The Directed Telescope

I recently had a one-to-one dinner with an ex-General from the Indonesian military at his residence in the outskirts of Jakarta. We had not met for many years and we caught up on things military - the people we knew, the things we did (or were now doing), and the experience we had when we were much younger. Such conversations always remind me that there is a certain familiarity and comfort between men in uniform. Inevitably, the conversation turned to domestic politics. He faulted SBY for being indecisive and reluctant to take the tough decisions required to move the country forward. SBY was isolated from reality. He had surrounded himself with trusted aides who filtered stuff out so that the information that reached him was only a poor reflection of reality. It was also crucial how the boss reacted to news. If the leadership showed that only good news was appreciated, good news would be reported and amplified, while bad news deliberately nuanced. Indonesians even have a term expressing the importance of pleasing the boss - asal bapak senang. The General said that that was why good commanders therefore understood the need to walk the ground, visit units, and talk directly to soldiers to form an independent view of what was happening. In addition, a good commander needed to have other independent sources of information functioning outside the chain of command - either an independent intelligence outfit or trusted officers or agents at the front line to get a reliable picture of what was happening. [Martin van Creveld in his masterpiece "Command in War", termed this independent source of information as a "directed telescope".] Without clarity of the situation, it was impossible for a leader to lead.

I recall that the Megawati Presidency was subject to this same criticism. More recent events in the Middle East - the overthrow of Gaddafi, Mubarak, Ben Ali and perhaps in a few months Assad - show that many entrenched leaders, having been in office for a long time, may have lost the appreciation that multiple sources of information, and both good and bad news are critical in understanding the complete situation. To lead complex organisations, including countries, a leader needs multiple independent sources of information so that an accurate picture can be painted. In short, a leader must desire a diversity of primary sources of information and views. If the leadership chooses instead to rely on a small group of "trusted" people for information and analysis and regard every one else as "disloyal" - and when the learned behaviour from the past is for these sources to repeat to the leader how the current policies are working - it is very likely that the entire leadership is heading down a road that will lead to regret.

A Tribute to Philippe

I first met Phillipe de Bucherre at the newly opened Leadbetter Golf Academy at Cengkareng at the beginning of the year. After a short interaction, I decided to entrust him with improving my game. Philippe 31, a tall and young Belgian, is a great golfer. He was a scratch player at the age of 14 and applied the same intensity he had as a player to brcoming a great coach. He is blessed with enthusiasm, a boyish charm and a pleasant personality, making him particularly easy to be with. Over the last nine months, we did three things - change my swing, improve shotmaking and focus on thinking better. A lot of time was spent in Philippe's den - filled with multiple cameras, a sophisticated pressure plate, and a computer to review the shots made - committing to a swing change. We conversed more than we hit balls. I need to understand what we are trying to do before committing to a change. He watched me swing, showed me on the monitor and explained what he wanted me to do. He broke down the mechanics and isolated the fixes one by one. He convinced me to change my grip (painful), cock early, alter my stance with more angles (painful), encourage a greater shift to the left at impact and steepen my swing plane (painful). Bit by bit, consistency was built back into the basic swing, with the ball flying straighter, higher and further.

Shotmaking - ie the ability to shape a shot - left to right, right to left, high or low, making the ball roll or have backspin, hitting it out of different lies, out of the bunker with different flights - is the key to playing great golf. Shotmaking is more difficult and requires practice, but Philippe walked me through what was possible. He challenged me to think of five ways to get the ball on the green. A simple bump and run with different clubs was introduced, as were the flop, shot from both a deadpan and thick rough, and shots from the bunker. He has asked me to get a fourth wedge for months. This is my Christmas gift to myself. The third segment is observing and thinking right. Seeing the shot from the hole to the ball rather than the other way around opened up a new perspective. I play the percentage game. Even top professionals hit on average 14 greens per round (hence the importance of the short game). I mentally expect a shot dispersion of 7% of the distance and therefore adjust my aiming point to avoid trouble (very very useful). I dissect the greens according to the ridges so as to avoid putting over two ridges. When putting, I think of the club face hitting the ball square. Put together, the improvement has been the most marked in my twenty years of golf. Philippe is by far - and I mean this with little flattery - the best coach I have had. He is confident, responds to my questions clearly, influences and encourages me. I am far from being a great player but I have possibly taken off 5 strokes off my game, as Philippe told me he would. In the month of Oct and Nov, I recorded 5 under 80 games - a 77, 79 and a 78, 78 and 76 - a golden period for consistency. For those who follow me on facebook, I only post courses where I have shot under 80 rounds. I know this period may not last, but I will enjoy it while it does. So cheers Philippe, you are responsible for a large part of my improvement. But you do realise it also takes a determined and talented student too, who has now become a walking advertisement for your academy......

The Accidental Marathon

Early morning 2nd December 2012, I lined up with 17000 runners of the full marathon in front of Mandarin Hotel Orchard Road ready to run the Standard Chartered Marathon - for me, the 5th time. Over the years, the start point has moved - for the better. Orchard Road was decked with Christmas lights and street walkers pranced around with fairies. Nice!

I trained for a total of five weeks for this event. The ultimate goal is still Tokyo in late February and I had been diligent with the Hal Higdon intermediate 1 program. My longest run prior to this was 18km. Rather than pound Sudirman on a 20km run for that weekend, I thought that the SCM would offer welcomed variety. I would do a half marathon and then stop. I ate a hearty breakfast, and with no idea of the route, followed the thousands that were ahead of me - down Stamford Road, looped around town, front of the Esplanade, down Nicoll Highway, and into the ECP. I stopped at most drink stops for a sip and walked a bit. The first 10km was difficult as breakfast was still in the stomach. The next ten was a little tiring.

Then something happened at 21km. I felt completely fine and so I went on. And the km started to disappear behind me. 22, 23, 24, 25 flew by. I felt no pain. Not even a twinge of cramp. I walked at 26km just to make sure I wasn't pushing it. I crossed 30km with a smile on my face. It was not until the 33km that the fatigue started to kick in. Running across the barrage and into the Gardens by the Bay was a little painful. But not as painful as the long ascent up the Sheares Bridge at the 36km-37km point and facing the many walking half marathoners. A loop back in front of the flyer, and the finish line was in sight. I came home in a gun time of 4 hours 53 minutes. Amazing. Learnt that one can finish an accidental marathon with five weeks of training. And why I felt no pain? Endorphins are amazing and in my case, they need a half marathon to kick in.