Break-The-Pattern - Final - Print-Ready 2017 12 11

The Science of Transformational Value Creation
Dr. Ahmad Rahman Songip

Copyright © 2018 Dr. Ahmad Rahman Songip
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including
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from the author.
Author: Dr. Ahmad Rahman Songip

Title: Break the Pattern – The Science of Transformational Value Creation
ISBN: 978-1-77371-101-0
Category: BUSINES & ECONOMICS/General
Illustrations by: Mohd Ekram Al Hafis Hashim
www.breakthepattern.info
Publisher: Black Card Books

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Suite 214, 5-18 Ringwood Drive
Stouffville, Ontario, Canada, L4A 0N2 The Science of Transformational Value Creation
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Dr. Ahmad Rahman Songip
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Printed in Malaysia
DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
Endorsements
“Innovation is a word that often makes people confused. This book definitely
helps to get a better understanding on it.”
—YB Datuk Wira Dr. Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah
Deputy Minister
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysia
abubakarmd@mosti.gov.my, www.mosti.gov.my
“Break the Pattern is an excellent book with hands-on exploration of

organizational transformation, its principles, processes, and impact. As
an ardent believer in the Transformational Leadership style myself, I am
delighted to see that Dr. Ahmad Rahman Songip has both challenged and
encouraged us to wholeheartedly embrace transformation, so that we create
sustainable value together.”
—Tan Sri Siti Sa’diah Sheikh Bakir
Pro Chancellor, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Chairman of the Board, Universiti Utara Malaysia
Chairman of Nationwide Express Holdings Berhad
Directors of KPJ Healthcare Berhad, Chemical Company of Malaysia Berhad (CCM),
CCM Duopharma Biotech Berhad, and OSK Holdings Berhad
sssb@kpjhealth.com.my, www.kpjhealth.com.my
ENDORSEMENTS DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
“I like the concept of KISS—Keep It Simple and Satisfying, as outlined in “Break the Pattern is a must-read for every leader who wants to continue
Break the Pattern. It is a great tool to test the simplicity of the tagline, slogan, creating a value in the organization, and to move beyond what currently
or motto of an organization.” feels like impossible challenges.”
—Tan Sri Dato’ (Dr.) Ir. Jamilus Bin Md. Hussin —Dato’ Husni Salleh
Chairman of the Board, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia Chief Executive Officer, Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (TERAJU)
President and Chief Executive Officer, KLIA Consultancy Services Sdn. Bhd. husni@teraju.gov.my, www.teraju.gov.my
President, Project Management Institution Malaysia
jamilus@kliacs.com.my, www.kliaholdings.com.my
“Break the Pattern is a fascinating and entertaining book, one that
combines theory and real experiences. A must read for students, managers
“Universiti Teknologi Malaysia is always driven to do things differently in
and future leaders.”
unique ways as part of its value creation. This is especially so in trying
times like this. As such, UTM has been breaking a lot of patterns lately. —Datuk Dr. Mohd Yusoff Sulaiman
This book is very timely indeed!” President & Chief Executive

Prime Minister’s Department
—Professor Datuk Ir. Dr. Wahid bin Omar Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT)
Vice Chancellor, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia yusoff@might.org.my, www.might.org.my
drwahid@utm.my, www.utm.my
“In today’s world of rapid transformation and epic challenges, breaking

“Value creation often requires breaking the current pattern of getting things from the status quo through creativity and innovation tantamount to attaining
done and redesigning it… continuing with the long-standing pattern gives, personal triumphs, organizational achievements or business success above par.
at most, the same results. This book shows how value can be created on Kudos to Dr. Ahmad for his ingenuity in creating an excellent understanding
a continuous basis.” of transformational value creation. Break the Pattern is indeed an inspiring
—Professor Dato’ Dr. Daing Nasir Ibrahim guide for everyone in both the private and public sectors who is aiming to
Vice Chancellor, Universiti Malaysia Pahang
have a mindset change and gain his or her value creation accomplishments.”
daing@ump.edu.my, www.ump.edu.my
—Datuk (Dr.) Hafsah Hashim
Chief Executive Officer, SME Corporation Malaysia
“This book provides revolutionary perspectives and approaches in value hafsah@smecorp.gov.my, www.smecorp.gov.my
creation amidst uncertainty and chaos of the business environment that

cloud enterprises’ transformation initiative.” “This is a genuinely excellent book that will get you to think about innovation
—Brigadier General Dato’ Dr. Md. Zaki bin Md. Zain RMAF with a strong sense of reality.”
Director General, Directorate General Technical Airworthiness
Malaysian State Aircraft Authority —Dr. Mohd Azman Zainul Abidin
mdzaki@mod.gov.my, www.dgta.gov.my Group Chief Executive Officer, Malaysian Green Technology Corporation
drmaza@greentechmalaysia.my, www.greentechmalaysia.my
“This book uncovers the secret recipes of very successful corporations. “A must-read book for leaders and managers in an ever-evolving and
It is definitely a book worth reading by entrepreneurs.” dynamic world we are living in now. Compact with facts, data, and
—Dato’ Ir. Dr. Mukhlis Chua relevant easy-to-understand examples, making this book a joy to read.
Executive Chairman, Inter-Granite Sdn. Bhd. Precise and succinctly narrated.”
kaniza@intergranite.com.my, www.intergranite.com.my
—Ahmad Hasbullah bin Husain
Director, Halliburton Energy Services (M) Sdn. Bhd.
Ahmad.Hussein@halliburton.com, www.halliburton.com
“Leading the development of innovative and entrepreneurial academia
is at the heart of UTM’s mission to contribute toward universal well-being
and prosperity. This is one of the books that could provide useful guides in “Dr. Ahmad has, through this book, provided a sneak peek into the
driving and managing innovation within an organization.” accelerated changing world that many winners had dealt with their
—Professor Dr. Zainuddin Abdul Manan situation victoriously—in the world that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International), ambiguous. He advocated breaking through the conscious mind, bound by
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia the conventional and orthodox, is the answer. In the world of transformation,
dr.zain@utm.my, www.utm.my
tasks seldom get completed as the next wave of change continues to set in.
This book nudges those who are still pondering how others have risen above
“This book created an elegantly simple mathematical equation, all odds and became winning leaders. The hidden question in this book is
linking creativity and innovation. Brilliant effort!” why we have to struggle with our subconscious mind of reasoning that is
—Prof. Dr. Tat-Hean Gan conditioned by specialist knowledge, which produces a multitude of reasons
Director of Brunel Innovation Center (BIS), UK via confined and structured thought process to find a panacea for all things.
Director of National Structural Integrity Research Center (NSIRC), UK
I would encourage everyone to at least attempt to read this book to kick-start
Associate Director, Integrity Management Group TWI, UK
tat-hean.gan@brunel.ac.uk, tat-hean.gan@nsirc.co.uk, tat-hean.gan@twi.co.uk, the momentum of widening insights and perspective as a prelude to venturing
www.brunel.ac.uk, www.twi-global.com into the more turbulent areas, such as tackling digital business disruption.”
—Dr. Ng Boon Beng
Director, ASEAN Regional – Deal Management, Oracle Corporation
“In today’s fast-paced competitive landscape, it is more important than
ngbbeng@gmail.com
ever for companies to speed up their change processes and create
transformational value. Dr. Ahmad has developed a compelling case for the
urgency to change and presents a powerful framework for leaders to follow. “Break the Pattern offers a framework for transformational value creation
I highly recommend Break the Pattern — The Science of Transformational based on real experience, not theory. A must-read for anyone interested in
Value Creation—it is an inspiring read and a catalyst to take action.” creating their own destiny.”
—Anders Fogelberg —Hiroshi Iwadate

Managing Director, SKF Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Unit Chief/Project Coordinator, Research and Network Promotion Unit
anders.fogelberg@skf.com, www.skf.com ASEAN University Network/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network
JICA Project Office for AUN/SEED-Net, Thailand
iwadate@aun-seed.net, www.seed-net.org
“A good book of readings.” “Practical, thought-provoking, and very well-written book. An excellent
guide for personal and organizational transformation.”
—Prof. Dr. Annuar Md. Nassir
Dean, Faculty of Economics and Management —Major (R) Dr. Prebagaran Jayaraman
Universiti Putra Malaysia Founder and CEO
annuar@upm.edu.my, www.econ.upm.edu.my Samudera Management Consultants Sdn. Bhd.
praba@smctrainers.com.my, www.smctrainers.com.my
“A well-written and powerful book that takes our understanding of

transformational value creation. This is a book that should be widely read.” “Break the Pattern is a world-class tool for organization that is serious about
creating or enhancing value.”
—Prof. Dr. Hamidah Yusof
Dean, Faculty of Management and Economics —Azmi Said
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris Founder and Principal Consultant
hamidah.yusof@fpe.upsi.edu.my, fpe.upsi.edu.my MYDATA Consulting Group Sdn. Bhd.
azmisaid@mydata.com.my, www.mydata.com.my
“This book explains transformation, and explains it well. A good read

for those who aspire to embark on the journey. Many have tried and “I find the book as very refreshing… simple things were used as examples
failed. Hopefully, readers of this book may gain some wisdom and tips with detailed narration that eventually serves as a basis for a significant
on how to survive.” concept. Without a doubt, Dr. Ahmad has catapulted himself as another
great thinker of innovation. This book clearly exemplifies his profound
—Muhd Firdaus bin Azharuddin
Director of Operations, National Entrepreneurship Institute (INSKEN) knowledge on the subject and years of immense experience in and outside
firdaus@insken.gov.my, www.insken.gov.my the academic world. Time will prove that this book will ‘click’ the minds of
many thinking individuals and prove to be an inspiration to many individuals
growing up in the same ecosystem.”
“This book is a mandatory reading for our Technology and Innovation
—Sazali Yahya
Management module for our Master Program and short courses.
Founder and Executive Director
Local and international students and participants have been consistently Lighthouse Consulting Sdn. Bhd.
sazali@lh-consult.com, www.lh-consult.com
giving five-star ratings to Dr. Ahmad’s module. Congratulations and
keep up the good work!”
—Dr. Mohammad Ali Tareq “The similarity between Ohm’s Law with A = R x S is remarkable. I called it
Head, Management of Technology Department the Ahmad’s Rule of Success. I just realized that A = R x S is after the name
Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT)
of the author. Brilliant!”
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
tareq@utm.my, mjiit.utm.my/mot —Dr. Roslan Yusoff
Founder, Sablelution Plc
Director and Execution Strategist, GRC Consulting Services Sdn. Bhd.
roslan@grccs.com.my, www.grccs.com.my
“The beautiful recasting of the intricate human mind that individually needs “This is a very timely and interesting topic on which the author
to undergo transformations before it has the ability and courage to jump embarked on. The whole book is written in such a fashion that made it
off from one’s established inner quantum roundabouts, but not without easy to understand for the readers from any discipline. Lots of relevant
one’s conscious long hours of never ending ups and downs spreading over examples are provided, which not only create the interest for the reader
years of self-sacrifices in pursuing determined targets for collective results but also it helps the readers to understand the subject matter with
that may eventually translate into personal successes and achievements… no difficulty. The author has put tremendous effort to make the book
let’s dare to Break the Pattern.” interesting and provocative.”
—Dr. Mustaza Hj. Ahmadun —Dr. Farzana Quoquab Habib
Senior R&D Consultant, The Research Council, Sultanate of Oman Senior Lecturer
mustaza@trc.gov.om, www.trc.gov.om Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
fqbhabib@ibs.utm.my, www.ibs.utm.my
“Based on my prior experience as a deputy president and a board member

in a crude oil pipeline company for 11 years, I strongly recommend Break “Break the Pattern is a very interesting and easy to follow book with insightful
the Pattern to those who want to improve their managerial skill.” examples. I was a member of Dr. Ahmad’s consulting team with the plantation
—Prof. Dr. Bulent Inanc company, and not only they achieved the goals, the consulting project
Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering managed to strengthen and bring out the best out of the organization.”
Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
inancbulent@itu.edu.tr, www.itu.edu.tr —Zareena Omar
Head of Academic Services
University of Reading Malaysia
z.omar@reading.ac.uk, www.reading.edu.my
“A simple yet refreshing explanation of transformational value creation.
I like the simplicity of an egg to explain the concept of transformational
value creation. From now on, I see this ordinary egg from an
extraordinary perspective.”
—Dr. Faizan Ali
Assistant Professor and Graduate Coordinator
College of Hospitality & Tourism Leadership
University of South Florida Sarasota—Manatee, U.S.
faizanali@usf.edu, www.usfsm.edu
Dedication Acknowledgements
This book is dedicated to my father and mother who inculcated the thirst In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All the praises
of seeking knowledge in me; my wife Anisah for her continuous support and thanks be to God alone who has given me the abundance of strength,
and understanding; our five children, Nurul Husna, Ahmad Hazim, insights, inspirations, and opportunities to write this book.
Ahmad Hanif, Ahmad Hakim, and Ahmad Hilmi; our grandchildren,
This book is the culmination of experiences in conducting training and
Maryam Nur'izza and Ahmad Hadif Ziqri; and our incoming descendants.
consulting to our clients and researches done by my graduate students. Special
I challenge all of them to utilize this book to create transformational value
thanks to my colleagues, peers, and fellow academics who have given their
creation for their own brighter future.
invaluable comments and ideas, directly and indirectly, that shape the content
of this book (names without country affiliation are Malaysians; in alphabetical
order): A.K.M. Muzahidul Islam (Bangladesh), Abdel Hameed Al-Saeed (Saudi
Arabia), Abdirahman Yussuf (Somalia), Abdul Nasir Mansor, Abdulla Nasser
Ali Al-Sulaimani (Oman), Adnan Bagharib (Singapore), Aizul Nahar Harun,
Akbariah Mohd Mahdzir, Ali Hajji (Morocco), Aliyu Alhaji Abubakar (Nigeria),
Arnoldo José de Hoyos Guevara (Brazil), Astrid Ayla Liberato (Philippines),
Brahim Messaoudi (Morocco), Bulent Inanc (Turkey), Djilani Djouahi
(Algeria), Effrosyni Papargyropoulou (Greece), Faizan Ali (United States of
America), Farzana Quoquab Habib (Bangladesh), Fawzi Mohamed Elfghi
(Libya), Hamdani Saidi, Hiroshi Nakanishi (Japan), Hiroyuki Ishizaki (Japan),
Ismie Roha Mohamed Jais, Josu Takala (Finland), Ken Kaminishi (Japan),
Mahrub Murni (Brunei), Mas Bambang Baroto (Indonesia), Md. Sharif Othman,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
Mehmet Arif Adli (Turkey), Mohamad Nasir Subor, Moh Ghazli (Sudan), I was so fortunate to have access to reflections, insights, and
Mohamed Mahmoud El-Sayed Nasef (Egypt), Mohammad Ali Tareq ideas during my interaction with so many people that contributed in
(Bangladesh), Mohd Nazlee Kamal, Mustaza Ahmadun, Nakio Ohshima shaping my thinking and context about transformational value creation.
(Japan), Nasser Mohammed Al-Hamami (Yemen), Nazreen Salie (South The names of the other people I am indebted to are too long to be listed here.
Africa), Nooh Abu Bakar, Rory Padfield (United Kingdom), Sazali Yahya, Tareq They are my other colleagues, peers, fellow academics, students of my
Suwaidan (Kuwait), Tim de Leeuw (Netherlands), Wang Yingming (China), classes, and participants of my training and consulting services. I believe
and Zareena Omar. they still vividly remember the lively interactions and discussions during
our brief encounters.
Many thanks also to my former graduate students who had been testing
ideas presented in this book: Azman Samsuri @ Muhamad, H.N.M. Ekmarul I would like to thank Mr. Mohd Ekram Al-Hafis Hashim for the lovely
Mahmud (Bangladesh), Lau Bing Hian, Low Wen Pei, Mazlan Ismail, Md. Zaki illustrations that capture the essence of each chapter. Lastly, many thanks
Md. Zain, Ng Boon Beng, Prebagaran Jayaraman, Raymond Lucky Sumargo to everyone at Black Card Books, especially Mr. Gerry Robert, who were
(Indonesia), Saravanan Kumar Ramasamy, Shahabaldin Rezania (Iran), Sheida involved in publishing this book. They have been pushing me to complete this
Mirahsani (Iran), Siti Nur Fatihah Moideen, Shreeshivadasan A/L Chelliapan, book and have been very generous in giving me many extended deadlines.
Sumie Sarmiza Abd Suki, Thanaletchumi Sathasivam, Tutuk Djoko Kusworo
I sincerely thank you all.
(Indonesia), and Yip Mum Wai.
Also, special appreciations to my current graduate students who have

been pushed and challenged relentlessly to create value in their current
research works: Abu Bakar Ngah, Ahmad Ezainuddin Badaruddin, Ahmad
Razif Mohamad, Ali Reza Fili (Iran), Chong Tong Leong, Cik Ku Haroswati Che
Insanity is doing the same thing
Ku Yahaya, Ehsan Borousan (Iran), Firdaus Fitri Zainal Abidin, Habiba Nabila
Ihlasuddini Rofiq (Indonesia), Ikhwan Md. Tab, Ilen Kardani, Khalifah Khalil, over and over again and expecting
Mohd Rizal Omar Baki, Mohd Shamsuri Khalid, Mohammad Azlan Jizam, different results.
Muhammad Syafiq Hasan, Muhamad Roslan Muhamad Yusoff, Noor Hidayah
—Anonymous
Sapari, Norashikin Mardzuki, Norazman Saharum, Norismalinda Taarif,
Osman Mohd Said, Shahrizal Ahmad Rosli, Shazlinda Md. Yusof, Shinobu
Komai (Japan), Sulina Md. Jamil, Tahir Akhtar (Pakistan), Wan Md. Syukri Wan
Mohamad Ali, Zaipul Anwar Zainu, and Zakaria Bin Yasin.
I was forced to cut short my industrial stint due to the Asian financial
meltdown in the late 1990s. Upon returning back as an academic,
I offered myself to help out the university to turn around ailing business
units. I also started teaching modules on creative problem-solving,
innovation management, project management, and entrepreneurship
management as well as supervising graduate students in the area
of innovation management.
Preface Equipped with practical experiences from industry and successfully

re-engineered ailing entities in the university, I started to offer
training and consulting services in industry based on the concept of
Break the Pattern – The Science of Transformational Value Creation - together
This book is written based on my own personal journey in doing and managing
with my colleagues and students.
research and innovation in the university and the corporate world.
The most challenging assignment to date was conducting a series
Upon graduation with a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Kyoto
of workshops, based on the content of this book, with the current and
University in the early 1990s, I embarked on an ambitious research program
future leaders of the institutions of higher learning in Malaysia in Akademi
after getting huge grants from the Malaysian government. Unfortunately,
Kepimpinan Pendidikan Tinggi (AKEPT), the training arm of the Ministry
research and innovation ecosystem in Malaysia was only in the beginning
of Higher Education Malaysia. I was grilled, challenged, and scrutinized
stages at that time. Frustrated with so many bureaucratic procedures that
by the most experienced academic leaders; some of them were senior
slowed down my research progress, I decided to take unpaid leave and joined
professors and deans of management and business schools as well as
a leading chemical company as a general manager.
heads of corporate strategy departments. Thanks to the Almighty God,
My industrial experience exposed me to a totally different sphere: The I have survived!
world of management. It was an alien knowledge and skill to me. So, I was on
a very steep curve, learning the ropes while managing five companies within
the Chemical Division of the listed company. I found out that it was a much
more exciting feat, creating value by managing innovation compared to doing
research in the laboratory.
Table of Contents
Part I: Break the Pattern Part IV: Execution

Chapter 1: Transformational Value Creation..............................................................01 Chapter 9: Foundation for Execution....................................................................... 105
Chapter 2: Framework for Transformational Value Creation............................09 Chapter 10: Execution to Perfection..........................................................................119
Part II: Shaping the Context The Way Forward

Chapter 3: Why Break the Pattern?............................................................................. 29
References
Chapter 4: The Science of Goal Setting....................................................................39
Chapter 5: In Search of Eureka!..................................................................................... 51 Brief CV of the Author
Chapter 6: The 10,000-Hour Rule...............................................................................63
Training Services Based on Break The Pattern
Part III: Input, Output, and Feedback
Testimonials from Past Participants of Training Workshops
Chapter 7: Harvest the Pain Points.............................................................................. 79 Conducted by Dr. Ahmad Rahman Songip
Chapter 8: Harvest the Minds......................................................................................... 91
PART I
Break the Pattern
Chapter 1:
Transformational
Value Creation
Chapter 2:
Framework for
Transformational
Value Creation
C H A P T E R 1
TR ANSFORMATIONAL
VALUE CREATION
Y ou may have this routine every morning: One or two eggs to start your
day. You may have them raw, half-boiled, boiled, bull’s-eye, or scrambled.
Since it is so routine, you may prepare and eat them almost unconsciously.
But, if you consciously think about the eggs that you just had, you may
discover a very amazing principle.
Eggs are the cheapest form of protein. They are fulfilling. They are
easily available anywhere. Any grocery store, no matter how small it is, sells
eggs. They have become the ingredient of any prepared food from the
cheapest food sold by the roadside hawkers to the most expensive cuisine
sold by six-star restaurants.
You have just witnessed an interesting concept in the transformational value

creation of the humble egg. Its value could become double, triple, quadruple,
or even centuple (100 times) by the time its shell is broken and its content is
transformed to other valuable products.
1
T R A N S F O R M AT I O N A L VA LU E C R E AT I O N DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
As an example, a fried bull’s-eye egg in a typical school canteen in the shell. The cook will apply the right amount of heat to transform the liquid
Malaysia would cost about RM1.00. The fresh egg costs about RM0.30 per egg into delicious food to serve his/her customers. Obviously, this cook has
piece. Say the cost of frying, labor, rental, tax, and others may cost another created a positive value creation to the egg.
RM0.20. Hence, the total production cost to fry an egg is about RM0.50.
If the egg were to be hatched, the mother hen has to incubate the egg
The return on investment (ROI) for this simple example is 100%, or, in simpler
by sitting on the egg to provide the required appropriate temperature and
words, the egg has doubled its value.
humidity for the liquid egg yolk to be transformed biologically into a living
Now, imagine the numerous delicious foods that could come from an chick. On a modern farm, the hatching is done in a controlled hatching room.
egg. Omelets, egg tart, ice cream, and cheesecake are examples of food that Once the time has arrived, the cute chick inside the shell will use its own beak
increase the value of an egg in that order. to peck at the shell to break it and emerge into the new world. What would
be the ROI from an egg that becomes a new chick? I would say it is so big a
You might notice that there are few core principles that emerge in
producing those high value-added and delicious foods. number that it may go to infinity!
The first principle is that the shell of the egg has to be broken! If it is The third principle is that the degree of value creation depends on the
not, those foods are not going to be in existence at all to fill up your hungry intention or mission of the person who does the transformation. A cook
tummy. Also, unbroken eggs that lay on the kitchen shelf for a long time would that fried the egg for the school canteen may create an ROI of 100%,
eventually become rotten. Rotten eggs give negative value. whereas if he fried the same egg to serve a client in a five-star hotel, the
ROI may go over 300%!
The second principle is that the egg has to undergo a transformation
process. The gel-like egg yolk and transparent white egg have to be physically A farmer who intends to hatch the egg for a new chick has to invest in
transformed into a solid yellowish and fluffy scrambled egg or that creamy providing the right ecosystem for the incubation process. He knows very
cheesecake. From a chemistry point of view, the short protein chains of the well that his investment delivers him an ROI of infinity!
raw egg have been polymerized into longer chains of polymer that give rise to
the harder physical properties. On the other hand, an angry protestor may throw the egg by force to his
or her targeted enemy. Due to this high force, the eggshell is crushed and its
For that transformation to happen, some effort is required to effect the
content is splashed on the face of his/her nemesis. The crushed egg obviously
transformation process. The eggshell has to be broken by a force. Heat has
has yielded a negative value creation.
to be applied to the egg to transform the physical, chemical, and biological
natures of the egg. I called the above three principles as “the principles of transformational
value creation”.
The force to break the shell could be from outside or within the shell. The
former requires an external force to be applied. For example, a cook may use
a gentle force to just break open the shell and let its content glides out of
2 3
Differences between Change and Transformation Transformation also happens when the egg is fried, boiled, or becomes an
ingredient for a cheesecake. The form, nature, and appearance of the raw egg
Many people are confused about the definitions of change and transformation;
are so significantly different from the end products.
hence, they always use both terms interchangeably.
Transformation in an organization may be a bit difficult to be observed,
Change is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “make or become
since the “marked change in the form, nature, or appearance” may be deceiving.
different”. Transformation, on the other hand, is defined by the same dictionary
An organization may change its form, nature, and appearance by changing its
as “a marked change in form, nature or appearance”.
logo, corporate color, title of positions, structure, uniform, or working hours;
From the dictionary definition, it is then clear that “transformation” is a moving to a new and futuristic building; or even changing its businesses—but
subset of “change”. Transformation should only be related to any “significant the inner working processes and mindset of the staff are still pegged at the
changes” that result in changes in form, nature, or appearance. status quo. Since the human capital is the one that produces results, having the
same mindset ensures more or less the same outputs and outcomes.
In the life cycle of a chicken, as shown in Figure 1-1, transformation happens
when the egg becomes a chick. There are obvious significant changes in the
Indicators for Transformation in an Organization
form, nature and appearance between the egg and the chick. The liquid form
of the egg content was transformed into a solid form of a chick. The inert Hence, we need indicators that could be used to categorize whether a change
nature of the egg content was transformed into a living chick. The oval shape in an organization is transformational or otherwise.
of the egg content was transformed into bird-like shape of a chick.
Idris Jala, the CEO of PEMANDU of Malaysia, suggested that for a
Figure 1-1: Life Cycle of a Chicken transformation to happen in any organization, “it must operate differently
(the doing or action) and it becomes a totally different organization (the
being or character).”1
By taking the above example of an egg, breaking its shell is the

first obvious visible action to be taken to start the transformational
journey of the egg. The eggshell has been designed by its Creator
to be the protective element that confines
its content in its place, that is, to maintain The first indicator
its status quo. Once the eggshell is broken, of a transformation
is whether the
the status quo immediately disappears and
entity has broken
its content is ready for the transformational its pattern or not.
journey as intended by the cook.
4 5
This book suggests that the first indicator of a transformation is whether If the answer to either of the two questions is no, then the change is not
the entity has broken its pattern or not. According to Merriam -Webster a transformational change. In the quality management circle, this change is
Dictionary, one of the definitions of pattern is “the regular and repeated way called a mere “improvement”.
in which something happens or is done”.
Subjecting the above example (chick to rooster) to these criteria, both
In this book, pattern is defined as the status quo that maintains its give negative responses:
form, nature, or appearance. Pattern is the way of doing things, the norms,
1. The old pattern is not broken. There are no significant changes in
the routines, the standard operating procedures, the policies, the rules and
form, nature, or appearance from chick to hen or rooster. The chick
regulations, the structures, mindsets, skill sets, behaviors, and so on.
and the hen go about their daily lives similarly. Although the chick
The current patterns in the organization have been producing the has grown its size and weight to become a bigger hen or rooster,
current level of performance, outcomes, and outputs. The only way forward both maintain their basic form, nature, and appearance.
to produce significant value creation is obviously by breaking those inherited
2. The ROI is also very much less than 100% since the cost of rearing
old patterns and starting the carefully chosen new patterns—hence the title
chicks is expensive!
of this book, Break the Pattern.
If you are the chairman of the board, managing director, chief executive
A CEO that demands different results without breaking any patterns
officer of a corporation, or head of a government department, I guarantee
in the organization is an insane person. A popular quote defined insanity as
that by asking these two simple questions, your top management team would
“doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
start scratching their heads to look for creative and innovative ideas!
The second indicator that this book suggests is by measuring the ROI
This book is intended to guide you through the application of Break the
of its value creation outcome, based on the patterns that have been broken.
Pattern for your organization.
Taking the egg transformation described above, the ROI of any change that
is worthy of transformational label should be greater than 100%.
Let us test these indicators with this simple question: When the chick grows
to become a hen or a rooster, do you call it a change or a transformation? To
answer this question, here are two basic questions that you can ask yourself:
1. Has the new entity broken its old pattern by operating differently
and becoming a totally different entity?
2. Does the ROI of the changes deliver value creation greater than 100%?
6 7
C H A P T E R 2
FR AMEWORK FOR
Framework – a set of beliefs, TR ANSFORMATIONAL
ideas or rules that forms the basis
of a system or society for making
VALUE CREATION
judgments, decisions, etc.
—Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
Everything in this world has a framework.
O ur body is built around a bone framework that houses many subsystems

that make us alive. Our car is built upon a framework called a chassis
that houses many components that make the car drivable. Our house is built
upon a steel and concrete framework to provide enough support to carry
the weight of the whole house. The list of examples could go on and on.
9
F R A M E W O R K F O R T R A N S F O R M AT I O N A L VA LU E C R E AT I O N DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
Frameworks of things created by the Almighty God are perfect. It is a The first rule is analogous to Ohm’s Law of an electrical circuit, as shown
science, since science by definition is exact, replicable, and functional at any below, that is, Voltage = Resistance x Current.
time, regardless of location.
Figure 2-1: An Electrical Circuit
Frameworks of things invented by human beings are always works in
progress. Automotive companies have always striven to produce a better
model of cars over the years. Civil engineers, architects, and contractors have
always tried to find better ways to build better buildings.
Similarly, there is a need for a framework for transformational value

creation. This book suggests a practical framework for transformation
that you could implement and operationalize in your organization for value
creation, based on the Break the Pattern concept, as described in Chapter 1.
There are two rules of Break the Pattern that allow transformation to
happen, which would deliver higher value creation:
Attitude = Resistance x Skills
and
Innovation = Creativity x Transformation Effort

Voltage is the inner potential of, say, a battery, which pushes electrons to
move, once the switch is on. The movement of electrons gives rise to Current
that flows through a Resistance, such as a filament in a light bulb.
Rule 1: Attitude = Resistance x Skills
When current passes through a filament material, the resistance creates
The first rule of Break the Pattern is related to individuals in the heat. Atoms in the filament material absorb energy. The electrons around
organization. People are the primary resources of any organization. the atoms become excited and temporarily reach a higher orbital, one that is
Organizations can only grow if the human resources in the organization further from the nucleus. When an electron jumps from one orbit to a lower
have the right attitude, skills, and knowledge to create value from orbit, it gives off energy in the form of a photon. According to the quantum
existing resources. theory of light, light exists as tiny packets, or particles, called photons.1
10 11
Attitude, similar to voltage, is the inner potential of a human being to Once you have passed the written test, then you have to undergo training
push oneself to overcome one’s internal resistance to do certain actions, on “how” to drive a car and practice all the knowledge that you have just
such as to wake up very early to beat acquired about driving. The “how” refers to the skill sets that allow you to do
Organizations can only grow the traffic jam on the way to work. certain things to drive the car, to reach a certain destination that was set in
if the human resources in Those repeated actions give rise to your mind.
the organization have the certain behavior, habits, and skills
right attitude, skills, and Despite all the knowledge and skills of driving that every driver has
that are required to attain successes
knowledge to create value acquired, one question that is always being asked is: Why does the accident
from existing resources. for oneself and for the organization
rate keep increasing over the years? The answer to that question is simply due
that lead toward value creations.
to the negative attitude of the drivers.
Attitude is answering the “why” or the reason for one to do a certain
Attitude is what gets the driver to reach their destination safely or
thing that makes him/her move forward. The “why” is referring to the internal
otherwise. If the attitude is to drive carefully and follow all the rules of
force or energy, as described by the third principle of transformational value
laws, the driver will reach the intended destination safely. If the attitude
creation in Chapter 1 that affects the transformation of the individual.
of the driver is to drive recklessly without
One of the worst internal resistances is the lack of knowledge. Knowledge any consideration to other fellow users Since creativity relies
is the foundation for one to move forward for oneself as well as for the of the road, the probability of the driver on the imagination
of individuals,
organization. Without knowing the 4W1H (what, when, where, who, and how), making mistakes is very high, and that could
innovation always
it is impossible for a human being to go the distance. lead to fatal accidents to himself/herself starts with creativity.
and others.
A simple example may explain this. I believe you have a driving license.
Why do you need it? The reason is simply because it allows you to be able to Since creativity is an attitude2 and is closely related to intrinsic
drive a car for you to go anywhere you want to be. It makes you independent, motivation,3 the first rule of Break the Pattern leads nicely to the second rule,
mobile, and productive. It allows some of you to own a status symbol by as described below:
owning your dream cars, so you have a compelling and strong reason to have
a license, no matter how expensive or difficult the process is. Rule 2: Innovation = Creativity x Transformation Effort
But, before you can get the driver’s license, you need to learn all the The second rule of Break the Pattern relates to an ecosystem, since
knowledge that is required for you to get it. You need to know the rules of innovation could not happen in isolation. “Ecosystem” could only be
traffic (the what), the right time to stop your car before the traffic lights
applicable in a community such as in a company, an organization, a country,
change (the when), the place to renew your driver’s license (the where), and
a region, or even the world.
who to report to when there is an accident (the who). The mastery of this
knowledge is tested through the written test.
12 13
The U.S. National Science Foundation defines innovation as “a process, Country GCI 2015 GII 2017
a series of steps that begins with imagination, and results in the creation of
Brazil 0.667 33.1
something of value for society”.4 Since creativity relies on the imagination of
Bulgaria 0.505 42.8
individuals, innovation always starts with creativity.
Burkina Faso 0.382 21.9
Rule 2 relates the two terms (creativity and innovation) in an elegant Burundi 0.125 21.3
mathematical equation, hence simplifying the often-confusing, lengthy, and Cambodia 0.213 27
wordy definition of innovation.5,6
Cameroon 0.408 22.6
To prove the validity of Rule 2, independently published data on Canada 0.92 53.7
the Global Creativity Index 7 (GCI) and Global Innovation Index 8 (GII) Chile 0.611 38.7
on 118 countries are tabulated alphabetically in Table 2-1 and plotted China 0.462 52.5
in Figure 2-2.
Colombia 0.41 34.8
Table 2-1: List of the GCI and GII Costa Rica 0.607 37.1
Cote d’Ivoire 0.171 24
Country GCI 2015 GII 2017
Croatia 0.481 39.8
Albania 0.197 28.9
Cyprus 0.446 46.8
Algeria 0.279 24.3
Czech Republic 0.609 51
Argentina 0.681 32
Denmark 0.917 58.7
Armenia 0.269 35.7
Dominican Republic 0.38 31.2
Australia 0.97 51.8
Ecuador 0.532 29.1
Austria 0.788 53.1
Egypt 0.196 26
Azerbaijan 0.244 30.6 El Salvador 0.248 26.7
Bangladesh 0.316 23.7 Estonia 0.625 50.9
Belarus 0.598 30 Ethiopia 0.295 24.2
Belgium 0.817 49.9 Finland 0.917 58.5
Benin 0.311 23 France 0.822 54.2
Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.253 30.2 Georgia 0.449 34.4
Botswana 0.462 30 Germany 0.837 58.4
14 15
Country GCI 2015 GII 2017 Country GCI 2015 GII 2017
Greece 0.484 38.8 Malaysia 0.455 42.7
Guatemala 0.449 27.9 Mali 0.347 22.5
Guinea 0.124 17.4 Malta 0.55 50.6
Honduras 0.319 26.4 Mauritius 0.477 34.8
Hong Kong 0.715 53.9 Mexico 0.407 35.8
Hungary 0.673 41.7 Moldova 0.256 36.8
Iceland 0.913 55.8 Mongolia 0.37 37.1
India 0.292 35.5 Montenegro 0.516 38.1
Indonesia 0.202 30.1 Morocco 0.178 32.7
Iran 0.481 32.1 Mozambique 0.346 24.5
Ireland 0.845 58.1 Nepal 0.343 24.2
Israel 0.665 53.9 Netherlands 0.889 63.4
Italy 0.715 47 New Zealand 0.949 52.9
Jamaica 0.502 30.4 Niger 0.185 21.2
Japan 0.708 54.7 Norway 0.883 53.1
Jordan 0.38 30.5 Pakistan 0.24 23.8
Kazakhstan 0.357 31.5 Panama 0.482 35
Kenya 0.417 31 Paraguay 0.303 30.3
Kuwait 0.351 36.1 Peru 0.418 32.9
Kyrgyz Republic 0.24 28 Philippines 0.487 32.5
Latvia 0.563 44.6 Poland 0.516 42
Lebanon 0.317 30.6 Portugal 0.71 46.1
Lithuania 0.49 41.2 Qatar 0.255 37.9
Luxembourg 0.696 56.4 Romania 0.425 39.2
Macedonia 0.391 35.4 Russian 0.579 38.8
Madagascar 0.077 24.2 Rwanda 0.141 27.4
Malawi 0.135 23.5 Saudi Arabia 0.362 36.2
16 17
Figure 2-2: Relationship between Innovation and Creativity

Country GCI 2015 GII 2017
Senegal 0.355 27.1
Serbia 0.484 35.3
Singapore 0.896 58.7
Slovak Republic 0.484 43.4
Slovenia 0.822 45.8
South Africa 0.564 35.8
South Korea 0.66 57.7
Spain 0.811 48.8
Sri Lanka 0.255 29.9
Sweden 0.915 63.8
Switzerland 0.822 67.7
Tajikistan 0.205 28.2
Apparently, there is a strong linear relationship between the innovation
Tanzania 0.126 28
and creativity indices with R2 = 0.75. Hence, a mathematical formula could
Thailand 0.365 37.6
be written as:
Tunisia 0.26 32.3
Turkey 0.348 38.9
Uganda 0.197 27 Innovation = m x Creativity + c (Equation 1)
Ukraine 0.518 37.6

where “m” is the slope of the line and "c" is a constant number.
United Kingdom 0.881 60.9
United States 0.95 61.4 Assuming "c" goes to "0" (since innovation is zero when
creativity is zero), Equation 1 becomes:
Uruguay 0.688 34.5
Vietnam 0.377 38.3 Innovation = m x Creativity (Equation 2)
Yemen 0.112 15.6
“m” is defined as the Transformation Effort to transform
Zambia 0.103 20.8
the creative imagination into something of value.
Zimbabwe 0.113 21.8
18 19
The Transformation Effort is defined as the collective organizational Figure 2-3 shows the downward trend of negative relationship between
effort that is required to transform creative ideas into useful products or the Transformation Effort and the level of creativity. Nations with higher
services that create value to the inventor, the organization, the community, levels of creativity tend to have a lower Transformation Effort. A lower
the consumers, and the country as a whole. Its value is calculated by simply Transformation Effort means lesser effort to process ideas into wealth
dividing the value of the GII by the GCI. creation due to lower resistance level to affect the transformation process.
It also means that the stakeholders are very supportive; internal processes,
The Transformation Effort is the effort of the ecosystem in capitalizing its
procedures, and systems are in place; tangible and intangible assets
resources to transform creative ideas into wealth creation. Resources include
are readily available; and people are free to express their creativity and
its internal and external stakeholders, internal processes, procedures and
are generally happier.
systems, and tangible and intangible assets.
On the other hand, a higher Transformation Effort value implies extra
Figure 2-3: Relationship between Transformation Effort and Creativity Index effort is required to affect the transformation process; hence people
have to work harder to overcome barriers and obstacles. Nations with
higher Transformation Effort values should identify the barriers and
obstacles that are hindering their population from creating value from
their ideas. By identifying these pain points and working diligently to
break the current patterns of doing things, their nations’ futures are sure
to be better off. They could learn the efforts of other nations who have
registered higher creativity and innovation levels and the ensuing prosperity
of their nations.
By running through Table 2-1, you would immediately notice the

current position of your country in its creativity and innovation levels.
If your country belongs in the lower creativity group, it means that your
country’s Transformation Effort is in the higher range. It is timely for you
to advise your country’s leadership to adopt the methodology of this
book to start breaking the old patterns and replacing them with new
patterns to create higher value for you, your fellow citizens, and your
country as a whole.
20 21
Operationalizing Break the Pattern Rules forces that push you to move forward? What is the goal that you have set to
achieve? By when? What is the real problem that you want to solve? What is
Being trained as a chemical engineer, I like to use typical process engineering
the new standard that you want the world to adopt? What are the customer
frameworks in ensuring successful planning and implementation of projects.
needs that you are trying to address?
One thing for sure, engineers are trained to design and operate chemical
plants that will not explode, or build a building that will not collapse, or Having the right context helps you to see things from different
manufacture a car that will not stop suddenly on a highway. perspectives. It provides the fertile ground for you to connect the seemingly
unrelated bytes of information to get the “eureka” moments. There are
As such, employing a framework should provide comfort and guidance
four major techniques to develop the right context, and each one of them
to transformation champions that the efforts should yield positive outcomes.
is explained in detail in each chapter in Part II: Shaping the Context.
The Transformational Value Creation Framework, as shown in Figure 2-4, has
five components: Context, input, execution, output, and feedback.5 Chapter 3 looks at the roles of great vision that facilitates great inspirations.
Examples of great visionaries such as Henry Ford and Thomas Edison are used
Figure 2-4: The Transformational Value Creation Framework to reveal the dynamic linkages between visioning and ideation that resulted
in transformational value creation of their chosen industries. However, if you
are not as lucky as them, you could still develop the right context by picking
up the tools from the next three chapters.
The context could be developed through effective goal setting and

linking it with your brain, as outlined in Chapter 4. Goal setting is a skill that
could be acquired and enhanced over time through lots of practice. Another
technique is to turn threats or pressures, either internally or externally, into
opportunities, as described in Chapter 5. Finally, a rule of thumb of spending
10,000 hours on a particular area is proposed for you to develop a new
The ensuing chapters will be detailing each of the elements of the context in your mindset, as explained in Chapter 6.
Transformational Value Creation Framework. These chapters are divided into
Part III discusses the input, output, and feedback of the
three groups, namely, Part II: Shaping the Context, Part III: Input, Output, and
Transformational Value Creation Framework. Essentially, Part III covers
Feedback, and Part IV: Execution.
the 4Ws (what, when, where, and who) of the whole framework. You
The context is fulfilling the question of “why” you are doing the need this detailed information for you to properly define the problem.
transformation initiatives by breaking the earlier patterns in your organization. Without these data, your problem-solving effort is going to be based
What are your motives behind this effort? What are the internal or external on a very shallow foundation that leads to yet unsolved problems.
22 23
Once the problem is properly defined, the next step is to analyze the issues
by searching for the root causes. The ideal solution is to eliminate these
causes, and that is done through effective idea generation methods.
Two chapters are devoted to answering the 4Ws by capitalizing the

minds inside and outside your organization to harvest as much pain points
(in Chapter 7), ideas, and insights (in Chapter 8) as possible to solve the
problem. In this era of social networking, only an insane CEO will confine idea
generation and problem-solving within the four walls of the organization.
Part IV focuses on the execution process, to answer the “how” question.

Since the execution process itself is a huge topic and has been widely written
about and analyzed by so many other authors, I am going to focus only on
preparing the necessary foundation of execution that every organization
must have, as discussed in Chapter 9.
In Chapter 10, I am sharing two interesting case studies that have this
foundation of execution being firmly established. These case studies proved
that strong foundation significantly reduces the risk of implementation of
ideas to achieve the desired goals.
The last chapter is “The Way Forward” and discusses how you can benefit
from this book. I am encouraging you to apply the information from this book
by putting it into practice and sharing with other readers the transformational
value creation outcomes.
Let the journey begin…
24 25
PART II
Shaping the
Context
Chapter 3:
Why Break the
Pattern?
Chapter 4:
The Science of
Goal Setting
Chapter 5:
In Search of Eureka!
Chapter 6:
The 10,000-Hour Rule
C H A P T E R 3
WHY BREAK THE PATTERN?
H enry Ford was one of the greatest American industrial success stories
and was known as the inventor of the mass production system for the
automobile. He was part of the First Rich List compiled in 1918 by Forbes.1 His
source of wealth was from his Ford Motor Company in which the new mass
production system had grown the output from just over 32,000 cars in 1910
to nearly 735,000 cars in 1916.2 That was a massive more than 300% per year
increment in productivity!
The new mass production system also helped Ford to reduce the price of
Model T from USD825–850 in 1908 to USD345–360 in 1916.2 Ford’s gross
revenue multiplied by more than 10 times in a seven-year period to USD260
million in 1916, with an annual increment close to 130%. This inspiring history of
Ford indeed fulfills both indicators for transformation as stated in Chapter 1.
The new mass production system involved marked changes in the nature of
production of cars, including large production plants; the use of standardized,
interchangeable parts; and the world’s first moving assembly line for cars.3
The improvement in both productivity and gross revenue was greater than 100%.
29
W H Y B R E A K T H E PAT T E R N ? DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
The question that you should ask yourself is, “Could I achieve the same During this period, the horse carriage business was still booming with
feat as Ford?” more than 4,600 carriage companies operating in the United States as late
as 1914. From the 1890s to 1920s, although carriages and cars shared the
Before you answer this question, I give you a hint what Ford said:
city streets, cars were very expensive and unreliable, and were considered
“You can take my factories, burn up my buildings, but give me my people and as novelties and not a serious means of transportation.5 Even Ford was
I’ll build the business right back again.” 4 famous for saying, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have
said faster horses.” 4
Ford was so confident that he was able to rebuild his business from scratch
again. He must have had the “secret recipe” that allowed him to do just that. That vision by Ford also contradicted the vision of Thomas Edison and
This chapter breaks down the science behind Ford’s secret recipe for you and other automobile manufacturers in the United States. While working for
everyone else to follow and get the same result. In fact, if you ask leaders that Edison General Electric Company from 1890 as engineer and machinist,
have produced spectacular results of transformational value creation to their he spent his time after working hours in his backyard, developing his
organizations, they would have shared the same secret recipe. “gasoline buggy”.5 Edison offered a promotion to Ford to be the general
superintendent of Edison General Electric Company, but with condition
Ford’s secret recipe is the vision that he had for his company, and
that he must give up gasoline and devote entirely to electricity. Ford was
is as follows:
so convinced of his own vision of the internal combustion engine, and he
quit his job at the age of 36, on August 15, 1899.5
“I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large
He managed to convince few backers of his vision to produce cars using
enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to
the gasoline combustion engine by establishing a company called Detroit
run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by
Automobile Company (DAC). However, soon Ford was again at odds with his
the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern
backers. He already envisioned the mass production system, which meant cars
engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man
could be sold in large quantities at small profits, while his backers preferred the
making a good salary will be unable to own one…” 4
strategy of other automobile manufacturers—that the automobile was a luxury
and should be produced in small quantities at a huge profit per unit.5 So he quit
Ford’s vision shaped the context that defined the goal of his business, that DAC and formed another company called Ford Motor Company in 1903.3
is, to produce cars affordable to all. He already had this vision even during the
To achieve that vision of mass-producing the cars, Ford had to find
period when the automobile was still in the imagination of tinkerers. Scientists
ways to reduce the cost of manufacturing the cars. He found the inspiration
were still discussing the possibilities of the internal combustion engine as the
of the assembly line when he visited the Armour and Swift meat packing
locomotive for the “horseless carriage”.5
plant in Chicago that was owned by his close friend, Mr. Philip D. Armour.2
30 31
He saw a marked difference in the “disassembly” line of the animal carcass information from the surroundings. The “eureka” moment happens when
and the assembly line of his car and noticed a much higher productivity of these unrelated bytes of information are brilliantly connected by your
the former. Mr. Ford reorganized the operation of his plant from a single subconscious mind to your original great vision.
workman who constructed a certain car part from start to finish to several
To recap, the great vision of Ford shaped the context in his subconscious
workmen working on every car. Each worker performed a single specialized
mind. This context helped him to discover features in the disassembly line of
operation to produce the same part.5
the meat carcass that could solve the low productivity of his own automobile
If it were you who had visited the meat packing plants, would you see plant. It was his context that provided the catalyst to unlock the psychological
the same thing as what Ford saw? The answer is a big no. Depending on your inertia that locked Ford’s conscious mind.
context, you will see things differently from Ford.
The same pattern of inspirational stories that led to transformational
Ford had the vision of producing the most affordable car for the public. value creation repeats itself in pages of history. Let me share with you similar
That vision shaped his context in his subconscious mind. That context filtered stories of Thomas Edison and Dr. Frank Gunsaulus.
what Ford saw in things around him. In this case, it was his subconscious mind
that connected the two unrelated dots—his current assembly line that was low
in productivity and the disassembly line of animal carcasses in the meat packing
plant that was higher in productivity. In short, Ford’s context prepared him to
perceive things in the right way, that is, conceiving the creative inspiration that
led to the creation of the mass production system for the automobile.
To understand what “context” is, let us look at a cup that you normally
use to drink your coffee. You buy the cup with an intention to serve you a
certain purpose—to drink your coffee. You wash and prepare the cup for it to
be ready to receive its content, which will be poured by yourself or somebody
else, anytime and anywhere, and of course the content is to fulfill your need.
If you do not have the cup or if the cup is not ready, you will never get its
content whenever there is an offer of coffee around.
Analogously, the physical cup is the context that you need to define in
trying to solve your problem. The context is shaped by the great vision that
you have in solving your problem. Once the context is firmly established, you
are now ready to receive the right contents by filtering the right bytes of
32 33
Of course, Thomas Edison was the founder of Edison General Electric To fulfill his vision, Edison was looking for the right material for
Company, the company that employed Ford. Edison was a prolific inventor an affordable filament of the incandescent bulb. It was reported that
with a record of 1,093 patents under his name. At the time, Edison was so Edison had “failed” 10,000 times before he perfected the incandescent
focused on solving a challenge that scientists had been grappling since early bulb.9 On this failure, he said, “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways
of 1800s: To replace the gaslight with an inexpensive electric light.6 that won’t work.”
The idea of electric light to replace the gaslight was not new. A number of That vision and the execution of it through thousands of experiments had
scientists had developed other forms of electric lighting such as the carbon actually prepared his subconscious mind to “connect the dots”.
arc lamp and, of course, the incandescent lamp. However, nothing had been
7
As the story goes, Edison got the inspiration of the perfect filament while
developed that was practical for home use.
fanning himself with a fold-out oriental bamboo fan on a hot summer day. He
In 1879, he made a breakthrough with a bulb that used carbonized bamboo saw a fine straw of bamboo on the oriental fan and immediately carbonized it
as the cheapest source for filament that led to long-lasting, reliable, and and tested it as a filament.10 The carbonized bamboo proved to be the key to
affordable light bulbs. Edison’s next greatest achievement was developing an a long-lasting and affordable light bulb.8
electrical lighting system that comprised all the necessary elements to make
Certainly, it was his context that made Edison “see” the fine straw of
incandescent light practical, safe, and affordable.8
bamboo as the solution to his quest for affordable filament. His ever-prepared
In December 1879, Edison successfully demonstrated the first subconscious mind had successfully “connected the dots” to solve the biggest
incandescent lighting system at the Menlo Park laboratory complex. The 8
challenge of the century. This “aha” moment in the history of electricity was
first commercial power station, unveiled in September 1882 on Pearl Street in permanently immortalized by the incandescent light bulb becoming the
Lower Manhattan, marked the beginning of the electrical age. symbol of creativity and innovation.
To crystallize his tireless effort for the last decade and to mark the The third story that I would like to share is an interesting story about
beginning of the electrical age, Edison incorporated the Edison General Dr. Frank Gunsaulus.9,11 While going through college, Frank Gunsaulus
Electric in 1889. The company then merged with other electrical companies observed many shortcomings in the educational system. He believed the
in 1892 and became simply General Electric. 8
defects could be easily corrected if he could establish a new college
where students of all backgrounds could prepare for meaningful
Similar to Ford, the vision of Edison to electrify the world with
roles in a changing industrial society. However, he would need about
affordable electricity had shaped his context of thinking and seeing things
USD1 million in that year of 1890 (about USD30 million in 2017) to make
around him. That vision had caused him to be very focused on what needed
the project a reality.
to be done. On this, he said, “The first requisite for success is to develop the
ability to focus and apply your mental and physical energies to the problem at
hand—without growing weary.”
34 35
Being a preacher with no money, he could only afford to think and I hope you could notice that similar pattern of things had happen to all
plan the ambitious project over and over again until he became obsessed three cases above. It always starts with great visions that shape the context
with it. The biggest challenge was how to raise that elusive USD1 million. of the great minds. Their contexts were firmed up with the obsession of their
visions. Their contexts made their subconscious minds “connect the dots” and
Then one day, he realized that he had been thinking about it without
provide contents of creative solutions to their biggest problems.
doing anything for the last two years. It dawned on him that he could not just
continue thinking indefinitely. He had to set a time limit. I am very much indebted to Dr. Gunsaulus and Mr. Armour. I had the
opportunity to study chemical engineering at the Bachelor and Master levels
As narrated by Dr. Gunsaulus to Napoleon Hill, the moment he reached a
in the Armour College of Engineering, Illinois Tech from 1981–1986. I became
definite decision to get the money within a specified time, “A strange feeling
a testimony of the success of the vision of Dr. Gunsaulus through his famous
of assurance came over me… Something inside me seemed to say, ‘Why didn’t
sermon on “What I Would Do If I Had a Million Dollars”.
you reach that decision a long time ago? The money was waiting for you all
the time!’ Things began to happen in a hurry. I called the newspapers and I also benefited from the generosity of Mr. Armour who provided the one
announced I would preach a sermon the following morning, entitled, ‘What I million dollars to Dr. Gunsaulus to establish the Armour Institute that later
Would Do If I Had a Million Dollars’.”12 became the Illinois Tech. Through Illinois Tech, I got connected to Henry Ford
who had visited the Armour Meat Packing Factory that became the source
After the sermon, a man arose from his seat and came forward, extended
of inspiration for the mass production system. Through Henry Ford who used
his hand, and said to Dr. Gunsaulus, “Sir, I like your sermon. I believe you can
to work briefly in Edison General Electric Company, I got connected to the
do everything you said you would, if you had a million dollars. To prove that
great inventor Thomas Edison as well.
I believe in you and your sermon, if you will come to my office tomorrow
morning, I will give you the million dollars. My name is Philip D. Armour.”11,13 I became the living testimony who received great benefits from these
three great gentlemen who had fully capitalized their great minds through
The one million dollars was used to establish the Armour Institute in 1893,
their great visions that had transformed not only their respected industries,
offering professional courses in engineering, chemistry, architecture, and
but also created transformational value creation to the whole world.
library science. In 1940, the Armour Institute merged with other colleges and
formed the Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) in Chicago.11 The above three examples of great visionaries demonstrated that the
technique discussed in this chapter is a universally proven method—that is,
Mr. Philip D. Armour was a successful industrialist in Chicago. One of his
vision that shapes the context in the subconscious mind. If you are not as
many companies was the Armour Meat Packing Factory that was visited by
visionary as them, you could still learn to develop your context by using other
Henry Ford. If you may recall, that plant became the source of inspiration
techniques to be discussed in the subsequent three chapters.
to Henry Ford on the mass production system that revolutionized not only
automotive industry, but the manufacturing industry as a whole.
36 37
C H A P T E R 4
THE SCIENCE
OF GOAL SET TING
L et us imagine that you are now driving along a major highway in your
country. Suddenly, you receive a signal from your bladder that you
urgently need to go to a toilet. However, the nearest rest area is about
another 25 km. In that situation, what would you do?
I am sure you would be saying the words “hold it”, repeated many times
over, right? Sometimes, you would say it loudly and animatedly, to ensure that
your urine does not leak out from your bladder. Why are we doing this and to
whom is it directed to?
If the same signal is received by a baby, he or she wouldn’t hold it. The
same goes to a senile person. Why is this so?
The case studies of Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Dr. Frank Gunsaulus
in the previous chapter prove that great vision plays a very important role
in shaping the context and facilitating the inspiration of creative solution.
39
THE SCIENCE OF GOAL SET TING DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
Could it be done also by you when you are facing problems in your daily According to Zaltman (2003), 95% of our thoughts are unconscious.5
life or in your organization? Can you repeat their feats in coming up with Adapting this information to the Triune Brain model, the conscious mind that
great creative ideas? The answer is a big YES. It is a science, hence it is occurs in the human neocortex contributes a mere 5% of all thoughts. On the
repeatable and duplicable. other hand, the subconscious mind (consisting of the reptilian and mammalian
brains) delivers a whopping 95% of all human thoughts.
To know the science of goal setting that leads to transformational value
creation, you need to understand the inner working of the brain. Let’s look Figure 4-1: The Triune Brain Model3
again closely at the incident on the highway.
Our vital bodily functions such as the heart rate, digestion, respiratory
rate, pupillary response, urination, and many others are called the autonomic
nervous system (ANS).1 The ANS is a control system that acts largely
unconsciously and is regulated by the brainstem. For human beings, the
brainstem gives the regulatory input to hippocampus, which is the ultimate
integrator of the whole ANS.2
According to the Triune Brain model popularized by Paul MacLean,3 the

brainstem is part of the reptilian complex, also known simply as the reptilian
brain. The reptilian brain (the reptilian has only this brain) is the oldest and the
most basic brain. It is the home of our instincts and programs us for two major There are many books on the power of the subconscious mind. Among
things: Survival and reproduction. 4
the most popular ones are Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill6 (first
published in 1937) and The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph
The other two brain layers in the Triune Brain model are the limbic
Murphy 7 (first published in 1963).
system and neocortex, as shown in Figure 4-1. The limbic system, also
known as the mammalian brain (the mammalian has this brain on top of its Going back to the bladder problem, your urination is regulated by the
reptilian brain) is functionally related to such characteristically mammalian brainstem in the reptilian brain and integrated by the hippocampus in the
activities, memory, perception and emotions such as parental care, fear, mammalian brain. Both are in the
anger and love. The hippocampus is located in this mammalian brain.3 subconscious brain region. When The higher the intensity of
you keep repeating the words “hold your emotion in sending
The neocortex is possessed only by human beings, laid on top of the that message, the faster
it” many times over, you are actually your subconscious mind will
mammalian and reptilian brains, and is responsible for intelligent human
sending instructions from your agree to the instruction.
activities such as abstraction, reasoning, and language.3
conscious mind in your neocortex to
40 41
the subconscious mind. Once this instruction is received and agreed upon by Another popular analogy is the car that you drive every day. You and
the subconscious mind, the hippocampus and brainstem do the necessities the car are the conscious and subconscious minds, respectively. Once you
and your bladder immediately tightens. have given the right and precise instructions, the car has to move to your
destination. The car is the vehicle that helps and facilitates the owner to reach
The higher the intensity of your emotion in sending that message, the
the destination that was intended.
faster your subconscious mind will agree to the instruction. Does the above
incident on the highway involve a higher level of emotion? I would say a very big Similarly, the subconscious mind is the vehicle that is specifically created
yes. Imagine the consequences of peeing in the car? The whole passengers in by the Creator to help and facilitate its owner to reach the destination that
the car have to get out due to the unbearable smell. It will be time consuming they want to go to. The subconscious mind has been in existence since you
and costly to clean your car. The fun and joy of traveling together would were born and is always waiting for your instructions.
immediately disappear.
Unfortunately, not many people know how to give the correct and precise
However, when the same thing happens to a baby or a senile person, instructions. Similar to your car, you have to give the correct and precise
they immediately release their bladder. It happens because the neocortex of instructions for it to move you. If you give an incorrect instruction such as
a baby is yet to be fully developed and for a senile person, his neocortex has “bring me to Ahmad’s house now”, the car will never move. That instruction
already weakened, hence no instruction is sent to the subconscious mind to may be valid in the future when cars are designed to receive instructions
tighten the bladder. via voice command. The current cars are designed based on mechanical
instructions, so you have to mechanically switch on the engine, release the
In many motivational speeches, speakers often give example of the
handbrake, change the gear and press the accelerator.
Genie and Aladdin (Aladdin, 1992 Disney film) in explaining the interactions
between the conscious and subconscious minds. “Your wish is my command” So, what is the correct way to instruct your subconscious mind? First,
is the famous saying of the Genie to Aladdin. The Genie is obligated to deliver you need to understand the nature of the reptilian brain in your subconscious
whatever Aladdin asks the Genie to do. mind. As stated above, the reptilian brain is the most basic brain. It is not as
complex as the most sophisticated neocortex brain. Therefore, the reptilian
In the conscious/subconscious minds model, the Aladdin and the
brain does not understand concept and abstract instructions.
Genie represent the conscious and subconscious minds, respectively. Once
instructed by the conscious mind, the subconscious is duty-bound to deliver. When you say “be a good boy” to your child before he goes to school,
Your conscious instruction to “hold it” has been accepted by the brainstem you are actually wasting your words. Your child does not understand at all
and hippocampus, which unconsciously regulates and tightens your bladder. In what is “good”, since it is a word that carries a very big concept and it is very
short, a series of communications had happened between the conscious and abstract. Your child’s neocortex is yet to be fully developed and he is unable
subconscious minds. to understand the high-level word.
42 43
Therefore, you need to communicate with him using his reptilian brain. The instruction from my supervisor fulfilled the SMART elements. It was a
Use specific and simple action verbs that he normally uses such as, “Please do very specific and measurable instruction. It was a realistic target to be achieved
not run around in school, because you may hurt yourself when you fall down” within the doctorate study period. He had shown me ample evidence of his
or “Please ask three questions to your teachers today,” etc. previous doctorate students who had graduated on time. Since his instruction
fulfilled the SMART elements, my reptilian mind easily agreed to it.
The most effective instruction that your subconscious mind could
understand is through using the acronym SMART, where: Consequently, my mind and effort became very focused on achieving the
stipulated targets. It was a very exciting target, since upon completion of my
S – Specific doctorate study, I would be conferred the Doctor of Engineering (Dr. Eng.)
M – Measurable degree by the prestigious Kyoto University. As an academician, it is a must-

have qualification.
A – Agreeable (to your subconscious mind)
R – Realistic Based on this personal experience, I have added additional two letters to
add the extra zest in the goal setting formula—that is, “E” for Exciting and “R”
T – Timeliness
for Rewards. Hence, the revised goal setting becomes:
Yes, it is the typical goal setting formula. This formula is very effective
S – Specific
because it uses very basic and simple words that your reptilian brain
could understand and agree. For tips in writing an effective goal setting M – Measurable
statement, please refer to Losier (2010).8 A – Agreeable (to your subconscious mind)
If you ask your teenage daughter to “fry chicken”, she would find a lot of R – Realistic
excuses not to do it since it is a very complex operation. But the same teenager
T – Timeliness
would be happily frying the same chicken while working part-time in fast food
E – Exciting
restaurants. Why? Because the restaurants have broken down the process of
frying chicken into simple steps which teenagers could easily follow and do. R – Rewards
When I first met my doctorate supervisor in Japan, he gave me a very simple

The two additional letters are to add the emotional part to the goal setting
instruction: “Ahmado-san, to graduate from Kyoto University is very simple. You
process. The earlier SMART statement was only aimed at the reptilian brain.
just need to publish three papers in international journals.” He then showed me
The SMARTER statement fulfills the whole subconscious brain that consist of
samples of theses of so many of his doctorate students who had completed
the simplest reptilian brain and the emotional mammalian brain.
within the typical study period of three to four years. The thesis is a compilation
of a minimum of three papers that were written based on laboratory research.
44 45
Going back to the original example, your animated instruction to “hold I was also able to see vividly the horror scenarios of failing my doctorate
it” with a very loud voice and knowing the terrible consequences of peeing in studies. I could see myself as a failure and unable to inspire my own children
your car leads your subconscious brain to immediately tighten your bladder. and my future students. Then, I made a conscious decision and said to myself:
You have successfully instructed your bladder to wait for additional few “Failing my doctorate studies is not an option.” By now, you must have realized
minutes to safely arrive at the rest area and rush to the toilet. that it was actually an instruction to my subconscious mind.
My SMARTER goal setting has helped me to shape my vision of what to Without doubt, there were huge challenges that I had to face throughout
achieve in four years’ time. Similar to television, which allows you to see vividly my stay in Kyoto. Of course, the biggest challenge was with regards to my
and enjoy your favorite movies, SMARTER goal setting allows me to see vividly doctorate studies. Next were my family, religion, culture, foods, climate,
the satisfaction of graduating on time and to inspire my own children and my communication, and many other challenges.
future students in my home country.
My vision of completing within four years had shaped my context in
facing those numerous challenges. The context helped me to prioritize
many competing demands, resolving many research issues and turning
other mountains of challenges to smaller anthills over time. The context
helped me to find numerous creative ways and means to finally achieving
the coveted target of publishing the three papers in international journals,
and enjoying the grand celebration of my graduation.
I hope you could see the commonality between the stories of

Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Dr. Frank Gunsaulus, the controlling of
your bladder, and my own case study. It involves the capitalization of the
powerful subconscious mind in achieving certain targets. It starts with
the crafting of a goal statement that follows the SMARTER elements,
and is understood and agreed to by the simple reptilian brain and
emotional mammalian brain.
The SMARTER goal statement then shapes the context in

the subconscious mind that subsequently filters the appropriate
incoming information that can help you to achieve the goal that you
targeted. The context could be strengthened by repeating the same
reaffirming statement and adding the emotional dimensions to it.
46 47
Once the context is firmly established in your subconscious mind, it is just a Table 4-1: Goal Setting Exercise
matter of time before brilliant flashes of creative ideas flow endlessly to aid
you to achieve what you aimed for in the first place. Actual
SMARTER Goal Target
Achieve- Note
Statement Date
ment Date
The cases discussed in this chapter show that it is a repeatable
and duplicable process, which is why I call it a science. Anybody with
a full-functioning brain, aided with the certain
Start practicing intention and using the right goal setting
with smaller
process, would eventually be able to achieve
goal setting first.
what they intend to achieve.
However, before you can become the next Henry Ford, Thomas
Edison, or Dr. Frank Gunsaulus, and come up with much more grandiose
ideas to solve current and chronic world problems, you need to start
practicing with smaller goal setting first. You need to build confidence
with the ability of your own subconscious mind. Gradually, you should
aim for higher goals and eventually, you may reach the level of those
great gentlemen.
I suggest you complete Table 4-1 and see the progress of achievement
of your goal setting exercises within one year from the date you start:
In the next two chapters, I will explore other means to help you to shape
the context in your subconscious mind.
48 49
C H A P T E R 5
IN SEARCH OF EUREK A!
T he word “eureka” means “I’ve found it!” It has become synonymous

with the ability to come up with a creative solution since Archimedes
spontaneously shouted it in the 1st century B.C.1 In this chapter, the search
for the elusive “eureka” moment will be made accessible and reproducible to
whomever is searching it.
Archimedes was a distant relative to the King of Syracuse named Hiero.

The king often asked Archimedes to solve many difficult challenges and
Archimedes had been able to solve all of them. The king became very close to
Archimedes and proclaimed him a “national treasure” of Syracuse.2
One of the challenges was the golden wreath problem. The king suspected
he was being cheated by the goldsmith to whom he had supplied the gold to
make the golden wreath for a temple. Being a wise king, he needed to ascertain
that the golden wreath was indeed made of pure gold or otherwise. So the king
called upon Archimedes, his trusted problem-solver, to unravel this problem.
51
IN SE ARCH OF EUREK A! DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
Surely Archimedes felt honored by the request from the highest lowered himself into the bathtub.4 He immediately saw a solution that would
authority in the country. Furthermore, Archimedes had the reputation as save his reputation, excitedly shouted, “Eureka!”, and ran through the streets
being the national problem-solver and, thus far, had never disappointed the of Syracuse back to his house without any piece of clothing on his body!
king with unsolved problems. In actual fact, he would have been facing huge
Our brain has four categories of brain waves or brain states: Beta, alpha,
psychological pressure to deliver the right solution because the goldsmith’s
theta, and delta.5 The beta state happens when the brain is the most engaged
fate and life now solely depended on him.
and is working on goal-oriented tasks such as actively thinking about a particular
Under such huge pressure, Archimedes would probably have been issue. The alpha wave is a universal sign of wakeful rest and relaxation. It happens
frantically searching for the solution. He would have surely been thinking when the brain relaxes from intentional,
very hard, discussing and brainstorming with his colleagues, and even goal-oriented tasks. The theta state indicates You need to step away
sleeping on the problem. sleeping and dreaming. The least active brain from problem-solving
state is when you have a deep, dreamless sleep to solve your problem.
Using the conscious–subconscious mind model discussed in the previous
and is characterized by delta waves.6
chapter, we can see how all of the above possible intense activities of
Archimedes will have resulted in thousands of bytes of information going to When Archimedes was frantically doing intense activities to find the
his subconscious mind with regards to the golden wreath problem. solution to the golden wreath problem, his brain was fully engaged. When
the king commanded him to find the solution, his brain became fully alert.
The external psychological pressure from the king would also be sent to
For this, the beta state was the best state of brain to properly and firmly
his subconscious mind. Archimedes’ reputation as the “national treasure”, his
deliver the bytes of information that shaped the context about the problem
stature as a prolific problem-solver, and his closeness to the king were at stake.
onto his subconscious mind.
Such emotional threats sync very well with the nature of the reptilian brain that
ensures the survival of its owner.3 So the delivery of bytes to his subconscious The solution, however, popped out when Archimedes was relaxing while
was very intense, due to the enormous emotional threats. Furthermore, it taking his bath. Since he was relaxing, his brain was in the alpha state. Based
involved the fate and life of another human being—the goldsmith. As stated on this story, let us hypothesize that you would require the alpha state of your
in the previous chapter, the higher the intensity of emotion that accompanies brain to get the solution to your problems. It means you need to step away
the delivery of information, the faster and stronger the formation of context from problem-solving to solve your problem.6
in the subconscious mind.
Reader’s Digest7 listed the top situations for inspirations, as shown in
Once the context is firmly established, it is just a matter of time before Table 5-1. It is interesting to note that these top situations involve relaxation
flashes of creative ideas emerge to solve the problem. True enough, that states, that is, the alpha state of the brain.
flash came when Archimedes submerged himself in a bathtub in a public
bath. He saw that a certain amount of water had been displaced as he had
52 53
Table 5-1: Top Situations for Inspirations 7 The ability to connect the two seemingly unrelated phenomena
(the displaced water from the bathtub and the golden wreath problem)
Shower, bath, bathroom 57% was the miraculous work of the context that was formed in Archimedes’
subconscious mind. The context enabled him to see the information of the
Bed 51%
displaced water with a different meaning and perspective. Those whose
Driving 42%
thinking did not have the same context as Archimedes surely would not be
Walking 28% able to see the value of the displaced water.
Exercise, running, swimming 25% Let me share with you few more examples that illustrate how external
or internal threats could become catalysts that shape the right context to
inspire creative ideas when solving problems.
As discussed in the previous chapter, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison
also obtained the inspirational ideas in solving their respective problems “Pressure” suggests both the word “press” and the word “sure”. When
when their brains were in the alpha (relaxing) state. The friendly visit of Henry something is being “pressed”, it’s “sure” to respond. It is a typical cause and
Ford to the meat packing factory owned by his close friend, Philip D. Armour, effect phenomena. When you apply pressure to something, it must respond.
must have been in a cordial and harmonious manner. Thomas Edison must For example, when you fill your flat tire up with air, the air molecules press
have been in a very relaxed mood when he was cooling himself during a hot up against the wall of the tire and the result is a fully inflated tire. You need
summer day with the fold-out oriental bamboo fan. to inflate the tire with just enough air pressure for your car to bring you
to your desired destination safely. For your car to move, the combustion
You may ask how Archimedes could see the relationship between
engine has to burn the air-fuel mixture to produce enough pressure to move
the overflowing of water in his bathtub and the solution to the golden
the engine piston that finally turns the wheels. In short, you need to apply
wreath problem. He knew the formula to calculate density: weight over
enough pressure for something to move.
volume. The problem that Archimedes faced was his inability to measure
the volume of the golden wreath because it was irregular in shape. The law of cause and effect is a universal law that applies to all living
Once the volume was known, the density of the golden wreath could and non living things in this world. Non-human living things are driven by
be easily determined. instinct imprinted in their DNA by the Creator. For example, a tree would
bear flowers and fruits because it is in its DNA that it must give off offspring
When he saw the water overflow when he submerged himself in
for its survival. I remember my late father “hurt” a particular old durian tree
the bathtub, he realized that the volume of his body could be measured
that did not bear its delicious golden fruits for quite some time. He took a
by the amount of water that was displaced. Thus, he found the solution
knife and took out an inch of the bark around the tree. Sensing that it may
to the golden wreath problem—how to measure the volume of the
face extinction, the tree started to bear some flowers to ensure its survival.
irregular-shaped golden wreath.
The tree has been bearing delicious fruits ever since.
54 55
Another example is when Henry Ford faced a problem in his factory. The cost of hiring and training then increased wildly and unpredictably.
The new assembly line had resulted in a massive increase in productivity by It went against the vision of Ford to reduce the production cost so that his
cutting down the time to produce a complete chassis from over 12 hours products were affordable to all. Ford required fast and drastic measures to
to only about 1.5 hours. As the popularity of the Model T soared upward, keep up production that would meet the ever-expanding demand for his
the factory went to two nine-hour shifts, six days per week. But that high
8
Model T. The typical responses from his managers were to hire more workers.
productivity came at a very heavy cost to Ford. But Ford disliked the idea because it did not solve the problem.
Since the work along the assembly line was monotonous, hot, dirty, and The root cause of the high turnover was very poor communication and
often dangerous, the labor turnover at the plant was an astounding 370% by coordination in the factory. The majority of the assembly line workers were
1913—the highest in the industry. This meant that for every position in the recent immigrants with multiple ethnicities. Unlike their former agrarian
plant, Ford needed to hire four men hoping that one would stay in the job for cultures in their old countries, the new form of labor in the assembly line
more than a few weeks or months. Ford had to hire more than 52,000 men required detailed level of work discipline and high level of coordination.
to keep a workforce of 14,000 men working full time. 8
Due to their very poor command of English, communication with their
superiors, who were locals, became problematic.9
After about a year enduring the pain of the labor problem, Ford finally
delivered his boldest innovation ever; in January 1914, announced that his
company would pay eligible workers a minimum wage of USD5 per day,
more than doubling their wages. Ford also announced that he was going to
reduce the work day from nine hours to eight, giving each employee one
more hour rest each day.8
Ford’s announcement was very big news, and newspapers from all
over the world reported the story as an extraordinary gesture of goodwill.
Overnight, Ford became a worldwide celebrity. The news sent shockwaves to
other car companies in particular, and to manufacturing industries in general.
They thought Ford was insane and predicted that he would be soon bankrupt.8
The doubling of the wages, however, was not automatic to all workers. To
qualify, they had to first pass the screening by the Sociological Department—the
center of cultural change in the Ford Plants. Those who failed would only
receive their previous salary, which was only half the new wages.9
56 57
Since many of the workers failed the screening, Ford came up with My hypothesis is “the higher the negative reactions to the idea,
another bold initiative by establishing the Ford English School to give the higher the value creation potentials of the idea.” It means that the
them free instruction in English language and American values. Ford had more people reject your idea, the higher the transformational value
a very strong belief that the new immigrant workers had to be reformed creation potential of that idea. Likewise, if your idea is readily accepted
into proper American citizens with certain values and skills such as English by the majority of people, then it indicates that your idea may have quite
language, being thrifty, discipline, hard work, being socially responsible, low value creation.
having high morals, being sober, family-oriented, cleanliness, and living
In Ford’s case, the outsiders considered him as “insane”. Insane means
in good housing conditions. The English School also taught immigrants to
senseless, unreasonable, crazy and impractical. Ford was the first in the
suppress any customs, behaviors, and ideas from their previous countries,
industrial world who doubled the wages of his workers. Nobody else had done
especially their own language.9
this before. He broke the industrial norm during his era, which was “to pay a
Ford’s Americanization of his migrant workers closely followed the man the smallest amount he would take”.10
step-by-step process and goals of an assembly line: To produce identical
The reasons why the outsiders called Ford “insane” was simply because
products. To ensure that the new values were practiced by the immigrants,
they did not have the same context that Ford and his team had. Due to the
the investigators from the Sociological Department would visit homes of the
context, and with hard evidence in front of him, Ford saw the brilliant solutions
workers. By 1917, the number of workers who qualified for the USD5 per day
to his biggest problem.
increased from 46% to 88% in 1913.9
How could doubling the wage solve Ford’s biggest problem?
This story is a perfect example of the beneficial effects of mounting
The earlier initiative to mass produce the cars using assembly lines
pressures to a subconscious mind that has an established existing context. If
had resulted in a lower cost of production and had created a surplus
you recall, Ford’s initial grand vision to produce cars that were affordable to
income, estimated at over USD10 million. Ford felt strongly that this
the general public shaped the context in his subconscious mind. The pressure
surplus should be shared with his workers in the hopes that they would be
from the labor problems strengthened Ford’s context, thus further facilitating
more willing and more motivated to work under the harsh conditions of
the inspiration by connecting seemingly unrelated dots.
the assembly lines.8
From this story, we can also draw one
True enough, his workers were energized and no one wanted to
The higher the important criteria to evaluate whether an idea
lose their job. Many skilled workers in Detroit lined up by the thousands
negative reactions to is a “breaking the pattern” type that has great
the idea, the higher to apply for jobs with Ford. However, Ford could not hire as many as he
transformational value creation potentials or
the value creation wanted because turnover and absenteeism disappeared almost overnight
potentials of the idea. otherwise: Look for the instant reaction from
in his plants.
those outside your inner circle.
58 59
The cutting of the working hour from a nine- to an eight-hour a day 3. Free promotion and advertising by the workers. Surely, they
allowed the conversion of the factory from a two-shift to a three-shift per were very proud and showed off the cars they made to their
day operation. Immediately, production could be increased exponentially, and neighbors, family members, members of their churches, and
profit surged. In fact, Ford said that, “The payment of five dollars a day for an communities. As we are all aware, word-of-mouth is the most
eight-hour day was one of the finest cost-cutting moves we ever made.” 10
effective medium of marketing.
Keeping in line with his grand vision, Ford kept cutting the price of In conclusion, Archimedes and Henry Ford had shown that pressure
the Model T from USD550 in 1913 by over 10% less in 1914, 1915 and again is beneficial in forming the appropriate context in the subconscious minds.
in 1916. When sales of the Model T reached a million a year by 1920, Ford Instead of running away from pressure, you should embrace it. That is the right
increased the minimum wage to USD6 a day and he cut the price of each attitude. Once you have acquired the skills to conquer pressure, turn it to your
car further to about USD300. By 1923, sales peaked at almost 1.8 million advantage. It is just a matter of time before flashes of inspiration come to you.
cars a year, and with over half of cars on the roads being Model Ts, Ford
The majority of people, even in large multinational corporations, always
had become a brand-new billionaire.10
look for ideas that make sense. Unfortunately, ideas that make sense do not
With increasing income and the price of the Model T that kept lowering, have high value creation potentials. Ford showed how
more and more of his workers could afford to buy the very cars they made. one important criterion to ensure ideas that have Instead of
It was fulfilling the very vision of Ford himself that finally his ordinary workers very high transformational value creation potentials running away
from pressure,
could enjoy the fruits of their own labor. are ideas that are “insane”. Remember, the higher you should
the degree of perceived insanity, the higher the embrace it.
If that was the real intention of Ford in introducing the USD5 a day wage,
value creation potentials.
then it was certainly a brilliant long-term move. The fact that his own workers
could afford to buy the cars they were making had resulted in multiple value
creations, as follows:
1. The quality of the cars was automatically assured. Certainly, the

workers did not want their cars to malfunction and stop in the
middle of the road. Hence, they had to be more diligent and
disciplined in assembling the car in accordance with the prescribed
quality standard.
2. Immediate feedback from the workers on any problems with

the cars that they drove themselves, thus allowing immediate
correction on design and manufacturing.
60 61
C H A P T E R 6
THE 10,000-HOUR RULE
D uring my undergraduate studies, I was exposed to the new world of

chemical engineering almost on a daily basis. I was introduced to new
vocabulary of chemical engineering from the courses that I enrolled on. The
homework, assignments, laboratories reports, group project reports, and
examinations fortified my mind in the world of chemical engineering.
To earn a bachelor degree from Illinois Institute of Technology, I

had to accumulate a minimum of 131 credit hours.1 For every one credit
hour, I would spend a minimum of one hour a week attending a lecture
or laboratory and another three hours outside the classroom studying on
my own. So for a 15-week semester, every one credit hour is equivalent to
spending a minimum of 60 hours. Finally, after successfully accumulating
7,860 of learning hours, I was proclaimed by Illinois Tech to be a graduate
of chemical engineering and ready to be a chemical engineer.
Before enrolling onto the bachelor degree program, I was a mere high
school boy who just wanted to get the best results for my national exam. So
my four-year journey as an undergraduate successfully implanted a totally
63
THE 10,000-HOUR RULE DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
different context in my subconscious mind. Since then, I see things around should not be confined only in achieving excellence in a certain area. Instead,
me from the context of a chemical engineer. Even this book is written the 10,000-hour rule should be expanded to include the time required for the
based on this context. I am looking at managing an organization and people initial change of context in a person’s mindset.
from a process perspective.
In my case, Gladwell’s 10,000 hours happened only after I had spent
Then, I continued another year furthering my master studies in the the first 10,000 hours forming the right context in my subconscious
same area and in the same institution. My four-year doctorate study in Kyoto mind, throughout my two-year high school studies and four-year bachelor
University was the toughest. I had to think hard to come up with some new degree program. Without the right and proper context, I did not think I
contributions to the body of knowledge in my research area so that I had would be able to get inspirations for my doctorate studies.
enough data and evidence to write the minimum required three journal
I believe I spent another two sets of 10,000 hours in the new area
articles to be published in reputable international journals. Mind you, my
of innovation management. I spent the first 10,000 hour in changing
articles would be reviewed by at least two other international researchers
my context from engineering to management field by learning the
in similar research area. So I knew very well that if I did not have any new
new knowledge area and started to conduct
significant contributions, my articles would not pass the review process.
lectures and supervising postgraduate The 10,000-hour rule
Thanks to the Almighty God, my chemical engineering context that was students. The next 10,000 hours were spent should be expanded
further developed during my five-year postgraduate studies facilitated me to in conducting training and consulting, besides
to include the time
required for the initial
get the needed inspirations for ideas. My vision of “failure is not my option” continuing my teaching and supervising tasks, change of context in
(in Chapter 3), the SMARTER elements shown by my professor (in Chapter 4), until I could confidently write this book that a person’s mindset.
and the mounting pressure (in Chapter 5) to publish three articles, all added you are currently reading.
to the layers of my context.
Hence, the 10,000 hours is the minimum period of time that is
Assuming I worked 8 hours a day for 5 days a week for 50 weeks in a year, required for you to effectively change your mindset to a totally new
the total time that I spent during the 5-year duration of postgraduate studies context. That is the reason most bachelor degree programs require
was 10,000 hours. That was the total accumulated time I required to bring about 10,000 hours to be completed. Once the context of the new
myself to the level needed for my contributions to the chemical engineering knowledge area is firmly established, you need another 10,000 hours to
body of knowledge to be recognized internationally. achieve excellence in that knowledge area. Earning a doctorate degree
is an indication that you have achieved excellence in your field. So it
In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell coined the 10,000-hour rule
is not a surprise that most postgraduate students have to spend about
to denote the average hour of work or practice that is required to achieve
10,000 hours to earn their doctorate degrees.
excellence in any serious endeavor.2 However, I believe the 10,000-hour rule
64 65
Let me analyze some stories of excellence that were written by Gladwell Upon his graduation, the three best universities in computer science
himself in Outliers to validate my hypothesis of the generic 10,000-hour rule. offered a place for his Master’s degree: Caltech, Stanford, and Berkeley. His
reason for selecting Berkeley cemented his context of yearning for problem-
Bill Joy was one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems. He almost
solving that led to many innovations for the next 20 years. “I went to Berkeley
single-handedly rewrote the Unix operating system for industrial computing, because it had the worst computer facilities of the three,” he said. “I figured it
turning it into a multibillion dollar business, while also doing his Masters’ would force me to be more ingenious.”3
degree at the University of California at Berkeley in 1975. He achieved the
status of the “Edison of the Internet” due to his 20-year record of innovations Gladwell also wrote on the success story of Bill Gates, who shared almost
that laid the groundwork of the current internet advancements.2,3 the same status with Bill Joy as the “Most Influential Person in the Computer
Industry”. Gates was born one year after the other Bill, but bloomed much
He discovered computing while doing his undergraduate studies at the earlier than Bill Joy. He dropped out of Harvard after his sophomore year
University of Michigan. His 10,000 hours was accumulated during these to go full time with his fledgling company called Microsoft. He achieved his
studies. A valid question would be: When did he acquire the initial context? 10,000 hours while he was in high school, very much earlier than Bill Joy.
Gates’ initial context must have been well-developed while he was at home
Bill was a classic brainy boy; born in 1954, he started reading at
and during primary school.
three, entered kindergarten at four, memorized the periodic table in a
single evening at thirteen and graduated from his high school at fifteen. Similar to Bill Joy, Bill Gates had a family that fully supports him
According to William Joy, who is Bill's dad, a schoolteacher who later intellectually. According to his father, Gates Sr., Bill was an avid reader who
became a business professor, “When Bill was a little kid, he wanted to read so much that his mother has to institute a house rule: No books at the
know everything about everything way before he should’ve even known dinner table. Bill was an argumentative boy and very curious to know how
he wanted to know. We answered him when we could. And when we things worked. Bill also “had his own thoughtful ideas about business, life,
couldn’t, we would just give him a book.”3 international affairs, and what the future might hold.”4
Bill was very fortunate to have a family that supported and encouraged With his initial core context about business fully developed at home,
his intense curiosity. Hence, Bill’s initial context to know everything and to Gates’ achievements accelerated when, from 13 years old, he was presented
resolve challenges were built during his formative years at home with his with very rare and extraordinary opportunities in computing. Among these
family and his school. were the opportunities to enroll in a high school with a computer club that
had access to a newly invented time-sharing computer terminal, to be able
His unusual canny attitude was proven when he took the challenge to to use computer facilities for free in exchange for a free programming
work after class with his undergraduate professor who was experimenting services in nearby University of Washington; to have very close friends, such
with the first “parallel” supercomputers.3 While his dormmates were having as Paul Allen, who shared the same passion in computing and later became
good time and playing sports, Bill was toiling in the lab, helping his employer co-founder of Microsoft; and the rare opportunities to provide computing
to solve a challenging research problem. solutions to needy computer companies.2
66 67
The initial development of the core context is very crucial in ensuring Based on studies done by sociologists, they discovered that the families
success and excellence in one’s life. This initial development could be attributed of many educated professional Jews share the same family heritage and
to the “healthy social/emotional development, family aspects (birth order stories. They concluded that “Jewish doctors and lawyers did not become
and gender), education and preparation (both informal and formal), cultural professionals in spite of their humble origins. They became professionals
support, public recognition for achievement, access to training resources, because of their humble origins.”2
material support from family members, at least one parent completely
One of the case studies was the Borgenichts. Louis and Regina
committed to the prodigy’s development, and family traditions that favor the
Borgenichts arrived with their child in New York from Poland in 1889. Since
prodigy’s development and historical forces, events and trends.”5
they had money enough to last only for a few weeks, Louis immediately took
Another crucial question to be asked is: What contributed to the Gates’ to the streets, looking for jobs. Instead of working for others, Louis decided to
family to have such supporting traditions? The answer is: The contribution of start his own business by selling various products—from herring, towels, table
environment, cultural heritage, and family history in shaping the initial core cloths, notebooks, bananas, socks, and stockings. The new business barely
context of the immigrant Jews, as written by Gladwell in the same book. 2
gave him enough money to live on. Then Regina gave birth to a second child,
giving an additional mouth to feed.2,5
Pressure on Louis built up. He had to look for a better product that would
lead to a better business. His eureka moment emerged after five long days
of walking up and down the streets of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He
was taking a break, eating sandwiches prepared by his wife, when his flash of
inspiration occurred: Clothes. He saw stores selling ready-made suits, dresses,
overalls, shirts, blouses, and trousers everywhere around him. He realized that
there was a totally different pattern in the new land. The old pattern in Poland
was that clothing was sewn at home or made to order by tailors.2,5
It was not a revelation, actually. It was expected, especially since the

young Borgenichts had worked in clothes industries before they migrated to
New York. Louis was a veteran in a store handling cloth and fabrics in Poland
and Regina was a seasoned dressmaker in Hungary. Hence, they had already
developed their initial core context of the clothing business. This context
enabled Louis to see the breaking of the old pattern in Poland and the new
emerging pattern in New York.2,5
68 69
Apparently, the Borgenichts were not the only immigrant Jews True enough, the two children of the Borgenichts became lawyers,
who had the same inspiration. There were thousands of other Jewish and no less than nine of their grandchildren also became professionals,
immigrants who were opening tiny factories inside their apartments, like such as doctors and lawyers. Similar patterns emerged among the
the Borgenichts, putting their sewing, dressmaking, and tailoring skills to majority of the offspring of thousands of the other Jewish immigrants
good use. By 1900, the Eastern European Jews had complete control of who entered the garment industry; they also ended up as professionals,
the garment industry in New York. They developed and grew the garment especially doctors and lawyers. The garment industry has thus become
industry until it became the largest and most economically vibrant “the boot camp” for the professions.2,5
industry in New York for the next 150 years.2,5
Similar patterns were observed in the communities of Asian
Historically, the Jews in Europe had been forbidden to own land. They Americans, both among the earlier low-paid immigrant laborers and the
were forced to take up urban trades and professions. More than 70% of later highly educated ones. Chinese laborers started to flock to California
the Eastern European Jews who migrated to U.S. before World War I had to help build railroads in the 1800s. However, their presence was greatly
some kind of occupational skills. The majority of them had experience in resented by the white Americans, which led to the Chinese Massacre
clothing trade such as tailors, dressmakers, hat and cap makers, furriers, of 1871 in Los Angeles. The U.S. Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion
and tanners.2,5 The lives of garment entrepreneurs such as the Borgenichts Act in 1882, and that stopped the influx of low-skilled Chinese labor.
involved very long exhausting hours and challenging work. However, their Despite the prevalent hatred and discrimination from the whites, many
work was very meaningful since they were their own bosses who were Chinese remained and settled down. To minimize the danger, they lived in
responsible for their own decisions and business direction. They fully segregated neighborhoods with other minorities. Since employment was
engaged their mind and imagination in dealing with the complex business almost non-existent, they opened their own small businesses.6
operations, and were agile and responsive so they were able to meet their
Asian Americans were able to move ahead on their own, due to their
clients’ demands. Over time, their businesses grew and they were rewarded
strict work discipline and cultural virtues. Based on the 1940 census, Asians
handsomely for their tireless efforts.2,5
were earning less than the blacks. However, within the next 30 years, their
Their children who stayed in the same tiny apartments-cum-garment earnings increased and were about the same as the whites.6
factories grew up within the culture of meaningful work on a daily basis. They
The second wave of Asian immigrants started to trickle back when the
must have overheard the conversations between their industrious parents
laws allowing high-skilled and educated Asian workers to migrate to the
and their workers. The conversation over the dinner table was probably about
U.S. were passed in 1965. Nowadays, most Asians in the U.S. are offspring
the work as well. The children witnessed and experienced the impressive
of this second wave of immigrants. By 1980, their average earnings was
economic and social rise of their parents. Hence, these children developed
more than the whites’.6
the initial core context that success in life requires a strong attitude, high
discipline of work ethic, and fully engaging the mind and imagination.2,5
70 71
According to a publication by the Russell Sage Foundation in 2013, the worrying future to their children if they do not do well in their studies;
children of Asian immigrants experienced outstanding upward mobility, hence the credo, “They can take away your home or business, but never
irrespective of their parents’ socioeconomic or scholastic background.7 In your education, so study harder.”7
2014, the average household income for Asian Americans moved up to an
The third trait is the inculcation of habits of discipline in controlling
astonishing 20% higher than the whites.6
oneself from a very young age: The impulse control.7 Such people live
The extraordinary upward mobility of Asian Americans has attracted a lot their lives within their means. The story of the Borgenichts is an excellent
of attention. Many commentators and scholars are searching for answers on example of an initial frugal life with meaningful works that later leads to
why Asians are “succeeding far more than African Americans and even more a better life.
than white Americans.” 7
Despite their prudent life, another common trait among successful

Among scholars who study this phenomenon are Yale professors, Amy second-generation immigrants is the paramount importance of education
Chua and Jed Rubenfeld. They discovered three traits that are common among for their children. They live in modest homes in good neighborhoods so
successful minority groups in America, including the Jews and Mormons: A that they can send their children to good schools. They give prime space
superiority complex, insecurity, and impulse control.7 in the house for their children to study comfortably. They sacrifice their
emotions to fight with their spouses such that their divorce rates are
The superiority complex is a core belief in one’s own exceptionality.
much lower than Americans as a whole.8 Such a stable and loving family
The Jews are taught early in their lives that they are the “chosen people”
is a big factor in stabilizing the emotions of their children. Thus, their
who are people of morals, law, intellect, and are survivors. The Mormons
children are very much focused on their main task—that is, to study hard
believe they are “an island of morality in a sea of moral decay.” Most
and get the best grades. Furthermore, religious and cultural virtues of
Asians in the second wave of migration to the U.S. were highly educated:
the Jews, the Chinese and the Muslims placed education and searching
Medical doctors, engineers, research scientists, and other professionals.
for knowledge as paramount.
They considered themselves as high achievers who not only worked very
hard and persevered in overcoming hardships in their home countries, The above traits among the minorities in the U.S. have resulted in the
but also dared to migrate to start new lives in a foreign land. It was development of an initial positive core context among their children. They
obvious that they were very better off than their peers who dared not are trained from a very early age to see adversity and setbacks as a catalyst
follow their footsteps. They turned such characteristics into a source of to enable them to work even smarter and harder to be ahead of others. Their
personal superiority.7 successful parents became their living template—they provided constant
coaching and mentoring that guide them to successes in lives. No wonder
Insecurity is another powerful source of motivation. Being an
they are now well ahead than the Americans as a whole.
outsider in a new society or a minority that faces discrimination and
resentment are sources of insecurity. Such people paint a picture of a
72 73
To further illustrate the importance of family background in shaping In conclusion, the 10,000 hours is a good rule of thumb as a guide to
the future of one’s life, I would like to share the story of my fellow Asian the amount of time required to create a new context in the mindset of
chemical engineering friend, Dr. Gonzalo “Al” Serafica.9 He left the person. Another minimum set of 10,000 hours would be required to achieve
Philippines in 1989 to pursue further studies in the U.S. and received his excellence in that new context. This rule of thumb would be a very valuable
Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute guide for those responsible for developing new experts, investors, innovators,
(RPI) in Troy, New York in 1997. leaders, champions and entrepreneurs.
His research focused on the production optimization and product This chapter concludes Part II: Shaping the Context. As elaborated
development of microbial cellulose. The process to produce high-quality in the four chapters in Part II, having the right context facilitates and
microbial cellulose was patented by RPI and licensed to Xylos, a start-up stimulates you in getting the right inspiration for ideas to achieve your
company co-founded by Dr. Serafica in 1996. It is located in the Rensselaer vision. However, those ideas may still be quite vague and lack specifics.
business incubator and is partially owned by the university. I call these types of ideas, the “headline ideas”. You need to elaborate
further on the headline ideas by using the two methods described in
Xylos is a venture capital backed company that has spent more than
Part III: Defining the Input, Output, and Feedback.
USD25 million in developing various microbial cellulose-derived products.
The company’s products include seven U.S. FDA cleared products, ranging
from permanent implants, such as brain patch or dura substitute, soft tissue
replacements and adhesion barriers, and artificial skin or advanced wound
dressings for treating chronic wounds. Dr. Serafica holds 10 U.S. granted
patents and more than 20 international granted patents.
When I met him recently in Quezon City, I discovered that his

extended family members have various business ventures in the
Philippines. Thus, the initial core context in
10,000 hours is a his subconscious mind was developed based
good rule of thumb on his family’s background in the business
as a guide to the world. That context made him see the many
amount of time
creative ways and means to commercialize his
required to create a
new context in the research findings, thus enabling him to form a
mindset of person. successful business entity that was eventually
sold to Johnson & Johnson.
74 75
PART III
Input, Output,
and Feedback
Chapter 7:
Harvest the Pain Points
Chapter 8:
Harvest the Minds
C H A P T E R 7
HARVEST THE PAIN

POINTS
T he story of King Solomon and the ant is a very popular story, commonly
shared by three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. When
King Solomon and his armies arrived at the Valley of the Ants, an ant said,
"O, ants, Enter your dwellings, lest Solomon and his armies crush you
while they are unaware!" Overhearing the ant’s words, King Solomon
smiled and made his armies halt until the ants had entered their dwellings.1
Surprisingly, King Solomon could still hear the speech of the ant while there
was a great noise by the movement of his huge armies behind him.
According to the Islamic tradition, King Solomon was a Prophet of God

and reigned over the whole Kingdom of Israel. He was blessed with a level
of kingship that was given to none after him and none before him. He was
considered to be one the greatest monarchs of all time and the wealthiest
person who ever lived.
79
H A R V ES T TH E PA I N P O I NTS DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
This inspiring story shows the rare relationship between the most as the gauges to monitor themselves. Normally, within a retreat of a mere
powerful and wealthiest person on earth and the smallest and weakest three-day and two-night session, these strategic planning documents are
member of the society, and it is one that should be emulated by those holding ready. Does this scenario describe the state of your organization?
powerful positions in any organization. Listening to concerns from every
Studies in 1982 reported that more than 90% of organizations failed to
member of your organization—shareholders, stakeholders, customers, and
execute their own formulated strategies.2 Even after more than 35 years, that
non-customers—is a powerful source of ideas.
figure is still high at 60%.3
Furthermore, that the Almighty Creator designed the human being to
The exceptionally high failure rate indicates weaknesses in the
have two ears, two eyes, two halves of brain but only one mouth possibly a
formulation and implementation of strategies. The main culprit of these
hint that we should listen, observe, and think much more than we speak.
weaknesses is due to the lack of data and evidence of the current state of
In the previous chapters, I covered four different ways of getting the organization. When you do not have enough solid data and evidence,
the right context to facilitate getting the appropriate inspirations to your strategy formulation is built on flimsy ground. A building that is built
solve your challenges: Visioning, SMARTER goal setting, threats, and the on a flimsy foundation is doomed to collapse, sooner or later. A driver that
10,000-hour rule. assumes his car is in always perfect conditions without checking it, is destined
not to arrive at the intended destination safely and on time. No wonder there
If you do not happen to have the opportunities in one of the above
are so many organizations that have failed to achieve their KPIs.
context-generating means, you could still generate ideas by harvesting the
pain points of people around you. I want you to be like a cautious driver who understands the risk of
traveling, especially for a long drive, who would certainly check the internal
Many organizations are like a typical traveler who drives to a certain
conditions of everything under the hood, the condition of the tires, spare tire
destination. Since he has traveled and driven his car so many times, normally
and brakes, the state of the signaling lamps, etc. Depending fully on the three
he just drives away with very little or no preparation at all. His main objective
gauges in front of you in the car is certainly not sufficient.
is to reach his destination at a certain time. He depends on the main gauges
in front of him that tell him the speed of the car, I want you to be like a medical doctor who religiously follows the
We should listen, the amount of gasoline he has, and the engine’s protocol of the medical profession, no matter whether it is just a minor flu or
observe, and temperature level. He just assumes and hopes that a major heart problem. Certainly he is not in a rush to dish out a prescription
think much more
than we speak. everything is OK with his car. What he cares about of medicine for you. He asks you some pertinent questions followed by some
is that he is moving forward in his journey. checking, tests, and analysis. Based on those procedures, he gathers enough
data and evidence of your current illness, and only then he will prescribe the
Similarly, many organizations are so eager to move forward. They
best medicine or medical procedures that will hopefully cure your illness or
think up all the positive targets and the strategies as well as action plans
ease your pain.
to achieve them. Then they set up the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
80 81
So before you think of how to move your organization forward with In our consulting work for one very large organization in Malaysia, our
grand strategies, first and foremost, take stock of the current state of consulting team helped them to harvest more than 600 pain points from
your organization. Identify issues, challenges, and concerns within your their own employees. We plotted these pain points along the value chain of
organization. These could be so glaring, seen from the non-achievement the organization and presented them to the higher management team. They
of certain KPIs. But those problems are normally encapsulated in one mere were so surprised at the findings that were done for the first time; no similar
broad and general headline statement that lacks details. You cannot solve a issues and concerns had been raised in their annual retreat. They had just
problem if you do not fully define and analyze it. The devil is in the details. focused on how to move their organization forward.
The only way to get the details and evidence is to go down the hierarchy In fact, many organizations discourage discussion on pain points within
to the lowest point of your organization. They are your employees who their organization, because it brings negativity. They say, we should not dwell
do the actual work that keeps your organization running on a daily basis. on the past and think about problems. Instead, we should focus on positive
Hence, they see, sense, and experience a lot of real issues that you and things, look to the future, and think of solutions.
your managers do not.
This type of thinking is akin to allowing your medical doctor to prescribe
There is an interesting story about honest feedback from a junior subordinate you the medicine without even allowing him to diagnose and find out the
to her brilliant but domineering boss. Meg Whitman, who is currently the CEO real issues with your health. Would he prescribe you the accurate medication?
of Hewlett Packard and former CEO of eBay, was then a junior partner of Bain Certainly not. Would you go again to his clinic? Certainly not.
Consulting. One day she steeled herself before walking into the office of her
Similarly, such organization that forbids discussion about pain points
feared boss, Tom Tierney, who was the Worldwide Managing Director of Bain &
will certainly come up with the prescription of a strategic plan that is not
Company (1993–2000). She asked if he wanted to know
The devil is in appropriate and effective, simply because they assume a lot of things and
about the staff feedback on his leadership style. She was
the details. have a lot of wishful thinking.
stunned when he agreed.4
The harvested data on the details and evidence of the current internal
On a nearby whiteboard, Whitman then drew a steamroller. “This is you,
problems provides a very potent database. Similar to managing by using
Tom,” she said. “You’re too pushy—you’re not letting us build consensus
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), I call this database the Key Pain Points
leadership.” Her boss was speechless. But he was very positive about the
Indicators (KPPIs). If your KPPIs are increasing over the years, then you have
honest feedback and changed his leadership style accordingly. “What she
a red flag in your KPIs, indicating that your delivery system is questionable
told me was a gift. Even though her feedback was negative and unsolicited.”
and need to be re-engineered as soon as possible. Likewise, decreasing your
Eventually, Bain & Company benefited with the firm’s vast expansion
KPPIs means your delivery system is healthier and the majority of your KPIs
and turn-around from a headcount of 600 to over 2,200 worldwide
are green in color.
throughout his tenure.4
82 83
The KPPIs database should be expanded to include pain points from Conversely, detractors are responsible for more than 80% of negative
your current customers as well. In an inverted pyramid organization chart word of mouth, hence could be the main source of drag on your growth.6
that better reflects the reality, your big boss is actually your customers, not Detractors could easily become your non-customers, since they easily opt
your CEO. Customers buy your products or services to fulfill their wants and for other alternatives, substitutes. and choices. However, detractors are very
needs. Once your products or services fail to satisfy them or reduce their good sources of pain points. By genuinely engaging them, you may discover
pain points, they will easily go for other alternatives, substitutes or choices, their main common concerns that you could use to transform your old
rendering you and your organization redundant. They put their money where pattern of customer services.
their reptilian brains command.
This was the case with the recent barbaric incident on United Airlines.
The best gauge to see how happy and satisfied your customers are is to On Sunday April 9, 2017, Dr. David Dao was forcibly dragged off from
ask them the following questions: “How likely are you to recommend us to an overbooked United Airlines flight after refusing to give up his seat to
your friends and colleagues?”, “What is the primary reason for your score?”, make room for a crew member. The video of the incident of the bloodied
and “Why?” On a scale of 0–10, you can classify your customer response to Asian-descent medical doctor went viral worldwide, depicting an epic failure
the first question as promoters (9–10), passive (7–8) or detractors (0–6). 5
of United Airlines in customer service.7
Promoters are your loyal customers who are not only buying your products The repercussion of the incident was far-reaching. Two days later, shares
or services repeatedly but are willingly promoting your product or services to of United Airlines took a nosedive as much as 6.3%, dropping USD1.4 billion
their networks. In fact, if you can increase the number of promoters by a mere from its market capitalization. It may also have caused a grave impact to
5%, you can increase your profits by 25–95%.6 United Airlines’ business in China. The video was viewed more than 200 million
times in China alone and there was an online chorus in China for Chinese to
It is estimated that promoters generated more than 80% of
boycott the airline. United Airlines led other U.S. carriers by capturing 20% of
positive referrals. 6 eBay is one of the leading e-commerce leaders that
the routes between the U.S. and China.7
harvests the economic benefits of referrals from its loyal customers.
More than half of its customers are from referrals who are driven by Apparently, the damage also affected the airlines’ CEO himself. The
word of mouth and mouse. eBay realized that the referred customers airline’s parent company announced after its board meeting on Friday, May
prefer to refer to people who referred them for advice and guidance 26, 2017, that the CEO’s employment agreement “will be changed to remove
rather than calling the company’s support desk, terms that would have made him chairman of the board of directors.”8
Detractors hence reducing the cost of supporting them. In
are very good Indeed, some promoters have already turned into detractors. The L.A.
effect, eBay’s loyal customers have done more
sources of Times reported that one traveler said after the Dao incident, “I wouldn’t
pain points. than promoting eBay’s services; they even take
fly United even if they gave me a free pass to fly first class to anywhere
over the function of eBay’s help desk! 6
for the rest of my life.”9 Realizing the potential damaging effect of its
84 85
worst customer service failure, and in order to fend off any customer take to find the information you need?
defections, United Airlines swiftly announced on May 25, 2017 that they Was it easy to get information on the The real culprit that
reached a settlement with Dr. David Dao, and released ten new policies web? Was it fun to browse the web? hinders many organizations
intended to avoid similar customer-service disasters. The airlines promised How simple is the application process? from delivering great
to “implement the improvements we have announced, which will put our How fast was the speed of browsing customer experience is
customers at the center of everything we do.”9 the web? Is there any risk of missing the silo-based structure.
attached documentations?
Unfortunately, the above disastrous event is not uncommon. I am sure
you have had many experiences with bad customer services. The real culprit By plotting the pain points between the episodes and utility levers, you
that hinders many organizations from delivering great customer experience will get a map called Buyer Utility Map11 that could be used to assess the
is the silo-based structure. It seems that the typical functional organizational delivery of exceptional value to your customer. I hope you realize that the
structure is not designed with customers in mind. 10
journey for a student in a university cuts across various functional silos. This
is the reason why a silo-based management structure is not able to deliver
For a typical public university in Malaysia, the organizational structure
exceptional value to the customer. A better system is required in effectively
is divided into Chancellery, Academy, Research & Innovation, Students
managing the journey and will be discussed in subsequent chapters.
Affair, Development, Bursar, and Registrar. These departments (silos)
are designed to facilitate the head of the university (Vice Chancellor) The consequences of not heeding the pain points from your stakeholders,
in managing the university; this way, he can simply dish out the relevant customers and non-customers are very painful indeed. This was the classic
KPIs to each silo head. agonizing case of Henry Ford.
As an alternative, Bain Consulting suggests that customers are better Unfortunately, the formula that Ford had used for his initial success
managed through episode or journey management. The rich data of KPPIs
10
in mass producing his Model T was not sustainable. As discussed in
could be plotted along the major episodes that the customers go through Chapter 3, Ford had a great vision and he was relentlessly pursuing
with your products or services. For a student in a university, the episodes to achieve it by employing his great thinking and intuitive faculties.
include applying for admission, getting enrolled, paying the fees, taking He was famous for his saying, “Thinking is the hardest work there is,
classes, campus life, graduating, and getting a job. which is probably the reason so few engage in it.” Apparently, his earlier
successes had made him believe in the superiority of his own thinking
Kim and Mauborgne identified six levers of utility along those episodes.
and intuition. He believed he alone should have the absolute control in
These are: Customer productivity, simplicity, convenience, risk, fun and
realizing the destination of his own company. Unfortunately, absolute
image, and environmental friendliness.11 At each episode, ask: What are
power does not bring wisdom.
the biggest blocks to each utility? For example, for the “application for
admission” episode, you can ask the following questions: How long does it
86 87
Due to such a strong characteristic, unlike King Solomon and Tom The only person who dared and kept cautioning Ford of the looming
Tierney of Bain & Company, Ford did not want to listen to noises of disaster was his only son, Edsel, who was appointed as a powerless
complaints from his stakeholders and did not want to take note of the president of the company in 1919. Unfortunately, the strong-willed Ford
obvious shift of trend in the car market. considered Model T as sacred. Not even his own son could convince him.
Eventually, the relationship between the father and son deteriorated
Other car manufacturers took notice of how successful and wealthy
into distrust and disrespect.
Henry Ford was. On June 4, 1924, the 10-millionth Model T left the factory,
cementing Henry Ford’s status as a billionaire. They saw opportunities from His competitors, especially General Motor, exploited the flaws and
the obvious weaknesses of Ford’s Model T. It was only one variant and only in began to offer Chevrolet with amenities that Model T lacked, such as a
black. Ford was also famous for saying, “You can have your car in any color you smooth three-speed transmission, better styling and, of course, different
want, as long as it’s black.” colors. Droves of buyers voted with their money on new, elegant and
shiny Chevrolet and started abandoning the out-of-date Model T.
His own employees also took notice of the weaknesses of Model T. They
took the initiative to build an updated version of Model T and tried to surprise By 1926, the sales of Model T fizzled out. The ratio of Model T to Chevrolet
their boss who had just returned from a vacation. They were totally shocked sold nosedived from 13:1 in 1921 to a mere 2:1 within the next five years. The
to see Ford responded by violently kicking the windshield and stomping on marketplace realities ultimately convinced Ford that Model T had to be
the roof of their new creation. 12
changed. By then, it was too late a decision.13
Despite frantic efforts by Ford in introducing new models and new

engines, Chevrolet still outsold Ford from 1931 onward. A new company
called Chrysler Corporation founded in 1920 also cut into Ford’s sales when
they introduced the Plymouth brand in 1929.
By 1936, Ford has fallen from being the undisputed leader to third place
in sales of passenger cars with only 22.44% of the market against 43.12%
for General Motors, and 25.03% for Chrysler.13 These three companies were
often called the “Big Three”, since they are the three largest automakers in
the United States and Canada.
Had Ford learned the lesson from King Solomon and Tom Tierney by
listening and heeding the concerns of his own employees and the customers,
the forward trajectory of Ford Motor Company would be having a totally
different pathway nowadays, right?
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C H A P T E R 8
HARVEST THE MINDS
W ithin minutes of Hewlett Packard (HP) losing to Dell in supplying

the USD350 million servers to Microsoft’s Bing search engine
team in April 2012, the newly appointed CEO of HP, Meg Whitman, was
on the phone with Microsoft’s CEO Steve Balmer. “Tell me where we
came up short,” Whitman asked. “Don’t sugarcoat it. I’d like to know so
that we can do better the next time.”1
Soon she received a memo from Microsoft listing nine reasons why HP
had lost the bid. For her, that insulting memo was the truth about how HP
runs its businesses, and it came from one its biggest
customers. No wonder HP was in the doldrums. With Problems are
330,000 employees, HP’s revenue had been shrinking
good, as long
as you solve
from its top of USD120 billion in annual revenue and its them quickly.
return on capital was a pathetic 7%.1
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HARVEST THE MINDS DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
For Whitman, that Microsoft’s memo was a great gift, similar to the one Clearly defining the issue or challenge helps in setting the context that
that she gave to her former boss at Bain that subsequently transformed facilitates in the harvesting of ideas to materialize the solution. A crystal clear
that company. She saw the light at the end of the tunnel in her Herculean vision also helps in defining what the problem is not, thus setting the boundary
task to transform the troubled HP. For her, “Problems are good, as long as of the issues.
you solve them quickly.” 1
Henry Ford was a master of simplifying the vision of his product: A car
Immediately, she summoned a war team comprising the top HP chiefs to that was affordable to the multitude. Ford was not interested in producing
figure out how to make the company more competitive, based on the memo expensive cars for the rich and famous. Such a crystal clear vision steered the
from Microsoft. True enough, the newly crafted standard operating procedure search for ideas to increase productivity and reduce cost.2
was far more customer-friendly, and became the catalyst for HP to win the next
Another master of simplicity was Steve Jobs. When he had decided
Microsoft order of servers worth USD530 million in Jan 2013. 1
to create the iPod, he simply defined the challenge as “1,000 songs in
Since then, she was constantly on the road, meeting with customers my pocket”. 3 When he was presented
or sale channel partners from around the globe. They were excellent with the first prototype of the iPod, he Clearly defining the
sources of pain points on the internal problems that HP had. She believed rejected since it was too big and bulky. issue or challenge helps
that turnarounds must start with “repairing hundreds of small failings” in The engineers tried to convince him
in setting the context
that facilitates in the
the organization. “Rule number one is to fix what we have” was the motto that it was not possible to reduce its harvesting of ideas to
during her early reign in HP. 1
size due to many design constraints. materialize the solution.
Jobs simply walked to a nearby A crystal clear vision
Once she had identified certain key issues along the journey of its also helps in defining
aquarium and dropped the iPod in.
customers, she would immediately convene marathon brainstorming sessions what the problem is
“Those are air bubbles,” he snapped. not, thus setting the
to harvest the minds of her key executives on fixing the problem quickly.
“That means there’s space in there. boundary of the issues.
However, before you commence brainstorming sessions, there are Make it smaller.” 4
two key steps that are needed to be done: Clearly define the issues or
challenges and identify the root causes of the problem. Many organizations Tony Fernandes, the CEO of AirAsia, simplified his vision of a
in their over-zealousness and enthusiasm to solve their problems often low-cost carrier by crafting a very compelling tagline “Now Everyone Can
overlook these two important steps, resulting Fly.”5 Interestingly, his vision shared the same determination as Henry Ford’s
Turnarounds in unsuccessful solutions. These two critical vision—that is, to make flying affordable to the multitude. With that tagline,
must start with steps need to be thoroughly thought out to Tony was not interested in continuing the previous airline’s old business
“repairing hundreds ensure that the issues or challenges are solved model of conventional full service offerings. He was also not targeting the
of small failings” in
permanently and result in substantial leaps in typical flyers to fly in his newly acquired tiny airline.
the organization.
value creations.
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Having no prior experience in the airline industry was an advantage to training to improve their agents’ listening and conversation skills with focus
Tony. He and his like-minded core team had a free hand in transforming on developing more empathy to their customers. But the customers were
the aviation industry, at least in Asia. They broke all the patterns of the still not satisfied. Apparently, the solution did not solve the problem. Rather
full service airlines. it created another problem to the company due to unnecessary increase in
cost of an ineffective training program.
The AirAsia tagline, painted red on all its planes, serves two purposes.
First, it is a great marketing campaign to its customers and non-customers, This is a typical case of rushing in trying to solve a problem without proper
constantly reminding them of the value that analysis. The harvested pain points should be treated as the starting point for
The very purpose the airline is offering them. Second, it is also further investigation, not the end point. Your customers’ initial responses to
of problem-solving a constant reminder to his team in AirAsia your query are normally broad-based and in a polite language since they are
is to stop the
of its overarching mission in simultaneously responding using their neocortex, the brain that controls intelligence. This is
problematic issues
from recurring. driving down operational cost and increasing the normal response of traditional market research using focus groups and
value to customers. the data are usually not accurate.
That relentless drive championed by Tony himself has been handsomely When General Motors introduced the Cadillac line in the late 1990s, it
rewarded and approved by their customers who voted AirAsia as the world’s relied on the traditional market research which concluded that the prospective
best low-cost airline in the annual World Airline Survey by Skytrax for nine American customers wanted high gasoline mileage, high safety ratings and
consecutive years from 2009 to 2017, and as the world’s leading low-cost good prices. Unfortunately, the resulting new plain Cadillac hardly sold!7
airline in the annual World Travel Awards for five consecutive years from
Instead, much more meaningful data should be obtained from the
2013 to 2017.5
customer’s reptilian brain, the center of human instinct. It programs us for
Once you have clearly defined your issue or challenge, then you move on two main things: Survival and production. In a three-way clash among the
to the next critical step: To identify the root causes of the problem. The very neocortex, the mammalian and the reptilian brains, the reptilian forever
purpose of problem-solving is to stop the problematic issues from recurring. wins, because survival takes precedence. Next in the order of priority are the
If your car suddenly does not start, the obvious thing to do is to find out what emotional elements. Thus, by tapping into the reptilian and mammalian brains,
the causes are. Is it due to the battery, alternator, spark plug, fuel, etc.? Once you will get the most essential elements of information from your customers.
you are very sure of the root cause and solved that particular root cause, then Furthermore, most of our buying decisions are strongly influenced by these
you have successfully solved the problem. two layers of the brain.7
In one example,6 a large insurance company was having a common Learning from the failure of Cadillac, Chrysler changed the
complaint from customers that “their claims agents were not demonstrating methodology of the market research by focusing on responses from
enough empathy.” The company’s quick response was to organize a series of the reptilian brain of the respondents. The result was the PT Cruiser
94 95
introduced in 2000. The highly distinctive design of the new car appealed I hope you have noticed the series of questions that eventually reveal the
to the instinct and emotion of the customers, making it one of the most two real causes of the complaints of the unsatisfied clients. The root causes of
successful new car launches among the Big Three in recent memory.7 this problem are now confirmed. The expected solution to these root causes
should lead to solving the real problem of unsatisfied clients permanently.
One of the simplest but effective methods of tapping into the
subconscious brain is to keep probing the respondents and relevant parties This technique is called cause and effect analysis.8 Cause is defined as
with questions to uncover the fundamental elements that reside in their something that produces an effect. Analysis means to break down something
mammalian and reptilian brains. into its parts. Hence, problem analysis means to break down the effect of the
problem into its causes. It is simply done by asking several “whys” to relevant
As for the insurance company,6 asking the unsatisfied customer why they
parties until the root causes are identified.
feel the claim agent was not showing enough empathy, their customers will
start to open up by giving reasons such as “I have to prove everything over Since problems should be viewed as system-based, it is incorrect to find
and over again.” If you ask again why they feel that way, they gave more details: only one cause to a problem. As an example, fire happens when three elements
“Every time a new claim agent calls me, I have to repeat the information that exist at the same time: Fuel, oxygen and heat. If any of them are removed, fire
was given before.” is prevented. Hence, the cause of a fire is not due to only one cause. The root
cause of a fire is due to system of causes, which must co-exist at the same time.9
With that information at hand, you then ask your claim agents why the
unsatisfied customer said this. He will inform you that the company’s system The common mistake in cause and effect analysis is finding the “who”
does not provide the claimant’s full story, therefore each time a claim agent to be blamed as the root cause of the problem.10 There are two common
makes a call to a client, he has to ask for the same information, making the features if your organization has this blaming culture. The first is the
client feel that they were being interrogated. reluctance of employees to come forward with information about problems,
since they may be interrogated or implicated. They may also be asked to
With this information, you can then ask the I.T. Department, why the
be part of a team to solve the problem that was raised. Consequently, they
systems do not support such important client information. They will answer
would rather keep the information to themselves or informally share them
that the systems did require an upgrade but management believed that
with their trusted colleagues, thus creating an unhealthy backbiting and
such an upgrade was not worth the investment. If you inquire further and
gossiping culture in the organization. Such a culture is against the effort to
ask the management why they did not support the request to upgrade the
harvest the internal pain points, as discussed in previous chapter.
system, they will respond that they were not convinced of the request
presented by the I.T. Department. Probing further, you discover that the The second feature of a blaming culture is the rush in analyzing a problem
data presented was not sufficient, hence their reluctance to approve the and quickly concluding that “human errors” are the root causes. Unfortunately,
upgrade. Furthermore, the company did not have enough financial strength human error is a broad term that does not provide specific causes and may
at that time to purchase the upgrade. lead to ineffective solutions, as was the case with the insurance company.
96 97
Once it is concluded that “human error” is the root cause, the next Based on his great vision of making cars affordable to the multitude, Henry
natural step is to identify “who did it”. This question is much easier to Ford got the right inspiration for mass production system from a meat packing
be answered by simply finger pointing to certain employee, compared factory, as discussed in the previous chapter. However, that inspiration was still
to asking a series of “why” questions to uncover the real causes broad, vague, and lacked details. Ford had to rely on his trusted engineers to
of the problem. design, fabricate and install the embryo of the mass production system.
To get the details, his team studied other manufacturing processes that
To overcome this common blaming culture, the top management should
produced watches, guns, bicycles and, of course, meat packing. They were
realize that even though mistakes do occur at work, the majority of them are
looking for ways and means to increase productivity and reduce cost. They would
unintentional. Nobody comes to work to make mistakes. As such, mistakes
continuously do experimentations every single day for the next 17 years, under
and errors should be viewed as great opportunities to improve the internal
Ford’s maxims: “Everything can always be done better than it is being done.” 2
systems. Break the blaming culture and transform it to a new culture based
on prevention and improvement. This method of harvesting ideas by studying other processes is
called the analogy method. It is a very powerful method to reduce
Once you have uncovered the real root causes, the next step is to the psychological inertia that locks our mind from seeing a broader
generate ideas to solve the problems. There are three great sources of ideas: perspective of a certain issue.
The employees who are directly involved with the internal issues, the customers
What was the secret in the transformation in less than a decade of
who come into contact with the organization, and the non-customers who
the tiny AirAsia into the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline that wins so many
are yet to be your customers.
accolades? Tony paid a token RM1.00 to take
over the ailing AirAsia with RM40 million debt Mistakes and errors
Under the new culture of prevention and improvement, harvest should be viewed as
in Dec 2001. The airline was profitable from
12
the minds of the employees who are directly involved with the problem great opportunities
year one12 and the company is now worth more
areas. They know their jobs better than anyone else. Since they are not to improve the
than RM11 billion in 2017.13 What would be the internal systems.
robots, they must have ideas to reduce the pain points of performing
rate of return on that RM1.00 investment?
their own daily tasks. This is the essence of the Kaizen Movement that
was started in Japan after World War II. “Kaizen” (origin: kai sen) are Of course, there was no secret. It is so obvious that Tony alone could
Japanese words for change for the better, and the movement asks that not think and manage to expand from a mere two jets flying 36,000
all employees are involved to continuously improve all functions in the passengers in 2001 into a fleet of 174 aircraft carrying an accumulated
organization.11
Since its inception, the Kaizen Movement has spread over 360 million guests by 2016. The answer lies with his 16,000 AirAsia
throughout the world. employees called Allstars.14
98 99
Tony said in an interview, “AirAsia is not a one-man show. We have over 16,000 The hackathon was open to any nationality, customers or non-customers of
big brains working for us. For me, it would be ridiculous if I had all the talent in- AirAsia, who are currently residing in any of the 26 countries covered by airline’s
house and I did not use it. I mean that would be such a waste, wouldn’t it?”15 extensive network. The event was attended by 20 teams from 13 countries,
selected from earlier entries and flown by the airline into Kuala Lumpur. The
So it was the brains and the minds of everyone in the AirAsia family that
challenge for the 18-hour hackathon was, “How do you profile AirAsia fans based
have contributed all the ideas that thrust the company to soar upward to
on their digital social footprints to improve customer experience?”17
ever greater height, with Tony energetically piloting the company upward
from the captain seat on a daily basis. The word hackathon is a combination of the words “hack” and “marathon”,
where “hack” is meant for exploratory programming. Since the mid-2000s,
However, relying on the minds of employees alone has certain limitations.
hackathons became widespread primarily as a quick way to develop new software
Their perspectives are often limited by their daily operations inside the
technologies. Hackathons are normally contests based on a specific challenge
organization. Their ideas are great to improve the efficiency and effectiveness
and participants are expected to present their prototype developments by the
of the current internal systems. However, a company like AirAsia has to
end the event and judged by experts to select the winners.18
aggressively think forward.
Hackathons have been conducted internally in organizations as well as opened
In search for new eurekas, Tony and his team actively go down to the ground
to the public and lately are not confined only for programming. Organizations are
to interact with and listen to his customers and non-customers. He is looking for
using these intense brainstorming and development sessions to stir up new out-
feedback and ideas that are truly out-of-the-box. He said, “I’m a different kind
of-the-box ideas to solve certain challenges identified by the organizers. Features
of CEO in that I spend a lot of time with my guests. I’ll ask taxi drivers what they
in Facebook such as the Like button, Chat, and Timeline are examples of outputs
think of our product. From them, you learn what they want. Why spend hundreds
from Facebook’s internal hackathons.18
of millions of dollars to get someone to tell you what they want, when you can
just simply ask them?”16 In conclusion, ideas are the currency of the current era of the mind. Two
chapters in Part III were devoted to getting the details of the input, output,
The latest initiative in this direction by AirAsia was to launch the inaugural
and feedback by harvesting the pain points and insights from the minds both
2017 Airvolution Hackathon in search of out-of-the-box ideas to fulfill AirAsia’s
inside and outside your organization. While the pain points are rich sources
aim to be a digitally savvy airline. In his keynote address in launching the event,
for ideas for improving the internal processes, the insights furnish the way
Tony said, “Innovation is the lifeblood of AirAsia. We live and die by ideas, and
forward for the organization.
this hackathon will provide the perfect environment for the best and brightest to
explore new ideas. This year marks the emergence of AirAsia as a digital airline, Having full details of what to do, now you are ready to execute the ideas. To
and I believe this event can spur the kind of radical, creative thinking that will reduce the risk of execution, Part IV focuses on the preparation of the necessary
ensure AirAsia remains on the leading edge.” 17
foundation to ensure perfect execution of ideas.
100 101
PART IV
Execution
Chapter 9:
Foundation for Execution
Chapter 10:
Execution to Perfection
C H A P T E R 9
FOUNDATION FOR
EXECUTION
I deas that have been generated through various means, as discussed

in previous chapters, have to be vetted through and selected to be
implemented. The risk of execution failures is expected to be much
lower since the ideas are generated based on issues that are well-
defined and properly analyzed. However, significant risks still exist,
especially in the execution process, due to complex issues in the overall
organizational behavior.
Organizational behavior is defined by “the study of human behavior

in organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the
organization, and the organization itself”.1 This chapter suggests practical
guidelines to reduce risks associated with organizational behavior that could
lead towards higher chances of success in the execution of ideas.
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F O U N D AT I O N F O R E X E C U T I O N DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
As mentioned previously, the human brain consists of three layers of product based on their first impressions. “People do judge a book by its
brains. Given that the simple reptilian brain is always the winner in any battle cover,” Jobs wrote. “We may have the best product, the highest quality, the
between the three layers of the brain, humans prefer things to be as simple and most useful software, etc. If we present them in a slipshod manner, they
basic as possible. Since ensuring survival is the main function of the reptilian will be perceived as slipshod; if we present them in a creative, professional
brain, humans dislike discomforts and dangers, and thus are always finding manner, we will impute the desired qualities.”3
ways to reduce pain points in their daily lives. Once basicness and simplicity are
Based on the concept of simplicity, Apple produced Mac that is easier
achieved, the next winner is the mammalian brain, the home of human emotion.
to operate, less prone to virus attacks and lasts longer than the typical PC.
Despite hardly inventing anything new and having only a limited number Getting songs, speeches, movies, and e-books into your pocket is very simple.
of products, Apple became the first U.S. company to be worth more than Simply by plugging a single cable from your Mac into your iPhone, all your
USD800 billion in May 2017.2 Apple did not favorite entertainment files are instantly copied and organized as on your
Simplicity means invent the PC, the MP3 player, downloadable Mac, and your iPhone is charged as well.4
making complex things music or the mobile telephone. Being a
simple and reducing Within a few seconds, you are ready to enjoy your regular jogging while
late player to these markets, Apple had
user’s pain points listening to your favorite songs or motivational speeches. By putting on your
so that the products to do thing differently by consciously
white headphones, you are announcing to the world that you have joined
are easy to use. breaking away from the existing designs and
the supercool Apple Club. This has been the main aim of Apple: "Subliminally
functionality of those old products.
inviting customers to experience the Apple lifestyle and becoming part of the
To break the earlier patterns, Steve Jobs made simplicity and focus, the unique Apple community.”4
mantra of Apple. While the former is the design philosophy of Apple’s products
Once these two inner brain layers say a big yes, the neocortex timidly
for their customers, the latter is the method employed by Apple to achieve the
surrenders and justifies the emptying of your purse, no matter how expensive
former, by single-mindedly eliminating all of the unimportant requirements.
the products or services are. To enjoy the simplicity and be proud of joining
Simplicity captures the needs of the reptilian and mammalian brains. the super-cool Apple Club, you have to pay the premium price, way above the
Simplicity means making complex things simple and reducing user’s cost of an Android-based phone and a PC.
pain points so that the products are easy to use. To achieve this, Jobs
Just below Apple, the top four companies in terms of market value in
emphasized empathy and impute in designing all Apple products.
the U.S. are: Alphabet (parent company of Google), Microsoft, Amazon, and
Empathy means an intimate connection with the feelings and needs Facebook. These companies share the same philosophy as Apple: To reduce
of the customers. Apple is known for understanding the needs of their customers’ pain points and to help them to do meaningful activities.
customers before they actually know what they need in the first place. I am using all these companies’ services since they reduce my pain points
while writing this book. I am writing using Microsoft Words on my trusted
Impute emphasizes that people form an opinion about a company or
Apple’s MacBook Pro. Google eases my pain of searching for information.
106 107
If I need more detailed information, I could easily order books or magazines Taking cues from the excellent performances of AirAsia, there are few core
through Amazon. I am accompanied by hundreds of my close friends while practices that management should do differently to fulfill the needs of their
writing alone in my study room, thanks to Facebook. employees’ reptilian and mammalian brains. Once the needs of these inner
brain layers are fulfilled and satisfied, your employees will be your greatest
In summary, the super achievements of the above corporations are
strength and asset to soar your organization upward to ever greater height.
simply based on their understanding of the needs of the reptilian and
mammalian brains of their customers. Their strong bottom lines contributed These practices include establishing a compelling tagline for the
by their satisfied customers validate their successes in fully exploiting this organization, nurturing the right culture, getting the right people into the
simple fact to the fullest. organization and instituting rules based on SMART elements.
The same approach should be employed by leaders and managers in AirAsia’s vision and mission statements were very well crafted. Its vision
managing their organizations and their employees. If they could understand statement contains exactly 25 words. Its mission lists four well-thought-out
and act upon fulfilling the needs of the reptilian and mammalian brains of their statements, consisting exactly 50 words.6 They must have spent a lot of
employees, the complexity of their organizations’ behavior could be reduced. time and resources on developing these statements. However, how many
Employees would be willingly and happily doing their tasks, consequently staff of AirAsia remember and memorize fully these beautiful phrases of 75
contributing to the healthier bottom lines of their organizations. words? I guess none.
Unfortunately, organizations are so accustomed to addressing only the Luckily AirAsia created a catchy tagline consisting of only four words,
neocortex, the brain layer responsible for intelligence and higher thinking “Now Everyone Can Fly”. How many remember this tagline? I believe all
levels. The thick, strategic planning documents written in high level, employees, all customers, and even non-customers of AirAsia memorize this
sophisticated, bombastic, and abstract words are testimony to this fact. tagline. To strengthen this information in the subconscious minds of everyone,
the airline painted along the whole body of all its planes the word “AirAsia” and
Unfortunately, the number of employees in any organization that uses
their thinking neocortex is a very tiny percentage; they may be only among the tagline in white with a red background. A great tagline should be able to
the board members and senior management team. Since the majority of capture the essence of the vision, mission, and strategies of the organization.
employees hardly use their thinking neocortex brains, the beautifully written Its purpose is to convey that essence to both the internal stakeholders and
documents are not read and understood, and therefore are not satisfactorily the external customers and non-customers. More importantly, it must be
implemented. No wonder more than 60% of organizations have failed to simple and satisfy the needs of their reptilian and mammalian brains.
implement their own strategies.5
A tagline that is KISS—Keep It Simple and Satisfying—is a great tagline.
Remember, generally human beings do not wish to engage their Does your organization’s tagline, slogan or motto fit with KISS? If not, it is high
thinking faculty. As Henry Ford once said, “Thinking is the hardest work time to replace those bombastic and abstract words that nobody understands
there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” It means that and relates to with simpler words that relate to realities on the ground and
human beings are too lazy to think. excite the reptilian and mammalian brains of your organization stakeholders.
108 109
For customers and non-customers of AirAsia, their reptilian brains Tony is a big proponent of promoting a specific culture in an organization.
need safe and hassle free flights. Their mammalian brains want to feel In the case of AirAsia, he decided it would be a culture of openness, which is
happy and comfortable when they fly together with their loved ones, at still alien in the traditional hierarchical Asian society. He personally heads the
minimal cost. Based on my own personal experiences Culture Department in AirAsia to ensure the nurturing and realization of the
KISS – Keep so far, both my reptilian and mammalian brains are so culture through implementation of three initiatives.7
It Simple and happy with AirAsia; hence, I keep flying with them.
The first initiative is to have an open workspace where nobody has a
Satisfying. I believe over 360 million passengers of AirAsia are
room. Tony himself does not have a corner office and many special assistants
also in agreement with me.
that insulate him from his employees. He wants people to just walk up to him
Internally, Tony keeps reminding his employees that the ultimate aim at any time they want.
of AirAsia is not just to fill up seats of the planes. It has a bigger and nobler
The second is to let everyone in AirAsia
mission, which is to enable people to fly to be together with their loved ones,
among family members and friends.7 It enables people to visit and appreciate
to have his mobile number. He wants Before you select the
everyone in AirAsia from the errand boys “right” people, you
the diversities that Asia offers. It also empowers the 4.4 billion population
to the senior management to contact him
have to decide first
of Asia to have the unprecedented opportunities to be connected and to what sort of culture in
directly without going through several the organization you
start creating value among themselves, thus propelling wealth creation and
economic growth within the vast continent of Asia. layers of bureaucracy so that they could get want them to be in.
their problems solved very quickly.
Employees are inspired by knowing the fact that their daily jobs really
matter and have a direct impact on their customers. They also realize that The third one is to treat their employees, known as Allstars, as the
inside the planes, some of them are their own family members, relatives, company’s top priority, even above their loyal customers. For Tony,
friends, or co-workers who are about to depart or arrive, so safety and quality “Employees come number one, customers come number two. If you have a
services are of paramount importance to them. happy workforce, they will look after your customers anyway.”8
In effect, the core mission, as conveyed by the tagline, sets the context To ensure a happy workforce, AirAsia provides ample opportunities
of the organization. It defines the boundary of the organizations’ offerings. If for everyone to unleash their passion, ambition and enthusiasm, as well
you want to serve coffee, then you need to get a cup. If you want to serve a as the freedom to use their strengths to contribute to the company’s
meal, you need a plate. Context is like the cup and the plate. mission while having a fulfilling career, regardless of their ethnicity,
creed, age and gender. Tony declared that AirAsia is a “dream factory”
From the tagline, the context of the offerings of AirAsia is to make flying
that is ready to help, facilitate, and assist any of its employees to realize
safe and affordable to everyone in Asia. Next is to get the right people to
their dreams. He wants everyone in the company to follow his footsteps
prepare and deliver the contents of the context. However, before you
in realizing his childhood dream of owning an airline.
select the “right” people, you have to decide first what sort of culture in the
organization you want them to be in.
110 111
To achieve that objective, a training academy was set up immediately Tony also is known to search out new recruits at very strange places,
after Tony took over the company, since he is a great believer in training, such as in queues. He is looking for as many people as possible who
cultivating, and promoting internal human resources. New recruits are have “hunger in their eyes and passion in their hearts” and who are very
required to stay for a month in the academy and they leave with the new comfortable with the openness culture in the company. There were new
AirAsian culture in them.7
staff who left the company a few weeks after joining because they could
not fit in with the company culture.7
AirAsia’s “dream factory” is for real. There are many inspiring stories
of employees who have outstanding upward mobility, not necessarily in With more than 16,000 employees operating in 26 countries, handling
the same department. Mr. Hari Khrisna has defied all odds and propelled more than 57 million passengers per year, it is mind-boggling to think how
his progression from a call center operator to a pilot. Another call center they are being managed to achieve the specific KPIs of the company. No
operator, Mr. Eko Dharmawan has moved up the ladder to become the new doubt, AirAsia has an elaborate list of strategies to achieve the KPIs that are
Sales Manager for Indonesia AirAsia. 9
written in high-level language, which may be understood only by its board of
directors, sophisticated investors and bankers, and the top management team.
In reality, this openness culture is the single core competitive advantage
that AirAsia has over other low-cost carriers in Asia and Australia. Its If they share the same elaborate strategies to their employees, probably
competitors could easily duplicate its business model, but not its culture. nobody would understand them. Therefore, AirAsia translates those elaborate
The critical contribution of its openness culture is evident with its recent strategies into only a few rules. The purpose is to let all Allstars understand
achievement as the Asia’s Leading Low-Cost Airline for the fifth year running them and act accordingly.
at the 2017 World Travel Awards Asia and Australasia. The honor recognizes
Below are some of the rules in AirAsia:9,11
AirAsia’s commitment to excellence in service, putting it ahead of its
competitors such as Air India Express, Firefly, GoAir, JetKonnect, JetStar 1. Single aircraft type (Airbus 320).
Airways, Lucky Air, Nok Air, Scoot, SpiceJet, and West Air. 10
2. Maximum 25 minutes turnaround time for all planes.

Once the type of culture is decided and developed, the next step is to
3. Maximum 12.5 hours a day on aircraft utilization.
hire the right people to join the family of Allstars. Tony is very particular in
getting the right people to join him, from the board members down to the 4. Maximum flight of four hours on any point to point routes.
operators. The initial board members who were founders of the airline were
his very close friends who shared his aspiration and context and contributed 5. Lowest cost per available seat kilometers (CASK) in the world.
significantly during the nascent stage of the airline. One of them was Mr. 6. Flying to new cities having 300,000 population.
Connor McCarthy, the former Chief Operating Officer of Ryanair, the leading
low-cost carrier in Europe.
112 113
The above six rules are to ensure all employees of AirAsia are very focused The only difference between both of them was the culture of openness. As
and disciplined in their daily jobs in order to achieve their ultimate core mission. discussed in earlier chapters, the main weakness of Ford was his unwillingness
They are all written in simple words, according to the SMART elements, so that to listen to feedbacks from his own employees and customers. That weakness
these rules could be easily understood by the reptilian brains of their employees. was exploited by his new competitors and it eventually toppled Ford Motor
Company from its top position.
While the first four rules have already contributed significantly towards
operational efficiencies, the fifth rule has become the key rallying point in The earliest known corporation that employed rules to guide its
AirAsia to keep looking for ways and means to further increase efficiency and employees to soar upward is 3M, an innovation powerhouse with more than
reduce cost. The recent inaugural hackathon event marked its emergence USD30 billion in annual revenue from over 60,000 products manufactured
as a digitally savvy airline, with the aim to capitalize technology to the fullest from 46 technology platforms. It employs more than 90,000 employees
to drive cost further down. Tony has even declared, “Competition is not our across the globe and has generated over 100,000 patents since its
enemy, cost is our enemy.” 12
formation in 1902.13
The sixth rule is aimed to extend the reach of AirAsia, hence enlarging
the potential revenue streams to the airline. According to Tony, “Out of 300
or so AirAsia routes, 60% to 70% are going to new cities.” He simply defines a
new city as a city that has reached a population of 300,000 people. By flying
to such new cities, in actual fact, AirAsia helps the new cities to grow “whole
new businesses that were never there before” due to the economic multiplier
effects of the money from the tourists.11
Comparing the above four practices between Henry Ford and Tony
Fernandes, it is no surprise that both shared the same mission in their
businesses: To provide their offerings to the masses at the most affordable
prices. Both were very particular in selecting their employees and believed
strongly in training their employees.
Both also established clear rules in their companies. Among Ford’s

famous rules were: To produce the lowest cost of cars in the market place,
to double the salary of his employees who were qualified, and to help those
unqualified by enrolling into Ford English School until they qualified to
receive the double pay.
114 115
The most famous rule in 3M is the 15% rule. The rule was launched in 1948, These two rules in 3M, written in very simple words that are easily
after 3M was facing difficulty in getting its early businesses up and running. remembered and understood by all employees, have set the innovation
They realized that they would have to innovate or die, and the 15% rule has been culture in the company. This culture has been successfully bearing bountiful
the key to 3M’s business growth over the years. According to Kurt Beinlich, a innovation harvests over the years.
Technical Director of 3M, “The 15% rule really shaped what and who 3M is. It’s
3M’s culture has also had a very powerful filtering capability to keep out
one of the things that set 3M apart as an innovative company—by sticking to
certain individual who cannot fit with it, even if that individual was the CEO
that culture of giving every one of our employees the ability to follow their
himself. The board of 3M hired James McNerney of General Electric as the
instincts to take advantage of opportunities for the company.”14
new CEO of 3M on Dec 5, 2000. The new CEO carbon-copied into 3M the
In effect, the aim of the rule is to harvest the minds of everyone in 3M. much vaunted GE’s Six Sigma program: A series of management techniques
They could spend up to 15% of their working time to “pursue projects of aimed to decrease defects and increase efficiency. In reality, the relentless
their own choice, free to look for unexpected, unscripted opportunities, for emphasis on efficiency had made 3M a less innovative company. It goes
breakthrough innovations that have the potential to expand the pie”. 15
against the DNA of the innovation culture in 3M that was embedded since
1948. Sensing the misfit, the CEO abruptly left for a superior opportunity
One of the most famous 3M products to come out of the 15% rule
elsewhere, after leading 3M for only four and half years.16
is the Post-It-Note. The rule has directly contributed more than 22,800
patents in 3M. But more importantly, In conclusion, having rules written in simple words that could be easily
Having rules written in the 15% rule has set the type of culture remembered and understood by the simple reptilian brains of your employees
simple words that could that 3M wants to nurture and establish helps in translating the vision, mission and strategy statements into effective
be easily remembered in the company. William McKnight, who execution. Without these simple rules, most of your employees would drown
and understood by the
simple reptilian brains rose from his bookkeeping position to and be lost in the deep sea of high level and abstract words.
of your employees become the chairman of 3M’s board, best
helps in translating the In the next chapter, I will share two remarkable case studies of flawless
explained the rationale of the rule, “It
vision, mission and execution that are mainly contributed to by having this foundation of
strategy statements into encourages experimental doodling. If you
execution being firmly established first in the organization.
effective execution. put fences around people, you get sheep.
Give people the room they need.”15
Another important rule in 3M is the 30% rule. It stipulated that 30% of

each division revenues must come from products introduced in the last four
years. This rule is tracked very closely and the yearly bonuses are based on
successful attainment of this goal.15
116 117
C H A P T E R 1 0
EXECUTION TO
PERFECTION
Case Study I: The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election
T he 2016 U.S. Presidential Election was the epitome of Break the Pattern.
It was not about the Democratic vs. Republican candidates and their
campaign messages. In effect, it was a grand battle between the traditional
campaign operation of Hillary Clinton and the brand new campaign operation
of Donald Trump. Eventually, the Trump team triumphed and pulled off the
greatest upset in contemporary political history.1,2
It was also a showcase of a flawless execution of an idea to perfection.

Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google who designed the Clinton
campaign’s technology system admitted that, “Jared Kushner is the biggest
surprise of the 2016 election. He actually ran the campaign and did it with
essentially no resources.” 1,2
119
E X EC U T I O N TO P E R F EC T I O N DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
Jared was effectively the Chief Lesson #2: A CEO should consciously search for the tipping point
An excellent COO is the Operating Officer (COO) of his father- moments to get the all-in commitment and buy-in from, at least, his COO.
one who understands in-law’s campaign. The way he organized, Better still if everyone on the board of directors and the top management
and has a bird’s eye
managed, strategized and executed also experience the tipping point moments. According to Gladwell, the
view of the whole value
chain of operations and the campaign will definitely change the theory of tipping point is based on the field of epidemiology.3 Applying it
is capable of effectively way future elections are conducted in to organization behavior, key changes can happen rapidly and cheaply when
commanding the heads
countries all over the world. Below are key the beliefs and motivations of a critical mass of people catalyze an epidemic
of various units across
the organization. points as take away lessons on execution movement towards an idea. The most effective
management: 1,2
way of changing their beliefs and driving their Key changes can
motivations is for them to see and experience happen rapidly
Point #1: Being an exemplary son-in-law for over a decade plus, Jared was and cheaply when
certain selected events themselves. For the beliefs and
the most trusted person for the Trump campaign. Even though both of them
your organization, you may lead your top motivations of a
have different perspectives on many things and have different religious beliefs,
management team in coming face-to-face critical mass of
they are firmly bonded on two things: Real estate and Ivanka, Jared’s wife.1,2 people catalyze an
with the worst operational problems in your
epidemic movement
Lesson #1: A CEO should appoint a truly trusted COO who shared the organization, or meeting with the most satisfied towards an idea.
same context and aspiration in achieving a well-defined goal. An excellent and/or disgruntled customers.4
COO is the one who understands and has a bird’s eye view of the whole value
Point #3: Jared’s lack of political experience became the key advantage
chain of operations and is capable of effectively commanding the heads of
to the Trump’s campaign. He was not bounded by the conventional campaign
various units across the organization. Failing to get a great COO means the
operations of the established parties. He was a total outsider of the old
CEO has to bog himself down doing the detail operations and has less time
campaign operations. “Unschooled in traditional campaigning, he was able to
for the high value thinking on vision, mission and strategies. Being without a
look at the business of politics the way so many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs
respectable COO also leads to a stronger silo mentality among the head of
have sized up other bloated industries.” 1,2
units, thus creating turf wars among the heads.
Lesson #3: If you are a serious leader who is looking for ways to break the
Point #2: Jared’s serious involvement in the campaign happened gradually.
pattern of your old stodgy organization, go find an experienced COO who is
As the campaign gained momentum, Jared became a trusted conduit for
not in your industry. For that matter, you should also invite those who can help
many campaign players to reach the erratic Trump. The tipping point that led
you in breaking new patterns by inviting new members onto your board of
to Jared’s all-in commitment to the campaign was when he was personally
directors and team of your top management who are not from your industry.
seeing the enthusiasm of the packed crowd who attended Trump’s campaign
They will bring with them their wealth of experiences from other industries
rally in Springfield, Illinois in November 2016. He said of his father-in-law,
that will hopefully become valuable to you.
“People really saw hope in his message.” 1,2
120 121
Steve Jobs invited Gap’s CEO Milliard Drexler to Apple’s board of Lesson #4: To create massive and fast changes to your organization, you
directors simply because Apple wanted to learn how Gap developed its would require a new culture of openness, where ideas are most welcomed
modern retailing environment and unique marketing vehicles that could and making mistakes are expected. Hence, you would need your employees
be useful in developing the Apple Store. Jobs also hired Ron Johnson to to be skillful in problem-solving to fix things rapidly. You would need them to
specifically develop the Apple Store due to his experience in successfully be creative to come up with out-of-the-box ideas to solve those problems,
developing Target’s more upscale image in the U.S.5 If you find any members and you would need them to be able to make quick decisions to resolve
of your board of directors who are not those issues. They preferred to fail faster and earlier so that they can move
To break the pattern contributing ideas that could elevate your on to the next big idea.
of your old stodgy organization to a higher level, fire them
organization, go find an Point #5: Jared realized that the only way for them to do things very
experienced COO who immediately. Replace them with somebody
quickly and cheaply is by employing technology. “We found that Facebook
is not in your industry. of Mr. Drexler’s stature. The formula of
and digital targeting were the most effective ways to reach the audiences.
selecting a new board member is simple.
After the primary, we started ramping up because we knew that doing
If your company has an annual revenue of say RM1 billion and your goal a national campaign is different than doing a primary campaign. That was
is to increase that revenue, then get someone who has the experience in when we formalized the system because we had to ramp up for digital
bringing in revenue of RM2 billion from a different industry. He or she would fundraising. We brought in Cambridge Analytica. I called some of my friends
surely help you to raise your revenue beyond the RM1 billion level. If you bring from Silicon Valley who were some of the best digital marketers in the world.
in someone who has never achieved a RM1 billion revenue, you are obviously And I asked them how to scale this stuff.
wasting your time and resources. Doing it state by state is not that hard. But To create massive
scaling is a very, very hard thing. They gave and fast changes to
Point #4: Jared brought with him a fresh perspective by capitalizing
me a lot of their subcontractors and I built your organization, you
his strength and experience as an entrepreneur to structure the campaign would require a new
in Austin a data hub. We had about 100
operation as a start-up. “It’s a massive start-up. We basically had to build culture of openness,
people in that office, which nobody knew where ideas are most
a USD400 million operation with 1,500 people operating in 50 states in 5
about, until towards the end. We used that welcomed and making
months, to then be taken apart. We started really from scratch... So you’re
as the nerve center to unify fundraising, mistakes are expected.
going to make hiring mistakes... It’s just problem-solving, problem-solving,
messaging and targeting efforts.”1,2
problem-solving. And making quick decisions. And then fixing things that
are broken, and then scaling things that are working. We tried a lot of new Lesson #5: As a leader, you should realize that technology is the only
things. We weren’t afraid to make changes. We weren’t afraid to fail. We way for your organization to do things very quickly and cheaply. If your
tried to do things very cheaply, very quickly. And if it wasn’t going to work, organization is still using manual or semi-manual data gathering and data
we would kill it quickly.”1,2 analysis, still relying on traditional marketing campaign using newspapers, the
122 123
internet, flyers, brochures and billboards, and worse still, if you are still using our walking to knock on doors, our phone calls, our rally locations and even the
sales agents, it is an obvious sign that your organization has been left behind topics of the speeches are dictated by the nerve data center.”1,2 No wonder,
by the digitally savvy world. It is timely to replace your Chief Information according to the Federal Election Commission, the Trump’s campaign spent
Officer with someone else who is well-versed with data analytics. about half as much as that of Clinton’s.
Point #6: Jared created a simple rule to Lesson #7: Data and evidence should be the driving force for all decisions
Technology is the guide everyone on the campaign operation to in organizations. With the help of technology, data gathering and analysis
only way for your maximize the return for every dollar spent, “How could be done more rapidly and in real time, thus allowing faster and precision
organization to do
we can get the best Return on Investment (ROI) in decision makings and lowering the cost of operations. Without data, your
things very quickly
and cheaply. because every vote is the same?” 1,2
The cost to decision making would be based on assumptions and emotions that often
get votes varied, depending on location. lead to erroneous and costly consequences. What is the basis of your current
decision makings in your organization? If it is still
Lesson #6: Simplifying a complex operation into a simple rule that could be
based on mere opinions, discussions, debates and Simplifying a
understood by everyone at all levels of operation is key in execution. It reduces complex operation
brainstorming without any hard data or evidence,
the need for frequent meetings and briefings, hence lowering the operational into a simple
then you have been running and leading your rule that could
cost. It allows everyone to make quick decisions on many operational issues,
organization like the blind in describing the be understood by
hence reducing their dependencies on the top management for decisions. In everyone at all
elephant. Everyone gives their own opinions
effect, this allows the top management to think of other higher value activities. levels of operation
based on their own perspective and emotions. is key in execution.
If your organization is known to have a lot of meetings, worse still if these
They will go everywhere and nowhere.
are lengthy meetings, and is still relying on internal newsletter to circulate
information, it is a sign that you do not have simple rules to guide your With the above seven lessons from the U.S. Presidential Election
employees in their daily operations. It is time to summon your top management 2016 as a guide, it is timely to restructure, reorganize or re-engineer your
to get their creativity juices to create simple rules for your organization. organization so that data and entrepreneurship become the central themes
of your organization. Data should seamlessly
Point #7: Based on the simple rule, the nerve data center would drive
flow throughout the whole value chain of your Data and evidence
every strategic decision. “We were very data driven in terms of how we could should be the
internal operations until it delivers its offerings to
always judge what the ROI was. We keep asking: how can we get Trump’s driving force for
your intended customers. An entrepreneurship all decisions in
message to a particular target for the least amount of cost? We measured
mindset keeps your operation in delivering the organizations.
that very aggressively and in real time. We did an analysis about where to
best ROI at the lowest cost.
spend the money. For example, a market like New Hampshire is a very,
very expensive market. So your cost per vote is going to be substantially
higher than someplace else. We did our TV buying, our digital buying,
124 125
Case Study II: Increasing the Oil Extraction Rate of a The next training session was on the creative techniques for idea
Palm Oil Plantation generation and idea selection. Based on their identified root causes, the
participants were ready to perform their idea generation workshop with their
This case study was an actual consulting assignment that our group secured
respective team members. Each project leader was requested to select the
with one of the palm oil plantation companies in Malaysia. Upon discussion
top three ideas and the required respective budgets for implementation.
with the top management of the company, it was clear that their main
Again, they were requested to present their findings at the next meeting,
objective was to increase the Oil Extraction Rate (OER) by a mere 1%. They
attended by top management of the company for deliberation and agreement
had tried it before, but to no avail. Increasing the OER is the easiest target,
on which idea and budget was to be implemented for each group.
since it increases the revenue without incurring extra cost.
With the approved budget, the groups were ready for pilot execution of the
The agreed target “to increase the OER by 1%” became the mantra of
solution to resolve their respective issues. The implementations of the projects
the consulting program. It was a very simple rule with words that were easily
were closely coached and monitored by our team. The top management team
understood by everyone involved from the top management team of the
of the company also diligently monitored the progress and performance of
company to the employees of the company and our own consulting team.
the projects through regular presentations by the project leaders.
Our team of consultants requested the company to nominate their best
The top management team of the company played very important roles
middle managers to be participants of this program. We asked that they
in adjusting certain parameters for the implementation of the group projects
represent the various units across the value chain of the company, from the
for the purpose of synergy between various plantations and units within the
plantation to the mill. Through them, we harvested the pain points in their
plantations, and also for the company-wide implementation. Since the outputs
current work. Upon analyzing these pain points, our team discovered various
of a certain project became the inputs for another project, such adjustments
key issues along the value chain and presented them to the top management
were necessary to ensure a seamless flow of data and parameters across the
for deliberation. With their approval, these key issues became the scope of
value chain of the operation.
various projects to be explored throughout our consulting engagement.
Once the top management team was satisfied with the outcomes of
The participants were then exposed to creative problem-solving
certain pilot projects, they would decide to implement the same project
methodologies. During the first training session, they were exposed to the
company-wide. The same project leaders became the new coordinators and
techniques of problem definition and problem analysis. Upon returning to
facilitators for the company-wide implementation. The knowledge and skills
their respective workplace, we requested them to form a working group
that were taught to them by our consulting team were cascaded down to
whose members should come from various units. Their tasks were to fully
other employees in the company.
define and analyze their assigned scopes and to gather data and evidence to
support their claims. They were requested to present their findings at the next
meeting, attended by top management of the company.
126 127
The expanded roles of the project leaders were the extra bonus that the
company received from this consulting program. In effect, these project
leaders had been trained to assume greater leadership roles in the company.
Their confidence level in communication and skills in problem-solving,
doing presentation and managing projects had increased significantly.
They were also able to apply the creativity tools and techniques that they
learned in the program into their work place and personal lives. As a result,
more than 50% of the project leaders were promoted to higher positions
while still participating in this consulting program.
THE WAY FORWARD
The frequent presentations by the participants followed by open
discussions with the top management team also had created a new
culture of openness in the organization. The discussions had sparked off a
flurry of information exchanges and sharing of experiences between the
top management team and the participants. The top management team Insanity is doing the same thing over and
cascaded down their wisdom and valuable experiences and corrected wrong
over again and expecting different results.
interpretations of how things should be done.
—Anonymous
The information exchanges and sharing of experiences also happened
among the top management team themselves. They shared the best
practices and the specific problems that they were facing in their
respective plantation complexes.
This program also provided a platform for the top management team and I hope this book has given you the logical and practical steps in helping you
participants to test, experiment, and try new methods of best practices in the not be an insane person, that is, by breaking your old pattern of doing the
company without any worry of making mistakes. They had learned to accept same thing to get different results.
mistakes and fixed things that were not working. The frequent meetings allow
them to make rapid decision to stop projects that were not producing the Whatever position you are in now, always look for opportunities to break
intended results and to quickly move on to try other ideas. the pattern. You could be a child to your family, a parent to your children,
a student, an employee, a subordinate, a manager, a CEO, a member of
After working closely with the company for about 18 months, the project
board of directors, an owner of a small company, a founder of a multinational
team was proud to achieve the targeted 1% increment in OER, contributing
corporation, a politician, a cabinet minister, a prime minister or a president of
an additional revenue of about RM30 million to the company.
a country. Breaking the pattern should be the mission of everyone.
128 129
T H E W AY F O R W A R D DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
If it is, then your tomorrow shall always be better than your today. I put the front cover of this book on the
That is the only way forward for you to get transformational value creation. screens of my laptop and mobile phone. I look To ensure the
Remember, the value of a fresh egg will only at it every time I work with these devices, realization of
Always look for transformational
soar upward after it has been transformed. literally hundreds of times every day. I shared it value creation, all
opportunities to
break the pattern. Otherwise, your tomorrow is going to be a waste, with my family members, colleagues, students, five elements must
like the rotten eggs. participants of my training programs, and be in existence:
Context, input,
clients of my consulting services, promising
As a trained chemical engineer, I have presented material in this book output, feedback,
them that they would get copies of the book by and execution.
from the process perspective. It involves detailed step-by-step processes.
the year’s end.
Each of the elements in the Transformational Value Creation Framework
that has been validated by numerous case studies cited in each respective I did the above actions to consciously and continuously put the bytes of
chapter in the book shall provide you with opportunities for you to break information into my subconscious mind to strengthen my context. I needed
your old pattern of doing things. a very strong context in my subconscious mind to facilitate me in getting
inspirations and ideas on the content and its flow in the book.
To ensure the realization of transformational value creation, all five
elements must be in existence: Context, input, output, feedback, and Sure enough, the stream of ideas started to come in every opportunity,
execution. If any one of them is missing, the promised transformational value especially when my brain is in alpha and theta states; while driving, walking,
creation shall cease. The unfortunate fate of Ford Motor Company was sealed jogging, playing golf, eating, meeting close friends, breaks between meetings,
when Henry Ford refused to listen to the feedback from his stakeholders. about to nap and sleep, etc. I also created simple rules to guide me in the
process of writing this book, such as the time to start writing on a daily basis,
This book itself is a demonstration on the practicality and validity of the
the places to write, the number of pages for each chapter, things to do to
Transformational Value Creation Framework. I started with clarifying the
get inspiration, etc.
context in my subconscious mind on “why” I am writing this book. I needed to
establish a very strong reason to start writing and quickly finishing the book. Based on the stream of feedback from my colleagues, students,
and of course from the publisher, the draft manuscript got better and
I also adopted the Break the Pattern method in writing this book.
better by leaps and bounds, until it is finally published and now it is in front
Conventionally first, you need to complete writing the manuscript and then you
of your eyes.
search for a publisher that is willing to publish it. Instead, I reversed the process.
First, I searched for a publisher with only an idea in my mind. After agreeing to In short, the book on your hand is the result of several iterations of the
the contract and paying the agreed amount, the publisher assigned a few people Transformational Value Creation Framework. This book is a realization of
to work closely with me to assist me on every step of publishing this book. The an idea that was transformed into the tangible book that you are currently
first to be completed was the design of the front cover. reading. It was a truly a “Transformation Effort” in action.
130 131
T H E W AY F O R W A R D
While I have tried my very level best, there is no doubt there will be
mistakes in this book. I consider this book to be a work in progress. I certainly
look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions to further
improve this book.
It is my hope you would get few bytes of useful and valuable information
from this book. I encourage you to put that information into practice and
to share with other readers the transformational value creation outcomes,
if any, from your initiatives through my site at www.BreakThePattern.info. REFERENCES
Hopefully through the open sharing of information, the transformational
value creation will become a movement that will deliver exceptional benefit
Chapter 1: Transformational Value Creation
to you, in particular, and to the society as a whole.
1. “What is Transformation?”, Government Transformation Programme,
gtp.pemandu.gov.my/gtp/About_GTP-@-What_is_Transformation%5E.
aspx. Accessed 4 July 2017.
Chapter 2: Framework for Transformational Value Creation
1. Harris, W. & Freudenrich, C. “How Light Works”, HowStuffWorks, science.

howstuffworks.com/light5.htm. Accessed 4 July 2017.
2. Penagos-Corzo, J. Creativity as an Attitude: An Approach to the Origins of

Creativity, 2014 KIE Conference Book Series: Creativity in Business.
3. “Authentic Happiness”, University of Pennsylvania,

www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/learn/creativity.
Accessed 4 July 2017.
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innovation/whatisinnovation.jsp. Accessed 4 July 2017.
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Program in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia”, RISUS – Journal on Innovation
and Sustainability, Vol. 5, No 1, 2014, ISSN: 2179-3565.
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142 143
BRIEF CV OF THE AUTHOR

Dr. Ahmad Rahman Songip is Professor of Innovation Management at the
Management of Technology Department, Malaysia-Japan International
Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Kuala Lumpur.
He is also a Consultant in Break the Pattern at UTM Holdings Sdn. Bhd., the
commercialization arm of UTM.
Dr. Ahmad was the Founding Director of UTM Transformation & Risk
Management, UTM (2010–2013). He was also a member of the UTM Central
Executive Committee and a member in the UTM Board of Director Sub
Committee on UTM Enterprise Risk Management.
Formerly the Director of the Academic Program at Business Advanced

Technology Center (2002–2005), Dr. Ahmad managed the whole value
chain of the unique Experience-Based Learning (EBL) Programs at BATC.
The EBL provides an alternative to the working population who did
not have the opportunity to go through the normal academic and
skill-based education channels. EBL starts with the Executive Development
and re-GEneration (EDGE) program and continues up to the highest
Engineering Doctorate level.
145
BRIEF CV OF THE AUTHOR DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
He is an intrapreneur who practices creativity and innovation. He has He was among the first to be certified by Deloitte Employment Center,
successfully re-engineered the EDGE Program in BATC into a cash cow United Kingdom, as a lead trainer for the Iskandar Malaysia Graduate
operation, registering a phenomenal growth of 2,400% (gross revenue Leadership and Development (IMGLAD) program.
of RM16 million) and 3,900% (net profit of RM3.2 million) during its two
He has been conducting training, coaching, and consulting on Personal
years of operation (2003–2005). The restructured EDGE program has
Financial Management, Entrepreneurship Development, Scenario Planning,
contributed to the financial turnaround of BATC for the first time since
Creative Problem Solving, and Innovation Management. He is passionate on
its formation in 1992 and has also created several millionaires among the
helping organizations to sharpen and capitalize the latent potential of their
EDGE providers throughout the country.
greatest asset: The creativity of their stakeholders. His flagship program
When Dr. Ahmad was the Deputy Dean of Research Management is called VACCINE (Value Creation Acceleration through Creativity and
Center, UTM (1995–1997), he initiated a paradigm shift in the R&D Innovation Experience). VACCINE helps organizations in harvesting the
management to optimize research expertise and resources in UTM that led minds of their stakeholders to create transformational value creation to
to the formation of the Research Focus Groups in line with the Malaysian ensure the organization’s long-term survival and sustainability.
industrial clustering strategy. The strategic move gave an immediate impact
He has conducted workshops in PETRONAS, Oracle Malaysia, MISC
when UTM received an increment of 400% in the amount of research grant
Bhd., TM Bhd., Sarawak Shell Bhd., Sabah Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd., Kulim Bhd.,
from the Intensified Research in Priority Areas (IRPA) in the 7th Malaysian
Johor Port Bhd., IWK, JKR, MOSTI, SPAN, MARA, MDeC, SEDCs, FELCRA
Plan (RMK-7). He was also instrumental in helping the then Ministry of
Bhd., SIRIM Bhd., UTM, UMP, UPSI, UTeM, MINDEF, PERHEBAT, NAZA, and
Science, Technology, and Environment (MOSTE) in the development of
KLIA Holdings. So far, more than 5,000 participants from more than 500
a new mechanism in managing and operating the National IRPA Fund of
organizations have benefited from his facilitations.
more than RM1.0 billion in RMK-8.
Dr. Ahmad was a PETRONAS Scholar and graduated with BSc (High
Dr. Ahmad’s corporate experience includes being the General Manager
Honors) and MChE degrees in Chemical Engineering from Illinois Institute of
of the Chemical Division, Actacorp Holdings Berhad (1997–1999), and also
Technology, Chicago, USA. He holds a Dr. Eng. from Kyoto University, where
the General Manager of Global Technology and Innovation Management
he was a Japanese Government Scholar. His research interests include the
(GTIM) Sdn. Bhd. (1999–2002), a joint venture R&D company between UTM
production of hydrogen for fuel cells, the application of zeolite in industry,
and the University of Queensland, Australia.
and the management of creativity, innovation, and technology. He supervises
Dr. Ahmad has broken several patterns in UTM. He was among the more than 50 Masters and Doctorate candidates and has published more
first of UTM staff who dared to do his doctorate studies in Japan. He was than 100 publications. He holds four Intellectual Property Rights.
also among the first to be certified to conduct a module in the prestigious
MSc program for the United Kingdom’s Warwick University in Malaysia.
146 147
SPEAKING
TRAINING Speaking & Training Services on Break The Pattern –
COACHING btp@BreakThePattern.info; www.BreakThePattern.info
CONSULTING
SPEAKING & TR AINING

SERVICES BASED ON
BREAK THE PATTERN
Dr. Ahmad is passionate on helping organizations to sharpen and capitalize

the latent potential of their greatest asset: The creativity of their human
capital. He facilitates participants to think out-side the box to generate
creative ideas that could deliver value creation to the organization.
Ideas are the currency in the current era of the mind. Ideas are the
starting point of innovation and transformation in any organization. The best
source of ideas surprisingly comes from the very human capital that resides
within the organization.
As such, the future state and the survival of the organization depend
on the effectiveness of the organization in harvesting the minds of its own
human capital and those outside of the organization for ideas.
149
S P E A K I N G & T R A I N I N G S ER V I CE S B A S ED O N B R E A K T H E PAT T ER N DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
Dr. Ahmad has been invited as a keynote speaker in numerous

conferences and to conduct workshops in Malaysia, Indonesia, China,
Qatar and UAE, sharing his passion on the concept of Break the Pattern.
Among his notable training modules include:
• The Transformation of the Minds
• Entrepreneurship Development
• Scenario Planning
• Innovation & Creative Problem-Solving

TESTIMONIALS FROM
• Organization Transformation PAST PARTICIPANTS OF
Please contact us for more details on the above modules. TRAINING WORKSHOPS
CONDUCTED BY DR. AHMAD RAHMAN SONGIP
• Dr. Ng Boon Beng, Financial Director, Oracle Malaysia: “It was an

unprecedented exercise done in Oracle Corporation Malaysia that all
senior staff were brought together under one roof to debate and agree
on matters that are not often openly discussed. You have done amazingly
well to get everyone into agreement on common issues. The end result
is amazingly positive that commitments from various team members are
secured to drive common objectives.”
• Jasbir Singh, Senior Director, Applications Sales, Oracle Malaysia:

“This was an eye opener, where we for once sit and look back at ourselves.
I believe workshop like this needs to be done more often. I truly believe we
need to have this workshop again with our CIO’s and customers.”
150 151
TES TIMONI A L S FROM PA S T PA RTICIPA NTS
OF TRAINING WORKSHOPS
• Lucas Lu, GM, Technology Sales, Oracle Malaysia: “Dr. Ahmad has • Prof. Dr. Ainul Jaria Bt Maidin, Director, Office of Corporate Strategy,
provided the relevant application of ‘Blue Ocean’ strategy as a IIUM: “Unconventional method in developing ideas to identify weaknesses
methodology to bring together the senior management team. Instead and strength in an organization. He gave a very clear and simple ways of
of talking about issues, it was refreshing to be able to put issues explaining complicated issues.”
on paper, brainstorm solutions and have a commitment to drive
• Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nornisah Mohamed, Deputy Dean, The School of
concrete action plans.”
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia: “I am thrilled to have
• Hayati Harudin, Director, Business Development, Oracle Malaysia: the opportunity to attend this absolutely wonderful and transformational
“This workshop is really effective to identify problem statement workshop. I am feeling energized and eager to start using the tools in our
and nail down actions and action owners to execute the resolution next strategic planning workshop.”
plans. Most importantly, this workshop drives and synergizes various
• Wan Abd. Manan Wan Abdullah, Director, Centre for Professional Talent
line of business (LOBs) to a shared goal. Dr. Ahmad was great in
Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu: “This module helps us to
facilitating this, with his experience, we know how to chart the blue
look at problems in a new perspective and understand the need to break
ocean strategic canvass.”
the pattern which is the key to success.”
• Prof. Dato Dr. Rosli Mohd Yunus, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research &
• Ir. Jaseni Maidinsa, General Manager, Water Service Dept, Penang:
Innovation), Universiti Malaysia Pahang: This workshop is very effective in
“This is a very useful management tool to identify issues and solutions in
helping UMP to save operational cost of the university.
any organization. It is carried out in a relaxed and creative manner. The
• Prof. Dr. Abd. Manaf Ali, Deputy Vice Chancellor (R&I), UNISZA: facilitator conducted the exercise expertly”
“Very useful and important tools for organization transformation.”
• Lim Pek Bio, Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd.: “Found the approach
• Prof. Dr. Kamaruzzaman Seman, Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Built refreshing & different from other workshops, inspire new thinking. Well
Environment, USIM: Prof. Ahmad brilliantly explained the benefit and structured workshop – able to encourage creative ‘thinking out of the
how to practice using the proper tools for value creation. I can’t wait to box’ blue ocean.
implement it in my organization.”
• Norman Hj. Harun, N. Sembilan Water Sdn Bhd.: “Breaking a pattern in
• Prof. Dr. Raman Noordin, Dean, Faculty of Business, Economics and a small thing that can bring a lot of differences in our daily practices. We
Accountancy, UMS: “Informative and significantly practical approach. The tend to stick to one routine work and try to avoid changes to be on the
module has opened up ‘option’ of how an organization can assess ‘pain safe side. Breaking a pattern will make life more interesting and the team
can progress faster with new ideas.”
points’ and how to strategize.
• Teh Yeok Sin, Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd: “Good method to generate ideas
from participants. Able to break the pattern, the normal way of getting idea.”
152 153
TES TIMONI A L S FROM PA S T PA RTICIPA NTS
OF TRAINING WORKSHOPS
• Datin Fazia Ali, Senior Deputy Registrar, Division of Research & • Zainal Abidin Bin Rahmat, Perodua Sales, Kluang: “Thank you for your
Innovation, Universiti Malaysia Pahang: Yes, I like this workshop and will very powerful creative problem solving method. Using your tools, we have
we will follow up with another workshop soon. increased our sales by more than 61% and has exceeded the HQ’s target in
the last three months.”
• Chin Tain Loi, Standard Chartered Bank, Kota Kinabalu: “This module
opens up my mind with a different perspective. It really works like magic • Lee Jyh Jing, Solectron Technology Sdn Bhd, Penang: “I was really impressed
and it helps me to solve most of the challenges that I face in my job and now with this module. Finally I have discovered my own brain and how to unleash
I can see a clear direction. My sale-team performances normally recorded its power. Various real examples and proven tools have been conveyed in
RM2.1 million and now it has increased to RM4.5 million a month!” easy and fun methods. I have applied the tools in my current job and after
some practices, I was able to solve a recurrent problems of cooling fan
• Yeap Ho Aik, LB Aluminum Bhd, Beranang, Selangor: “I have used the
failure that cause massive machine break-down due to burnt-up of CPU
creativity techniques taught in the module to solve a very big problem
card which cost RM15,000 per piece, with only a RM2.00 solution!”
in my company. Through a multi-disciplinary team that I formed, we have
come up with very creative solutions that saved our company more than • Dr. G. Navindran, Sandakan, Sabah: “It was an eye opener to a whole new
RM2 million!” world. It clearly teases our brain to look at the big picture and beyond. We
had a glowing smile as we walked out at the end of the module.”
• Jinmin Albat, Sarawak Shell Berhad, Bintulu: “The tools taught in this
module were indeed very practical and valuable. I have applied them to • Yogaiswaran Kandiah, Maxis Berhad, Kuala Lumpur: “I need to be truthful
solve a long-standing problem in my current job. Upon attending the in confessing that I was too confident that I knew the content of the
module, I could immediately see the creative solution to the problem module well considering my number of years of experience in the job and
that I could not see before. As a result, I was able to help Shell to save numerous course exposures that was attained. Surely my assumptions
USD50,000 (RM175,000)!” were completely denied with the theory, facts and deliverables that
were presented by Dr. Ahmad. May God blesses you for the sincere and
• Saravanan a/l Muthiah, Kobe Precision Technologies Sdn Bhd, Penang:
spectacular delivery.”
"I was indeed very fortunate to attend this great module. My company was
facing a problem that would conventionally require about RM150,000 to • Idarahayu Ayob, Multimedia Dev Corp: “It was fun and fulfilling but most
buy a new machine to rectify the problem. Using the tools that I learnt importantly, it helped to open my eyes that I actually have the potential to
from this module, I formed a team to find creative solutions to the succeed far beyond what I can imagine. This is one module where I don’t
problem. Finally we found a truly creative solution that costs only RM100! even want to blink for fear I might miss something very significant in my life.”
This solution is still in use until today. “
154 155
SPEAKING • TRAINING • COACHING • CONSULTING
on Break the Pattern – The Science of
Transformational Value Creation Database of Pain Points and Insights for the Organization. For value creation
to happen, organization needs to do two things, i.e. taking stock of its “pain points”
btp@BreakThePattern.info; www.BreakThePattern.info
and harvesting “insights” from its stakeholders and noncustomers. VACCINE
facilitates organization to harvest and document them.
Value Creation Initiatives in the Organization. Based on the thorough analysis

of the above database, VACCINE helps to creatively and systematically solves
Ideas are the currency in the current era of the mind. Ideas are the fuel of
current real problems and catalyzes new initiatives in capitalizing the insights.
innovation and transformation in any organization. The best source of ideas
Rapid decision making and systematic execution program for these projects ensure
surprisingly comes from the very human capital that resides inside the
maximum returns to the organization.
organization. Another overlooked sources of ideas are from outside the
organization, including the non-customers. As such, the future state and the Talent Management Program. The high intensity, externally oriented and
survival of the organization depend on the effectiveness of the organization in interdisciplinary nature of the VACCINE Program offers an integrated talent
harvesting the minds of its stakeholders. development program to step-up the shift in focus and thinking among the
participants from operational to strategic leadership, hence fulfilling the succession
planning and talent management program in the organization.
Cultivation of Innovation Culture. The structured cascading of knowledge and

skills to the lower rung of the organization ensures the creation of critical mass needed
for the cultivation of an innovation culture in the organization. In fact, the long-term
survival and sustainability of the organization depends very much on how strong such
VACCINE (Value Creation Acceleration through Creativity and Innovation culture of innovation permeates within the organization.
Experiences) program is a process that has been designed to specifically
Proven Track Records. Similar programs have been successfully conducted
implement the concept of Break the Pattern – the Science of Transformational
in public and private organizations as well as multinational corporations such as
Value Creation. The VACCINE program facilitates organization to harvest the
Petronas, Shell Malaysia, Oracle Malaysia, Kulim Berhad, Johor Port Berhad, Public
enormous but largely untapped minds of its stakeholders to create
Works Department, UTM, UMP, UTeM, KLIA Holdings, NAZA Group, FELCRA,
transformational value creation. Our VACCINE program offers the following
Multimedia Dev. Corp, MARA, PERHEBAT and Sabah Credit Corporation. The tools
unique features to ensure maximum returns on the organization’s investment
and techniques also have been fully tested and implemented by thousands of our
in the program:
students and clients since 2003 with outstanding results.
SPEAKING
TRAINING Coaching & Consulting Services on Break The Pattern –
COACHING btp@BreakThePattern.info; www.BreakThePattern.info
CONSULTING
Deliverables: Customers Deliverables:

• Organization-wide Implementation
• Database of Pain Points and Insights of Stakeholders
• Project Report
• Training on Break the Pattern tools
• Lesson Learnt
• Transformation Plan for the Organization Quadruple • Graduation
Organization Innovation University
Model
Clients
Participants
| Phase I | Phase II: Execution | Phase III |

Value Creation Acceleration through Creativity & Innovation Experiences (VACCINE)©
Assess Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Final
Results
Stage 1: Detail Problem Analysis
Stage 2: Search for Creative Solution at Project level
Stage 3: Pilot Project
• Cost saving of RM10
Deliverables:
Public Works million, 2012
• Execution of Transformation Program
Kulim (M) Berhad Dept - Savings > • New revenue of
• Middle Managers as Project Leaders and Post
- additional net profit RM7 Billion, RM90 million, 2014
Graduate Students
of RM30 million, 2011-2014 • Transformation Plan for
• Transformational Value Creation
2008-2009 2016-20-2020, 2015
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The Science of Transformational Value Creation

Dr. Ahmad Rahman Songip

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or

Author: Dr. Ahmad Rahman Songip

Publisher: Black Card Books

LIMITS OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The author and publisher of this

“Break the Pattern is an excellent book with hands-on exploration of

This book is very timely indeed!” President & Chief Executive

“In today’s world of rapid transformation and epic challenges, breaking

creation amidst uncertainty and chaos of the business environment that

—Anders Fogelberg —Hiroshi Iwadate

“A well-written and powerful book that takes our understanding of

“This book explains transformation, and explains it well. A good read

“Based on my prior experience as a deputy president and a board member

Also, special appreciations to my current graduate students who have

Preface Equipped with practical experiences from industry and successfully

Part I: Break the Pattern Part IV: Execution

Part II: Shaping the Context The Way Forward

You have just witnessed an interesting concept in the transformational value

By taking the above example of an egg, breaking its shell is the

Everything in this world has a framework.

O ur body is built around a bone framework that houses many subsystems

Similarly, there is a need for a framework for transformational value

Attitude = Resistance x Skills

Innovation = Creativity x Transformation Effort

Figure 2-2: Relationship between Innovation and Creativity

Ukraine 0.518 37.6

By running through Table 2-1, you would immediately notice the

The context could be developed through effective goal setting and

Two chapters are devoted to answering the 4Ws by capitalizing the

Part IV focuses on the execution process, to answer the “how” question.

Let the journey begin…

WHY BREAK THE PATTERN?

According to the Triune Brain model popularized by Paul MacLean,3 the

M – Measurable degree by the prestigious Kyoto University. As an academician, it is a must-

When I first met my doctorate supervisor in Japan, he gave me a very simple

I hope you could see the commonality between the stories of

The SMARTER goal statement then shapes the context in

T he word “eureka” means “I’ve found it!” It has become synonymous

Archimedes was a distant relative to the King of Syracuse named Hiero.

1. The quality of the cars was automatically assured. Certainly, the

2. Immediate feedback from the workers on any problems with

THE 10,000-HOUR RULE

D uring my undergraduate studies, I was exposed to the new world of

To earn a bachelor degree from Illinois Institute of Technology, I

It was not a revelation, actually. It was expected, especially since the

Despite their prudent life, another common trait among successful

When I met him recently in Quezon City, I discovered that his

HARVEST THE PAIN

According to the Islamic tradition, King Solomon was a Prophet of God

Despite frantic efforts by Ford in introducing new models and new

HARVEST THE MINDS

W ithin minutes of Hewlett Packard (HP) losing to Dell in supplying

I deas that have been generated through various means, as discussed

Organizational behavior is defined by “the study of human behavior

2. Maximum 25 minutes turnaround time for all planes.

Both also established clear rules in their companies. Among Ford’s

Another important rule in 3M is the 30% rule. It stipulated that 30% of

Case Study I: The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

It was also a showcase of a flawless execution of an idea to perfection.

Chapter 2: Framework for Transformational Value Creation

1. Harris, W. & Freudenrich, C. “How Light Works”, HowStuffWorks, science.

2. Penagos-Corzo, J. Creativity as an Attitude: An Approach to the Origins of