I’ve often heard the term, “You are what you eat.” I suspect that some of that may be true. If you’ve read Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” you may conclude that we are more corn than anything else.
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How many times have we crossed the Rubicon, our very own River Rubicon? When Julius Caesar crossed the River Rubicon in 49 BC, it was an act of commitment to war with Rome, a point of no return, a decision to follow through without looking back. It was, in fact a decision that changed the course of history and our world as it is today
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You did that on purpose!” I often hear that when someone’s about to get it for a misdeed. It differentiates those actions that are done with intent from those not by mistake or accidentally. So, the word purpose can be used to differentiate a special cause from a random cause. In this case, it takes on the differentiator for indictment, something a prosecutor might want to propose (ironic, that purpose and propose share the same etymological genealogy)
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This has been a tough season for many. As business belts and budgets tightened, the focus to become leaner has led to some tough choices. Many of the activities we engaged in with customers had to change, even go by the wayside. Maybe it was fewer visits, or less personalized care, as we moved their requests into more “efficient” centers, thereby reducing transactions costs. Some of the requests we did for little or no cost, now are fee based. What about when the economy improves?
I get really excited when a new idea somehow gets into my head. It may not be original thought, as some of our ideas have been waiting around for millennia or a chance to germinate. Some died an earlier life where circumstances may have starved it. Some were just bad ideas. But when I think I’ve got a good one, I get charged up and stay up all night trying to give it legs.
I always want others to like it and in some way, feed my ego. I have wanted it a lot, so I did not push hard on others to tell me why they did not like it, or seek skeptics for hard-to-take feedback. I’ve been lucky to have learned that my approach was dumb-dumb. My first question should have been, is this worth my time? Then, should I pursue this idea and invest in it? Do I have an understanding of the nature of constraints and obstacles I will need to resolve and overcome? At what point in my development process do certain questions and answers belong? Can I objectively differentiate opportunity from stubbornness or obsession? It’s not nearly as bad as those (in the field of megalomania) who exhibit the attitude with others that, “You just don’t get it. Why can’t you see I’m right all the time?” If we’re lucky, Darwin is taking care of some those guys.
I confess that I find the questions may be to easier ask and more difficult to answer.
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Our customers make us better! Have you heard that phrase? When I have, the translation that emerges is that our customers sometimes have to drag us into improvement. In fact, it often means that we become aware of the needs to improve from feedback and complaints. Someone might argue that we sometimes innovate from negative feedback
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A must read chapter is “Battle of the Nile.” For me, it resonates with the importance of knowing your competition and your real estate (where you are competing), planning, innovation, and most of all, empowering your team to win. It also serves as a vivid example of how much the rigid controls of an adversary created wonderful opportunities for execution with agility and surprise.
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“Cogito, ergo sum” means “I think, therefore I am” is a principle developed by Rene Descartes in 1637, often referred to as a foundational element of Western thought and philosophy. It speaks to how we attain knowledge among other things. Western culture places great value on the individual, so the word “I” is a big deal for us. If we believe Rene, and we are because we think, then how we do this stuff called “think” is a pretty important process.
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It’s time for breakfast. I’m having a bowl of OODA Loops, a true Breakfast of Champions. Want some?
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Chess and Go are two games that require a real time combination of strategic, tactical and analytical skills to master. They have military emphasis, with conquest as an objective, but are worlds apart in terms of what how success is …
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Your couch. It is mine.
Im a cool paragraph that lives inside of an even cooler modal. Wins
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