Day 12: Retelling the Story

Wish: Tell the Christmas Story

One of the biggest frustrations in marketing is trying to get the message out to people. Blogs like this are about 95% likely not to be read.



Reading to kids is a great way to connect with them. In many cases, books for children also teach valuable life skills. In the past five years, I have been fascinated by the power of story-telling in business communication. I believe it enhances the messages that I deliver. In my classes, even international students with limited English skills listen and react. You can get kids to stop what they are doing with a good story.

So, my wish is to have parents read to their kids or tell the story of the first Christmas. It bears explaining. Why was Christmas such a big thing to the shepherds and to the Magi? What does it mean that the saviour of the world was born in a location only fit for animals?

And here, for those who forget to reflect on this time of year, is my way of getting this message through to you, in the age of short attention spans, social networking and online video.



Merry Christmas, everybody! Tell this story at least once during this Christmas season.

Day 11: Thousand-Mile Reunions

Wish 11: Bring Them Home

Barry found his biological father through a game show and the help of a stranger.

Last May 2010, I was lucky to bring Barry's story to Vancouver, to a group that needed to know that they were not alone in dreaming of family reunions.

Watch the ABC News Video.

Today, Barry's feel-good story just got better. Not only did he go back home to see his fiancee and daughter. His family is also approved to come to the USA.

Christmas is the time many other families are pining to be with their loved ones from thousands of miles away. Temporary workers leave their families to work in the Middle East, Canada and many other countries. Refugees from Asian countries also dream of seeing their displaced loved ones again. American and Canadian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan count the days until they have a chance to reunite with their families.

I wish that families could be together this season. Just bring them home, Lord.

Day 10: You Want That When?

Wish 10: Good Planning

It's just days to Christmas. And it is just amazing how many people want something done before Christmas.

The construction of our new office building has been delayed, several times. Now it's crunch time. We have to move in and operate by New Year. There is no other option because we have to leave our temporary office before the year ends.

There were months when construction went at a snail's pace. But now that there is a drop dead date, the construction site looks like a scene from Extreme Home Makeover.

Deadlines are always around in our business life. Unless everybody has good work discipline, we humans are likely to work harder closer to the deadline. Look, I'm posting this at 1:30am in the morning. You can tell when something is going to be delayed. If you ask, "How is that project going?" they will answer, "It's 95% complete". Hogwash.

Having more time won't even help. Parkinson's Law briefly stated is: 'work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.' Extend a deadline by 5 days, and it will be completed at the last moment on the 5th day.

The Christmas season is even worse. All the deadlines seem to be on the 24th, because "people will be on their holidays". That includes your deadlines for work and school. Personal care, like haircuts, increase just before Christmas. So does shopping and partying and drinking. No wonder people go nuts this time of year.

Imagine a world where people planned well and were disciplined enough to balance their workload to complete on time. "How's that project going?" "It's on time." (Cue the singing cherubim.)

"But what if this unforeseen event happens?" "I've thought of that. It's taken care of." Sigh. I could celebrate Christmas without guilt.

And that is what I wish today.

Day 9: How Will They Know?

Wish 9: Trustworthiness

There is a Filipino foreign worker who was working his shift as a food counter supervisor when his left leg buckled. He was brought to hospital and he went through some tests. It took a while and a few procedures to find out that he has a brain tumor. It is malignant. His father was contacted.

The father took his retirement savings and got a ticket to Canada. Then, the mother followed after borrowing some money. They ran out of money and started asking fellow Filipinos for help, at least to cover their daily expenses only. (Thankfully, universal health care is covering almost all the medical expenses.)

Now, if I ask you for some money to help this family, it would be treated with some skepticism. There are too many electronic scams that sound similar. We cannot trust what looks like it was made up.

Now, assume this is real, and people begin to help. There are a lot of interested individuals. Most of them are concerned and genuinely want to help. Some of them see this as an opportunity for themselves. They can start showing off how they are Good Samaritans. They could also use the situation to further themselves economically. Those are the opportunistic vermin.

Some people are so charismatic that we trust them, even if what they say is too good to be true.

How will we know whom to trust? I don't have the answer. Even if we work strictly from facts, we cannot read motive. Only after the negative consequences do we begin to say, "I knew it was too good to be true," or someone will tell us, "I told you so."

That is why my wish for today is to have people we can trust; sincere and selfless people. Then, even the unusual stories and appeals could be trusted, and we are helping the right people.

[The story about the foreign worker is real. John Santiago is in Floor 16A, Room 300 of the Palliative Care unit of Vancouver General Hospital. Visit him if you can.]

Day 8: Man's Best Friend

Wish 8: Dog Heaven

This is for my daughter.

When she turned four, we took on a mangy Pekingese that was rescued from a highway on a rainy night. The dog responded to the name Chickey.

Chickey had a serial number branded in her ear. Based on that we found out that she was already 8 years old, and was up to date in her shots. However, over time, we discovered things from her past. She knew a lot of tricks, and she could still learn new ones.

She could bark and sit and approach on verbal and hand commands. My daughter never tired of calling our attention to her tricks. She grew up knowing only this pet as her own.



Then Chickey grew old. When she was 16, Chickey's health deteriorated. She couldn't climb the stairs anymore. Then she lost her hearing. She obeyed commands by looking at the hand gestures. Shouting could not get her attention.

One day, she started bumping into walls. She was blind. Before this gets more depressing, let me just say that we enjoyed one more Christmas with Chickey, who loved to be swaddled in a blanket. When she passed away last January, my daughter cried for days.

My daughter's wish, like any dog lover who has had a good dog will wish, is that there is a Dog Heaven.

Day 7: The Argument For Canadian Experience

Wish 7: Humility

I started working for a settlement office early in 2010. In these past months, I have met a lot of people who have just arrived. And some of them are angry from a culture shock.

"I was working for the Department of ....", one of them would start. "I was already a vice-president...", goes another. Now they take on entry-level jobs like receptionist or even food counter attendant. My ears get red from the phrase, "it's demeaning."

These newcomers are going through the "Canadian Experience". It is not an experience in itself. It just means they have to start somewhere for a few months - to get experience in a Canadian company - because they are just new to the country.

This is the biggest argument and point of contention when immigration is mentioned. "What about my credentials?!" some exclaim. Well, surprise, surprise. Your credentials in another country are not easily transferable here. Moreover, nobody really tells them that professional associations are protective of their own home-grown talents. Also, no boss wants their employee to be more qualified than they are.

Frustration is strongest with the skilled class. The bank vice-presidents, PhD's and architects have the most to lose. They take on a survival job. And sometimes, their spirit is so broken after a few years, they do not pursue anything else. There are doctors among the taxi drivers at the airport.

The influx of other countries' best and brightest into Canada's 8% unemployment situation is a recipe for disaster. Most will stay anyway, and some will return to their old countries and to their chauffeurs and maids.

On the other hand, the labourers and caregivers don't mind where they end up. They become successful after a few years. You see, they have nothing to lose. They expected to be at the bottom of the employment scale, so there's nowhere to go but up.

This argument for expectations is what prompted us to open a settlement office in the Philippines. Many agencies (and even relatives) extol the virtues and the beauty of Canada, leaving out the simple message that their first year here will be hell. Our office is there to provide a realistic view of Canada, so that it informs their decision-making. And if they still want to come over, then they know what to expect.

I will now make the argument for Canadian Experience. I know that many readers out there will think I'm nuts.

Now, what good could the "Canadian Experience" be to a newcomer? For me, it is a test. All of us have gone through it. When we come out the other side, we are not shaking our fist at the system. You see, those who are arrogant in this Canadian society are most likely to give up on it.

Canadian Experience teaches each of us humility. It helps us become part of the multicultural fabric of this experiment called Canada. It teaches us to be polite, like we are known for. It teaches us what we teach our children: say please, say thank you, say sorry. It teaches us to be human, and humane.

One successful immigrant got his dream job weeks after he arrived. He could have said to employers, "I am the right person for the job." But rather, he told them the facts about himself, and stopped short of concluding that he is the best. If the employer turned him down, he simply moved on to the next. "It's not my fault, and nothing to dwell upon," he would say, "it was just not a good fit." Eventually, his humility paid off. Now, he also consults on job finding.

People get hired in Canada in the job of their careers only when they get it. That being a hot-shot, arrogant know-it-all is the most unemployable person in a gentle society. When they get it, they have achieved the Canadian experience. And there is no where to go but up.

My wish for today is that people see the value of humility, not just for themselves but also for their community and country.

Day 6: Never Buy a Franchise

Wish 6: Honesty

My wife was crying when she hugged our employees. It was the last day of our fast food restaurant franchise. We tried to make it work for two years. But four situations made it impossible to stay afloat. Lucky for our five part-time employees, they had other jobs to focus on. My wife and I, well, we know what a foreclosed family in the USA feels like.

There is a big secret in food franchising and the restaurant industry within British Columbia.

The restaurants are suffering, but few admit that they are. You see, if they do admit, consumers are even less likely to visit their restaurants - speeding up their demise. Their franchisors do little to help them, because they don't have to worry about risk.

"How are things here?" we ask any restauranteur we visit. They always answer, "Good." But the empty tables at lunchtime tell a different story. Then, we see well-known restaurants close down. Ironically, another wannabe franchise takes over a few months later.

Four situations make this economic environment toxic for food franchises and restaurants.

First, the economic downturn in the USA of October 2008. Even though we are in Canada, the USA is our largest trading partner. It was just a matter of time before we felt the pinch. Consumers became cautious. Eating out is 'consumer discretionary spending', meaning consumers don't have to buy. In the Christmas seasons of 2008 and 2009, restaurant sales dropped as consumers focused their spending on gifts.

The second part of this perfect storm is the franchisors' response to the downturn. Since the eating-out industry is a smaller pie, they had to get a bigger piece of the pie to stay afloat. They responded with 'price points'. A price point is a price that appeals to the next price-sensitive consumer. For example, a typical meal would cost $6.99. The larger franchises started to offer meals at $5, $4, $3, $2, or even $1. If you had a choice of a full meal at $7 or a less filling meal at $2, I think you would go for the latter. Once that consumer is satisfied, he/she will not buy from the other restaurants for that meal, further contracting the restaurant industry.

The third condition was the most unlikely one. The Vancouver 2010 Olympics. This event pulled hundreds of thousands of people from all over BC into a small area in downtown Vancouver. There, consumers discovered the price points that their local restaurants were not offering. People were lining up for hotdogs and drinks at Costco for just $2. For the entire month of February 2010, sales in these few downtown fast foods and restaurants soured. To the detriment of restaurants outside that area. People got used to price points. They liked spending less for each meal.

At this point, there is an oversupply of restaurants. We don't need new restaurants.

The final death blow was the Harmonized Sales Tax or HST in July 1, 2010. The provincial government started collecting an extra 7% taxes from businesses, and restaurants had to pass it on to the consumer. Already reeling from the downturn, price points and Olympics phenomenon, smaller franchises raised their prices with the introduction of the HST, to hide the price increases. Consumers are not dumb. They noticed, and goodwill was lost.

By the time the HST was implemented, restaurants were already operating at about 50% their 2008 capacity. Many restaurant employees had already lost their jobs. The HST dropped sales a further 10-20%. The carnage continues.

Yet, every time we ask the owner of an empty restaurant how they are doing, the answer is always, "fine." To tell the truth could mean losing their life savings invested in the business. To tell the truth would also mean they could not sell the business to the next person who thinks he can do a better job at running a restaurant. I blame the Food Network for glamorizing the ownership of a restaurant.

For those who owned a franchise like ours, losing it is not a loss for the franchisor. The franchise agreements are so strong that franchisors always win. Franchisors are there to make money out of franchisees. Agreements are geared for that; all risk is transferred the franchisee. That is why I say, never buy a franchise.

If you are thinking of starting a business, plan well for it. Don't think a franchise is the easy way to get started. Go the tougher route: start it yourself. And for the moment, stay away from the food industry.

My wish today is for honesty. There is a lot of untruth in this industry because a lot of investment is at stake. The untruth is making more people fall into the trap of owning a business that is destined to failure.

Day 5: The Cost of a Fix

Wish 5: End Drug Abuse

How much does it cost to have one drug addict sustain the habit for one day? Vancouver Police believe it is about $500 a day.

That is a lot of money. Does an addict have the ability to earn $150,000 per year? No. That's why it costs more if you understand just how addicts are getting that money.

Last year, I parked my car in a darker part of a street, close to a restaurant our family frequents. I left my Tomtom GPS device in plain view. Big mistake.

When we got back to the car, the passenger side front window was smashed in. Only the GPS and its power cord were missing. Yes, I was really angry and disappointed.

The next day, I left the car at a shop to have the window repaired. My insurance covers all the repairs less a $300 deductible, which I pay. Insurance did not cover the lost contents because they were not integrated in the car.

A door mechanism was destroyed by the force of the blow. That addict must have used a baseball bat. Total repairs cost over $1,050.

So let's do the math:

I lost $300 as my repair deductible, and about $120 for a replacement GPS device.

The insurance company, which is provincially run, lost $750. Actually, all the insurance payees lost that money as part of their insurance premiums.

Total amount paid by me and the insurance company: $1,170.

What did the addict get? He or she "fenced" the GPS for a measley $10-15. Stolen goods are only worth 5-10% of their original costs.

Let's extrapolate these numbers.

The addict needs to steal and fence 20-30 GPS devices a day to maintain his/her addiction. If it costs about $1000 to society to fix the problems created by each robbery, it costs a total of $30,000 a day to keep that addict stoned and happy.

In a year, one addict can cost society up to $10 Million!

If there are 500 addicts in a city, it would cost that city $5 Billion a year!

Economically speaking, addicts cost society a lot. For every dollar a drug pusher gets, society pays $100!

How much does a fix cost? Too much.

My wish today is to end drug abuse once and for all.

Day 4: Friend Me, Sensei?

Wish 4: Live classes

This is about education. It might bore you. Then again, it might not.

A few years ago, I had a teleconference with a university dean and two instructors who were interviewing candidates to spearhead a "Web 2.0" online course delivery.

"What do you think about wikis?" they asked. I said they were good for collaboration and peer discussion, but not for reference. (Simply said, wikis can be used to put together a group paper, but that paper could not be a reliable source for another paper.)

They didn't like that answer. Someone had convinced this bunch that the future of education was online and using social tools. However, nobody told them how to do it.

"How about running a Web 2.0 class?" They continued to ask. "If you mean online classes on tools like Blackboard or WebCT, I've done those." "No," the dean clarified, "I meant on social media. How would you run one?"

That would be an exciting idea. Young people already know how to use social media. They didn't have to learn how to use online learning programs.

I'm all for connecting with friends on social media. But running a class? I paused and replied, "If the tool creates boundaries, such as those in a classroom, then...yes. Otherwise, it is a privacy issue."

Can you just imagine "friending" your instructor and classmates on Facebook? Or writing an exam on Twitter? What would your social network think about when you post status updates related to your class? When the class is over, do you "unfriend" your teacher and classmates?

After a few more questions, I realized they weren't trying to find out if I could do it. They wanted to pick my brain. I did not get that job. And they got valuable ideas for free.

A classroom, physical or online, is a sacred thing. It provides a safe, private space for the students and learning facilitator. It should not be open to the rest of the world. That is why today, only the secure specialized sites are used for education on the Internet. Social media isn't.

Progressive universities are going online to teach courses. These are great for those who have time constraints, such as parents and workers. They also allow persons with mobility problems to meet in an online classroom. But some universities are pushing this too far in an effort to gain market share. Online learning is cheaper to deliver and lucrative.

My wish today is to keep classrooms secure and sacred. I would even go as far as to say - deliver more of the face-to-face classrooms again. Nothing beats the live social interaction.

Day 3: Five Best Christmas Commercials

Wish 3: Great Stories

A commercial, if done well, tells a compelling story in just thirty to sixty seconds. These are my selections for the best Christmas commercials I have seen.

1 Coffee Ad. This first one reminds me of the day my son came home from Africa. We missed him last Christmas.


2 Toys for Tots. Not all kids in America are fortunate to have gifts under the tree.


3 Kay Jewelers. A young family celebrates its first Christmas.



4 Skating Priests. It is a longer (2 minute) commercial that plays like a mini-movie.



5 Tide hand-washing. A Filipino ad where a woman is so engrossed with a radio program while she washes clothes.


Bonus: Bad Dog Ruins Christmas. This is not an ad, but it looks like one.


How about that? Six stories in about six minutes.

My wish is for great stories, told in whatever medium, that make us stop and listen and watch.

UPDATE: December 2011 - The Coca Cola Happiness Project. If you liked the five ads above, get ready to be blown away by this.

Day 2: I, The Mentalist

Wish 2: Childhood Wonder

Today I will amaze you with my powers of mind reading. Try to follow these instructions carefully, and I will predict what you are thinking.

1. Think of a number from 1 to 10.

2. Multiply it by 9.

3. Add up all the digits. For example, if your number is 34, then add 3 and 4 to get 7.

4. Subtract 5 from that number.

5. Convert that number into its equivalent letter. For example, 1=A, 2=B, 3=C, etc.

6. Think of a country that begins with that letter.

7. Think of an animal that begins with the second letter of that country.

You are thinking of an Elephant.

Oh, I believe you can figure out the secret of that magic trick eventually.

But in the meantime, my wish today is for us, even as adults, to continue to have that childhood wonder.

Day 1: The Happy Death

Wish 1: Closure

The young Filipina took the microphone and started crying. "He always give me money," she said with broken English and an accent, "and he take my picture."

Without the context, this scene looks bad. Actually, it is at a memorial service for the girl’s uncle. He was a photographer who always gave a shiny dollar to every nephew and niece that came to visit his family. All his photos show him with a camera hanging from his neck and surrounded by relatives.

I didn’t know these people, but there I was, listening to bad speeches. The dreadful accents and the sobbing made it so difficult to understand anything.

But the emotions were real. This family was feeling a heavy loss and they were blabbering away in an attempt to express it.

What a year it has been. We have seen many family and friends leave us. My own father passed away last October.

What do you say when someone you care for leaves? How can you articulate the impact of your loved one to you in less than five minutes? Even if you wrote down your speech, I bet you can’t read it straight.

My sister did something great for a eulogy speech. She talked about what was funny about our dad. She got people laughing, just like this funny and touching video clip.

In our faith, at death, you celebrate life. Sure, we will miss our dad, but we fondly recall what endeared us to him.

I just watched an old TV series called Dead Like Me, which follows the activities of grim reapers who look like regular people. In this one episode, they had to put the reaped souls’ data into a database, and decided to sort it by their last thoughts. The last thought is what they were thinking before kicking the bucket. The last thoughts they encoded consisted mostly of regrets (“if only…”), loneliness and the occasional “I’m glad my family will be alright.”

I think these supposedly last thoughts are based on what people go through during memorials. They grieve more if there is unfinished business, or if they couldn’t be there at the last moment. They need to say goodbye in a ritual. Memorials aren’t for the dead. They’re for those left behind.

My wish for today is that those who are left behind find closure, so that they can celebrate life and not mourn death.