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Went for a “In search of Blue Ocean” seminar last night, as recommended by a friend. I’ve attended a few of this type of seminar and people would just say all these so-called “introductory” seminars are tools to lure people to sign up for the “actual” seminar behind, provided by the same company, which can cost up to a few thousand bucks.

Many may just think, What can I really learn in just a 2 hours short seminar anyway? But to me, these are platforms that keep us updated with things that happen around us, that can affect our lifestyle, and which we never realize…

…until they hit us…

For example, the establishment of East Asia Community (东亚共同体) by ASEAN Plus Three (东盟 10 + 3), a cooperation between ASEAN countries and 3 East Asia giants; China, Korea and Japan. The community aims to broadened and deepened many areas of cooperation among its membership countries, including politic, economy, tourism, agriculture… etc. This idea was proposed by our ex-prime minister during the 90’s, but only then was taken into serious consideration a few years back. The objective is to unify the economy among the membership countries, providing free tax zone, as well as to cultivate cooperation among the countries during financial and economy crisis.

Malaysia has been a target of many foreign countries as our “culture blend” was considered best managed among the ASEAN countries. We have attracted heaps of foreign investors to invest in many projects, such as the Iskandar Project in Johor and the proposed project to build a bridge connecting Malacca and Sumatera.

Sounds great huh…?

But how many of us living in Malaysia will actually consider what are the long term consequences behind the establishment? I mean, is there any free lunch in reality?

Our country has great potential and resources, but we do not have the talent and ability to expand them. All of these projects, which were suppose to be utilized by the locals to increase the country’s income, have all been “sub-contracted” by foreign countries. Our government has directly “outsourced” all these projects, and yet still proudly claiming “Malaysia Boleh!”

We have many projects with great future, but most of them failed after a few years of development. This is mainly because we failed to establish the right system for everything we do. As mentioned by the late W. E. Deming, most of the problems that occurred in an organization, are due to the inefficiency of the system.

If employee under-perform, it’s the fault of the employer who failed to establish a good system.

If underlings misbehave, it’s the fault of the leader who failed to establish a good system.

If co-workers couldn’t meet expectation, it’s the fault of the boss who failed to establish a good system…

… and in our country, we failed to do the same as well.

Imagine, when Asia’s giant such as China’s market begins to take a big step into Malaysia, how would it affect us? Let take Starbuck Coffee for instance, a cup of coffee would normally cost RM10 or so. But China’s investor and entrepreneur can provide the same coffee bean, with same taste and coffee quality, but at less than 40% of Starbuck’s cost. For us consumers, that sounds marvelous. But how would this affect our country’s economy?

In China, franchising is not a matter of how many hundreds of franchises, but they count by how many THOUSANDS across the country! Numbers are just small matters…

How will our local products survive when people can provide the same, but higher quality products at lower cost in Malaysia?

How will most of our local entrepreneurs react when the foreign investors bring in this competition?

Are we going to put ourselves into the price slashing war, and end up drowning in the Red Ocean?

Some may procrastinate, saying that we would look for QUALITY than QUANTITY, but let’s be frank… how many of us have always preferred Malaysian Made Product than China Made Product?

As you can see, other countries are advancing in fast pace due to this “economy war”. Everyone are implementing innovation, thinking hard of how to further improve their business as well as the country’s future economy. Unfortunately in our country, the most popular topic we can listen everyday would be “political war”. All parties fighting among each other over who should be in “business“… but when there’s a problem, it’ll turn into “It’s none of my business“.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are at war… economically of course, and yet most of us are still unaware of it. In two months time (beginning of year 2010), we are going to battle with these people (foreign investors and entrepreneurs).

So how well are we prepared for it?

I believe most people have at least heard of this book.

In case if you haven’t, it was published in 2005 and was the top worldwide best selling business and management book by W.Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.

This book is mainly about business and the idea of winning without competing. It challenges the conventional idea of the business world a.k.a. red ocean and how any business can break from this chain of red ocean to create new blue water, and make the world a better place.

However, I personally think that the concept being highlighted in this book is not limited only to the business world. Somehow there are more to it. This might sounds weird but what I’m going to talk about here is “life lesson” that I learned from this great book.

Lesson 1: The Four Actions Framework “Create – Eliminate – Raise – Reduce”

Be clear which element adds value to our life and which do not. Keeping those useless elements will not bring any good, so we might as well reduce or eliminate them and reserve the space to create and raise those which are more useful.

Lesson 2: Three Characteristics of Good Strategy “Focus – Divergence – Compelling Tagline”

Focus: Human is born with only two hands. Sometimes we tend to do too many things at once, but in the end realize that we can’t accomplish anything. Be focus.

Divergence: Following the crowd will not always lead you to a better path. There are times when we must stand alone and make hard decisions which are very different from the norm.

Compelling Tagline: If you are good in something, prove it by action. Always walk the talk.

Lesson 3: Value Innovation

You are good in something, but the sad truth is no one will ever give a damn. People will only appreciates when your effort adds value to their life.

Lesson 4: Reconstruct Market Boundaries (Alternatives and Complementary Offerings)

Whatever option you have now is not necessarily the best, hence always look for alternatives and dare to challenge conventional wisdom.

Lesson 5: Focus on the Big Picture, not the Numbers

Everything that happens, it happens for a reason. Always look at things from different perspective.

Lesson 6: Reach Beyond Existing Demand

Always push yourself to the limit and strive hard to achieve your goals. There is no free lunch in this world and you get what you deserve based on your effort.

Lesson 7: Get The Strategic Sequence Right

If you can’t walk, you can’t fly. As mentioned by Sun Tzu in the first chapter of “The Art of War“, proper planning is always the most crucial first step.

Lesson 8: Overcoming Key Organizational Hurdles

Big problem often comes from small problems. To solve a big problem, always work backward by breaking it into smaller pieces.

Lesson 9: Build Execution Into Strategy (Be Fair)

In the book, the author focus on the fair process. So the same principle applies in life, be fair.

Lesson 10: Renewal of Blue Ocean Strategy

Finally, always be ready to change. As mentioned by Spencer Johnson in “Who Moved My Cheese?“,we can only improve by adapting to changes around us. Nonetheless, be sure whether is the change really required. If it is not, stick to the original plan.

This is one of the most inspiring books I’ve read. Although it has been published for quite sometime, its idea and concept is never outdated and can be applied in various fields.

Ya, I know… For a 200 over pages book, it is quite expensive (well, at least for me =P). But from what I got from it, I think it is really worth it.

P/S: Special thanks to XinHui.