Archives For Learning

I Knew That

joe —  Sat 29-Jun-13

Dog and skunkThey say that with age comes wisdom. It seems as we get older we feel it is our duty to share our wisdom with everyone else. Unconvinced? Watch a Facebook conversation between a new parent and those that have already been there and done that. You can almost hear the parents with older children saying, “Bless you heart,” to the first timers.

There is something in the human psyche that feels the need to let others know how much we know. It seems to get worse as we get older and think that the wisdom fairy has somehow blessed us. I think true wisdom comes when we realize that not everyone needs or wants our sage advice. I’ve been wrestling with this problem quite a bit lately. Continue Reading…

In Higher Ground , , ,
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Bliss Be Damned

joe —  Sat 31-Mar-12

Basketball ignoranceIgnorance is bliss – until you realize you are ignorant.

Ignorance, the lack of awareness or knowledge about something in particular, makes up most of who we are. We are all ignorant about most things at some level. To quote the great philosopher Thomas Dolby.

Albert Einstein nailed space/time
But the wild thing had him stumped

What is it about ignorance that is so blissful? Continue Reading…

In Learning , , , ,
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All You Need is… Data

joe —  Sat 19-Nov-11

Brass knuckles wedding ring framedI overheard a conversation between two young women the other day. One of them had asked the other, “Wow, he finally asked you. Did you say yes?” To which the other replied, “I told him that I needed more data.”

Seriously?

No. That conversation never happened. But imagine the look on the guy’s face if she had given him that reply.

One of the challenges we now face is that data is everywhere and we are often paralyzed by it. We even have a name for it – it’s called “big data.” Being the resourceful creatures that we are we assume because it is available, we should use it.

Beth and I have two high school seniors that are going through the process of deciding which colleges will win the lottery known as Mommy and Daddy’s savings account. The options available are amazing. What makes it even more complex is that like nearly all high school seniors they have no idea what they want to do when they grow up. Continue Reading…

In Learning , , ,
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What Sticks?

joe —  Sun 25-Sep-11

Beware of DougPet sitting for friends is like being a grandparent – spoil them rotten and then send them home to be disciplined by their owners. We get great joy out of being the spoiler with Cassie, my brother-in-law Brian’s beautiful dog.

Rescued later in life, Cassie was clearly abused in her younger years. She is extremely skittish whenever someone moves near her, having her head down in fear for any human contact other than Brian.

Cassie has no reason to behave like this any longer. Brian is a wonderful, loving caretaker and we are equally loving with her every time she comes over. Yet Cassie is still scared after many, many years of interaction with us.

Cassie is afraid because she knows what a human is capable of doing. She has experienced something that she cannot forget – something stuck. It may have been a series of events or one really bad moment – we don’t know. Continue Reading…

In Leadership , , ,
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I Didn’t Know I Knew That

joe —  Fri 20-May-11

Pig DivingInstincts are a funny thing. Some of the greatest breakthroughs in history have been the result of trusting one’s instincts yet I can’t imagine any acceptable business plan that has “my gut tells me” as part of its rationale.

Why do these instinctual feelings that seem to point to the right answer need more solid reasoning before we move forward? What if we can’t find that solid reasoning – should they be abandoned?

“Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

What happens when we demand reason over instinct? Continue Reading…

In Learning , , ,
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Go Immerse Yourself

joe —  Sun 3-Apr-11

CricketI have a confession to make – I have been totally enthralled watching the World Cup cricket matches.

I have another confession to make – I could barely spell cricket a month ago.

Why the new found interest? It wasn’t because I needed another sport to watch. It was because I wanted to better understand something that was very important to many of the people on my team. The fact that I enjoyed it so much was an accident, but not really as I’ll explain later.

Over half of my team is from a country where cricket is of great interest – India, the UK and South Africa. So when the grandaddy of the them all, the World Cup, came around the buzz became pretty intense. When India made it to the semi-finals our office in India gave the folks the afternoon off. We don’t give days off when the Braves make it to the World Series so this is big! Continue Reading…

In Learning , , , , ,
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Want a Job?

joe —  Sun 26-Sep-10

Interviews suck.

They can be one of the most anxiety soaked events that leave you feeling spent and judged. Today, though, let’s take away a little of the anxiety by disclosing one critical thing you can do to get to the final stages of the process.

The ancient Greeks said it best.
Continue Reading…

In Learning , , , , , , ,
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