questions, answers, thoughts, theories, observations, speculations, and assorted bits of information.
I am old enough to remember watching a black and white television as a kid. No, I am not talking about black and white movies on a color television, I am referring to a television with no color. When I grew up, color television was not groundbreaking, but it was still an upgrade from the technology of black and white sets. Color was optional. This was really a buzz kill when watching The Wizard of …read more
Saturday afternoon. Approved list in hand, dad (me) is off to the grocery to get the family some food for the week. Fruit – check. Milk – check. Bread – check. Ooo – look at that! The product that will make dad the hero of dinner time to my wife and kids – Tater Tots shaped into letters. List be damned, into the cart the tater tots went. Why did I feel compelled to buy …read more
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw Sharpen the saw is the last of Covey’s 7 habits. (There actually is an 8th Habit, but that is another book, and perhaps another post.) Sharpen the Saw is the habit of personal renewal. The metaphor of “sharpening the saw” is simple - It is counterproductive to spend all of your time sawing, while neglecting to sharpen the saw. For people to truly be effective they need to take time …read more
Habit 6: Synergize Synergy is where all of the previous habits come together. It is the payoff. To quote Stephen Covey “Synergy is the highest activity in all of life.” “The essence of synergy is to value the differences.” By doing so, the human gift of creativity can be levered to produce new and exciting options for the future. By doing all the work in Habits 1,2, and 3 you develop internal confidence from a …read more
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood Habit 5, Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood, is a continuation of Habit 4, Think Win/Win. It is the idea that to truly think win/win, one must start with listening. Thus the idea that one should seek first to understand, then to be understood. We all view the world in different ways. We have different values, different needs, and different paradigms. Things that …read more
I recently read Gordon MacKenzie’s Orbiting The Giant Hairball, an excellent book about cultivating personal creativity – particularly how to do so in the workplace. It is a brilliant book, chronicling the author’s experiences as an employee at Hallmark. The book is filled with doodles, sketches, stories, and anecdotes chronicling ways in which Gordon managed to leverage his creativity to further his career and enrich his life. The chapters are short, and it is a very …read more
Yes, I said "The Amazing Pizza Box Video." it is not a typo. Need proof that the opportunity to innovate is all around us? Check out this 45 second video from Eco Incorporated, a company who is "saving the environment one pizza box at a time." This is such an awesome concept for so many reasons. First is the obvious reason, it helps to reduce waste. This is a no-brainer. I have eaten thousands of …read more
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