It’s all about soul

October 5, 2010

Say you owned a business that made widgets. In order to produce those widgets you bought a widget-making machine. Pretty smart. Now I’ve got a question for you. Imagine that machine had a knob on it which controlled the quality of your widgets. Turning the knob up or down did not affect your cost. Would […]

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You know it when you know it

October 5, 2010

I was recently involved in a discussion at work about the definition of a certain word. Some folks were resistant to my attempt to define this term. And there were several comments along the lines of “I know it when I see it.” I respectfully disagree. You don’t know it when you see it. I […]

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Eulogize the living

September 19, 2010

Familiarity breeds contempt. It’s easy to get so comfortable with those closest to you that you relax your civil posture and let more of your dark side out. On one hand this is good. Don’t we all want to be able to fart in the presence of our loved ones? [OK, that’s not what I […]

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T-shirts are for hiding your nipples

September 16, 2010

I saw somebody in the subway today wearing a t-shirt that said “Stop the killing in Darfur.” Now this isn’t the first time I’ve seen such a t-shirt but I think it’s time I addressed the issue. Now, of course, I’m against the killing in Darfur. But so is pretty much everyone else and that’s […]

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The lack of clarity penalty

September 14, 2010

It’s extremely difficult to figure out what the hell you mean. It’s even tougher to get someone else to understand what the hell you mean. Both are worth doing well. Lack of clarity at the outset of a project will cost you dearly later on. More often than not, I’ve seen people sweep their lack […]

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It isn’t ever over

September 12, 2010

A lot of our training and education is steering us the wrong way. Our system is designed to help us successfully navigate a world of milestones. You do well in high school and you get into a good college. And that’s good because if you do well in college you get into a good graduate […]

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Are you changing the world?

August 28, 2010

Why are we here? What is the point of human existence? Big questions. And I do not want to get into these issues in all of their depth right now. But one thought recently occurred to me. Somehow, we ought to try and change the world. Hopefully for the better. This isn’t about our legacy. […]

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It really is black or white

August 27, 2010

I love complexity. I really do. The ins and outs of an argument. The subtle differences. It’s like catnip for me. Even now as I write this, I’m getting the shivers. But apart from the world of ideas, life is black or white. You either will or will not spend a particular dollar or minute […]

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The big lie

August 12, 2010

Once upon a time, big companies made outstanding products. These products were so much better than the alternatives. And in order to help consumers remember that their products were so great and thereby reap the financial benefits, these companies created brands. The brands were a reminder of the excellent products the company had sold to […]

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Are you Crac’d?

July 14, 2010

This Sunday I went online and ordered two pairs of Crocs for myself. [Yeah yeah, I know there’s a whole anti-Croc movement out there. But I don’t really care. I like them and I’m going to wear them and I’m OK if you don’t want to wear them.] Anyway, moments after I placed my order, […]

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