Run for your life

Running has always given me new perspectives. My run on the Bund offered up some interesting notions on product development, reference points in our lives and leadership.

I ran the Bund early in the morning to avoid the peak hour crowd on the Metro and the tourists who would still be asleep. Plus I had a full day of business ahead. There were however quite a number of people there already when I arrived at 7:15.

Getting to the Bund

I had gone to Shanghai to visit a former colleague who is now an innovator and someone I am hoping to collaborate with.

Sean has recently come up with an exciting coatings solution for concrete. Sean is into power walking and mountain trekking. When I asked him how he came about with this exciting new product, he gave me this analogy:

Most career paths are like climbing a mountain. There are actually 2 ways one can climb this mountain of one’s career. Either straight up or travelling around the mountain in an upward spiral. I have taken the around the mountain route. I have been in research, sales and marketing roles in a chemicals company, a coatings company and cement company. In this journey, I have seen the problems and the possible solutions in various forms. My research and commercial background allowed me to see the best possible solution to this concrete problem. So now we have this new product.

Indeed an interesting way to see things. My take on this was, that, you need to be able to see a problem through many perspectives to come up with a solution. The point of reference is always the problem.

In some ways, it was a reflection of the path I had taken. I have seen many things and have had different perspectives.

Performing different roles at different times under different market and environmental circumstances, a manager and a leader will have seen different perspective of the same problem. Understanding these different perspectives will enlighten the manager or leader to the solution. But the manager or leader must always keep sight of the problem which is the point of reference. Always keep the point of reference in sight! Never be afraid to turn back, when you have got it wrong or lose sight of the point of reference. <something similar I had written>

So it was that my run on the Bund was about perspectives. The Bund or Waitan is a wide esplanade on the western bank of the Huangpu. Tourists would promenade on the Bund and take in the sights of historic colonial style massive buildings on the west of the Huangpu. On the eastern bank is the Lujiazui. One very prominent tower is the Oriental Pearl Radio & TV Tower. 

On my Bund run starting from Wai Bai Du bridge in the north, I went west along Suzhou Creek. From Wai Bai Du Bridge, the Oriental Pearl Radio and TV Tower (the Tower, henceforth) was prominently visible. As I went along the Creek and came across the first bridge, I noticed that my view of the Tower was different to that from when I was on the Wai Bai Du Bridge. My position with reference to the Tower, the sunlight and reflection of buildings and trees in the area gave me a different view of the Tower. This made me think of what Sean had said. Being on different parts of the mountain that was Sean’s career, he must have seen the same problem with a different perspective. But always having an eye on the problem (the Tower) gave him a solution to the problem. What an interesting take.

So, this being a touristy, stroller kind of run for me, I stopped at different points of the route to take a shot of the Tower. These photos were my perspectives of the Tower as I ran the Suzhou Creek and the Bund.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are your perspective of the problems you want to solve?

Come run with me!

Gallery and info on the Bund