Finding Clarity in an Ambiguous World
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Creating Art at Work
We are all artists. Or rather, we should be. What we pour into our work determines whether we are simply looking to get paid or are making art. I’ve long thought that the best way to grow is to look for tasks not being done and do them – to pour myself into the enterprise…
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The Unasked Questions
The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out. – Proverbs 20:5 (NIV) Recently, I’ve been working on improving my attention management. My friend, David Delp, has been teaching me his system called “Designing a Balanced Life“. It’s true his approach is great, but one of the…
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Stories Sell
I critiqued Starbucks earlier in their approach to launching Via, their instant coffee. I don’t know how well it’s done, but if signs like this are any indication – people still think they are samples: Consider their problem: they have trained their customer to experience a rich, if not expensive, tradition — they enter a…
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The Stress Blinders
Imagine trying to drive a car while looking through binoculars. You’d be able to read that bumper sticker in the distance, but you might not finish it before running into something. Several books that I’ve read recently all point to this effect of stress – it causes a narrowing of our perception. We want this…
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The Art of Trimming
Walking home from my spinning class this morning, I noticed a man trimming a tree. Not an extraordinary event, but it struck me: Here was a pile of vibrant green leaves on the ground and when you looked at the tree, it was still full of the same verdant leaves. After the gardener cut the…
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Dealing With Injustice: Swallowing Poison Pills
There is almost nothing more frustrating than someone taking advantage of you. I was reminded of this yesterday when I boarded a bus and received improper change. I didn’t notice until I was back in my seat and started obsessing about the injustice. Then I sat back and realized that the bus driver may have…
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State of Energy & Change
You’re taking a pleasantly hot afternoon stroll with a little time on your hands, and you come across a table with a couple of people offering you a free beverage if you’re willing to help them out with a small survey. You see the survey is only a few questions and is anonymous, the juice…
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Epistemology And Human Fallibility
I read quite a bit. I’m constantly energized by new ideas and books provide a way for me to swim in them. As I read, it’s fascinating to see interesting themes that tie different books together. I don’t recommend every book I read, but there are three books that I think are must reads. The…
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Periods and Question Marks
Sometime ago I worked with someone who I occasionally meet for lunch. I found that I enjoyed the conversation so long as I ended all of my sentences with question marks. If I did so, he would talk and share a wealth of opinion. As soon as I started using periods, he started looking at…
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Where Chocolate Goes to Die
Perhaps no one is like my wife and me, but we have a place in our pantry where chocolate goes to die. Actually, for quite some time, we had a place where all snack food would go to die. We would eat most of a particular snack food, but then since no one wanted to…
Got any book recommendations?