A nice surprise but many nasty ones
Work this week has been horrific even by the normal, average crappy standard. Going at around midnight everyday, and continue working on your laptop till 2.3o am; catch a few hours of sleep and rush off to work by 8.30 am is not doing my mental and physical state any good.
The nice surprise is that I got a extraordinary large bonus this month. If I am still in Laos, my pay check this month will have enabled me to almost pay for another car straight.
Everytime my pay check comes in, my mind swims with things I could buy. Clothes from topline stores such as Massimo Dutti; transformers masterpiece editions (Starscream and Optimus Prime, OMG) that I have been eyeing for months at that shop in Wheelock Place; that Audrey Hepburn wall ornament from IKEA; and new sofa for my home . . . etc. That said, I have the tendency of walking out empty handed everytime I walked into a toy, fashion or book stores. I just spent hours around Wheelock place, walking between Zara, Borders and the toy shop, and I just couldn't bring myself to buy something. The thought that I should be saving the money and buy something really useful instead bugged me like an annoying ghost that wouldn't go away. Sort of like the furry alien in Stephen Chow's CJ-7 movie or a new Jackie Chan movie. Annoying but you can't really pinpoint why. You should like it but you felt there is something wrong. For one thing, Jackie Chan isn't really that funny.
Another thing that has been bothering me is what some bosses have been telling their employees. You read this in magazine all the time. How magazines droolingly serenade some bosses for being "results oriented". These bosses always say "I don't care how my employees do it as long as they get the results".
This by the way is the number one reason why titanic screw-ups happen. The kind of screw ups that you thought will never happen especially in big institutions like NKF or major banks.
In case you missed reading the financial news for the past months - in January 2008, the greatest financial scandal of all time happened in France. One rogue trader from the biggest bank in France, Societe Generale, managed to lose 5 billion euros. Yeah. 5 BILLION euros. That is the entire GDP of countries like Laos.
The trader's name is Jerome Kerviel and he is only 31 years old. Imagine a trade that is only one year younger than me traded and lost 5 billion euros. Mr Kerviel had been accused of making fradulent trades on behalf of Societe Generale which bet that European markets would rise. Of course, the stock market turned sour and went down south resulting in Mr Kerviel's trades becoming pieces of white paper.
How did this happen? Why wasn't this detected? Surely in a bank, there are like tons of control and oversight that make sure the minute a trader lost a certain amount, the account will immediately shut down. How did a bank miss 5 billion euros? It is not exactly spare change that you put in your wallet to take the bus.
No one has the full story as investigation is still ongoing. For sure, there are plenty of red faces and egg throwing around. There is a strong rumour that the bank has already lost 5 billion euros due to the US subprime crisis but conveniently blamed it on the one trader. However, it is likely the reason is a far simpler one.
Most observers believed that Kerviel's bosses just don't care as long as Kerviel keeps producing positive results. And when your bosses tell you that they don't give a shit as long as you produce results, they are effectively telling you to consider committing fraud if necessary. This is dangerous and an invitation for trouble.
Never tell your employees that you don't care as long as they produce the goods. They may just lose 5 billion euros for you.
The nice surprise is that I got a extraordinary large bonus this month. If I am still in Laos, my pay check this month will have enabled me to almost pay for another car straight.
Everytime my pay check comes in, my mind swims with things I could buy. Clothes from topline stores such as Massimo Dutti; transformers masterpiece editions (Starscream and Optimus Prime, OMG) that I have been eyeing for months at that shop in Wheelock Place; that Audrey Hepburn wall ornament from IKEA; and new sofa for my home . . . etc. That said, I have the tendency of walking out empty handed everytime I walked into a toy, fashion or book stores. I just spent hours around Wheelock place, walking between Zara, Borders and the toy shop, and I just couldn't bring myself to buy something. The thought that I should be saving the money and buy something really useful instead bugged me like an annoying ghost that wouldn't go away. Sort of like the furry alien in Stephen Chow's CJ-7 movie or a new Jackie Chan movie. Annoying but you can't really pinpoint why. You should like it but you felt there is something wrong. For one thing, Jackie Chan isn't really that funny.
Another thing that has been bothering me is what some bosses have been telling their employees. You read this in magazine all the time. How magazines droolingly serenade some bosses for being "results oriented". These bosses always say "I don't care how my employees do it as long as they get the results".
This by the way is the number one reason why titanic screw-ups happen. The kind of screw ups that you thought will never happen especially in big institutions like NKF or major banks.
In case you missed reading the financial news for the past months - in January 2008, the greatest financial scandal of all time happened in France. One rogue trader from the biggest bank in France, Societe Generale, managed to lose 5 billion euros. Yeah. 5 BILLION euros. That is the entire GDP of countries like Laos.
The trader's name is Jerome Kerviel and he is only 31 years old. Imagine a trade that is only one year younger than me traded and lost 5 billion euros. Mr Kerviel had been accused of making fradulent trades on behalf of Societe Generale which bet that European markets would rise. Of course, the stock market turned sour and went down south resulting in Mr Kerviel's trades becoming pieces of white paper.
How did this happen? Why wasn't this detected? Surely in a bank, there are like tons of control and oversight that make sure the minute a trader lost a certain amount, the account will immediately shut down. How did a bank miss 5 billion euros? It is not exactly spare change that you put in your wallet to take the bus.
No one has the full story as investigation is still ongoing. For sure, there are plenty of red faces and egg throwing around. There is a strong rumour that the bank has already lost 5 billion euros due to the US subprime crisis but conveniently blamed it on the one trader. However, it is likely the reason is a far simpler one.
Most observers believed that Kerviel's bosses just don't care as long as Kerviel keeps producing positive results. And when your bosses tell you that they don't give a shit as long as you produce results, they are effectively telling you to consider committing fraud if necessary. This is dangerous and an invitation for trouble.
Never tell your employees that you don't care as long as they produce the goods. They may just lose 5 billion euros for you.
posted by Captain Obvious at 7:49 AM
2 Comments:
With the bonus, I'll be heading down LV everyday.
Thank the F I am not into LVs then!
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