Category: Storytelling
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Amplifying Gradual Change – Part 70.3
[This is part 3 of my journey into triathlon over the last 2 years. You can read the first two parts here: Triathlons: A story in gradual change and Triathlons: Persevering in Gradual Change] Several months ago, after completing an olympic length triathlon, I signed up for a Half Ironman length triathlon (1.2mi swim, 56 mi bike, 13.1…
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The Power Of Lore
In a probably apocryphal story, a scientist places a group of 5 gorillas in a cage. At the beginning of the day, he puts a banana on top of a pedestal. Whenever a gorilla attempts to climb toward the banana, he sprays all the gorillas with water, which they hate. This continues until no gorilla even attempts…
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Remembering Who We Were
A couple weeks ago, I attended my high school reunion and saw several friends I haven’t seen for many years. One of them is now a mother of four and a missionary in China. Almost immediately after exchanging initial greetings she said, “Back in High School, we got in an argument and you said that…
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Neverending Prognostications
Back in the 1990’s, Yahoo concluded that they understood where the market was going — they needed a curated index with a good portal. So they built one. During that time, Yahoo was offered to buy Google for $1M but turned them down because it’s not about search, it’s about portals. No one predicted Google…
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Afraid of the Dark
A few weeks ago, I went down into our basement when no one else was home. It was dark and I had this thought come to mind suddenly: “What if someone was living down here and I didn’t even know it?” Images of someone coming out of the darkness filled my mind and I felt…
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Validate Me!
Recently on a trip to New York, we were going to the Staten Island ferry on the subway. About three stops away, the conductor made an announcement: “If you want to get off for the Staten Island Ferry, you must move to the first five cars of this train!” Have you ever tried to figure…
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The Stories We Tell Ourselves About Ourselves
So this guy walks toward a bar and he steps over a curb that was 6-inches high, or maybe it was 7-inches, 6 and a half?, anyway, there was an empty can of Coke next to his foot, no wait it was Sprite, er 7-up… This is not a story we want to hear. Good…
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Personal Lore
Several weeks ago, while eating lunch with some friends from work, a coworker I had never met walked into the restaurant. To tell me who he was, my friends told me a story: He’s the go-to guy when you need a design finished. Many years ago, there was a design that no one was able…
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Relationships: The Moving Landmarks Of Life
During my stint in EDA software, I had a lot of dinners with sales guys and their friends. Inevitably dinner conversation turned to comparing Rolodexes* . What ever happened to Soh Insoh, one would say? He’s at Apple working with Frank. Frank left Azul? etc. Every industry is a small world. Of course, sales guys aren’t…
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Stuck In A Hole
“This guy’s walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out.”A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, ‘Hey you. Can you help me out?’ The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along…