Welcome to an Ambitious Book in the Making

Why is this an Ambitious Book?

It is ambitious because I never really thought I would ever sit down and write a book. I come from a family of writers, well sort of. My father wrote four books and my daughter published her first book when she was nine. I don’t think they all sold very well. But that’s not the point. The point is that I knew that there was a void in terms of “publishing achievements” that I had to fulfil on behalf of my generation. A double responsibility, a son’s as well as a father’s duty. But juggling between life and work like everyone else, with no time in between, I never really thought that I would do it. But to see this day come when I publish my blog-to-book effort, I am really quite surprised at myself.

It is also ambitious in another sense. In a world of world-class best sellers penned by famous management gurus with prestigious publishing labels on the same topics that I am writing about, what chance do I stand in being heard? Seriously, none. Not unless there is something unique or different about my effort. And I am very fortunate to say that it is, in three different ways.

How is This Book Different From Others?

This is actually three books in one. It combines change, communication and project management into one holistic practical guide for those who have been suddenly entrusted to implement a change program in Asia. Let me explain.

Most of the books on change, communication and project management often have an American or European background and are often extrapolated for a global audience and reach. Unfortunately some of these extrapolations do not adequately address the unique challenges that Asia has simply by being Asia – constantly hungry for growth, sometimes lacking in know-how and forever chaotic. But this book is different as it is written specifically for an Asian audience by someone who has grown up seeing this hunger, who has toiled to find answers and who understands its chaos.

Secondly, there are not many efforts out there that ties change strategies, communication best practices and project management methodologies into one wholesome guide. When you look at it logically, you need to be good in all of these 3 areas to stand even a chance of being successful in a change project. And I am surprised that there are not many resources that offer this A-Z overview and I am glad that I could make an attempt to address it.

Thirdly, most of the books on change, communication and project management offer great strategic counsels. But they are rarely able to offer guidance on the ground implementation on how to realise these world-class ideas in the streets of Asia. In most cases, you have to figure it out by yourself and sometimes painfully too. The purpose of this book is to reduce that pain and to help you ramp-up for your challenge. As such the book will have a suite of practical features such as best practices, tips, check-lists, ready to use templates, FAQs etc. – everything you need to get the job done completely, quickly and efficiently, without beating about the bush.

Twenty Two Years of Seeing Communication Working and Not Working in Asia

I was born and bred in Singapore and I studied communications in the university. I also completed couple of Executive MBA modules with the University of Chicago but got distracted and so hope to return back one day to complete that course.

After my university, I started working in marketing, corporate communications, internal communications and in change management roles for 22 years for a sleuth of well-known German multinational corporations with regional headquarter presence in Asia Pacific.

Singapore was my home base for most of the time, with working stints in Australia. I was also heavily involved in the implementation of local marketing and communication activities such as product launches, sales promotions, loyalty programs, test drives, motorsports activities, corporate communication and press conferences in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, Japan and India over a period of 16 years. However, I have to say that unfortunately I have the least working experience with South Korea, Japan and India and therefore would not be able to offer any specific best practices with regards to these markets in this book. Since 2009, I have been based in China following career paths in Shanghai, Beijing and now in Shenyang, home of BMW in China, my current employer.

All through these years, I have sat in high towers designing communication strategies but also have spent considerable amount of time standing side-by-side with my ground colleagues and suppliers in countless projects. In retrospect, I am grateful for all the opportunities that all my past and present employers had given me, no matter how guised they might have initially been. Because those opportunities have rewarded me with wonderful as well as unique insights on how to take a global strategy that requires change in some form and implement it in a successful way in Asia. This book therefore is an essential and holistic collection of lessons learnt on how to implement change successfully in Asia. This would be in my point of view the toughest communication campaign that anyone can ever undertake.

So Who Are Those Really In-charge of Change?

Life is unfair. In most cases the best suited person in a company does not get the job of rolling out a change campaign. Instead it is often thrusted to an inexperienced manager or to someone who is most connected with the business topic or to someone who simply happen to have some spare capacity at that point in time. So dear engineers, accountants, IT and HR professionals, trainers and secretaries – this book is for you. Because you are the ones who will be in-charge of change one day under the most unexpected, unfair and unforgiving circumstances. And this book will help you get there.Life is unfair. In most cases the best suited person in a company does not get the job of rolling out a change campaign. Instead it is often thrusted to an inexperienced manager or to someone who is most connected with the business topic or to someone who simply happen to have some spare capacity at that point in time. So dear engineers, accountants, IT and HR professionals, trainers and secretaries – this book is for you. Because you are the ones who will be in-charge of change under the most unexpected, unfair and unforgiving circumstances. And this book will help you get there.

Read more at a new blog-to-book effort on implementing change programs in Asia Pacific: https://thoseinchargeofchange.com