Jazuli SLDB

The mayonnaise jar and the coffee

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar......and the coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. 


So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes!”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognise that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play a round of golf. There will always be time to clean the house and put the rubbish bin out.”
“Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked that. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a cup of coffee with a friend."

The enterprise resource panning (ERP) solution will replace existing systems and integrate MAS's finance, human resource, and engineering and maintenance operations.

"The total benefit expected from the project is estimated at over RM120 million per year, once fully implemented in 2010," MAS managing director and chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin told reporters at a briefing in Subang Jaya, Selangor.

The system will centralise all the airline's data and allow it to obtain real-time information. This will boost cost efficiency, improve decision-making and employee productivity, and optimise cash management.

p/s: the above article extracted from the Business Times, July 13 2010. an example on how IT become a major facilitator of business activities...