The second best time is now

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.  The second best time is now.

Proverb

There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.

Ronald Reagan

It is a small step today but a big step tomorrow

Unknown

In the practical use of our intellect, forgetting is as important a function as remembering

William James

 

I learn the above sentences from a number of books.  The sleeper effect is at work and helping me connect them meaningfully to my working life.

A few months ago, I came to realize that the campus, after 10 years of operation, looks a little bit old.  Some trees are withering, some grassland are grayish and walls are being torn.  We are stepping forward to the 2^nd 10 years.  It is not good at least superficially.  We are ever changing with people in and out from all walks of life, customers lost and won, old products phased out and new products being introduced.  We need to get some add-on change.  An idea flash to my mind – why not plant some trees?

Well, to plant a tree is peanuts; but to plant 100 trees is a big project.  1 mature tree may cost RMB2,000, not including the relocation expenses which is probably another RMB2,000.  100 trees will amount to RMB400,000.  No kidding!  However, planting a young tree is only a very small fraction of relocating a mature tree.  We have to wait for them to grow up as mature trees.  Time itself is costly.  But the people staying there will see the change and share the joy.  And there would be more pictures of trees growing to share in their WeChat. People would not be missing any result generated through doing something shortcut but love to see change is being underway.  If I had started to plant the young tree 4 years ago, it would have been a different picture now.  Unfortunately, I did not.  Luckily, I come to realize that the second best time is now.

In 2012, I realized that trainee operators would be an important source of stable work force in the future while it takes time to build good relationship with the technical school in order to guarantee the supply.  Now we can at least not to suffer too much when the competition is keen.  However, at that time, I rejected a proposal of hiring fresh graduate as management trainees.  If I had started to do that, we would have better succession plan.  Anyway, I started to do it from this year.  The second best time is now.  In an occasion, a friend of mine told that I need to get prepared that the retention rate may be only 5% or even 0%.  But keeping this practice could be a good practice of bringing up newcomers.  Practice makes perfect.  It is not the effort of a single manager, let alone HR; it is the concerted effort of the whole company to make internship program successful so as to get the fruition.  The first 3 months from the introduction of interns is to end.  2 out of the 14 interns left the company.  The remaining 12 interns looks good so far.

A good relationship cannot be built when one party is in need and offering interest to the other.  It is only an exchange.  A good relationship could only start to build when there is no obvious advantage involved.  It is particularly true in mainland China.

We, as human, may not be always aware that nostalgia is taking effect.  Doing something different under a limited budget could be rescuing.  The “Lean Startup” has taught me that a minimum viable product (MVP) could be cost effective than doing nothing at all or doing perfect with too long time-frame.  Kodak, Xerox, Nokia and Blackberry are few of the many failed organizations suffering from nostalgia.  I have to remind myself regularly if I am doing something unwelcoming novelty.  Luckily, I do spot out something wrong with myself.  Unlearn the wrongdoing becomes the regular exercise I am doing.  Power and authority are the shield of human weakness while the weakness may be seeded long time ago.  The best time to uproot it is when it is seeded.  The second best time to uproot it is now when one realizes its existence.

If there is a new product/technology introduced, it may be wise to start from a small scale (or MVP) under a limited budget.  If one cannot be leading it, then it is not bad to follow.  Otherwise, when the new product becomes the trend, buying this technology will be costly.  Sticking to the existing products/technology itself cannot be a good reason.  Above all, the employees may lose the momentum of taking challenge.  There should be an optimal balance of forgetting and remembering.