Writing a business plan is more of an art than a science. Therefore, there are many ways of doing it. Perhaps that is why Paul says so much stuff that appears inconsistent to me. He is probably reassessing how the business plan should be structured and which parts to place importance on. I guess when you receive new information from the client, these things change. Uncertainty seems to be a constant when writing a business plan. At least, that is my take on what has been happening around here.
posted by James 6:32 pm
6pm has just passed, and we have e-mailed in our entry for the business plan competition. Right now, Paul is printing out a colour version to send to them tomorrow. I don't see the point, because it's already past the deadline. Then again, perhaps the competition organisers will be generous and accept the later version.
Whenever I have spoken with Paul, today, I have been unnaturally calm. I was almost completely without emotion. Like a frozen lake. It was a very strange feeling.
I'm just glad that the competion has passed. I still have feelings running over from last night, and I need to recharge. I am welcoming the coming weekend.
posted by James 6:27 pm
I just got an e-mail (through the work account) with feedback about the business plan. It was from someone external to Bridge Consulting Group. It is full of so much criticism. Strangely, I am feeling very little emotion about it. I think that's because I have very little ownership of the plan. It's Paul's plan, and I'm just his instrument for writing it.
posted by James 1:42 pm
I really dislike inconsistency. In particular, I hate it when people give me inconsistent instructions because it makes it difficult for me to work on something with sense of direction or purpose. Often, the person who gave the inconsistent instructions gets upset when I don't do what they intended. This is a frustrating situation for everyone.
That seems to happen often with this business plan and the spreadsheet. I had basically finished the business plan according to the McKinsey handbook - something that Paul goes on about all the time. It was what he asked me to do in the first place. Then, at 5pm today, I got more instructions which were inconsistent with this. They require me to make lots of changes. And, sometimes I'm changing things back to how they were last week. So, it looks like I will be here for a while.
I am most annoyed about the spreadsheet. Paul seems to think that there are many aspects of it which make it difficult to use. But, if he thinks this, then why didn't he tell me what he wanted, clearly, in the first place. I'm sure that if one knows what functionality a spreadsheet is supposed to have, then they can make a pretty good effort at creating something good. Now things are so advanced with the spreadsheet, that it can take a long time to introduce new features. I guess I'm defensive about the spreadsheet because I've been working so long on it. And, I like many parts of it.
When Paul was going over the business plan tonight, I was annoyed at the inconsistencies. It seems that whenever he talks about it, the "most important part" always changes. At one point, it was the list of product innovations. Then, it was the distribution channels. It's hard to understand where to put the most energy.
But I am also annoyed about the way I dealt with it. I let my annoyance get the better of me, and I lost all motivation to think about the changes that Paul was discussing and try to understand them. I think this was obvious to Paul too. (To be clear, he was calm about the changes and didn't let my frustration get to him). Ideally, I would be able to put my frustration to the side (for now) and think about the task at hand. After all, the deadline (for the business plan competition) is tomorrow evening. So, I'm a little embarrassed by this.
posted by James 8:32 pm
Paul just spent five minutes explaining to me why he doesn't have enough time to explain stuff to me. I chose not to inform him of the irony.
posted by James 5:56 pm
My Dutch lessons have recommenced, after a break of about two and a half months. Lia is still my teacher. I have come to accept that she can be pretty busy, so I am satisfied if I have a lesson, say, once a fortnight.
It is just pronunciation practice, yet this is the part that I need to practise the most. I have accumulated a sizable vocabulary from working through the book and translating parts of the newspaper, but I can’t say them properly! It’s embarrassing.
Tonight, we started where we had left off (chapter 3!) and I read the relevant parts of the next two chapters out loud. When necessary (i.e.: almost always) Lia would correct me, and I would make some phonetic notes in my book. This book is getting covered in mass highlighting and notes. It’s also falling apart – I’ve decided to treat this as a sign that I’m studying hard.
(Using the same logic, I must be riding my bike really hard, too).
When I got home from Lia’s there was a pot of freshly made tea on the kitchen table. It was alone aside from a plate of lemon slices and my tub of sugar. No-one else was around. I’m not sure if it was a trap of some sort, but I accepted the bait.
In a group situation, girls are more likely to sing random parts of songs out loud. My experience of this in New Zealand and the Netherlands is consistent. Tonight, Ania kept on singing “It’s a little bit strange”. On and on. I thought it was a little bit strange. I guess it’s a song I haven’t heard of. I don’t listen to the radio here. I don’t have a radio, for starters. The only time I hear new music is when I go out.
posted by James 9:32 am
Ooooh. I have been here for exactly 3 months, today. So that means my traineeship in the Netherlands is one quarter complete. The sand in the hourglass is moving with increased velocity.
posted by James 7:06 pm
I have been very fortunate with the weather so far. There has been decent rain on few occassions and I have been safely indoors each time. That’s how it was on Sunday night. Hail, bouncing off the roof, kept me awake. It was nice to be in bed, but I dreaded what it would be like early the next morning. I had to ride to the train station for the 7:09am train, and I would be wearing my suit.
When I left the house, the only evidence of the hail storm was a big puddle in the middle of the road. (My weather luck continues!) My timing to catch the morning train is becoming near perfect. I leave the house later and get to the platform nearer the departure time. On Monday morning, the margin was about a minute.
Paul and I went to Amsterdam to discuss the business plan with a couple of people. We went by car, and it took about two hours because of the traffic. It was only my second time in a car here, so it still feels strange to be a passenger on the right hand side.
I was the navigator. Paul gave me a mapbook which was the size of a typical public law textbook. It contained comprehensive maps of the whole of the Netherlands! This country is small. (It probably takes four hours to drive from the top to the bottom).
During the drive I chatted with Paul about consulting, university days and AIESEC. I learnt that the most important resource for a management consultant is his/her network. In such a way, Paul has really benefitted from all of the activities he did at University. He learnt a lot of useful skills and made a big network. I think that these are some of the benefits that I have received from belonging to AIESEC and Toastmasters.
We first visited a contact of Paul’s at McKinsey. We had e-mailed him a copy of the plan on Friday, and he had some comments for us. I enjoyed the meeting because I understood everything that was happening, and I felt like I made a meaningful contribution to the discussion. We learnt some good ideas for how to improve the plan, and I will be making those changes today.
In the early afternoon, we visited the client for whom we are preparing the business plan. I learnt lots of new information which I will use to further refine the plan. I definitely feel more confident in these types of meetings. The first time, I was hesitant about whether I should say anything at all!
In the car, Paul gave me an insight about Dutch culture. He said that the Dutch have a tendency to be patronising. They want to tell people when they are wrong, to correct them. Sometimes the assessment of who is wrong is incorrect. Many times, it is about insignificant matters. (The conversation was sparked because of an interaction with a car park attendant. Paul had driven up to the wrong window. The parking attendant made the point of saying that he was wrong, but he opened the gate anyway). It was interesting that he said this, because I feel that he is often like this. I think that I’m used to it now.
We got back to s’Hertogenbosch at 3pm and I thanked Paul for taking me on the trip. I am really pleased that I had this opportunity.
Monday night drinks were good too. I had warm conversations with Jasper, Marjoleine, and Moise. Katrijn and Sjoerd were very congenial. I feel much more comfortable around the AIESECers. I am looking forward to the next reception event.
Sjoerd said one thing that confirmed my impression of the Dutch AIESEC culture, and I found it really funny. He mentioned that this week, they would be completing the “hiring” of new AIESEC members. Ha! Hiring! That’s the AIESEC Tilburg business. Maybe it’s just a language difference, but I still found it funny.
posted by James 12:23 pm
I visited the city market on Saturday morning. It always has lots of cheap fresh fruit and vegetables, among other commodities, so I will come here every weekend. I noticed that the same vendors were in the same locations as last week.
At one stall, I saw some nice-looking royal gala apples. I asked the man how much they were and he told me the price – EUR 2.50 for 10 apples. He then filled a bag with apples and waited for me to pay him! (This reminds me of the first case that I was taught in contract law – only the roles are reversed. Just because I ask for the price, and he tells me it, it doesn’t mean we have a contract). So, it was a good thing that I was going to buy the apples anyway! It’s important to watch out for selling techniques like this, and I think it’s more common in a market situation.
At the fish vendor, I bought a “lekkerbekje” (a big piece of fried fish) to snack on for EUR 2. It’s called I like this aspect of the market. I noticed that I could buy hot chicken drumsticks from the butcher stall nearby.
I tested out some Dutch at the cake stall, “Hoeveel is het?” (How much is it?). The man pointed to a rather big sign nearby that listed the prices. Shame. But, at least he understood me.
I read in the Lonely Planet that, in Amsterdam, welfare cheques of EUR 680 per month are guaranteed to every resident aged between 21 and 65 who can’t find employment. I had to put down my cup of tea, because I get EUR 665 per month, and I’m working! Amsterdam certainly has a generous welfare system.
I had an excellent run on Saturday evening. I just ran in a westerly direction for 20 minutes, turned around and came back. Nice and simple!
Marina and I visited “De Pont”, a modern art gallery, on Sunday afternoon. The gallery is fairly new – it has only been open for ten years and it is housed in a former wool-spinning mill. It displays a permanent collection and there are several exhibitions held each year.
We were there for the last day of the “Fiona Tan” exhibition. It was mostly short video clips and but there were also a few photographs. My favourite video was a simple shot of a street scene where people and bikes were going past. The light was such that they cast long shadows onto the ground. However, the video was turned upside-down, so that it looked as if the shadows were walking along!
There was also a cool photograph of a man floating in the air, holding about 20 huge red balloons! Despite my fear of heights, that has always been one of my daydreams.
posted by James 10:33 am