One Dish Wonder is an indispensable guide for anybody in business. So many companies, particularly small ones, have a great product, wonderful skills and unbounded enthusiasm. The trouble is they fail to tell somebody the important things about themselves or even worse, they let people get the wrong impression, which is damaging and can be fatal. One Dish Wonder shows you how to get your message across in a brilliant way to the people who matter.
Geoff Burch
Business Guru and Bestselling Author of Go It Alone
Juat Koh has put together a must-read companion for busy executives in One Dish Wonder. This little book is filled with vital points and anecdotes offering simple yet valuable advice on managing communication risks. Her checklists are sure to provoke thought on current business practices and help to define and improve communication on many critical fronts.
Associate Professor May O. Lwin
Associate Chair, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University
Many corporate leaders still do not appreciate the perils of ignoring communication risks. The devastating 2008-2009 global financial crisis has further underscored the serious need for companies and leaders to focus more strategically on managing their communication programmes. In a globalised, flat operating environment, the adverse impact of communication risk mismanagement can be harsh, unfair and immediate. Juat, a veteran in the marketing and communications business, opens us to her recipe of effectively managing those market risks. And what a dish she's served.
Quak Hiang Whai
Deputy Editor, TODAY Newspaper
Author of No Comments and Don’t Quote Me!
One Dish Wonder contains simple yet critical factors in dealing with communications. The anecdotes provided are easily relatable. They well illustrate the importance of the various factors that a business leader needs to know. More importantly, it is an easy read for business leaders who will like to keep their edge in the midst of their busyness and stay relevant to a fast changing market today.
Elim Chew
Founder and President, 77th Street
I read this book at the time when I needed to communicate Providend’s future directions to my staff and clients. It couldn’t be more timely! By simplifying it to “Message, Marketing and Management” I now know how to better do it and avoid communication risks. I strongly recommend this simple but yet rich in content book to all CEOs.
Christopher Tan
CEO, Providend Ltd
One Dish Wonder is a refreshingly different and practical book for public relations and communications. Juat Koh has provided simple forms that you can use immediately in this book. Forms that will help you take action to execute your communications plan. This book is not just a “must-read”, it is a “must-do”! Use these forms and start executing your communications plan today.
Patrick Thean
CEO, Gazelles Systems, Inc.
Author of Execute Without Drama
One Dish Wonder is indeed a testimony to the fine art of communication – succinct and precise, spiced with stories and illustrated with pertinent anecdotes. Juat’s collection of effective communication “recipes” is a must read especially for managers who want meaningful interaction that is heard, understood and remembered.
R. Ramachandran
Executive Director,
National Book Development Council
Copyright © Juat M. Koh 2011
First Published in 2011 by
Write Editions®
An imprint of JMatrix Consulting Pte Ltd, Singapore
A Publishing & Communications Co.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval systems, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publisher or the author. Request to the Publisher or the author should be addressed to publisher@writeeditions.com.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the Publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties or fitness for a particular purpose. The Publisher and the author shall not be liable for any loss of profit or any other personal or commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Ebook ISBN: 978-981-08-7908-2
Ebook by We Green Solutions
Smashwords Edition
The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker (2004) arrived by post in 2005 – a gift from my Reader’s Digest subscription. It became the first of many books by Peter F. Drucker that I have collected since. Mr Drucker’s advice to executives to “get the right things done” became the one guiding principle in the work that I do for my clients and in my personal life.
Mr S Dhanabalan from whom I learned the power of simplicity. The fundamentals expressed in just a few simple words surpassed even the most eloquent rhetoric. Mr S Dhanabalan was the Chairman of The Salvation Army Advisory Board from 1995 to 2010. I served as the Director for Public Relations for The Salvation Army from 2001 to 2004.
Mr Patrick Thean, who gave me my first management book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm by Verne Harnish. Patrick bought me this and several other books including The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Reis and Jack Trout. In each, he wrote a little note of encouragement to learn from these authors and search for my own authentic truth. Patrick Thean is the CEO of Gazelles Systems, Inc and author of Execute Without Drama.
To the readers, who will be spending a little time with me in this book, I hope you will find that managing communication risks is foremost an exercise in simplicity. Simple gets done. Simple gets remembered.
5 The 3Ms: Message, Marketing & Management
7 Telling Your Corporate Story
My publisher Tan Chin Kar, Write Editions, what can I say? I owe him the most for making this book possible. Without his astute hand that guided me throughout the creation and production process, One Dish Wonder would not have been what it is in your hand today.
Words alone are not enough to thank my panel of reviewers who took a leap of faith in One Dish Wonder, spent precious time reading, underlining and giving thought to the value they might find in the book.
My deepest gratitude to Dr David A. Fedo, Executive Director and Visiting Scholar Wheelock College Center for International Education, Leadership, and Innovation – Singapore and author of Carrots and Other Poems, for graciously penning the Foreword and his constant words of encouragement; Geoff Burch, Business Guru and Bestselling Author of Go It Alone for enthusiastically endorsing the purpose of the book in double quick time; Associate Professor May O. Lwin, Associate Chair, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University for lending her voice of support for the book and in rallying busy executives to get their communication right; media and PR veteran Quak Hiang Whai, the Deputy Editor of TODAY newspaper and author of No Comments and Don’t Quote Me! who despite his busy schedule found time to write an eloquent yet robust imperative – that corporate leaders must not scorn communication risks in a globalised, flat environment; entrepreneur Elim Chew, Founder and President, 77th Street for her kind words on how the book can help business leaders keep their edge; Christopher Tan, CEO, Providend Ltd, my new author friend, who without hesitation extended his hand of affirmation on how the book would benefit CEOs like himself; my long-time friend, Patrick Thean, CEO, Gazelles Systems, Inc. and author of Execute Without Drama, who in his trademark way deeply inspired me; finally but certainly not the least, R. Ramachandran, Executive Director, National Book Development Council, for his poised and philosophical assurance on the value of the book. Indeed, I am truly humbled by their lavish reviews and encouragement.
The journey of an idea – from inception to paper to reality – is usually articulated through the strokes of a mighty pen. The pen adds and the pen subtracts. In this regard, I must thank Pauline Loh at Write Editions, for conscientiously and patiently editing the book. The beautifully designed cover of One Dish Wonder is the delightful work of Mike Ng, who spared no effort in getting the “book cover recipe” just right.
One Dish Wonder is now a “delicious” recipe to savour because of the many people that have come alongside me, encouraged me and spurred me on. Thank you all.
“Everything is about communications,” Juat M. Koh says in her briskly-written and insightful new book One Dish Wonder, which offers what she calls a “simple recipe” to manage corporate communication risks.
“There is nothing that we do or say that does not have a communication implication and outcome,” writes Ms Koh, who has a wealth of experience in the tumultuous world of public relations in Singapore. “Turn the pages of your favourite newspapers, switch on the radio, walk into an office, go on the Internet and we are treated to stories of gaffes, news of the latest corporate fallout or a silly publicity blunder.”
In her discerning primer for corporate managers, Ms Koh explains that the “three essentials” in the task of avoiding communication risks are message, marketing and management, which she calls the “touch points between a company and its audience.” Then, in just 100 pages, she provides us the evidence, along with interesting anecdotes and surprising case studies, which substantiates her point.
There are even worksheets in the book which invite readers to address specific issues, such as “How do I show my care and commitment to my customer?” and “What are the limitations and weaknesses of my product?”
Her advice is practical, specific and (to use her word again) “simple” – no lofty, pompous preaching is to be found in One Dish Wonder.
Ms Koh’s refreshing book is a delight to read, and should be helpful to managers and executives in both the profit and non-profit worlds. It’s really a series of thoughtful lessons on the power of good communications and the essence of inspired leadership, and demonstrates how those men and women in charge can either overcome risks and build their businesses and organisations, or fail to overcome them and see them fall into inevitable decline or worse.
I recommend Ms Koh’s One Dish Wonder with pleasure and enthusiasm.