Josh Hickingbottom got me a cool novel, "Alas, Babylon," by Pat Frank from 1959.
Good quote about people need to get through a crisis:
"Bold people, audacious people, tenacious people. Impatient, odd ball people . . . Ruthless people who will fire the deadheads and a**-kissers. Impatient, odd-ball me like [Admiral] Rickover pounding desks for his atomic subs. Rude people who will tell the unimaginative, business-as usual, seven-carbon sons of b**** to go take a jump at a galloping goose."
Thanks. Josh. Merry Christmas.
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Saturday, December 25, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
A few good quotes and connections
In talking about Duke Ellington's Music in Ken Burn's Jazz, writer Stanley Crouch said:
"You know, if you can get to this, come on in, you know what I mean? ‘Cause that’s always in the music, in Duke Ellington’s music there’s always, “Hey, come on in, you know.” You know, all kinds of ways, come on in. Sometimes this, sometimes he’d grab you by the arm and say, “Come on in.” Sometimes, “Hey, why don’t you come on in here.” You know what I’m saying? Anything from those, you know he’s got those, you know he’s got that, it’s always that he’s always trying to pull you into something, you know. And it’s, so it’s got that, so there’s a kind of a welcoming quality that you associate with the highest form of civilization, I would suggest. See, because civilization in a certain sense can be reduced to the word welcome, you know, in some sense it can be that."
George Freidman, The Next 100 Years
Cultures live in one of three states. The first state is barbarism. Barbarians believe that the customs of their village are the laws of nature and that anyone who doesn't live the way they live is beneath contempt and requiring redemption or descruction. The third state is decadence decadents cynically believe that nothing is better than anything else. If they hold anyone in contempt, it is those who believe in anything. Nothing is worth fighting for.
Civilization is the second and most rare state. Civilized people are able to balance two contradictory thoughts in their minds. They believe that there are truths and theat their cultures approximate those truths. At the same time, they hold open in their mind the possibility that they are in error. The combination of belief and skepticism is inherently unstable. Cultures pass through barbarism to civilization and then to decadence as skepticism undermines self-certainty. Civilized people fight selectively but effectively. Obviously all cultures contain people who are barbaric, civilized, or decadent, but each culture is dominated at different times by one principle.
Charlie Black, a freshman from University of Texas, happened to go see Louis Armstrong at a club in 1931. He knew nothing of jazz and never heard of Louis Armstrong.
“He played mostly w/ his eyes closed. Letting flow from that inner space of music things that had never existed.
He was the first genius I’d ever seen. It is impossible to underestimate the significance of a 16 year old southern boy seeing genius for the first time in a black person.
We literally never saw a black man in anything but a servants capacity.
Louis opened my eyes wide and put to me a choice: Blacks, the saying went, were ‘all right in their place’, but what was the place of such a man, and of the people from which he sprung?’”
Charles L. Black
Excerpt from Ken Burns’ Jazz Documentary
Charles L. Black went on to become a distinguished teacher of Constitutional Law at Yale and in 1954 was on the team of lawyers to convince the Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education that segregating school children on the basis of race and color was unconstitutional.
Thanks to Scott Elkin for transcribing: http://scottelkin.com/music/charles-l-black-on-louis-armstrong/comment-page-1/#comment-38323
In talking about Duke Ellington's Music in Ken Burn's Jazz, writer Stanley Crouch said:
"You know, if you can get to this, come on in, you know what I mean? ‘Cause that’s always in the music, in Duke Ellington’s music there’s always, “Hey, come on in, you know.” You know, all kinds of ways, come on in. Sometimes this, sometimes he’d grab you by the arm and say, “Come on in.” Sometimes, “Hey, why don’t you come on in here.” You know what I’m saying? Anything from those, you know he’s got those, you know he’s got that, it’s always that he’s always trying to pull you into something, you know. And it’s, so it’s got that, so there’s a kind of a welcoming quality that you associate with the highest form of civilization, I would suggest. See, because civilization in a certain sense can be reduced to the word welcome, you know, in some sense it can be that."
George Freidman, The Next 100 Years
Cultures live in one of three states. The first state is barbarism. Barbarians believe that the customs of their village are the laws of nature and that anyone who doesn't live the way they live is beneath contempt and requiring redemption or descruction. The third state is decadence decadents cynically believe that nothing is better than anything else. If they hold anyone in contempt, it is those who believe in anything. Nothing is worth fighting for.
Civilization is the second and most rare state. Civilized people are able to balance two contradictory thoughts in their minds. They believe that there are truths and theat their cultures approximate those truths. At the same time, they hold open in their mind the possibility that they are in error. The combination of belief and skepticism is inherently unstable. Cultures pass through barbarism to civilization and then to decadence as skepticism undermines self-certainty. Civilized people fight selectively but effectively. Obviously all cultures contain people who are barbaric, civilized, or decadent, but each culture is dominated at different times by one principle.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Thirty Methods of Influence--Covey
From Stephen Covey, Principle-Centered Leadership
- Refrain from saying the unkind or negative thing.
- Exercise patience with others.
- Distinguish between the person and the behavior and the performance.
- Perform anonymous service.
- Chose the proactive response.
- Keep the promises you make to others.
- Focus on the circle of influence.
- Live the law of love.
- Assume the best of others.
- Seek first to understand.
- Reward open honest expression or questions.
- Give an understanding response.
- If offended, take the initiative.
- Admit your mistakes, apologize, ask for forgiveness.
- Let arguments fly out open windows.
- Go one on one.
- Renew your commitment to thing you have in common.
- Be influenced by them first.
- Accept the person and the situation.
- Prepare your mind and heart before you prepare your speech.
- Avoid fight or flight--talk through differences.
- Recognize and take time to teach.
- Agree on the limits, rules, expectations, and consequences.
- Don't give up, and don't give in.
- Be there at the crossroads.
- Speak the language of logic and emotion.
- Delegate effectively.
- Involve people in meaningful projects.
- Train them in the law of the harvest.
- Let natural consequences teach responsible behavior.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Head's Blown Off and Your Scarf Will Conceal It
Great quote from Eve Ensler
YOU KNOW WHEN YOU GO OUT WITH SOMEONE
AND YOU THINK THEY'RE IN THE SAME ZONE AS YOU
AND FIVE MINUTES INTO THE CONVERSATION YOU'RE LIKE,
"OH, MY GOD !"
THAT'S WHAT IT WAS LIKE WITH THIS WOMAN.
YOU KNOW, YOU TRY TO BE HIP.
"RIGHT, RIGHT."
MEANWHILE YOUR HEAD'S BEING BLOWN OFF,
YOU JUST HOPE YOUR SCARF WILL CONCEAL IT.
YOU KNOW WHEN YOU GO OUT WITH SOMEONE
AND YOU THINK THEY'RE IN THE SAME ZONE AS YOU
AND FIVE MINUTES INTO THE CONVERSATION YOU'RE LIKE,
"OH, MY GOD !"
THAT'S WHAT IT WAS LIKE WITH THIS WOMAN.
YOU KNOW, YOU TRY TO BE HIP.
"RIGHT, RIGHT."
MEANWHILE YOUR HEAD'S BEING BLOWN OFF,
YOU JUST HOPE YOUR SCARF WILL CONCEAL IT.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Chilean Miner Rescue in the Big Picture; Making the Impossible Happen
I was really moved by this Radio Editorial.
October 16, 2010 - SCOTT SIMON, host:
National Public Radio
The 33 men pulled up from the depths of Chile's San Jose mine this week looked strong and proud: victors, not victims. Their survival was a marvel that enlisted drillers, engineers, doctors, geologists, scientists, psychiatrists, bureaucrats, clergy, and volunteers from around the world.
But the men saved themselves too. They had the hard, hidden part: living with isolation, hunger and despair for 69 days, trapped in a small, dark space 2,000 feet below the ground that tried to crush them.
They told reporters yesterday the first 17 days were hardest. They had no word from the surface or proof they were being searched for. Some of the men squabbled, which they made a pact never to speak about. They made jokes about cannibalism as they watched themselves starve. After 17 days, the refuge chamber into which they'd scrambled to escape began to feel as close as a tomb.
Now, the men - who may always be known as Los Treinta y tres - can look ahead to sunnier days.
Chile's president, Sebasti�n Pi�era, embraced each miner as he emerged and said: You're not the same after this and neither are we. We will never forget this. I think that we embraces the world. Millions of families, including ours, got our children out of bed to watch the men rise from the earth, wave, sing, and blow kisses. We told our children: remember this night whenever you think something is impossible.
President Pi�era says he also knows that this magnificent achievement stemmed from what may be reckless disregard of mine safety. Never again, he says, will we permit people to work in conditions so unsafe and inhuman as they worked in the San Jose mine.
It's tempting to say the rescue of the miners, like the landing on the moon, or the return of Apollo 13, shows that humans can do anything if we just work together. Landing on the moon, or rescuing 33 miners, are daunting but direct enterprises. They have start points and finish lines. The trials of war, famine, terrorism, poverty, global warming, joblessness and loneliness twist and turn.
This week it was good to be reminded that skill, courage, and dedication can also move the earth. When 33 men were buried, people uncovered strength they never knew was inside. Failure was not an option. This week we were all Chilean. Viva.
National Public Radio Link
October 16, 2010 - SCOTT SIMON, host:
National Public Radio
The 33 men pulled up from the depths of Chile's San Jose mine this week looked strong and proud: victors, not victims. Their survival was a marvel that enlisted drillers, engineers, doctors, geologists, scientists, psychiatrists, bureaucrats, clergy, and volunteers from around the world.
But the men saved themselves too. They had the hard, hidden part: living with isolation, hunger and despair for 69 days, trapped in a small, dark space 2,000 feet below the ground that tried to crush them.
They told reporters yesterday the first 17 days were hardest. They had no word from the surface or proof they were being searched for. Some of the men squabbled, which they made a pact never to speak about. They made jokes about cannibalism as they watched themselves starve. After 17 days, the refuge chamber into which they'd scrambled to escape began to feel as close as a tomb.
Now, the men - who may always be known as Los Treinta y tres - can look ahead to sunnier days.
Chile's president, Sebasti�n Pi�era, embraced each miner as he emerged and said: You're not the same after this and neither are we. We will never forget this. I think that we embraces the world. Millions of families, including ours, got our children out of bed to watch the men rise from the earth, wave, sing, and blow kisses. We told our children: remember this night whenever you think something is impossible.
President Pi�era says he also knows that this magnificent achievement stemmed from what may be reckless disregard of mine safety. Never again, he says, will we permit people to work in conditions so unsafe and inhuman as they worked in the San Jose mine.
It's tempting to say the rescue of the miners, like the landing on the moon, or the return of Apollo 13, shows that humans can do anything if we just work together. Landing on the moon, or rescuing 33 miners, are daunting but direct enterprises. They have start points and finish lines. The trials of war, famine, terrorism, poverty, global warming, joblessness and loneliness twist and turn.
This week it was good to be reminded that skill, courage, and dedication can also move the earth. When 33 men were buried, people uncovered strength they never knew was inside. Failure was not an option. This week we were all Chilean. Viva.
National Public Radio Link
Saturday, October 9, 2010
CDC 6 Winnable Diseases--Which one can an engineer help win?
In early October, Center for Disease Control Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden announced a list of six diseases which can be concerned.
1.) Healthcare Associated Infections
2.) HIV
3.) Motor Vehicle Injuries
4.) Obesity, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Food Safety
5.) Teen Pregnancy
6.) Tobacco
There are a lot of specific challenges here for physicians, biomedical engineers, and chemists to tackle. What can the physicists and physical engineers bring to the table?
My first approach is to re-rank them as to the potential role of physical science. The top three would be Motor Vehicles Injuries, Healthcare Associated Infections, and Nutrition and Physical Activity
Motor Vehicle Injury Reduction has been addressed with engineering solutions for decades. Seat Belts, Safety Glass, Airbags, Third Tail light, Anti-locking Brakes, and Crumple Zones have save many lives. Much of these go back to Ralph Nader’s consumer rights investigations of automobiles in the 1960’s.
Auto Safety Systems are often divided into two groups: Crash Avoidance and Crashworthiness. DUI Interlocks and Ceiling Airbags are another emerging area of engineering approaches to these diseases. Maybe related to DUI Interlocks, seat belt interlocks or cell phone interlocks could be explored.
One example of how small technology changes can lead to safety improvements is the use of LED lighting in brake lights. LEDs illuminate faster than the old style incandescent bulbs. A few milliseconds may not seem like much, but when a drive is reacting to a stopped car and slamming on their own brakes, milliseconds may be the difference between rear end and safe stop.
Can the engineers who work with Mass Transportation Technology and Policy help reduce motor vehicle injuries? Trains, subways, buses, and walking are safer than cars.
Healthcare Associated Infections must be addressed with a mix of practices, packaging and monitoring. Could timers increase hand wash times? Could bacteria sensors be used to trigger room sanitizing? Could technologies developed for biological and chemical attacks be more widely used in hospitals? Some materials are being made with anti-bacterial properties. Can these be more widely used in healthcare environments.
With people carrying more and more technology on their person, can this be one way to approach Nutrition and Physical Activity? One analogy is a casino player’s card. In many casinos, guest can obtain personalized cards which can be inserted into slot machine, video poker games, and even some table games like blackjack. Could such a tracking device be used to track physical activity, both on the street and in the gym?
Could a MP3 or smart-phone application be used to track physical activity? Some smart-phones and watches have GPS technology built in; these could used to track mileage for walkers, runners, and hikers. Blue tooth technology could be used to connect to treadmills and cardio machines at the gym?
The three most challenging diseases are Teen Pregnancy, HIV, and Tobacco. All of these are dominated by personal choice, knowledge of outcomes, and practices. Can targeted ventilation systems reduce the problem of second hand smoke?
1.) Healthcare Associated Infections
2.) HIV
3.) Motor Vehicle Injuries
4.) Obesity, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Food Safety
5.) Teen Pregnancy
6.) Tobacco
There are a lot of specific challenges here for physicians, biomedical engineers, and chemists to tackle. What can the physicists and physical engineers bring to the table?
My first approach is to re-rank them as to the potential role of physical science. The top three would be Motor Vehicles Injuries, Healthcare Associated Infections, and Nutrition and Physical Activity
Motor Vehicle Injury Reduction has been addressed with engineering solutions for decades. Seat Belts, Safety Glass, Airbags, Third Tail light, Anti-locking Brakes, and Crumple Zones have save many lives. Much of these go back to Ralph Nader’s consumer rights investigations of automobiles in the 1960’s.
Auto Safety Systems are often divided into two groups: Crash Avoidance and Crashworthiness. DUI Interlocks and Ceiling Airbags are another emerging area of engineering approaches to these diseases. Maybe related to DUI Interlocks, seat belt interlocks or cell phone interlocks could be explored.
One example of how small technology changes can lead to safety improvements is the use of LED lighting in brake lights. LEDs illuminate faster than the old style incandescent bulbs. A few milliseconds may not seem like much, but when a drive is reacting to a stopped car and slamming on their own brakes, milliseconds may be the difference between rear end and safe stop.
Can the engineers who work with Mass Transportation Technology and Policy help reduce motor vehicle injuries? Trains, subways, buses, and walking are safer than cars.
Healthcare Associated Infections must be addressed with a mix of practices, packaging and monitoring. Could timers increase hand wash times? Could bacteria sensors be used to trigger room sanitizing? Could technologies developed for biological and chemical attacks be more widely used in hospitals? Some materials are being made with anti-bacterial properties. Can these be more widely used in healthcare environments.
With people carrying more and more technology on their person, can this be one way to approach Nutrition and Physical Activity? One analogy is a casino player’s card. In many casinos, guest can obtain personalized cards which can be inserted into slot machine, video poker games, and even some table games like blackjack. Could such a tracking device be used to track physical activity, both on the street and in the gym?
Could a MP3 or smart-phone application be used to track physical activity? Some smart-phones and watches have GPS technology built in; these could used to track mileage for walkers, runners, and hikers. Blue tooth technology could be used to connect to treadmills and cardio machines at the gym?
The three most challenging diseases are Teen Pregnancy, HIV, and Tobacco. All of these are dominated by personal choice, knowledge of outcomes, and practices. Can targeted ventilation systems reduce the problem of second hand smoke?
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Phantom Limbs and Medical Science on Public Radio
From the website at Radio Lab
Radio Lab
Warning: this section gets gorey. We'll start off with fatality, trauma, and bear attack. Neurologists Robert Sapolsky and Antonio Damasio weigh in on 19th century philosopher William James, and his theory of emotion (and of bears), which says “emotion is a slave to physiology.”
Then we'll look at sensations of feeling that hang on long after the physiology goes away. Radio Lab takes a field trip to the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (a collection of medical oddities), and finds a photograph of the severed feet of Civil War soldiers (pictured, on the right.). Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C., CP 1043.
And then we'll speed back into the present-day to see brain doctor V.S. Ramachandran solve the case of a painful phantom limb. Pain relief by but mere smoke and mirrors.
Audio Link
Radio Lab
Warning: this section gets gorey. We'll start off with fatality, trauma, and bear attack. Neurologists Robert Sapolsky and Antonio Damasio weigh in on 19th century philosopher William James, and his theory of emotion (and of bears), which says “emotion is a slave to physiology.”
Then we'll look at sensations of feeling that hang on long after the physiology goes away. Radio Lab takes a field trip to the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (a collection of medical oddities), and finds a photograph of the severed feet of Civil War soldiers (pictured, on the right.). Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C., CP 1043.
And then we'll speed back into the present-day to see brain doctor V.S. Ramachandran solve the case of a painful phantom limb. Pain relief by but mere smoke and mirrors.
Audio Link
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Feynman--Most Important Sentence in Science to Pass On
From Lectures On Physics by Richard Feynman
Feynman, Leighton, Sands
If, in some cataclysm, all scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the next generations of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words? I believe it is the atomic hypothesis (or atomic fact, or whatever you wish to call it) that all things are made of atoms--little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into on another. In that one sentence, you will see, there is an enormous amount of information about the world, if just a little imagination and thinking are applied.
Feynman, Leighton, Sands
If, in some cataclysm, all scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the next generations of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words? I believe it is the atomic hypothesis (or atomic fact, or whatever you wish to call it) that all things are made of atoms--little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into on another. In that one sentence, you will see, there is an enormous amount of information about the world, if just a little imagination and thinking are applied.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Iris Murdoch on Education, Freedom and Happiness
The movie Iris (2001) is a great movie. It chronicles author Iris Murdoch's fight with Alzheimer's.
Early in the movie, she gives a short speech which is just awesome.
"Education doesn’t make you happy. And what is freedom? We don’t become happy just because we are free, if we are. Or because we have been educated, if we have. But because education may be the means by which we realize we are happy. It opens our eyes, our ears. Tells use where delights are lurking. Convinces us that there is only one freedom of any importance whatsoever: that of the mind. And give us the assurance, the confidence, to walk the path our mind, our educated mind, offers."
One line is particular striking: "Tells use where delights are lurking."
There are a lot of things in life to enjoy. Our culture provides the freedom to enjoy them. Education and Knowledge allows a deeper enjoyment.
A particular piece of music may be enjoyable. If one understand the chord progression, it can be appreciated more.
Friday, August 13, 2010
NPR's Top 100 Thriller Novels
My two favorite were The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton and The Day After Tomorrow by Allan Folsom. The former is 17 on the list and the latter did not make the top 100.
I listed the top ten below.
I voted for Christie's And Then There Were None.
My two favorite were The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton and The Day After Tomorrow by Allan Folsom. The former is 17 on the list and the latter did not make the top 100.
I listed the top ten below.
I voted for Christie's And Then There Were None.
- 1. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
- 2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
- 3. Kiss the Girls, by James Patterson
- 4. The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum
- 5. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
- 6. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
- 7. The Shining, by Stephen King
- 8. And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
- 9. The Hunt tor Red October, by Tom Clancy
- 10. The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Thursday, August 12, 2010
7 Lessons We Can Learn From Michael Jordan
7 Lessons We Can Learn From Michael Jordan
2. Do not fear failure.
"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
--Michael Jordan
Most people are afraid of failing. They are so fearful of failure that it halts all their action but the funny thing in life is that if we do not take any action, we are doom for failure. Contradicting isn't it?
Failure is part of success. We can actually perceieve failure as a feedback adn the feedback works as a reminder to tell us something is wrong and we need to fix it. Failure doesn't condem us, it is just Nature's way of telling us to fix something that isn't right.
Vincent Tan
2. Do not fear failure.
"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
--Michael Jordan
Most people are afraid of failing. They are so fearful of failure that it halts all their action but the funny thing in life is that if we do not take any action, we are doom for failure. Contradicting isn't it?
Failure is part of success. We can actually perceieve failure as a feedback adn the feedback works as a reminder to tell us something is wrong and we need to fix it. Failure doesn't condem us, it is just Nature's way of telling us to fix something that isn't right.
Vincent Tan
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
NPR story on the human brain
From Primitive Parts, A Highly Evolved Human Brain
from NPR's Morning Edition on 9 August
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=129027124
Link
Two great analogies by Dr. David Linden
"If there were a giant with her head in Baltimore and her toe off the coast of South Africa, and she was bit by a great white shark on the toe on Monday, she wouldn't feel it until Wednesday, and she wouldn't jerk her toe until Saturday."
"[Brain evolution]" is like adding scoops to an ice cream cone. So, if you imagine the lizard brain as a single-scoop ice cream cone, the way you make a mouse brain out of a lizard brain isn't to throw the cone and the first scoop away and start over and make a banana split; rather, it's to put a second scoop on top of the first scoop."
from NPR's Morning Edition on 9 August
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=129027124
Link
Two great analogies by Dr. David Linden
"If there were a giant with her head in Baltimore and her toe off the coast of South Africa, and she was bit by a great white shark on the toe on Monday, she wouldn't feel it until Wednesday, and she wouldn't jerk her toe until Saturday."
"[Brain evolution]" is like adding scoops to an ice cream cone. So, if you imagine the lizard brain as a single-scoop ice cream cone, the way you make a mouse brain out of a lizard brain isn't to throw the cone and the first scoop away and start over and make a banana split; rather, it's to put a second scoop on top of the first scoop."
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Great Interview: Roy Spence"What You Stand For"
NPR/Motley Fool Money Interview
Roy Spence, author of It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose.
http://fool.libsyn.com/motley_fool_money_7_16_2010
Roy Spence pulls from several corporate examples to show that if a business has a clear purpose in serving the customer, they will success, survive, and make more money.
I was impressed by the approach of focus on your core mission and everything else will fall into place.
One example was Southwest Airlines. Their focus is Affordable and Democratic Air Travel. This drives their decision to keep baggage free, unlike other airlines.
Quite often in the day to day scramble of a business, it is hard to stay focus on the basic goal.
Amazon Link
http://www.amazon.com/Its-What-Sell-Stand-Extraordinary/dp/B002ACPM5Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281305974&sr=8-1
Roy Spence, author of It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose.
http://fool.libsyn.com/motley_fool_money_7_16_2010
Roy Spence pulls from several corporate examples to show that if a business has a clear purpose in serving the customer, they will success, survive, and make more money.
I was impressed by the approach of focus on your core mission and everything else will fall into place.
One example was Southwest Airlines. Their focus is Affordable and Democratic Air Travel. This drives their decision to keep baggage free, unlike other airlines.
Quite often in the day to day scramble of a business, it is hard to stay focus on the basic goal.
Amazon Link
http://www.amazon.com/Its-What-Sell-Stand-Extraordinary/dp/B002ACPM5Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281305974&sr=8-1
My First Blog Post
I have been using Twitter for work. It is great, but limited by 140 characters.
I have a wide range of interests and like sharing knowledge. Hopefully, a blog will be a good place to do that.
I have a wide range of interests and like sharing knowledge. Hopefully, a blog will be a good place to do that.