1. Humility to learn
- no one can be a great teacher without first being a great learner.

2. The effect of Asia on the world, all eyes on Asia, especially China and India

3. Speed of Change.  The effect of mobile phones, internet, etc.  He told a story of how he got a mobile phone for the first time in his life after stepping down as a Prime Minister (Remember he was the Britain PM from 1997 to 2007). He SMS someone. Who? 
Tony. 
Tony who? 
Tony Blair
and that guy does not believe it is Tony Blair who text him!

4. New thinking does not come to a closed mind.
He gave examples of how he changed the thinking in his presentation in order to win the 2012 Olympics bid for London.

5. Success is about developing your potential.  The better your development, the better you can exploit your potential

6. Change is the hardest thing.  If you are unprepared for change, you will not do well. The trouble is: after a successful change, people think that it always had been this way.  Build a group of stakeholders who can help you drive the change.

7. Success is about great partnership and great individuals

8. Treat people with respect. Regardless of race or religion.

9. Success is not about believing in something, but in doing something

10. To succeed, you need to have a certain optimism in you. It’s a challenge but I shall overcome it. 

During the Question and Answer session, Tony commented that when asked the question “which nation would you want to emulate?” nine out of ten nations mentioned Singapore.

The Singapore Prison Services engaged Everest Innovation Pte Ltd to deliver three Innovation Workshops for them. 63 participants (WITS Leaders) representing the various units attended, forming 21 Innovation Teams. The participants generated 3500 ideas, of which the best ideas were presented to their management as well as used in SPS/ MHA WITS competitions.

Time period: MARCH – APRIL 2004

Success Story 1: Good morning, how may I help you?

The Challenge:

All Everest Innovation projects begin with the client’s business mission statement or their toughest business problems. For our client, Singapore Prison Services, their mission was to be Captains of Lives, to Rehab, to Renew and to Restart. With all their officers’ dedication, many inmates were released from prison in high spirit and greatly motivated to change a new live. However, the society did not accept them. As the result, the ex-inmates went hungry and returned to crimes.

How did our Consultant value-add?

The prison officers brought the problem for brainstorming in our workshops. Using the techniques taught, our thought processes and brainstorming techniques solved the problem as follows:

Problem Statement 1:

Our inmates could not get jobs AFTER they were released from prison

Paraphrase:

How can our inmates get jobs BEFORE they were released?

Problem Statement 2

Our inmates could not get jobs because their tattoos would frighten off their clients

Paraphrase:

How can our inmates get jobs where clients would not see their tattoos?

The participants then proceeded to generate several hundred ideas based on the paraphrased problem statements.

The Innovative Achievement:

At the end of Ideas Sorting phase, one idea stood up as the answer to the above problem statements: Call Center behind bars, the First in the World

Through this idea, the inmates could be working BEFORE they were released WHILE they were still in the prison. It helped the inmates better integrate with the society in preparation for them to restart their live anew. They were also trained on Customer Service Skills, Handling Difficult Customer Skills and Problem Solving Skills.

See Straits 24 August 2005, headlined “24 hours Call Center – behind Bars”

Publication Date: 24/08/2005 Pub: Straits Time Page: 3

Headline: 24-hour call centre – behind bars

By: Tanya Fong

Page Heading: Prime

Picture Caption:

HOW CAN I HELP YOU, SIR? : Female inmates at the Changi Prison Complex turn phone operators and telemarketers in rotating 12-hour shifts.

Corporation: Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises, Score

Subject: Singapore Rehabilitation

IT’S the prison that never sleeps.

Female inmates at the Changi Prison Complex are working as phone operators and telemarketers in a 24-hour call-centre. They answer queries on everything from mobile prepaid phone cards to how to work a consumer product.

The 38 women turn up for ‘work’ in rotating 12-hour shifts. The call centre is housed in an office about the size of a basketball court.

They may not be able to take tea breaks whenever they like, but judging from their enthusiasm as they pick up calls, these workers enjoy their jobs.

Aris, a 32-year-old inmate serving a six-year term for cheating, loves every minute of it.

‘I was a workaholic before, and not having anything to do in jail made me feel down,’ said the university graduate. ‘Being in this programme helped me to be myself once again because I feel useful.’

The high-tech call centre was set up last December at the Changi Women’s Prison and Drug Rehabilitation Centre.

It is the latest project initiated by the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (Score) to create work for inmates and to rehabilitate them while they serve their sentences. Score’s first project was a 24-hour laundromat in the Changi Prison Complex, the largest in South-east Asia. It was rolled out last year.

Fifteen of the inmates handle outgoing telemarketing calls, while the rest handle incoming calls. All calls are controlled by the phone and computer systems.

Calls come in via a switchboard and are automatically transferred to an operator, while outgoing calls are pre-programmed and made via the computers’ controlled dialling system.

Conversations are monitored by the centre’s supervisors to allay security concerns that inmates may fraternise with callers.

The women get their fair share of nasty customers.

‘When we make sales calls, the potential customer would ask us to call them back,’ said Aris. ‘When we do, we sometimes get a scolding for doing so.’

Connect Centre’s business operations manager, Miss Elena Lim, said: ‘We run this place exactly like a commercial call centre – the difference is that we are doing it behind bars.’

Businesses need some convincing before they sign up as call centre clients.

‘When we make cold calls to potential clients, they sound apprehensive,’ said Miss Lim. ‘But when we take them inside the centre, they end up coming out impressed.’

The reason: The women receive training of a similar standard afforded to people working on the outside. They are trained to project their voices, enunciate their words and handle difficult customers.

The centre has 10 clients, including a telecommunications company and a listed consumer company, both of which declined to be named as they were unsure how their links to the prison would reflect on their businesses.

Said the managing director of the telco: ‘Their set-up is as professional as any call centre. Cost is not a significant factor because the rates are competitive. We decided on them because it’s also our effort to take part in the Yellow Ribbon Project in giving offenders and ex-offenders a second chance.’

tanya@sph.com.sg

Newspaper Article No 2:

Pub Date: 29/07/2005 Pub: Straits Time Page: H8

Headline: Sweet female voice on hotline – from behind prison walls

By: Tanya Fong

Page Heading: Home

Picture Caption:

SYMBOL OF FORGIVENESS : The prison aims to sell $600,000 worth of such ribbons.

The money goes to the Yellow Ribbon Fund to help former inmates and their families.

HAPPY TUNE : A thank-you song by a former inmate at the launch of this year’s Yellow Ribbon Project at Hard Rock Cafe yesterday.

Subject: Singapore Rehabilitation

40 inmates to work at call centre in Changi Prison in rehabilitation drive THAT sweet and warm female voice which greets you at the end of the line when you next call a product hotline could be from behind Changi Prison walls.

A 24-hour call centre has been set up at the prison’s women’s wing, with about 40 women inmates working as receptionists or telemarketers for private companies.

The women take turns to handle the product hotlines, with six telemarketers at work each time, making calls to potential buyers here.

The centre is run by a private firm, ConnectCall, which set it up in January.

This new venture to help rehabilitate prisoners was made public yesterday at the launch of this year’s Yellow Ribbon Project campaign.

The campaign, now in its second year, aims to rally the support of the community in giving former prisoners a second chance.

Inmates are trained in relevant skills so that they are employable when they are released, said the chairman of the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (Score), Mr Kong Mun Kwong.

‘We are now developing skills for the services and IT industries and one example is the call centre in the women’s prison,’ he added.

Last year’s campaign resulted in more than 120 employers coming forward to provide jobs and training opportunities. Fast-food chain KFC was one of them.

Although the number of former prisoners who were matched with jobs is not available, the boost in employer numbers indicated the campaign’s success.

The name of the project was inspired by the 1970s pop song Tie A Yellow Ribbon (Round The Old Oak Tree), about a former prisoner’s mixed feelings about going home to his loved ones.

The yellow ribbon signifies the acceptance and forgiveness from family members and the wider community.

Said the director of Singapore Prison Service, Mr Chua Chin Kiat: ‘For people to get involved wholeheartedly in a project like this, they must first understand why it’s necessary to rehabilitate ex offenders.’

He said many prisoners do want to change and return to society and the rehabilitation programme is crucial in paving the way for them to do so. About 11,000 inmates are released from prison every year.

More than 320,000 ribbons – cut and attached with safety pins by inmates -were sold for $1 each last year. This year, the prison aims to sell $600,000 worth of ribbons.

The money goes to the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which is used to help the former inmates and their families.

More than 5,000 people have signed up to take part in the Tie-A-Yellow-Ribbon Walk with former offenders on Sept 3, when they will walk from the old Changi Prison to Pasir Ris Town Park.

The walk will launch this year’s campaign.

Yellow ribbons will be tied around trees along the route and the walk will end with a carnival with games and food.

Members of the public are urged to take part. Free shuttle bus services from Pasir Ris MRT station will be available from 7.15am on the day of the walk.

How did our Consultant value-add?

During one of the Innovation workshop, a junior clerk in MinLaw suggested an idea about sharing information like “where is the best chicken rice stall in Singapore”. Another team member excitedly joined in on “the best cha-kuay-teow stall”. But information like these was not of any value to MinLaw and the management would not fund it.

Our Everest trainer coached them on:
How to use the idea to focus on critical knowledge sharing rather than “best Chicken Rice”.
How to focus on the Most Critical Needs of the organization
Calculating the different ways this project will save the organization money
How to justify the cost of investment to their senior management

The Innovative Achievement:

Using the methodology taught in the workshop, the team developed the idea into a MinLaw-wide Knowledge Base System, where staffs and managers would share critical information throughout the ministry. This knowledge base would save the ministry hundreds of thousands of dollars in productivity gain, ease of information search and elimination of duplication of knowledge creation.

This idea, despite its humble origin, won the THIRD PRIZE in the Marketplace.

All great ideas began with a dream.

Another team from Singapore Land Authority had a dream of a land where children could run free, a beautiful land where its citizen and tourist could have fun, shop and play without the fear of a road accident or the nuisance of traffic pollution. You see, in their dreams, this land we called home, has no road.

How did our Consultants value-add?

Excited by their dreams, the team built a scaled-down model of Orchard Road, with Orchard Road itself underground. Being technically trained, the team did a detailed feasibility study and financial costing. They encountered the difficulty of high costs of their projects and did not know how to justify to their senior management.

With the help of our Everest trainer, the team was coached on:

How to examine the project from different perspectives
Understand the different ways to quantify value and
How sell their innovative dream to the management

The Innovative Achievement:

On the day of Marketplace, they sold their dreams to the judges and management very well, winning them the SECOND BEST INNOVATION IDEA Award.

They also won an invitation to present to THE ENTERPRISE CHALLENGE committee.

One of the MinLaw directors was so convinced that she said “I voted for the Roadless Land ldea. It’s going to take a lot of money, but over a long term, it’s worth it”. Well done team!

Ministry of Law engaged Everest Innovation Pte Ltd to create awareness, to train their managers and staff on innovation and to generate workable ideas for their Innovation Festival ’03. Their theme was to DREAM, BUILD and CONQUER.

We delivered:
A series of nine “Innovative Dream” seminars to several hundred MinLaw staffs to create awareness and to inspire them to form Innovation Teams. (DREAM)

A series of seven “Innovation Workshops” to train the Innovation Teams to create ideas, select ideas and incubate ideas. More than 5000 ideas were generated by the participants during the workshops. (BUILD)

A series of eleven coaching sessions to coach each team on how to present and sell their innovative ideas /projects to senior management

One big Marketplace Event officiated by Minister of Law, Prof Jayakumar and Senior Minister of State, Prof Oh Peng Kee. This was a fun-filled exciting event where the eleven teams showcased their innovative ideas and competed for the support and Management Buy-In. This event was resounding success, It was attended by more than 300 staffs from MinLaw and guests from the other ministries. (CONQUER the Marketplace)

Time Period:
April – July 2003

Success Story 1: Land Over Canal

The Challenge: To create more land for Singapore

How did our Consultants value-add?

One lone young girl approached our Everest Trainer after the training and mentioned that she was deeply inspired by the DREAM Innovative Seminars. However, she did not have a good idea to contribute as she was only an Administrative Assistant. When asked what her strength was, she replied that she could communicate well. So our trainer “match-made” her to a techie team, who had lots of ideas, but were unpolished in their presentation skills.

Her team, from Singapore Land Authority, had a mission to create more land for Singapore. Using the innovation methodology taught during the workshop, they brainstormed:
Land over Land,
Land under Land,
LAND besides Water,
Land over Water, etc.

And came out with a breakthrough idea of creating LAND OVER CANAL. If the team could create valuable land over useless canal space, the team could use the extra land for commercial activities; build shops, playgrounds, jogging tracks, as well as bicycle or motorcycle lanes along the canal. During the Marketplace Event, she captured the attention of the management, charmed the hearts of the judges with her enthusiasm and excellent presentation.

The Innovative Achievement:

The “Land over Canal” project won the prestigious BEST INNOVATIVE IDEA Award during the Marketplace Event. The idea was so good that it was featured in Straits Times Front Page, with the headline: Coming to a Canal Near YOU.

For the little girl who began with no idea, this project changed her life because it gave her a platform to prove her worth to the management.

For the team, this project took their ideas to new heights because of the management visibility and endorsement.

Tong was a housewife who had just purchased a brand new mobile phone. Her happy mood was dampened as she struggled in vain to make a video call to her son. Frustrated, she pulled out the warranty card and made a call to the product service center. Call Agent Mei helped her navigate through the various menu screens and taught Tong how to set some phone settings. It had been more than a year since Tong’s son left to study in London, across half the globe from Singapore. She was overjoyed to be able to both hear and see her son face to face again.

Unknown to Jackson and Tong, Jane had stolen from ATM cards and Mei had cheated her company by forging her boss’ signature.

What happened?
Where’s the gold?
Where’s the innovation?

WHAT HAPPENED?

Jane and Mei were both serving their time as inmates in the Singapore Prison. They were working in a call center and speaking to the public from behind the prison bars .

What is normal then is that inmates are forbidden to talk to the public (and around the world still). How can we expect the inmates to integrate easily into the society and be a productive workforce in the society when they have been isolated for a long time from society?
WHAT’S THE INNOVATION STATEMENT?

One of the biggest problems faced by prison services around the world is “repeat customers”. Many inmates released from prison were determined to change and lead a new life. However, society did not forgive them; they could not find jobs, got hungry, and returned to crime.

The Singapore Prison Services’ mission is to be “Captains of Lives”, motivating the inmates “to Rehab, to Renew, and to Restart”. The prison officers took this problem for brainstorming to one of our training workshops. Using the techniques taught, the thought processes and brainstorming techniques that solved the problem were as follows:

Problem Statement 1:
Our inmates could not get jobs AFTER they were released from prison
After Reframing, the Innovation Statement became:
How can our inmates get jobs BEFORE they are released?
Straits Time. (2005, Aug 24). 24-hour call center – behind bars.
Straits Time. (2005, July 29). Sweet Female Voice on hotline.

Problem Statement 2:
Our inmates could not get jobs because their tattoos would FRIGHTEN OFF their prospective employers and clients.
After Reframing, the Innovation Statement became:
How can our inmates get jobs where CLIENTS WOULD NOT SEE their tattoos?
IDEAS TURNED INTO GOLD

The participants proceeded to generate several hundred ideas based on the reframed innovation statements. At the end of the Ideas Sorting phase, one idea stood out as the answer to both the above Innovation Statements: The FIRST Call Center Behind Bars in the World.

Through this idea, the inmates could be working BEFORE they were released WHILE they were still in the prison. It helped the inmates better integrate with the society in preparation for them to restart their lives anew. They were also trained on Customer Service Skills, Handling Difficult Customer Skills, and Problem Solving Skills.

Having delivered his opening speech, the director left the team to brainstorm and returned at 5 pm for their presentation of ideas. He was pleased that the team had generated 3000 ideas, but was extremely angry because most of the selected ideas were outrageously crazy and impractical. “Take this for example, GET FREE SPARE PARTS,” he said, reading an idea scribbled on a piece of memo pad. “Where on Earth can we get free spare parts? I am not talking about one or two pieces. To save our jobs, we need millions of dollars worth of free spare parts! Whose idea is this anyway?”

A shy junior staff raised his hand and apologized for generating such a crazy idea. Obviously there was no such thing as a free lunch or free spare parts.

18 months later, the company saved millions of dollars through the use of FREE SPARE PARTS. The crazy (or golden) idea had saved the company from retrenching its staff.

What happened?

How did the team turn this “free spare parts” idea into gold?

HOW WAS THE IDEA TURNED INTO GOLD?

We know there is no such thing as a free lunch. Our mind rejects such crazy ideas automatically. What we need is a change of mindset. Instead of rejecting crazy ideas, we should ask, “How to?” By generating and exploring lots of possible ideas, the Hewlett Packard team managed to find a way to obtain free spare parts. Unbelievable but true, they found a source for millions of dollars worth of free spare parts.
Unknown to the product support team, there was another administrative team that routinely scrapped “faulty” new equipment rejected by customers. As these were customers’ rejected products and the warranty had not started yet, they were not sent to the support center for repairs. Instead, they were scrapped and thrown into dump sites and landfills.
As part of the innovation project, the team diverted the rejected equipment to the support center and salvaged millions of dollars of good spare parts from these rejected equipment.
Learning:

Treat all ideas as good ideas, no matter how stupid, crazy, or weird they appear at first.
Crazy ideas can be turned into world class innovation.
Waste can be turned into gold.

Millions of us would have died. Not because of a nuclear war. Not because of a doomsday asteroid. But because of a near pandemic caused by an invisible killer – the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus.

The super deadly SARS virus was hyper infectious and it spread across the world at the speed of a Jumbo 747. Within weeks, the virus spread across the globe, infecting 8096 people in 37 countries. Okay, I might have exaggerated about the part regarding the end of the world. As the virus was airborne, it spread through cough, sneezes, touch, and even breath. Carried by wind, SARS spread through the masses across the streets and playground. Carried by air-conditioners, it spread to colleagues in the office, children in schools, travelers in airports, and patients in the hospitals.

All around, people were dying. Wherever there was a crowd, there would be a danger of being infected with SARS. Doctors and nurses attending to the infected became infected themselves. As the medical professionals searched frantically for a cure, there was a desperate need to isolate the infected from the uninfected.
On 3rd April, 2003, Singapore’s Ministry of Health approached the Defence Science & Technology Agency of Singapore (DSTA) and Singapore Technologies (ST) for a solution. Within a week, a prototype was up.
On April 1111th, Singapore rolled out the world’s first “SARS Thermal Scanner”, more formally known as the Infrared Fever Screening System (IFSS ).

And the world was saved. You and I can now live happily ever after.

Prior to this incident, nobody had heard of SARS before. How could Singapore suddenly invent the “SARS Thermal Scanner” within eight days?

What happened?

More about the SARS story inside the book.