The Power of 3Ps : Purpose, People & Partnership

I'm very grateful during my career, i have been given opportunity by Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, for many years working with many different partners including Technology vendors, System Integrators, ISVs, Distributors, Service Providers, Tech Startup, across many different countries in Asia Pacific Region to deliver many different ICT solutions across different industries including Managed Service Providers, Banking, Telco, Hospitality, Education, Manufacturing, Healthcare.

Throughout this fruitful experiences that i have been working on, i was able to see One common and consistent pattern of How we can achieve our Objectives.

I call this Pattern as 3Ps : Purpose, People and Partnership. To be successful, as many of us already know that we need to start with the End in mind. I call this end in mind as the First P, Purpose. This First P is very powerful as it helps us to Prioritize among so many different things to do and being able to Focus to make the difference which is important as we don't want just to get 'busy" with too many things and achieve 'nothing' at the end. The First P is related to the most important WH questions which is Why ? Before we're doing things we need to ask ourselves Why we want to do this. What is the Purpose ? The Purpose is like the Compass when we are on a journey. From this Purpose we will be able to define Objectives and Key Results that we we want to deliver/achieve. This Purpose can be applied to Personal or Professional aspect of our lives. By having a clear Purpose we can be more Focused and Effective in doing things. We're not going to be easily distracted, confused or wasting our time since we will do everything to achieve our Purpose. Having a Purpose in particular a Greater Purpose, greater than just to gain for ourselves but to gain for others can be also very fulfilling and creates ever lasting energy to pursue it.

The 2nd. P is People. We have heard many companies believe now with the great advancement and ubiquity of technology where we get access to abundance of technologies which also keep evolving and ever changing, and with silicon technology, hardware and software are available at much lower cost, the differentiator of success and failure now falls into People. We can have the Great Purpose, and the best technology but if we don't have the Best People then those doesn't matter. People holds the Keys to success of the companies, even in the era of AI, people still be the key to design and govern the AI to serve good and right purpose. That's why many great companies now are competing not just creating and applying technology but also to have the Best People (HR calls it as Talents). In my leadership experience with Intel, Microsoft, HPE, my success is depending on the Talents who are working with me. Talents with Integrity, Energy, Commitment, Enthusiasm and adopt PhD attitude : Poor, humble and Determined always will win customers, business. People also not just our talents but also People in Customers and Partners. People also means that it is not just one person to bring the success but more than one person or we use to call it as a Team. Whether it is sports, business, philanthropic, success usually not can be be achieved alone but by a group of people, some may be more visible, some invisible/hidden, but it is People.

The Last P is Partnership which i will share more detail steps and framework in my next article. My experience that i have gone thru with Intel, Microsoft and HPE tells me that Partnership is the Core of successful companies and ventures. It is not a rocket-science that Partnership is a key success factor since no company can have everything by itself, from technology, solutions and also market coverage. Every company needs Partners. Like the African said, "If you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go long, go together. During my time in Intel, working in Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand and then Asia Pacific, i clearly found that Partnership is the heart of success of Intel Corporation. I built partnership with Compaq, Microsoft and ISVs to deliver innovative solutions which helps large Banks including Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ Bank to adopt Intel-based solution to run mission-critical applications and replacing a clunky, expensive proprietary system that the bank used for many years. It was really fun to work in Partnership even though it is not easy to build and align, but once it is established it can be very powerful. The same experience when i was with Microsoft Asia Pacific working with OEM Partners, Distributor, Retailers to offer a Genuine Microsoft Software experience and with HPE Asia Pacific to accelerate Growth and arrive at the Greater Heights with and thru Partners, including Distributor, System Integrators, ISVs, Technology and Solution Alliances. To have successful Partnership we need to be able to find the right partners with same vision and committed to work together. Partnership is not just People working together but people who can trust each other, aligned, support each other to achieve the common and Greater Purpose.

I hope this brief article can be useful for those of you who are looking to start, build and running and scaling the business to bring greater goods to the company, industry and society where you belong.

I also want to thank Intel Corporation, Microsoft, HPE and many Partners whom i have been working with for many years worldwide and in Asia Pacific region and I hope to continue the Partnership to overcome all the challenges in particular during this pandemic. I strongly believe with Purpose, People and Partnership we will be able to overcome any kind of challenges and we will be flourishing together.