It finally came to this! Here I am standing in front of Cheung Kong Center holding a placard saying “I want to have lunch with Li Ka Shing”. Actually, inspired by the guy next to me (Brian Chau) who wants Mr. Li to invest in his company!! I told him that if he’s successful in securing funding, Mr. Li can expect me to be standing there next!
So this is why the proverb “Knowledge is power” not “Information is power”
There is probably no segment of activity in the world attracting as much attention at present as that of knowledge management. Yet as I entered this arena of activity I quickly found there didn’t seem to be a wealth of sources that seemed to make sense in terms of defining what knowledge actually was, and how was it differentiated from data, information, and wisdom. What follows is the current level of understanding I have been able to piece together regarding data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. I figured to understand one of them I had to understand all of them.
According to Russell Ackoff, a systems theorist and professor of organizational change, the content of the human mind can be classified into five categories:
1. Data: symbols
2. Information: data that are processed to be useful; provides answers to “who”, “what”, “where”, and “when” questions
3. Knowledge: application of data and information; answers “how” questions
4. Understanding: appreciation of “why”
5. Wisdom: evaluated understanding.
One day, a very scholarly English gentleman, while travelling in India, decided to go across big river, so he asked one of the village people who owned a small boat, if he would take him, to this request the boatman agreed.
As they started, the sun became obscured by dark clouds, and as the river was large, the gentleman realised that the crossing would take some time. So he started a conversation with the boatman.
“Did you know that the sun is approximately 93,000,000miles away, and yet it has provided heat and light, throughout the universe since time immemorial, baring that, if it was to shift, even a fraction of an inch out of its orbit, there would be total devastation?”
The boatman replied; “My dear sir, I am just a simple man who has had no education, there is no way I could know such information”
“Then” said the gentleman “You are 25% fool”.
Some time passed, and as they were coming to the ½ way mark, the thunder began to rumble.
“Did you know notice the lightening, just before the rumbling sound”. The gentleman asked. He continued. “Do you know how that phenomenon occurs”
“No sir” replied the boatman.
“Its occurrence is due to the expansion of rapidly heated air,” the gentleman exclaimed, “ You are 50% fool.
About ¾ of the way the weather completely changed. It became dark and started to rain heavily and started filling up the little boat with water clearly making it difficult for the boatman. But the foolish gentleman insisted in questioning.
“Do you know how we get rain”,
“No sir,” was the reply.”
“ The sun evaporates water from the sea, this gets stored in the clouds which then travel by be wind power, then when they become full, it lets all the water go, over the land. That’s how we get rain.”
“You are 75% fool.” Said the gentleman, now feeling very smug.
The gentleman was suddenly interrupted from his basqueing by a loud cry from the boatman,
“Oh no! I have lost my oar and now the water is about capsize the boat, we have no alternative but to swim the remainder of the way, luckily for us it is not very far.”
“But I can’t swim,” cried the gentleman now seeing his own imminent death.
“Then my dear sir, you are 100% fool” said the boatman.
Tags: Rain
“Always have a partner who is smarter than you are” – Sandy Weill in an interview with CNBC’s Mary Thompson.
Link here.
1) Get advice from anyone
2) Reputation is the most important asset
3) If a company can’t keep growing, it will atrophy and die
4) Use competitor’s distress to your advantage
5) Discourage short-term thinking; don’t dwell on defeat
6) Destiny: “It’s funny how events had conspired to change my destiny. First, my parents’ divorce forced me to graduate late, thus delaying my service obligation, and now, a simple physical exam steered me in an entirely different direction.”
7) Never confuse brains with a bull market
8) Never turn anyone down since you never know where a relationship might lead
9) Think creatively, think big and don’t be afraid to take risks
10) Once you start playing around with a firm’s equilibrium, you set a process in motion with totally unpredictable results
11) Upon acquiring Hayden Stone: “We had just increased the scale four business by a factor of 30 times. A minnow had swallowed a whale!”
12) The more a business leader can personalize the relationships that tie together employees, the better it’ll be for the company
13) Merger talks typically start with each side laying out its vision of the big picture. The key is to establish good chemistry and atmosphere ahead of the hard bargaining.
14) More important the the mode of transportation is where the transportation is taking you
15) It’s best to exit those things that can’t be explained in plain English
16) It is always best to walk away when you can’t move forward on your on terms
17) Tell us what hill to match up and we’ll do it, but we can only succeed if we’ve one Northern Star by which to set our compass – The triumvirate Citigroup situation!
18) Rationalize what you want, but don’t fool yourself
Fantastic book, great guy!
Tags: Rain
“Time doesn’t change anything. Doing things changes things, not doing things leaves things exactly as they were” – House
“If you don’t have inflation, the last thing you need is cash”
“Time in the market produces returns, not trying to time the market” – Phil Nelson
“Profit from folly rather than participate in it”
“Obvious propects for physical growth in a business do not translate into obvious profit for investors”
I think an ex Canadian Minister said this about the US!
” Sleeping next to an elephant – no matter how friendly or even-tempered is the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt”
“Frankly, I don’t have many hobbies… The most important enjoyment for me is to work hard and make more profit”
“Even when I was small, I considered the most important asset to be my reputation”
Recipe for success: One needs many important qualities to succeed, a capacity to work hard, loyalty to those working with you and the job at hand, good judgement and a little luck. These plus a sense of direction – direction most of all becauseif you don’t have that, you may wander east on the advice of one associate and west on the advice of another. And if you just follow both, you are in trouble.
Qualities: Ethical, honest, “When I say yes, I don’t try to fund excuses later to say no”
Very loyal and patriotic. Always starts off speaches with “As a Chinese..”
Li Yuan Ling (his dad who died of TB) to Li Ka Shing: “Your father can’t fulfill his responsibility towards you and it’s impossible for you to continue your schooling. So, son, a man must have ambitions. You must have the strength of character. Then you can rise as tall as the sky. And remember, at any time, if things don’t go well, never be discouraged. Don’t forget who you are. Don’t forget your roots”.
Quotes
“You can build a person, a family and a future through education”
Luck?
The bibliography I am reading says that LKS’ dad had to move to Hong Kong because Chezhou and the rest of China were in a very bad war-torn state. Moving to HK wasn’t an active choice.
LKS entered the property business (Cheung Kong i.e. Long River started of as a plastics firm -flowers-) by luck. His landlord didn’t extend the lease and LKS bought his own commerical space.
“Life has three big classes – the working class that walks, the middle class that runs, the upper class that flies. The gap between each of the classes widens and only the super fit, energetic, ambitious, die-hard runners transgress the boundaries”
Read this on the SCMP. When asked for tips from a person who manages four wives, here’s super rich tycoon Stanley Ho’s response:
“I’ll look into her face and give her a jewel that matches her face colour. Well, I always have many jewels in my pocket: red, green, blue and yellow”
Hmmm… Like they say, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”.
A mother and a baby camel were lazing around, and suddenly the baby camel asked ….
Baby: Mother, mother, may I ask you some questions?
Mother: Sure! Why son, is there something bothering you?
Baby: Why do camels have humps?
Mother: Well son, we are desert animals, we need the humps to store water and we are known to survive without water.
Baby: Okay, then why are our legs long and our feet rounded?
Mother: Son, obviously they are meant for walking in the desert. You know with these legs I can move around the desert better than anyone does! Said the mother proudly.
Baby: Okay, then why are our eyelashes long? Sometimes it bothers my sight.
Mother: My son, those long thick eyelashes are your protective cover. They help to protect your eyes From the desert sand and wind. Said mother camel with eyes rimming with pride….
Baby: I see. So the hump is to store water when we are in the desert, the legs are for walking through the desert and these eye lashes protects my eyes from the desert…… Then what the hell are we doing here in the Zzzoooooo !!!!!!???
Moral of the Story: Skills, knowledge, abilities and experiences are only useful if you are at the right place. So where are you right now?