Source : Internet
Both of them had each been busy for a while, and it was difficult to find time to go out for dinner. He kindly asked her, “What would you like to eat tonight?” She thought very hard for a very long time, and then replied in a serious manner, “Steamed pork dumplings, at that restaurant which is very famous.”
Happily, they both rushed to the dumpling restaurant that was so well-known, but only to find the metal shutters pulled down and only to be welcomed by the words ‘Closed Today’. The look on her face suddenly changed, as she found it hard to accept the momentary feeling of an empty loss from such a high expectation.
“I’ll treat you another time, don’t be upset.” He very patiently comforted her feelings, however, accidentally caused her to counter-attack.
“It’s all your fault. You didn’t enquire properly beforehand, and you’ve made us travel such a long way for nothing.” As she muttered away, she unexpectedly cried while they were walking along. He was slightly at a loss towards her pitiful over-reaction, but he tried to make her happy at all costs. “Well, shall we go to another place to eat dumplings?” “No,” she resolutely told him one more time, “I‘ll not go.” She turned and walked ahead alone.
Gracious as he was, he immediately ran after her; although, unforgettably, he was repulsed by her sudden change of unreasonableness. In fact, the decision on what food to eat during their date did not have any pivotal influence on their relationship; however, if one loses control during the communication itself, then it would reveal a problem on a lack of flexibility, everything would come to a standstill, and hence become an obstacle for them both in their relationship.
Living and working are both filled with different varieties of negotiation on a daily basis. At times, the answer ‘yes’ represents all matters can be re-negotiated, which is not the same as being led by others; however, if one directly says ‘no’ before distinguishing what is right or wrong, this is the equivalent to closing the door of consultation, with no room for flexibility whatsoever.
Flexibility is very important. The subject that old and young people often discussed is the real importance of maintaining flexibility. However, in this era of electronics that undergoes constant changes, the subject of whether it is important to maintain flexibility is no longer an issue, moreover, this has changed from being important to essential. If we cannot maintain an appropriate level of flexibility, it is very likely that we face obstacles everywhere, and reach a dead end. On the other hand, the more flexibility one possesses, the more choices one has, and thus the stronger the adaptability skills. As a result, there will be more space for development.
There was a young man who recently got married, had just joined the company for a few months, and had just painstakingly moved his family from the south to north. Just as his wife had adapted to their new house and surroundings and things had settled down, his company approached him and asked, “Would you mind being transferred to work abroad?”
This was a great opportunity from the point of view of other colleagues. But as far as he was concerned, he had to consider many factors. Firstly, he had just got married; and secondly, he had just got a mortgage on his house in the north. If he had given up everything just to pursue this challenge at work, he felt this would have put him in a difficult situation with his wife and her family. However, he would certainly have felt regretful if he had let this opportunity pass. After a few days struggling with his conscience, he decided to openly discuss this with his wife and see what suggestions she had.
He never thought his wife would be so understanding and even her way of thinking was very elaborate. She said, “You should take the challenge now, as you know you will regret this if you don’t. Furthermore, we are still so young, if we are not flexible enough to adapt to the ever changing way of life now, how can we face up to more problems in the future? Let’s take this as our chance to train our flexibility and adaptability.”
This young wife had spoken well. According to the professional research done by the American human resources market, in a period of economic downturn, many experienced workers or senior white collar managers could easily lose their job overnight. Whether they can fully recover crucially depends upon whether they are equipped with the flexibility to deal with change in different jobs and careers.
People tend to become subjective as they grow old, and as a result they fail to accept the flexibility in organising different types of jobs. In order to develop and broaden the horizons of senior managers, many large corporations nowadays, promote extensively the rotation of different job roles in different departments starting amongst its junior level employees. Now, flexibility is a uniquely essential skill. If one adopts the attitude of ‘just can do this, but not suitable to do that’ at work, it will not be long before one is eliminated from the job market.
Of course, the requirement of flexibility in the modern era means having to prepare a few more alternative plans, but not to pursue aimlessly without principles. Firstly, decide one’s goal, then establish one’s strategy, and further, make use of the quality of flexibility to achieve one’s goal.
A lot of people dismiss flexibility, as costs normally increase when the policy of flexibility is adopted. Take the example of ‘flexible working hours’ which is currently widely adopted by large corporations. In order to accommodate the needs of staff and service to customers, the daily work schedule is separated by 30-minute periods so that employees can handle their work more efficiently and at the same time, manage their private life. The Associated Press of the Washington Post indicated that there are about twenty-nine million full-time workers in America currently adopting the flexible working hours pattern, which is 29 % of the entire labour force, and the ratio is on the rising trend. “Flexible working hours” naturally increases the companies’ operating costs, this can be revealed easily from the water and electricity bills. However, this operational formula yields better results in terms of improved work efficiency and reduction in rate of staff losses.
There are similar observations in the retail market. In an era of ‘mass production’, in order to reduce production costs, products are mainly manufactured in ‘large quantity and small variety’. However, this reduces the level of consumer choice, even up to the point of having no choice at all. When there is competition in the market, the concept of consumerism raises its head, and products in ‘small quantity and large variety’ will be welcomed.
Taking the example of choice in cars: if car owners can freely choose their own colour, interior, accessories; have at least three choices out of each category, in whatever combination they like, and delivery within one month, then production costs will certainly increase. But if this is not done, cars will not be sold. What the manufacturers need to strive for is to offer flexibility whilst thinking ways to reduce production costs.
Take for example the above newly-wed employee who was promoted to hold a post overseas: his goal to advance his career was established, followed by handling of the matter, then trying to find better alternative plans in order to lower the costs of living. This is flexibility.
From this, we can see that an individual’s viewpoint, stamina, career, money and interpersonal relationship...... all require very good flexibility. To have flexibility in viewpoint enables one not to always think that others are wrong, and oneself is right. To have flexibility in stamina not only has the benefit of a well-balanced physique, but also represents the state of good health. To have flexibility in one’s career, and not label a job as highly desirable or rubbish, one will not easily lose one’s job, and at the same time know how to respect others. To have flexibility in money is to enjoy a variety of good food, whether one eats at a five star hotel or a food stall on the street. To have flexibility in interpersonal relationship means both closeness and freedom can be attained under the preamble of mutual trust.
How can one have utmost flexibility? My view is: do not focus too much on self-benefit; when you are willing to empathise with the viewpoint of others, to consider the welfare of others, to view matters from alternative angles, to put yourself in other’s shoes, it will be easier to discover new alternative ideas to resolve those difficult problems both at present and in the future. Flexibility is the ability to discover alternative scenarios and put them into practice.
| The American Association of Management once published some survey results. Clever decision-makers have nine essential characteristics: | |
| 1. | To be folly is wise: within their boundary of control, they have a high degree of tolerance to detail. |
| 2. | Skilful in priority arrangement: knowing what to do at the right time. |
| 3. | Excellent listening power: in order to widely retrieve the required information, and make the right decision and policy. |
| 4. | Build one’s own team: not only have supporters advocating for you, but also have the supporters’ assistance on promotion and putting matters into practice. |
| 5. | Keep an open mind: do not have prejudice; do not rely on past experience to make judgment. |
| 6. | Maintain flexibility: make allowance for those decisions which are not too perfect in exchange for room for development in the future. |
| 7. | From the ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ statistics and information find the point of equilibrium. For example: consider both ‘Numerical data analysis’ and ‘Customer Evaluation Review’ in order to obtain information that assists in decision and policy making. |
| 8. | Face those enthusiastically creative suggestions calmly. Put emphasis on the process of execution and try the best to avoid losing control. |
| 9. | Never follow blindly, and never adopt the attitude of “if he can, I can too”; this is same as paying respect to expert opinion, but not totally relying on them. |
The sixth point specifically mentions the quality of maintaining flexibility. Also, when reading the other points in detail, one can discover that the essential conditions of a clever decision-maker are indeed inseparably related to the unique quality of flexibility.
Perhaps, you may have accidentally become a clever decision-maker, but please do not overlook this: every matter in our life is chosen and determined by ourselves. Although fortune cannot be demanded insistently, happiness also cannot be retained indefinitely, these are all decisions made in the flash of a moment. If you possess the unique supreme quality of flexibility, you will easily find more alternative plans and make wise choices every time.
