Idiots and Crises
“Any idiot can face a crisis; it’s the day to day living that wears you out.”
Anton Chekov
I love this quote. I love it because so many times in the business world someone touts their ability to be “leader in a crisis.” God knows I have fallen into that trap. Sure. Some people are really good in a crisis. Sure. A lot of people look good in a crisis even though they really aren’t .. out of sheer luck of the draw (as well as the fact they figured out how to survive). The true test of people is how they manage every day. This is where I mention something else I have written (but may not have been published yet). Single mothers. I don’t know how they do it. The way they face the stress of everyday life and responsibilities is an example many of us could learn from if we took the time to do so. Single mothers, parents, have my utmost respect in how they refuse to let “day to day living wear you out.” We should all aspire to not letting life wear you out.
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rome & atlanta have something in common
February 8, 2012 - 8:43 am
Tags: atlanta snowstorms, cities with no snowplows, do your own shoveling, enlightened conflict, freak snowstorms, giving shovels away, life lessons, making the vatican envious, no snowplows, olymipic torch, rome italy and atlanta, shoveling snow, snow in rome, Stuff I Like, words
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So. Whoda thunk Rome and Atlanta would have something in common. Not a Bernini statue (although Atlanta has a rusting Olympic torch). Not a square… albeit it is really a circle <St. Peters> (although Atlanta has a dome that would make the Vatican envious). Nope. Snowplows. Neither of them has any snowplows. This week Rome [...]
friends, feedback, influencing & a new economy
February 7, 2012 - 8:37 am
Tags: a generation of concerned citizens, a net education platform, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting people’s conflict behavior, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, broadcast, building character, business, Business Thoughts, careful tweeting, change begins in the head, change takes remarkable effort, character, children and critical thinking, children out of school, children’s education, communication, community individualism, conflict and people, content dissemination trends, conversations, creating innovation attitude in children, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, crowd clout, crowds providing unsolicited feedback, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, decision making, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, educating using the net, education to enlighten, effective teaching globally, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, enlightened conflict, facebook, freedom of choice, generation after millennials, generational ideation, generations, global collaboration, Global generation, global generation sociological platform, global respect, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, influencers are still influencers, influencing purchases, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life lessons, marketing, mass mingling impact on Global Generation, measuring exclusion from primary education, measuring generational attitudes, measuring generational behavior, measuring global education, media, meeting the challenges of concentration, mobile technology impacting education, more honest online, mtv europe awards, net enabled education, new economic model, nietzsche, online friends, online has quality communication, peace on facebook, pop up schools, predictions, project global generation, quality versus quantity online, redefining children’s education with a global initiative, research, respect, respect for individual choice, responsibility, short term concentration capabilities, social media, strategy, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, that i will be tomorrow, the economist e-communication and society, the f-factor, this i am today, trendwatching, truth, Twitter, twitter triumph of humanity, using cell technology for education, web based global education
Posted in Business Thoughts, Stuff I Like | No comments
So. My thoughts on this topic were inspired by a trendwatching’s briefing called “The F-Factor.” Their briefing (another excellent one by the way) discusses focuses how the impact of influencers’ on purchasing has increased because of the web (and the dynamics associated with the web). By the way. Trendwatching has another excellent briefing called Crowd [...]
survival
February 6, 2012 - 8:29 am
Tags: a full life, actions today make who i am tomorrow, architects of fate, be who you are, business, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, changing objectives to make change, character, choices, choices leading to full life, choices we make or do not make, communication, creation means destroying something, decision making, destroying the personal baggage you carry, every one is an architect of life, every one plays a role in fate, fear, fear of choices, gain some new identity aspects, generations, getting a new start means destroying some old things, good people, hope, identifying who you are, inaction, intentions, just this once, lacking hope, learning, lessons, letting go is difficult, letting go is not simple, lies, life, life lessons, making changes personally, making choices, managing perceptions, motivated by a desire to achieve, ordinary people don’t think they are remarkable, organizations, personal creative destruction, quotations, quotes, relationships, resiliency, resiliency and character, respect, responsibility, see your own reality, self truth, smallest actions contribute, strategy, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, that i will be tomorrow, there is no formula for good choices, this i am today, trust, truth, trying to preserve will lead to stagnation, words
Posted in Favorite Quotes, Rants and Observations | No comments
“it is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin I love this quote. Mostly because those with ‘brawn’ scoff at those with ‘brains’, and vice versa, when survival (and that doesn’t have to mean life & death but rather success [...]
let the din of battle begin
February 5, 2012 - 8:19 am
Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, architects of fate, awaiting glory in silence, being in the battle, brady and stillness, character, competitiveness, flat wave brain stillness, gathering adrenaline but still, imaging the brain for the moment before the moment, leadership, let the din of battle begin, maybe it is me moment, more aware of yourself, pooh and Brady, quotations, quotes, resetting the brain, respect, responsibility, stillness in leadership, Stuff I Like, super bowl stillness, that i will be tomorrow, the moment before the moment, there was a moment just before, this i am today, thriving in the moment, tom brady, truth
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“We await glory in silence, oh, let the din of battle begin” – A midshipman on Collingwood’s flagship wrote this in his diary as his ship sailed into battle at Trafalgar Tom Brady (yup … this is about him – in honor of the super bowl – and I am going to use this quote). [...]
the unAmerican american tradition
February 4, 2012 - 12:38 pm
Tags: 8th biggest beer day, america has lost its beers, american beer, american beer connoisseurs, beer, beer and bonding, beer is good, brand, Bud isn't american, budweiser, business, Business Thoughts, champagne of beer, coors, learning, life, life lessons, no high falutin micro brews, Stuff I Like, super bowl beer tradition, the character of beer, truth, unamerican beer
Posted in Personal & Nonsensical, Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | No comments
Ok. This is about the American tradition (the super bowl) and an un-American aspect (the fact there just aren’t that many American beers left). The super bowl (according to Nielsen sales studies) is the 8th biggest beer day of the year. It is behind the 4th of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Christmas/New [...]
wonder of birds
February 3, 2012 - 8:43 am
Tags: addictive songs, bright as yellow, fragile music, fragile voice, great listening music, husband and wife musicians, karen peris, life lessons, music, songs that are nice to listen to, Stuff I Like, the innocence mission, wistful alt pop music, wistful storyteller, wonder of birds, write songs like conversations
Posted in Music, Stuff I Like | No comments
So. I just heard another song and it made me think about “couples bands” … like Over the Rhine or Weepies (a post to follow on their new cd) … and going back maybe K’s Choice (brother & sister) … but the song I heard made me want to spend a minute talking about the [...]
my thoughts on education inspired by The Wire
February 1, 2012 - 8:06 am
Tags: a generation of concerned citizens, a global education kids initiative, a net education platform, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting people’s conflict behavior, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, beating the system, building character, business, Business Thoughts, change begins in the head, change takes remarkable effort, children and critical thinking, children out of school, children’s education, communication, community individualism, conflict and people, content dissemination trends, creating innovation attitude in children, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, decision making, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, educating using the net, education and collaboration, education is not always equal, education to enlighten, effective teaching globally, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, enlightened conflict, every child deserves a chance, free your mind, generation after millennials, global collaboration, global collaboration and learning, Global generation, hope in learning, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, imagining a better education system, impacting kid's education, jared leto, jared leto free your mind, leadership, learning, learning by lurking, lessons, life lessons, many good kids fail, mass mingling impact on Global Generation, measuring exclusion from primary education, measuring generational attitudes, measuring generational behavior, measuring global education, mobile technology impacting education, mtv europe awards, next generation of thinkers, peace on facebook, pop up schools, pre school global education, project global generation, redefining children’s education with a global initiative, respect, responsibility, strategy, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, teaching kids globally, that i will be tomorrow, the economist e-communication and society, the global generation, The wire and education, there are excuses for not getting an education, this i am today, truth, twitter triumph of humanity, UNESCO children out of school, using cell technology for education, web based collaboration education, web based global education, young children collaborating online
Posted in Rants and Observations, project global generation | No comments
So. Every time I walk into a high school I have a feeling that education … well … that it could be better. For everyone. Teachers & all kids (no matter their socioeconomic status or whether they live in an urban or rural environment). Shit. Not could … that it should be better. And I [...]
never interrupt the enemy
January 31, 2012 - 8:10 am
Tags: action and consequences, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting organization thru actions, aiming high, architects of fate, art of staying, brand, builders versus renovators, business, business lessons, Business Thoughts, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, character, communication, company of adventurers, creating positive touchpoints, decision making, depth of character to face everyday life, difficult lessons, dynamic beyond our own purposes, easier to recognize when you don’t suck, events are meant to be commanded not feared, every one is an architect of life, finding your way is tough, going with your gut, greatest danger is aiming too low, leaders and character, leadership, learning, lessons, let someone suck as long as they want, life, life is a winding road, life lessons, managing perceptions, michelanglo, most things in life are not black or white, napoleon and business, never interrupt the enemy, oblivious to sucking, one foot in history one foot in future, only few find the way, patty griffin, pursuing the way, quotations, quotes, reach for the stars, respect, responsibility, safer to stay then go, seek out events without fear, smallest actions contribute, stay or go, stop on a high note, stop when you suck, strategy, strength of character to make change, stressful decisions, Stuff I Like, suckedness, sucking is like quicksand, that i will be tomorrow, thinking too much, this i am today, thrive on dreams and possibilities, transformational people, trapped by fear, truth, what do you do when you get what you want, words
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“Never interrupt the enemy when he is making a mistake.” – Napoleon Bonaparte This is a follow up to yesterday’s “when you start to suck, stop.” Why? Well. Because that one was focused on your suckedness and this is focused on someone else’s suckedness. Simplistically. If your enemy is starting to suck … don’t interrupt. [...]
knowing when to stop
January 30, 2012 - 8:51 am
Tags: action and consequences, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting organization thru actions, aiming high, architects of fate, art of staying, brand, builders versus renovators, business, business lessons, Business Thoughts, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, character, communication, company of adventurers, creating positive touchpoints, decision making, depth of character to face everyday life, difficult lessons, dynamic beyond our own purposes, easier to recognize when you don't suck, events are meant to be commanded not feared, every one is an architect of life, finding your way is tough, going with your gut, greatest danger is aiming too low, leaders and character, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life is a winding road, life lessons, managing perceptions, michelanglo, most things in life are not black or white, oblivious to sucking, one foot in history one foot in future, only few find the way, patty griffin, pursuing the way, quotations, quotes, reach for the stars, respect, responsibility, safer to stay then go, seek out events without fear, smallest actions contribute, stay or go, stop on a high note, stop when you suck, strategy, strength of character to make change, stressful decisions, Stuff I Like, suckedness, sucking is like quicksand, that i will be tomorrow, thinking too much, this i am today, thrive on dreams and possibilities, transformational people, trapped by fear, truth, what do you do when you get what you want, words
Posted in Business Thoughts, Favorite Quotes, Rants and Observations | No comments
“when you start to suck, stop” – Kristen Hersh So. This is so explanatory it needs no explanation. However. What I would suggest to everyone is that, in general, people don’t stop when they start to suck. And they don’t for one of two reasons: They are oblivious to their sucking. They recognize their suckedness [...]
confessions of an ad man
January 29, 2012 - 7:25 am
Tags: a business consultant, account management in ad agencies, action and consequences, advertising, affecting organization thru actions, agency, alignment, architects of fate, be still in midst of activity, brand, brand ambassadors, builders versus renovators, building a culture, business, Business Thoughts, character, chemistry, client, client services, communication, company of adventurers, corporate values, creating positive touchpoints, decision making, depth of character to face everyday life, dynamic beyond our own purposes, employees, employees have ability to create impressions, events are meant to be commanded not feared, every one is an architect of life, fairness, fun, leaders and character, leaders are still and active, leaders have strength of character, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life lessons, managing people to be successful in life and business, managing perceptions, managing transitional moments, marketing, one foot in history one foot in future, organizations, partner, partnership, quotations, quotes, relationships, respect, responsibility, restless consistency, seek out events without fear, smallest actions contribute, strategy, Stuff I Like, transformational people, truth, unique person in an ad agency, vibrantly alive in repose, what we are seeking explanations, words
Posted in Business Thoughts, Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | 1 comment
Well. Maybe its because I get to talk with a lot of teen/20somethings or maybe its because all my friends are cynical bastards … but I seem to defend the advertising business a lot. And maybe because of that I thought I should take a moment and share some truths. Because the business (for the [...]
March 20, 2010 - 8:02 pm
thanks for the blurb on single moms. i am lucky enough to have a great kid. you made my night after falling AGAIN in the same place today — that is on the bike. this time i was going very slowly and slipped on the rocks while on the bike and landed in the water. banged up the same knee, but that was all. so after that episode (and luckily jack had a friend with him) i decided to go get the pain meds. so i am happy happy now.
March 23, 2010 - 8:34 am
Great post. That is all.