Suntec Build - Learnings 2014 07 15

Things to remember for the next outlet build:
1. Activation of sub contractors takes at least 1 week, if not 2.  Especially if the project has been repeatedly delayed.
2. Waterproofing of the kitchen floor is a number 1 activity.  But before that can occur, the walls for the kitchen need to go up.
3. Roof can come in at the start of the very end of the project.  There are other ways to hang stuff (i-beams, usually)
4. Licenses for temporary water/electricity and work permits need to be signed off asap, even if before the work begins.  Any delay when workers are on site are no good.
5. Contractors (like any good project managers) have buffer in their schedules.  Need to push to reduce those buffers.  Many trades can be done in parallel.

Focussing on the future

As a business leader, I need to think through where and how things will fit in together.  In order to do that, I must understand the systems/people that I need and consider the potential of how the systems/people will develop over time.

From my project background, I usually get allocated people, and it's a "use as effectively as possible and cast away".  There is no much people development as when the project ends, the people disperse.  Running a business requires a lot more thought as to how the pieces will continue to fit in together, even if they are not fitting in now.

All this requires a view of the future.  And I feel that I do not focus on the future.  The future to me is vague, and not that interesting.  I focus on the present and can act of the present with a lot more discipline.
What is need to do is to chunk down the future into really targeted 3 month goals.  Actually the goal is very clear: 4 outlets by the end of 2015, with revenues of $15m.  I need to keep this in mind when making the decisions about systems and the people that are around me.

Breaking this down into three areas:
1. If I take ownership of the business again, what do I need to do to make it run properly as 4 outlets?  What types of people would I have, what types of systems do I need?

2. For every department that I look after now, what do I need to do to make them function as proper departments?  This includes Finance, Purchasing, Legal/Risk, HR, Information Tech.  It will also include Marketing, Business Development, Culinary, Operations.  How will those pieces fit together?  Where are the overlaps?  Can we outsource areas?

3. What can I do to not carry the burden all on myself?  What do I need to let go?  What must I do, and what can everyone else do?  How do I make the best use of the people around me?  Remember that no one is "indispensable".  Build the team that I want, that will help me.  Consider the 4 Hour Workweek.  Limit the work for work.

As part of this ownership, I need to work out how to work with business partners.  I am not being strong enough in demanding for the results. I realise I reward effort vs result, whereas my business partner rewards result vs effort. But I think even with the role of chairman, I still want to help, to make things better.  I am not playing my role properly.  The same feelings keep coming back, the fear that I will be "used", or "commanded" again.  It's no good. I have to get over that fear.

Matches

What am I looking for?

1. Alpha.  Self confident, comfortable in her skin. Someone who is honest in her intention and communication.
2. Laughs a lot, positive outlook on life.  Has a wonderful smile.  Loves to dance is a plus.
3. Passionate about making an impact in life.

Where would I find these people?  Tango class?  Entrepreneur meet ups?  Charity functions?  Yoga class?

Beliefs - What do I believe?
1. Women enjoy sex as much as men.
2. Honesty is tough to do, but ultimately the more rewarding.
3. We should always be trying to grow to be a better person.
4. Alignment in life makes one enjoy life more.
5. Inherently women are attracted to me.
6. What you do as a job matters less than how you do it.
7. That not everyone in the world needs to like me.
8. That it is not ok to not have an opinion.  Don't force it on other people, but I must have a stand.
9. That we should always have a perception of ourselves that matters more than the perception that others have of us,

Become a leader of my interests.  Really get involved in the Argentine tango scene if that is what interests me.

Disappointment

I am disappointed with myself and my ability.  Being curious about the emotion, it says this to be "that I am not able to achieve the goal that I had set for myself at the beginning of this year, to be more reckless".
I need to stop freezing up, stop allowing my friends to introduce me to people, instead of going up to them myself.

It doesn't help that an old torch was there tonight.  Disappointment in seeing her, and seeing what could have been.  Probably not helpful that she was drunk and dancing with me!  So it was double disappointment.

So what's the new goal?

The new goal is to find the right partner.  However, prior to that, the goal is to be willing to talk to any girl that want to. Don't care what I say, just hi!  Be happy and make other people happy!

True Confidence is being less invested in other people’s perceptions of you than in your perception of yourself.

Don't care what they say!  Just do it!  I shrug if the women I pursue has no interest in me. Such is life :)
Continue to invest in myself.  Make myself the best person I can be.  Then find someone who will meet my standard.  If they do not, walk away. Be benevolently selfish with the women in my life.
"Hi my name is Kev, I think you are very pretty and I just wanted to say hi.  So what are we celebrating tonight?"  "What is your favourite thing in the world?"

Rejection exists for a reason — it’s a means to keep people who are not good for each other apart. Remember that it's ok to be rejected.  No one will die, especially not me!
And for God's sake please move on from the old torch.  No use carrying that one around!  I can do one final proclamation?? :)  Just remember boundaries.  If we are friends, then we shouldn't be grinding each other.  Respect my boundary.  Next time remember that.

Success = Maximizing happiness with whichever woman/women we prefer 

What stories am I telling myself?
That dancing by myself it ok, and I shouldn't meet people directly.  That is wrong!
That I am no good at approaching new women.  I am actually ok, sometimes it's a nudge.  But I don't like it that people have to introduce them to me.  I should be going up to them myself.
That I hate rejection.  I am changing that story to say that rejection is good as it separates the right women for me compared to the wrong women, and the sooner I find out, the better!
When approaching, I pretend I have apathy to the girl when really I am interested.  I do care and I do want to meet that girl.  Say hi to every girl that I think is cute, no matter what happens.  Just hi and introduce myself!!  It is not hard!

But confidence simply means to feel the fear and not let it define you. True Confidence is feeling the fear and deciding that something else is more important.  

Step by step, keep training the approach muscle.  Start with less difficult actions, move to more difficult ones.

Working at the Bar

Continuing with my "I don't learn anything unless I actually do it" theme, I spent a few hours inside the bar, doing drinks and understanding the flow.

Key thoughts:
1. The workflow is good for one person.  It gets a bit messy with two people, need to communicate on who is doing what drink for which table.  Since there is no "expo" for the drinks, then it's up to bartenders to manage.

2. There was a lack of drinks runners today. Could have been due to a bigger than expected sale for Tuesday, but there were a few times that drinks were waiting at the bar for a few minutes.  Not sure if it is worth having a drinks runner all the time, but having two in the bar helps, even if it is for 2 hours.

3. The workflow for getting the items was quite good.  I didn't have to reach too far to get my drink components.  I am a bit confused where I should be placing the drink we preparing, will have to ask Rod.  I felt I was putting the starting drink everywhere.

4. A lot of times it is about muscle memory.  Hence part time bartenders will never be as efficient, because they are not there enough.  A lot of the part timers we have want to work at the bar, but will never get that good, cause they are not there enough.  Same for me, I'm sure I am very slow.

5. Writing down some drinks to get into memory:
a. Strawberry Sunset: 3 oz apple juice, 1 oz strawberry puree, 1 oz mango, 1/2 oz syrup, 1 scoop crushed ice.
b. Margarita: salt rim, 1 1/2 oz tequila, 3/4 oz bols, 1 oz margarita mix, 1 lime wedge juice, 2 scoop normal ice in blender.  Blend till smooth.
c. Mango Lime Lassi: 3 oz mango puree, 1 oz syrup, 1 oz lime cordial, 1 lime wedge cut, 1 tsp yogurt, 1 scoop crushed ice in blender
d. Virgin Apple Mojito: 2 scoop raw sugar, 6 mint leaves, 1 1/2 oz apple syrup, 3 lime wedges, muddled, crush ice.

Learings 2014 02 09

What did I learn today?

I learned (from a book) that a lot of commentary on China comes from the people in Western countries with an intent to influence their own countries. That in China the fiscal management by the government was really not that great.  If anything, it is impressive the amount of improvement that has occured even with government intervention.  It speaks of the resourcefulness and skill of the entrepreneurs in China.  And that ultimately, China is diverse (if not more so) than any other country, purely because there are just more people there, people with opinions and wants and needs.

That what I say to my staff about my partners, I probably need to internalise myself, and speak up about it.  Slowly, I think I am lifting my own veil and getting a better understanding of the people around me.

That I need to provide and ask for clarity for every action.  It makes it easier to hold people accountable.

That I need to continuously prune the systems that we have in order for it to be most effective.  I need to employ Gall's law more often, don't make a system any more complex than it has to be in order to achieve a stated goal.  When the goal difficulty increase (as it always will in a business), only then should the system increase in complexity.

That I need to start building more things to do OUTSIDE of the business in order to keep my balance and to keep energetic INSIDE the business.

Learning By Doing

I have come to realise that my learning style consists of "doing" the thing that I want to learn.  A good example is in the last 3 weeks.  As we have been short on managers, I have had to get involved on a day to day basis for running the floor.  I hadn't done that for a long time, and whilst there was a touch of "why should I be the one doing it?", I have to admit that I have learnt a lot more about operations, and am a lot more confident in the process involved in planning a shift.

This may be the reason that I have not had much luck understanding the kitchen.  I watch the kitchen a lot, but it still seems to remain a mystery to me.  And without going into the kitchen, I will continue to lack the confidence in improving the systems, because I am not sure if what I am doing is the right thing.

It will be good to get to go into the kitchen, hopefully in a month's time.  We are still short of managers, and our current managers need time to adapt to the Morganfield's way.  Some of our existing managers also need to be able to handle more items at the same time and see the bigger picture.

I was told that one of my key strengths is the willingness to get involved.  Complimenting that with an ability to quickly learn and improve on any area may end up being my biggest contribution to any business.  The key then is to always be willing to jump in.  However, the other key thing is NOT to get stuck in one area.  Always be willing to move to something else.

Balance

Whilst this year will be dominated by the opening of outlet number 2, a large theme going through my own head is re-finding that sense of balance.  I once read that an article saying that for entrepreneurs, "balance is an art", and that is true.  

There are a couple of balancing components:  work life vs personal life, brain work vs physical work, roles and responsibilities across partners.

1. Work vs personal

I cannot get away from my own sense of guilt that I should be doing more for the business but a part of me is beginning to realise "hey, I can walk a bit away from this and it will still be ok".  

I want to get back into volleyball, I want to learn some new dancing skills, I (should) learn Mandarin.  These are pursuits that take time and commitment, and I want to do it.  Unfortunately I am suffering from procrastination and that vague guilt that I should be working on the business instead.  

2. Brain vs physical

2013 was spent predominantly at the restaurant.  Towards Dec 2013 and now, I am there at most 3-4 days a week.  Perhaps it's the change of role, but I feel less inclination to go.  The new responsibilities I have feels like it needs a lot of thinking time to get the right solution.  Again, a slight vague guilt that I should be at the outlet, and continuing to watch and learn.  One thing that is on the cards is a long stint inside the kitchen to really get a feel for how the process works.  I realise that my "learning from watching" abilities is very poor.  I need to do it in order to improve on it.  So physical may be back, especially with our current people issues!

3. Roles and responsibilities

I definitely perceived 2013 as unbalanced in terms of "effort" on the business.  Granted, though, effort did not equal to results.  Now, with the org change, the balance feels better.  Having let go of the MD role, I understand better my deficiency in properly delegating tasks.  I also feel that the corporate structure made the chairman role too far removed from a small business like ours. I think my partner has a realisation that I will always be there to support the business, doing whatever it takes.  I personally am more conscious of it.  Is it a bad thing?  Maybe not.  I may accept that this is me, as long as we can both contribute to our business success.  But I need to be aware and be willing to speak up when that balance is totally comprimised.  Like a normal relationship!