep... The owners were actually digging themselves too many holes to get out of. No plans, grandeur of their capabilities, lack of communications, total slavery treatment to employees. Let see..... That's pretty summed it up. Tonight, I asked one of the owners to write up his "vision" on why a $ draining shop is worthwhile to keep. We want to align with his vision. He was stuttering. Let see how it goes tomorrow. WE, the rescuers, are reading to walk by tomorrow evening if the "vision" was basically a grandeur seeing of things. WE do not want to waste our time doing non-sounding business strategy, to implement someone's grandeur plan that leads to nowhere.

Doomed rescue

Haven't post for a while. Seems my blog postings are far and few these days. It was due to the fact that I have no energy writing much at the end of the day. I took on a rescue mission. A business one. To rescue a friend in dire need of a business turnaround. Iron-wife had been hinted for the last 2 years I should w/ my background. My internal firewall rejected this notion based on gust instinct. After the Conversant course in August - that Schtick and Purpose conference, I "saw" maybe I should help. It was my "purpose". And the timing was right. That friend's "big brother" with banking background also agreed to help. Now, that sounded doable. Or... Sh!t began to hit the fan.

As both of us dug deeper, there were some major problems. Despite the fact that I used all my Conversant training w/ Conversation Meter, "What's a time for now", Schtick and Purpose, Intersection model, in the end, a business is a business. The numbers spoke louder than any word. First off, there was no balance sheet of any sort. No actual or projected income and expense statements. No cash flow projection. The only time a cash flow projection went south was "This month is a little tight because our business partner's payment is late by 2 weeks, can you loan me RMB 25,000 to pay for the staff?". Maybe I am talking a Sincere Conversation. That was my view and not able to Intersect yet. I digress. Back to the numbers. I finally got some spreadsheets with numbers. What a load of cr***p! There was no break down of itemized expenses. Everything was lumped in. And all the numbers were "projected" based on previous years. Wow.. we made pretty good money. Should be afloat. Not so fast.... After I pull out all the numbers and put in some other numbers from another spreadsheets. Wow... Holly cow Stage 4 Cancer Batman! This things is going down. First off, all loans were moved off the balance sheet and made them as Shareholder injection. In the end, who has the cash to pay for the loans? Second, can't use projected income numbers to pay for actual expense numbers considering I just hired a group of 3 sales rep to push for a product which this business has distribution right. And, I couldn't see any actual numbers from previous quarters.

The two owners have major communication problem. I think I can write a book "Communication Catalyst 2, the self absorbing SOBs". One couldn't speak proper Chinese. I threw in 4 lessons with a Chinese teacher for him. For years, the main staffer has been conditioned that all emails were never replied by the owners. It's only one-way communication. The responds were top-down I know everything and you are my slave. The other owner, couldn't even type English properly on promotional items. And couldn't even type Chinese on a computer! Everything had to be by fax, by hand and by phone. OMG. This second owner worked thru her "agents" in the office.

The numbers from the promotions were so convoluted that we couldn't make heads or tails about them. What were our bottom lines for the promotions, no one knew as the discounts and quota discounts on the discounts were "directed" by this verbal expressive owner.

Contracts. WE (the two of the rescuers) had just discovered that the product distribution contract was so one sided with holds that we would not sign. Basically, you are screwed. Then the new shop that is causing the most grief right now, even the Accountant agreed, the contract was very dictatorship like no marketing could be done. And it's draining good cash away. To get out now, have to do the U$ gov t approach of $ printing scheme, RMB 510,000 in change. Impossible. That was one of the contract I asked to see before signing. I turned around, it was signed.

I couldn't market the product online based on agreement as the web purchase can only limited to Shanghai. Let see. 18Million in population. Out of that, may 15million has online presence. And out of that, people that need that type of product is about 5million. And out of that 5million willing to pay.... After, this is China... Cheapskates.

This morning, I have discovered that the web has spread negative comments about the shop. All truth. Then of course, one was the most damaging because name was mentioned and accusatory tone was left. Damage was done. Hence no business for the last month... And these guys still don't understand and think they knew the "industry". What a sincere conversation they kept having with us!

Staff. One of the most damaging one was the "protégé" of the female owner. That caused major problem. I had to employ the $lackTel human monitoring approach to get things done. Today, None! No email respond. No anything. I am not surprise tomorrow things will be implement because his "boss" said so. The one that kept avoiding and ignoring us. The high supreme commander.

Tomorrow, last ditch effort and last straw, last pitch, last intersection attempt or whatever other terms .... If we don't get our business-like way to start implementing changes, the hole eventually will be so deep that the wall will collapse inward and bury the one in there.

O yeah, WE (the rescuers) wasted RMB 150 of good $ to do taxi rides and coffee to the Bund yesterday afternoon. To meet with this "developer" to look at a new location as the 3rd location for this failing business. Come on now! The location? Right behind the Waldolf hotel at the Bund. It is building a new wing. And in between is a new development supposedly to be another comprehensive development of high end restaurants and in need of a hair salon. Sorry, tapped out. New business application denied. That developer after quickly showing us around, 5 minutes top, jump into the back seat of a black 4-door latest model Bentley and left. No plan. No extra information. No cost analyst to provide. Where are these people come from? Planet of the iNept? (O maybe I should capitalize the "i" so that I don't get any lawsuits.)

Let see, RMB 800,000 had gone to a place that should not be. Now need to come up with another RMB 520,000 for the next 20 months.... Ummm... If this guy is so smart, he's already a millionaire. Compounded by my back-year projection, he should have about 12M RMB in assets. Of course, that was only my projection just like the figures I got from the spreadsheet today.

fire

Here are some pics from the local online newspaper xinmin.cn.  This building is not far from our apt, about 20-min walk.  Scary.  Very flammable new insulation.  Good thing the next building going thru the same renovation was not affected.  Take a look to your left.  Same setup.

big

We are in this 1500 sq feet space in the middle of the Makati City. Client put us up at Fraser Place which is an Expat service apartment complex. Not bad. We got upgraded from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom place with kitchen and a huge laundry area. O yeah, large living room with two bathrooms w/ shower. A furnished place with everything! And I mean everything!

When we arrived on Wednesday in Manila, we were greeted by the Sale Manager of Fraser Place. As our client is one of his biggest account, he took personal care of us. Very nice. And the guy was young and energetic. Very fitting for the job. Since the check-in time was at 3pm and we arrived by noon, he took "pitty" on us and took us for lunch. We were in this sustainable food restaurant next door called LeXXXXVert (the X's because I cannot remember the name! That memorable. Was there 3 times!). Not bad food. But here in Philippines, eating habit is bad. Greasy meat everywhere. We had to eat at the Mandarin Oriental's Cantonese restaurant last night so we could have some greens! Good thing w/ the exchange rate, costed us only USD 45.00 for two people; that was 4 dishes and a dessert later.

Here are pics from inside the apt as well as the view. Today is the first day of clear sky in the afternoon. No pollution to speak of due to the rain from the last two days. But if you were to walk along the street, it's worst than Shanghai. I am pretty much apt bounded because of that. Me and the Internet to catch up on things. The wine was for a dinner tonight, 1 1/2 hour drive to another town! Actually, it's the traffic not really the distance. Hotel car is booked for the trip. It's USD 20.00 each way. Being Friday night tonight, not recommend to take a chance hailing a cab.

handy little thing

I am truly moving to the mobile workforce. Ha! With an iPhone and the DocScanner App, I turn my mobile phone into a document scanner. Now, I can do our invoicing on the run. Quick and handy. The image was sharp too. I can download from my iPhone wirelessly either as a PDF or as a JPG. What option!

The second pic is a sample of the scanned dinner bill from last night.

Absent

Yes, I was absent from my blog for a while. A bit busy wrapping up the last week of our Credibility, Influence and Impact conference. 3 times to Boulder/Denver this year. Weather was perfect. This latest trip to Boulder was Niiiiccceeee... Weather was so warm, we overpacked with warm clothing. 24C, blue sky and dry. The hotel we stayed at was one of the oldest hotel in Boulder called Boulderado. We splurged a bit. Took a deluxe suite. Still about 1/3 of what we paid in May. And food cost, much less. We did our own dinner and lunch. Healthier. Jill's at St Julien Hotel & Spa offered 1/2 portion and light heather appetizers such as Apple, Cheese, raisins and dates. Price was right too. USD 60.00 for two included appetizers, 1/2 portion entrees and desserts. O yes, my Martini and a coffee. Not a bad price. Then there was this Middle Eastern lunch place called Arabraques. Friendly, all home-made hummus, bread, grape leaves, lentil soup. For once, I didn't feel bloated or "greased" up.

One night we went to Brasiere Ten Ten. It was a pub. So so.... Not my type of food I guess; but the Scotch, now that was a full selection to choose from. McCallen 12 years. Wednesday night we went to The Kitchen. Good flare but food wasn't a lot to choose from. 4 entrees. However, all ingredients were from local farms. Support the local economy, why not.

The closing dinner on Thursday night was at a place called 4285. A pub/restaurant. Cool food. I had Buffalo steak. Nice... Finger food. I couldn't remember as I was too busy engaging people to talk. This was the kicker. I went out for a drink back at the hotel afterward, I had to get a chicken sandwich. Did I not eat enough during the week?

I had to say, I was happy w/ my Martini and Scotch there. No complain or disappointment!

The only disappointment was when we picked up our bags at Seattle Friday night after our Denver flight. All our locks were busted or lost or worst, I had to get a new suitcase in Seattle because some idiots decided to bust all my locks as well as zippers. I did have TSA approved locks! There were no paper in the suitcases saying we opened your bags. Ridiculous.

O yes, Seattle.... It was like Vancouver we visited at the beginning of the week. Friendly, warm and sunny! We got upgraded when we arrived. The Fairmont Olympic was overbooked. Wow... Economy downturn? Where?

The flight back from YVR to HKG was brutal. Packed. People didn't know how to "aim" in the bathroom or flush! When I went in there, I had to flush first before any little air turbulence spill the bodily discharged bubbling liquid to the floor. Seriously people. Not that I am generalizing, a plane load of our motherland population. The seat were so uncomfortable, I had maybe 2 hours out of the 13 hours. Iron-wife was beaten down too. She was so tired, her body started rejecting all the nutrient after lunch in Macau. Still was as I was typing this up. Yeah, that sliding seat went nowhere with me. 90% of the flight I did not incline more than 3 degrees worrying my ass would have been in the space between the seat cushion and the flat metal area. O yeah, the non-adjustable headrest. Now, that's the diff between USD 950 econo one way vs USD 4,200 Biz class one way. Sorry, I would suffer rather than paying that much. At least I have something to write about. Ha!

Now, I am sitting in the W Hotel in Hong Kong. High price due to the fact that the Climate Change meeting had taken all the hotel rooms from Central to Causeway Bay! This room rate hurt. Hurt alot but no choice. A very excellent Starwood hotel. A must stay actually.