What I Discover

Moving Notice

2010-06-06T13:58:00.000+08:00

I have moved to http://whatidiscover.wordpress.com

Fremantle Photos

2010-05-05T21:35:00.000+08:00

Date: 26 & 30 Apr 2010
Place: Fremantle, WA, Australia
Experience: a town with beautifull historic buildings

Dunsborough Photos

2010-05-05T21:29:00.000+08:00

Date: 28 - 29 Apr 2010
Place: Around Dunsborough, WA, Australia
Experience: land cruising along the coast, cafes, parks, lighthouse, sunrise, sunset, discussing about life, walking

Perth Photos

2010-05-05T21:18:00.000+08:00

Date: 23 - 30 Apr 2010
Place: Perth, WA, Australia
Experience: seeing friends that I have not meet for a long time

Longevity

2010-01-23T01:41:00.001+08:00

9 behaviours to a longer, healthier life:
1. Move ( find ways to move mindlessly, make moving unavoidable )
2. Plan de Vida ( know your purpose in life )
3. Down Shift ( work less, slow down, rest, take vacation )
4. 80% Rule ( stop eating when you're 80% full )
5. Plant-Power ( more veggies, less protein and processed foods )
6. Red Wine ( consistency and moderation )
7. Belong ( create a healthy social network )
8. Beliefs ( spiritual or religious participation )
9. Your Tribe ( make family a priority )

Source:
Power9
Dan Buettner

Holding firmly to truth

2010-01-10T02:20:00.001+08:00

I learned a new word today.

Satyagraha is a three-step instrument of change, not a mere act of protest.

The first step is to object to an unjust law or policy and petition for its removal. Absent an acceptable response, the second step is to break the law. The third step is to undergo the consequences, be they arrest, violence, abuse or privation.

Satyagraha means "holding firmly to the truth" in Hindi and by following the process, remaining focused and calm within one's belief.

Source:
Blessed Unrest
Paul Hawken
Page 78 - 79
ISBN: 9780670038527

7 lessons from Mozilla

2009-12-05T18:05:00.007+08:00

7 lessons from Mozilla

Superior products matter.
Push ( most ) decisions-making to the edges.
Communication will happen in every possible way ( so make sure it's reusable ).
Make it easy for your community to do the important things.
Surprise is overrated.
Communities are not markets: members are citizens.
The key is the art of figuring out whether and how to apply each of these ideas.

Source:
Lessons from Mozilla
John Lilly
WordCamp San Francisco 2009

I understand lesson 5 as don't surprise. Open communications beyond the inner circle. Let everyone who wants to know what Mozilla is doing knows what they are doing.

Curiosity Management

2009-11-15T14:42:00.003+08:00

How can we be learned people? The answer lies in using our curiosity. When we come across things that we feel curious about, what do we do? We find answers for them. A-ha! This is the way to being learned people.

Curiosity Management Process

Be curious.
Create opportunities for us to be curious.
Record what makes us curious.
Ask questions.
Find learning resources.
Ask learning resources questions.
Record what learning resources help us to answer the questions.

As we answer more curiosities, we learn more. As we learn more, we become learned people.

TED is spreading...

2009-11-14T13:07:00.005+08:00

While I was reading the top 7 places to watch great minds in action blog post, I discovered a pattern. The idea of TED conference is spreading...

The host location has spread across America and the World.

From Long Beach, California, US to Camden, Maine, US to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

TED to PopTech to ideaCity.

TED was originally hosted at Monterey, California, US.

The presentation subject matters have spread beyond technology, entertainment and design to innovation to experience design.

TED to Business Innovation Factory to GEL.

TED has spread into many subject matters.

There seems to be a growing guild of conference organizers who bring together interesting speakers, curious listeners and knowledge sharing infrastructure. May we have more TED like conferences to watch.

This lead me to asking are there any other TED like conferences? I found 4.

DLD, Munich, Germany

Le Web, Paris, France

Lift, Geneva, Switzerland

Picnic, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Principles of conversation

2009-10-31T09:12:00.005+08:00

Principles of conversation

We acknowledge one another as equals.

We try to stay curious about each other.

We recognize that we need each other's help to become better listeners.

We slow down so we have time to think and reflect.

We remember that conversation is the natural way humans think together.

We expect it to be messy at times.

Source:

Turning to one another
expanded second edition

Margaret Wheatley

Page 33

ISBN: 9781576757642

10 leadership skills for the future

2009-10-18T12:03:00.008+08:00

I blogged about the idea of the 10 super powers of the amplified individuals a year ago. It is about the collaboration skills we need in the future. The idea has been remix into the 10 leadership skills for the future by Bob Johansen.

10 leadership skills for the future

1. Maker Instinct

Ability to turn one’s natural impulse to build into a skill for making the future and connecting with others in the making. The maker instinct is basic to leadership in the future.

2. Clarity

Ability to see through messes and contradictions to a future that others cannot yet see. Leaders are very clear about what they are making, but very flexible about how they get it made.

3. Dilemma Flipping

Ability to turn dilemmas - which, unlike problems, cannot be solved - into advantages and opportunities.

4. Immersive Learning Ability

Ability to dive into different-for-you physical and online worlds, to learn from them in a first-person way.

5. Bio-Empathy

Ability to see things from nature’s point of view; to understand, respect, and learn from nature’s patterns. Nature has its own clarity,

if only we humans can understand and engage with it.

6. Constructive Depolarizing

Ability to calm tense situations where differences dominate and communication has broken down - and bring people from divergent cultures toward constructive engagement.

7. Quiet Transparency

Ability to be open and authentic about what matters to you - without advertising yourself.

8. Rapid Prototyping

Ability to create quick early versions of new innovations, with the expectation that later success will require early failures.

9. Smart Mob Organizing

Ability to bring together, engage with, and nurture purposefull business or social-change networks through intelligent use of electronic and other media.

10. Commons Creating

Ability to stimulate, grow and nurture shared assets that can benefit other players - and allow competition at a higher level.

Source:

Leaders make the future
Bob Johansen

ISBN: 9781605090023

Be Learned

2009-09-27T18:42:00.004+08:00

My most often used email signature is

Regards :-)

Be learned

whatidiscover

Stephanie asked does to be learned means one have learned everything and stopped? Is it possible to learn everything?

I replied be learned is my life's purpose. One cannot learn all but can learn more. Purpose is a direction not destination. I agree to her view in one of our conversations that one can never be the best because once one reach best, there is a higher level to go.

I have 2 questions to guide me if I have been more learned

What is the 1 new idea I discover this week? ( 1 new idea rule )
Am I more learned this moment than the moment before? ( The now rule )

TEDx Singapore

2009-09-18T13:05:00.003+08:00

TEDx is a TED style event hosting support initiative by TED. Many groups and people have started their own TEDx group. Currently, there are 4 Singapore TEDx groups. They are

TEDx MIT Club Singapore hosted Singapore's first TEDx event on 12 Sep 2009. The event sounds interesting from Mahesh Kumar's blog post.

Rich son, poor son

2009-09-03T00:48:00.003+08:00

I was watching the rich son, poor son video recommended by Sze Yong.

The story outline:

4 elder ladies having a get together meal in Malaysia.

They chat about how well the children are doing in their careers.

3 ladies' children will doing well. Their children will accountancy firm partner, lawyer and doctor. Earn well, hold company equity, bought new house... When the 4th lady was ask how is her son doing ( in career context ), she reply he is good, he is coming to take me out.

Her son came with his wife and children to drive her to a mountain resort for holiday.

The video ends with the message - love of the family is life's greatest blessing.

This leads me to thinking when one change one's measures for success, one's results change.

3 ways of explaining how to manage uncertainty

2009-08-31T17:32:00.007+08:00

3 ways of explaining how to manage uncertainty

Margaret Wheatley's way

Start something and see who notices it.

It's only after we initiate something in a system that we see the threads that connect. Usually, someone we don't even know suddenly appears, either outraged or helpfull. We didn't know there was any connection between us but their response makes the connection clear. Now that they've identified themselves, we need to develop a relationship with them.

Whatever you initiate, expect unintended consequences.

Every effort to change a system creates these, because we can't see the interactions ahead of time. One very visible example of unintended consequences is what happens every time humans try to change the natural ecology of a place. Fertilizer is introduced to farm fields without noticing how rain water connects fields to oceans. Over time, we have got bountifull crops but fewer fish. I know one think tank that created a “Museum of Unintended Consequences”. They wanted to notice all the impacts of any societal change effort. When we are willing to look at unintended consequences, they teach a great deal about how a system operates.

Reflect often.

The system reveals itself to us all the time. The problem is we seldom stop to notice what just happened. Without such reflection, we go blindly on our way, ignore the learnings, creating more unintended consequences and failing to achieve anything usefull. It's amazing to me how much we do but how little time we spend reflecting on what we just did.

Seek out different interpretations.
Run ideas by many different people, to see things through their unique perceptions. Everyone in a complex system has, at minimum, a slightly different interpretation. The more interpretations we gather, the easier it becomes to gain a sense of the whole.

Look for insights to emerge out of messiness.
Puzzling and messy situations often lead us to simplistic and stupid behaviours. Either we grab onto an easy answer or decide to take actions that have no clear rational. But confusion can create the condition for intuitions and insights to appear, often when we least expect them. If they appear, they usually can be trusted. In fact, it's common for many people to arrive at the same conclusion at the same time. In the Quaker tradition, this is called “a gathered meeting”. It's far better than struggling for false consensus.

Sense from:

Finding our way

Margaret Wheatley

Page 207 - 208

ISBN: 9781576754054

David Snowden's way

In complicated situations, sense, analyze and respond. Create panels of experts. In chaotic situations, act, sense and respond. Look for what works instead of seeking right answers.

Sense from:

A leader's framework for decision making

David Snowden & Mary Boone

Harvard Business Review 2007 Nov

Adam Kahane's way

Cross the river by feeling for stones

Deng Xiao Ping

Sense from:

Adam Kahane's presentation at Canada@150 9 Jun 2008 ( Part 3 of 3 )

I will be glad to hear your way of explaining how to manage uncertainty.

Badvocates

2009-08-27T16:04:00.004+08:00

Who are badvocates?

Badvocates are people who passionately criticize or detract from companies, brands, products and services.

Why should you pay attention to badvocates?

They tell the World about bad experiences. When bad experiences grows, when customers search your company's name, the top results are bad experiences.

How to manage badvocates?

1. Be prepared

Establish processes to minimize threats.

Monitor comments about your company.

Leverage search engine optimization.

Establish employee guidelines for social media.

Trademark your company name.

2. Defend yourself

Hire reputation managers.

Respond rapidly.

Disclose communications with badvocates.

Make the facts available.

Address myths head-on.

Enlist your fans.

3. Embrace dissatisfaction

Invite transparent dialogue.

Ask badvocates to “step outside” - host face-to-face events with senior executives.

Ask for ideas.

Solve problems together.

Respond thoughtfully.

4. Apologize

Admit when you’re wrong, hard as it is.

Don’t email or comment on a negative blog posting, pick up the phone.

Establish an advisory council of badvocates.

5. Don't Ignore

6. Inoculate

Identify your advocates.

Recruit your advocates.

Reward your advocates.

Source:

The good book of badvocacy

Weber Shandwick

I have 3 comments on how to manage badvocates:

Don't ignore should be point 1.
When talking to badvocates by phone instead of email or comment on a negative blog posting, don't forget to post that you will be doing so. Let blog readers know why the conversation stop.
If I will to use 1 sentence to describe how I will manage badvocates if I were a company, it will be - be honest and kind.

Blogging is part of working

2009-07-26T07:36:00.007+08:00

While I was watching Fred Wilson's talk at Google Talks, the thought of his blog has become part of how he works caught my attention.

How he work:

Before presentation, post slides on blog.
Blog readers give comments.
Review and incorporate comments into slides.
Thank readers.

This leads me to thinking one can shift from working alone or working with colleagues to working collectively with one's social networks. This proves that there is value in social networks for corporations.

Sense from:

Fred Wilson at Google Talks

1:55 - 3:50 mins

How do Alan Webber manage ideas

2009-07-23T18:28:00.003+08:00

How do Alan Webber manage ideas?

Keep a stack of 3 x 5 cards.
Listen and observe.
When heard an idea that clicked with you, pull out a card and write it down.
Review the cards.
Catalog the cards into files.

Sense from:

The next big idea in management: 3 x 5 card

Alan Webber

8 characteristics of effective idea process

2009-07-17T11:57:00.005+08:00

8 characteristics of effective idea process

Ideas are encouraged and welcomed.

Submitting ideas is simple.

Evaluation of ideas is quick and effective.

Feedback is timely, constructive and informative.

Implementation is rapid and smooth.

Ideas are reviewed for additional potential.

People are recognized and success is celebrated.

Idea system performance is measured, reviewed and improved.

Source:

Ideas are free

Alan Robinson & Dean Schroeder

Page 144 - 145

ISBN: 9781576752821

How to get ideas

2009-07-16T16:59:00.006+08:00

How to get ideas

1. Just ask

Ask your people to come to their regular department meetings with one small idea that will make their work easier or improve the company in some way and that will not require permission from above or significant resources to implement. Have each person present his or her idea and ask the group to discuss it and build on it. If an idea is worthwhile, agree on who will implement it.

2. Offer lunch

Bring in pizza ( or whatever food is appropriate ) and collect and discuss your employees' ideas over an extended lunch. Hold the lunch off-site, if more appropriate. Such a lunch can become a regular activity.

3. When change occurs, ask for ideas

Whenever major change occurs or is anticipated, encourage your group to be on the lookout for the new problems and opportunities created by this change and to offer ideas to address them.

4. Look for that bigger problem or opportunity in a small idea

When an idea comes in that might have broader implications, explore them. Together with your people, identify the larger issues involved and decide what can be done to address them.

5. Work on reluctant participants

When a person is not offering any ideas, talk to him or her and find out why. Encourage and help this person until he or she feels comfortable and confident about giving in ideas.

Source:

Ideas are free

Alan Robinson & Dean Schroeder

Page 58

ISBN: 9781576752821

Show me the problem

2009-07-13T11:17:00.003+08:00

Last Friday, I went to see an osteopath as I sprained my leg. On the way back, I was offered a seat in the subway.

What I observed:

I was offered the seat when I am feeling better rather than when I was feeling worst. The answer lies in the bandage on my ankle. When I was going to the osteopath, I was feeling worst with no bandage. When I was returning, I was feeling better with bandage.

This leads me to thinking:

Don't help only when people show us the problem.

Don't look at things on the surface only.

10 Google cultural norms

2009-07-08T16:53:00.003+08:00

10 Google cultural norms

Focus on the user and all else will follow.
It's best to do one thing really, really well.
Fast is better than slow.
Democracy on the web works.
You don't need to be at your desk to need an answer.
You can make money without doing evil.
There's always more information out there.
The need for information crosses all borders.
You can be serious without a suit.
Great just isn't good enough.

Source:

How Google inspires innovation

Alfred Spector

Inc. 500 | 5000 Conference 2008

I to the power of you

2009-05-29T12:42:00.003+08:00

The child is made of one hundred

2009-05-17T13:16:00.003+08:00

The child is made of one hundred.

The child has a hundred languages

a hundred hands

a hundred thoughts

a hundred ways of thinking

of playing, of speaking.

A hundred, always a hundred ways

of listening

of marveling

of loving

a hundred joys

for singing and understanding

a hundred worlds to discover

a hundred worlds to invent

a hundred worlds to dream.

The child has a hundred languages

( and a hundred hundred more )

but they steal ninety-nine.

The school and the culture

separate the head from the body.

They tell the child

to think without hands

to do without head

to listen and not speak

to understand without joy

to love and marvel

only at Easter and Christmas.

They tell the child

to discover the world already there

and of the hundred

they steal ninety-nine.

They tell the child that

work and play

reality and fantasy

science and imagination

sky and earth

reason and dream

are things

that do not belong together.

And thus they tell the child

that the hundred is not there.

The child says:

No way. The hundred is there.

Source:

Loris Malaguzzi

Founder of The Reggio Children learning approach

A slide a day

2009-05-10T16:57:00.001+08:00

I have just finished my personal project - a slide a day. I hope this project can help people to discover something interesting per day. I have uploaded 365 slides from my learning collection. The slides' subject matters are on KIDS ( knowledge management, innovation, design and strategy ).

How to TED

2009-04-08T12:38:00.004+08:00

Richard Wurman's ( founder of TED Conference ) advice to Saul Kaplan ( founder of BIF Innovation Collaborative Summits ) on how to create great events:

Bring interesting people that you want to have at your dinner table that you are interested in their story and you can learn from and then invite other people to listen.

Source:

Saul Kaplan at BIF-4

Message taken from 10:47 to 11:58 mins of the talk

Tools

2009-04-04T21:58:00.007+08:00

While I was reading the book cover of the Sun, the genome and the Internet, the thought of tools caught my attention.

In this visionary look into the future, Freeman Dyson argues that technological changes fundamentally alter our ethical and social arrangements and that three rapidly advancing new technologies - solar energy, genetic engineering and world-wide communication - together have the potential to create a more equal distribution of the world's wealth.

Dyson begins by rejecting the idea that scientific revolutions are primarily concept driven. He shows rather that new tools are more often the sparks that ignite scientific discovery. Such tool-driven revolutions have profound social consequences - the invention of the telescope turning the Medieval world view upside down, the widespread use of household appliances in the 1950s replacing servants, to cite just two examples. In looking ahead, Dyson suggests that solar energy, genetics, and the Internet will have similarly transformative effects, with the potential to produce a more just and equitable society. Solar power could bring electricity to even the poorest, most remote areas of third world nations, allowing everyone access to the vast stores of information on the Internet and effectively ending the cultural isolation of the poorest countries. Similarly, breakthroughs in genetics may well enable us to give our children healthier lives and grow more efficient crops, thus restoring the economic and human vitality of village cultures devalued and dislocated by the global market.

Written with passionate conviction about the ethical uses of science, the Sun, the genome, and the Internet is both a brilliant reinterpretation of the scientific process and a challenge to use new technologies to close, rather than widen, the gap between rich and poor.

Source:

The Sun, the genome and the Internet

Freeman Dyson

Oxford University Press

ISBN: 9780195139228

This leads me to connect to what Joo Hock blogs about tools.

Bucky used to say that if you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don't bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.

A more effective way to "change" thinking and behaviour is to develop a new tool for use which no one would quarrel with, which they can use. A new tool to work with re-forms the environment.

Source:

How to think like Buckminster Fuller

Joo Hock Quek

By connecting these two thoughts, I can explain to people what are examples of tools that can change behaviour and thinking.

Buckminster Fuller guide

2009-03-10T15:14:00.003+08:00

Good Magazine have published a 6 page guide on Buckminster Fuller. I recommend it as a good introduction to his achievements.

Things we learned project

2009-03-07T00:22:00.004+08:00

Last Saturday, I watch Stefan Sagmeister's things I have learned in my life so far at TED with the Bucky Group. I was interested in his list of things learned. I search online and found the list. I have a list of things learned too. I shared Stefan's list and my list with the group. I ask them to share their things learned. I got reply from Joo Hock and Michael. I start to see value in creating a project to collect things we have learned.

I decide to start the things we learned project.

What have Stefan Sagmeister learned in his life so far?

2009-03-05T03:07:00.004+08:00

What have Stefan Sagmeister learned in his life so far?

Helping other people helps me.
Having guts always works out for me.
Thinking that life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now.
Organising a charity group is surprisingly easy.
Being not truthful always works against me.
Everything I do always comes back to me.
Assuming is stifling.
Drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on.
Over time I get used to everything and start taking for granted.
Money does not make me happy.
My dreams have no meaning.
Keeping a diary supports personal development.
Trying to look good limits my life.
Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
Worrying solves nothing.
Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.
Everybody thinks they are right.
If I want to explore a new direction professionally, it is helpful to try it out for myself first.
Low expectations are a good strategy.
Everybody who is honest is interesting.

Source:

Things I have learned in my life so far

CR Blog

What have I learned in my life so far?

Nothing is permanent ( including this list ).
Things fail when it is not design to deal with changes.
One can reduces one's ignorance by learning more about oneself and the World around us.
Sharing what I discover about myself and the World around me is intellectual philanthropy.
There is power when one knows one can be wrong.
There is always more than one way of seeing and doing things.
Listen to people who have unpopular views.
Do one's own thinking.
If one does not make choices, choices make one.
Connecting the disconnects

What have you learned in your life so far?

Credit Crisis

2009-02-23T11:49:00.002+08:00

A simple and elegant video that explains what is:

Leverage
Sub-prime mortgages
Collateralized debt obligations
Credit default swaps
The Credit Crisis

Source:

The crisis of credit visualized

Jonathan Jarvis

Individual sanity is mass men's madness

2009-02-15T01:49:00.002+08:00

There is a legend among the Persian Sufis. Once upon a time, a wise man said that the day will come when all the water in the World except what have been specially collected would disappeared. Then different water will replace it. Anyone who drank the new water would lost his mind.

Only one man took the prophecy seriously and begin to store up water. But the day that have been predicted did not come. Every body of water empty out. The man who had listened to the wise man drank water from his supply. The bodies of water and wells filled up with water again. People thirstily drank this water and everyone of them went crazy. The man who have listened to the wise man continue to drink water only from his own supply and kept his sanity.

He was the only sane person left among the mad men and therefore he was call crazy. He pours out his reserves of real water ( the old water ) on to the ground. He drank the new water and lost his mind. The mad men decided that he has become sane.

Sense from:

Water ( the documentary )

41:05 - 42:27 mins

Principles for a new media literacy

2009-01-09T15:53:00.004+08:00

In the age of the Internet and blogging, we are creators as well as consumers of media. With the increase of media and the need to blog, we need more sophisticated media literacy. Let's use the following as a guide.

Sense from:

Principles for a new media literacy

Dan Gillmor

Principles of media consumption:

Be skeptical of absolutely everything.
Although skepticism is essential, don't be equally skeptical of everything.
Go outside your personal comfort zone.
Ask more questions.
Understand and learn media techniques.

Principles of media creation:

Do your homework, and then do some more.
Get it right, every time.
Be fair to everyone.
Think independently, especially of your own biases.
Practice and demand transparency.

Slide deleted notice

2009-01-09T15:12:00.003+08:00

I share presentations that I discover on the Internet on SlideShare. I recently received a request from Dave Gray to take down his slides. There are 4 SlideShare users that might want to learn from his slide as they have selected his slide as their favorites. I thought of informing them one by one. I was also thinking is there a better way as other authors might have the same request.

Thinking… thinking… thinking…

Finally I came up with the idea of a slide deleted notice. The notice helps to inform people:

Why the slide is deleted.
Who wants the slide deleted.
Does the people who wants the slide deleted has ground to do so.
Where to go to as an alternative.

Love

2008-12-04T15:28:00.008+08:00

Yesterday, I read the last words of Lo Hwei Yen. She is a Singaporean victim of the Mumbai terrorist attack. Her last words with her husband were she loved him. Her last words with her three closest friends were I love you all.

Sense from:

She told hubby 'I love you'

Straits Times 3 Dec 2008

What I observed:

Love is the most important thing to her as she chose to use her final moments to express them.

This supports the research results of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. She is the world’s expert on people’s attitudes about death and dying. She summarized a life of research in three simple questions. When people look back upon their lives, she found, they ask three questions that determine their sense of whether it was meaningfull:

Did I give and receive love?
Did I become all I can be?
Did I leave the planet a little better?

Source:

Whistle while you work

Richard Leider, David Shapiro

Page 78

Berrett-Koehler

ISBN: 1-57675-103-1

When Ms Lo has no time to do all three, she did the most important one.

Bare usefull tool

2008-11-23T00:32:00.004+08:00

David Weekly shares his experience about how he builds his company.

Put bare usefull tool into users' hand.
Assume they want to help you.
Listen to them.
Find out how and why they are using the tool?
Find out what sort of language are they using to describe how they use the tool.
Find out how they present the tool to someone.
Help them say it in their own language.

Source:

The simplest thing

David Weekly of PBWiki

STIRR Founder Hacks I

5 ways to mental wellbeing

2008-11-03T15:45:00.004+08:00

Five ways to mental wellbeing

1. Connect

With the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. Building these connections will support and enrich you every day.

2. Be active

Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity you enjoy and that suits your level of mobility and fitness.

3. Take notice

Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are walking to work, eating lunch or talking to friends. Be aware of the World around you and what you are feeling. Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you.

4. Keep learning

Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Set a challenge you enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun.

5. Give

Do something nice for a friend or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in. Seeing yourself and your happiness, as linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you.

Sense from:

Mental capital and wellbeing

Executive Summary

Government Office for Science, United Kingdom

Page 23

Vu ja de

2008-10-24T13:55:00.005+08:00

What is vu ja de?

The vu ja de mentality is seeing the same old thing in new ways. If deja vu is the feeling that you have had an experience before even though it is brand new then vu ja de is what happens when you feel and act as if an experience ( or an object ) is brand-new even if you have had it ( or seen it ) hundreds of times.

Source:
Weird ideas that work

Robert Sutton

Page 11

Simon & Schuster

ISBN: 0743212126

Toy Sharing

2008-10-21T12:16:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, I meet up with 2 kids ( above 50 years old ). Kid JH was telling Kid R, I like to show off my toys. He boot up his notebook, show Kid R his blog, show web sites he goes to...

What I observed:

We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. By George Bernard Shaw
Toys that are build for sharing gets shared.

This leads me to thinking:

We should play to stop growing old.

Shift thinking from Jim Collin's build to last to build to share.

We should build toys that allow sharing.

Ideo cross-pollination practices

2008-10-18T21:11:00.010+08:00

I am scanning through the book - ten faces of innovation. What interest me is how the author’s company - Ideo cultivates cross-pollination. I rephrase and reorganize their practices along the human resource process.

Ideo cross-pollination practices

Recruitment

Hire people with diverse backgrounds.
Hire people across cultures and geographies.

Work Assignment

Do diverse projects.

Learning

Share knowledge within the company.
Learn from people outside the company.
Learn from clients.
Design environments for people to meet accidental or impromptu.

Sense from:

The ten faces of innovation

Tom Kelly & Jonathan Littman

Page 72 to 74

Currency Doubleday

ISBN: 0385512074

1. Show and tell

Whenever Ideo groups get together, we enjoy a hearty show and tell. In the early days of the firm, that meant sharing fresh insights or new technologies during Monday morning meetings, when the entire company sat on the floor of my brother’s office. The firm has gotten a lot bigger since then ( and David’s office got a bit smaller ), so show and tell happens either face to face within smaller design groups or electronically across the firm via email or our intranet-based sharing systems. The Ideo Tech Box, a collection of hundreds of promising technologies for potential application to our work, is a systematic approach to collecting and sharing what we know. Show-and-tell is partly serendipity, often resulting from an accidental discovery or surprise, so it doesn’t always relate to projects the firm is actively working on right now. But it is always about something either new to the World or newly reinvented and is a source of continuous renewal built into the work practices of the organization.

2. Hire lots of people with diverse backgrounds

We’ve never looked at hiring as merely a process of addition or bringing in “more of the same.” If the recruiting task were to hire “another engineer just like Chris,” then the interview would be a simple matter of pattern recognition. We’re more likely to sift through the wide variety of applications looking for someone who will expand our talent pool or stretch the firm’s capabilities.

3. Stir the pot with space

As we’ll discuss in the Set Designer chapter, the company’s physical workspace can be a powerfull tool for advancing your strategic agenda. Grouping all your like-minded people into one floor or building makes sense if you want to emphasize solidarity in one discipline, but at Ideo, we believe there’s magic in cross-pollination and we support that belief with our use of space. We create lots of multi-disciplinary project rooms and leave ample space for “accidental” or impromptu meetings among people from disparate groups. We even make our staircases broad so that people can literally “meet halfway.”

4. Cross cultures and geographies

Ideo favours a cultural melting pot, seasoned with a steady mix of international flavours. No matter where you’re from or how patriotic you may be, I hope you’re willing to concede that there are more new ideas outside your country than inside. Importing new insights is always valuable. I’ve lost track of how many nationalities are represented in our firm, but a few years ago, our Boston office - just for fun - raised a flag for every country represented on their team. Last time I visited, there were eighteen flags hung, a pretty robust tally for an office of forty. And a well-bended international staff just seems to cross-pollinate naturally from other cultures.

5. Host a weekly “Know How” speakers’ series

Nearly every Thursday evening, a World-class thinker shows up to share their thoughts with us. Not only are their insights often fascinating ( Malcolm Gladwell on snap judgments, Howard Rheingold on smart mobs, Jeff Hawkins on the workings of the human brain ), but the shared buzz of many Ideo people seeing a speaker sets off a wave of discussions throughout the firm. Know How is a weekly burst of cross-pollination that keeps the thinking and the conversations continuously fresh.

6. Learn from visitors

My role at Ideo includes the chance to meet with a continuous stream of interesting people who travel long distances to visit us each year. Most are prospective clients who typically spend a couple of hours telling us about their industry, their company and their point of view. Over the years, I’ve participated in more than a thousand such meetings and I think of it as a form of postgraduate education. After each visit, I feel a little more up to date and attuned to current trends and dare I say it, just a little bit wiser for the experience.

7. Seek out diverse projects

There’s an old saying that a forty year career is sometimes the same year repeated forty times. Not at Ideo or at any other company with a culture of continuous learning. The broad range of our client work - spanning dozens of industries - means that we can cross-pollinate from one World to another.

Bucky Intellect Triangle

2008-09-27T20:47:00.006+08:00

I attended the mind of Buckminster Fuller's talk at Bucky Group last Saturday. The talk is conducted by Bucky Group member - Titus Yong. He shares what he seen at the Buckminster Fuller's exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

He also talks about what he thinks about how Buckminster Fuller thinks. I recall what he says and express it in a diagram.

The future of advertising

2008-09-26T23:01:00.002+08:00

Hal Varian, Google's chief economist sees the future of advertising as:

Performance measurement of advertising as the biggest need in advertising.
TV advertising as the biggest opportunity.
Marketing is the new finance.
Agencies that embrace quantitative tools and ad platform will prosper.

Source:

Google economist sees a more measurable future

Brian Morrissey

AdWeek 2 Jun 2008

Amplified Individuals

2008-09-26T12:03:00.009+08:00

Amplified individuals are the super heroes of organizations in the future. They embraced new tools, applications, practices and social media.

They have 9 super powers.

1. Mobbability

The ability to work in large groups.

A talent for organizing and collaborating with many people simultaneously.

2. Influency The ability to be persuasive in multiple social contexts and media spaces.

An understanding that each context and space requires a different persuasive strategy and technique.

3. Ping Quotient

Measures your responsiveness to other people’s requests for engagement.

Your propensity and ability to reach out to others in a network.

4. Protovation

Fearless innovation in rapid, iterative cycles.

5. Open Authorship

Creating content for public consumption and modification.

6. Multi-Capitalism

Fluency in working with different capitals, e.g., natural, intellectual, social and financial.

7. Longbroading

Thinking in terms of higher level systems, cycles, the big picture.

8. Signal / Noise Management

Filtering meaningful information, patterns, and commonalities from massively-multiple streams of data.

9. Cooperation Radar

The ability to sense almost intuitively who would make the best collaborators on a particular task.

Source:

Amplified individuals, amplified organizations

Andrea Saveri of Institute for the Future

NLab social networks conference 2008

According to Jane McGonigal, there should be 10 super powers instead of 9. The 10th is emergensight, the ability to prepare for and handle surprising results and complexity.

Intuitive Future Wisdom

2008-08-12T15:37:00.005+08:00

I like to introduce my idea of intuitive future wisdom.

Intuitive future wisdom is a kind of feeling that a person that one don’t understand now will give one wisdom if one makes efforts to learn from him or her.

The funny part is how can one feels that one can learn from him or her when one don’t even understand them. I don’t have an answer yet. Let’s make this an enquiry and find it out together. My current guess is the greatness of their work.

I had this feeling about 8 years ago when I was introduce to the works of Buckminster Fuller by a friend of mine - Joo Hock. Thanks Joo Hock. I still don’t understand almost all his works except his personal efforts in learning. I am still trying to learn from him.

One person that is alive that makes me feel the intuitive future wisdom feeling is Kevin Kelly. I feel I can learn a lot from him but I don’t seem to understand his ideas now.

The usefulness of this idea for me is that I use it to understand why I am willing to keep learning from someone that I might not understand after 8 years. When I come across a person to learn from, I ask myself, do I have the intuitive future wisdom feeling? If yes, I will invest the efforts to learn from him or her.

Who have made you feel the intuitive future wisdom feeling?

Michael Gelb and meditation

2008-08-10T13:01:00.003+08:00

Found Michael Gelb mentioning meditation in his book – how to think like Leonardo da Vinci.

Listen for silence

Practice listening for the spaces between sounds – the pauses in a friend’s conversation or your favourite music and the silences between the notes in the song of a bluebird. Make silence a theme for a day and record your observations in your notebook. Do you have access to a place of complete silence, away from the humming of machines? Try to find such a place. How does it feel to be in a place of complete quiet?

Practice Silence

Experience with a day of silence. For a whole day, don’t talk, just listen. It is best to spend your silent day out in nature, walking in the woods, hiking in the mountains or strolling by the sea. Immerse yourself in nature’s sounds. This “verbal fasting” strengthens your ability to listen deeply and is wonderfully refreshing for your spirit.

Source:

How to think like Leonardo da Vinci

Michael Gelb

Page 113 & 114

Delacorte Press

ISBN: 0385323816

T Talents

2008-08-03T00:51:00.014+08:00

I like to introduce my idea of T Talents.

They are curious people who have deep expertise in one subject matter ( the vertical leg of the T ) and board interest in one or many other subject matters ( the horizontal part of the T ). For example, a friend of mine - Joo Hock is an expert in hairdressing, he also have interests in training, community management, events management, singing…

The T Talents idea is a shorten version of Ideo's T-shaped people idea. It is like using TinyURL.com to shorten a long web address to a short one. T-shaped people are people who are so inquisitive about the World that they are willing to try to do what you do. They have a principle skill that describes the vertical leg of the T – they might be mechanical engineers or industrial designers. But they are so empathetic that they can branch out into others skills, such as anthropology and do them as well. They are able to explore insights from many different perspectives and recognize patterns of behaviour that point to a universal human need.

I share the same view that we need T Talents in the future with Steve Mills of IBM.

The following paragraphs are taken from his thought leadership paper.

In the past and to a great degree, the present - the workforce is dominated by two kinds of people:

Business generalists with broad horizontal understanding of the business issues affecting their area.
Hands-on implementation specialists or people with narrow but deep expertise in a specific, often technical, area.

The future of business demands a new breed of knowledge worker: the T-shaped person who combines broad understanding of business processes ( the top, horizontal part of the T ) with deep practical execution in a specific functional area ( the bottom, vertical part of the T ). People who share the same understanding of the business process ( top of the T ) can team with colleagues with different I-shaped specialties ( bottom of the T ) to cover the waterfront of a business need without losing that common vocabulary and understanding of their shared business objective.

9 characteristics of innovative people

2008-08-01T11:14:00.002+08:00

What are the characteristics of innovative people?

Sense from:
You and Creativity
Don Fabun
Kaiser Aluminum News 25

Sensitivity
A propensity for greater awareness which makes a person more readily attuned to the subtleties of various sensations and impressions. Eric Fromm writes, "Creativity is the ability to see ( or be aware ) and to respond".

Questioning Attitude
An inquisitiveness, probably imprinted in early home training that encourages seeking new and original answers.

Broad Education
An approach to learning instilled from a liberal education that puts a premium on questions rather than answers and rewards curiosity rather than rote learning and conformity.

Asymmetrical Thinking
The ability to ﬁnd an original kind of order in disorder as opposed to symmetrical thinking that balances everything out in some logical way. "The creative personality is unique in that during the initial stages he prefers the chaotic and disorderly and tends to reject what has already been systematized". Ralph J. Hallman

Personal Courage
A disregard for failure derived from a concern, not for what others think, but what one thinks of oneself. "They seemed to be less afraid of what other people would say or demand or laugh at ... Perhaps more important, however, was their lack of fear of their own insides, of their own impulses, emotions, thoughts". Abraham Maslow

Sustained Curiosity
A capacity for childlike wonder carried into adult life that generates a style of endless questioning, even of the most personally cherished ideas. Eric Fromm: "Children still have the capacity to be puzzled... But once they are through the process of education, most people lose the capacity of wondering, of being surprised. They feel that they ought to know everything, and hence that it is a sign of ignorance to be surprised or puzzled by anything".

Time Control
Instead of being bound by time, deadlines and schedules, creative individuals use time as a resource - morning, noon and night - years, decades - whatever it takes, unbound by the clock.

Dedication
The unswerving desire to do something, whatever it may be and whatever the obstacles to doing it.

Willingness to work
The willingness to continue to pursue a project endlessly, in working hours and so - called free hours, over whatever time might be required. Roger Sessions said, "Inspiration, then, is the impulse which sets creation in movement; it is also the energy which keeps it going".

Corporate open learning resource

2008-07-25T23:19:00.002+08:00

What did I observe?

Customers don’t just buy products and services from corporations. They also learn from them. They don’t just learn things that will benefit the corporations’ sales. For example, if they learn how to protect their love ones by buying life insurance, they might buy life insurance from AIA who offers them a free seminar on financial planning.

They also learn things which will not help coporations’ sales. For example, when they watch a video on personal development at Talks@Google, they don’t use Google more.

It will be interesting to see:

Will more corporations release their in house learning resources to the public?
Will customers prefer to buy from corpoations that they have learned from versus those that they did not?

What do I called this observation?

Corporate open learning resource

Conversation Triangle

2008-06-22T13:24:00.002+08:00

One of my favorite pass times is meeting up with friends to chat about ideas that I discovered. As I observed what I do during these discussions, I discovered that I basically behaved in 3 ways:

I broaden the idea.
I deepen the understanding of the idea.
I connect the idea to another idea.

I came up with a diagram to show how I behaved in these discussions.

I name the diagram the Conversation Triangle.

It consists of 4 points

I = Idea
B = Broaden Idea
C = Connected Idea
D = Deepen Understanding

6 relationships

IB = Action of broadening the idea
IC = Action of connecting the idea to another idea
ID = Action of deepening the understanding of the idea
BC = Action of connecting the broaden idea to another idea
BD = Action of deepening the understanding of the broaden idea
CD = Action of deepening the understanding of the idea that was connected to

Starbucks customer innovation

2008-06-16T23:00:00.002+08:00

What I read?

My Starbucks Idea

Starbucks have started a web site to collect suggestions from customers.

Where did I read it from?

Hey, Starbucks, how about coffee cubes?

Jeff Jarvis

BusinessWeek 15 Apr 2008

What sense did I make out of it?

Companies are experimenting to connect closer to customers. They are beginning to understand that customers can help them to innovate.

Whole Earth Catalog legacy

2008-06-12T13:08:00.011+08:00

One of the things I observe on remarkable people like Buckminster Fuller ( Bucky ) is that they influence people with their ideas. Their ideas can through time lag become artifacts ( products ), services or improved versions of the ideas.

Bucky have inspired Stewart Brand to create the Whole Earth Catalog ( WEC ). It is a catalog of learning resources for an individual to take his own initiate to do his own learning. I recently watched a video ( 1hr 46 mins ) on the legacy of the Whole Earth Catalog.

What I found interesting in the video:

The impact of the WEC is that it created a culture of learning through making.
The WEC change Kevin Kelly's life as he realize that he did not need to go to collage after reading the catalog.
Stewart Brand was inspired by Bucky to create WEC as a tool to enable people to create change.

What did you found interesting in the video?

Yosemite Photos

2008-05-03T07:35:00.006+08:00

Date: 22 Apr 2008

Place: Yosemite National Park, CA, United States

Experience: mountains, trees, water falls, wild life, area of outstanding beauty

San Francisco Photos

2008-05-03T07:27:00.002+08:00

Date: 19 - 29 Apr 2008
Place: around San Francisco, CA, United States
Experience: Interesting

Portland Photos

2008-05-03T07:17:00.002+08:00

Date: 16 - 19 Apr 2008
Place: Portland, OR, United States
Experience: bookshops, cafes, parks, river, hanging out, walking

Seattle Photos

2008-05-03T07:02:00.001+08:00

Date: 8 - 10 and 14 - 16 Apr 2008

Place: around Seattle, WA, United States

Experience: Beautifull

Victoria Photos

2008-05-03T06:45:00.001+08:00

Date: 10 - 14 Apr 2008

Place: around Victoria, BC, Canada

Experience: accessible, natural, beautifull city

Randy Pausch last lecture

2008-03-14T21:16:00.003+08:00

What let's you get to achieve your dreams?

Parents, friends, teachers, mentors, colleagues and students.
Have fun.
Never lose the child-like wonder.
Help others.
Loyalty is a two way street.
Never give up.
Get people to help you.
You can’t get there alone.
I believe in Karma.
Tell the truth.
Be earnest.
Apologize when you screw up.
Focus on others, not yourself.
Brick walls let us show our dedication.
Don’t bail, the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap.
Get a feedback loop and listen to it.
Show gratitude.
Don’t complain, just work harder.
Be good at something. It makes you valuable.
Work hard.
Find the best in everybody, no matter how long you have to wait for them to show it.
Be prepared. Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.

Source:

Randy Pausch's last lecture

Randy Pausch

Video 1:03 to 1:24

Slides 102 to 140

Paulo Coelho and meditation

2008-02-25T22:22:00.005+08:00

Found Paulo Coelho mentioning meditation in his manual of the warrior of light.

The warrior of light needs time to himself. And he uses that time for rest, contemplation and contact with the Soul of the World. Even in the midst of a battle, he manages to meditate.

Occasionally, the warrior sits down, relaxes and lets everything that is happening around him continue to happen. He looks at the World as a spectator, he does not try to add to it or take away from it, he merely surrenders unresistingly to the moment of life.

Little by little, everything that complicated begins to become simple. And the warrior is glad.

What is a warrior of light?

A warrior of light is someone capable of:

understanding the miracle of life

fighting to the last for something he believes in

Source:

Manual of the warrior of light

Paulo Coelho

Page 183 & 184

HarperCollins

ISBN: 0007156324

All the World's roads lead to the heart

2008-02-22T00:03:00.003+08:00

I am currently reading Paulo Coelho's manual of the warrior of light. He is the author of the alchemist. The book is like a Brazilian version of the Chinese art of war. I like to share 2 pages in the book that I found interesting.

All the World's roads lead to the heart of the warrior; he plunges unhesitatingly into the river of passions always flowing through his life.

The warrior knows that he is free to choose his desires and he makes these decisions with courage, detachment and sometimes with just a touch of madness.

He embraces his passions and enjoys them intensely. He knows that there is no need to renounce the pleasures of conquest; they are part of life and bring joy to all those who participate in them.

But he never loses sight of those things that last or of the strong bonds that are forged over time.

A warrior can distinguish between the transient and the enduring.

What is a warrior of light?

A warrior of light is someone capable of understanding the miracle of life and fighting to the last for something he believes in.

Source:
Manual of the warrior of light

Paulo Coelho

Page 4 & 5

HarperCollins

ISBN: 0007156324

Schools kill creativity

2008-02-03T01:23:00.004+08:00

Education systems are educating children out of their creative capacities. Sir Ken Robinson urges us to rethink the fundamental principles on which we're educating our children.

See what we can't see

2008-01-23T23:06:00.002+08:00

Recently Rochele told me a story. When Columbus ships came to America, the Native Indians could not see them coming. They thought their ships will clouds.

After reflecting on this story, I came to understand that we cannot see something that we do not know. If I am a Native Indian, how can I see ships when there are no ships in my World? How can we see what we don't know? How can we see what we can't see?

John Naisbitt says discoveries grow out of something that is already there. Ripe apples had always fallen to the ground but Isaac Newton saw "the deeper meaning." The Earth has always circled the sun but Copernicus and Galileo observed the evidence and make the connections. Geniuses often build on details that many people can spot but can't connect.

There are things we can see but others can't. There are things that others can see but we can't. Let's help each other to see what both of us can’t.

The John Naisbitt paragraph is taken from page 42 of his book - Mindset.

Earth Charter

2007-12-23T10:50:00.003+08:00

Living guidelines for humanity

Source:

Earth Charter
Earth Charter Initiative

Korean Food

2007-11-18T03:55:00.001+08:00

Seoul Photos

2007-11-18T03:10:00.001+08:00

Date: 1 - 4 and 10 - 14 Nov 2007

Place: Around Seoul, South Korea

Experience: historic...

Andong Photos

2007-11-17T17:56:00.001+08:00

Date: 9 - 10 Nov 2007
Place: Andong, South Korea
Experience: historic...

Gyeongju Photos

2007-11-09T06:47:00.001+08:00

Date: 6 - 9 Nov 2007

Place: Gyeongju, South Korea

Experience: historic...

Soraksan Photos

2007-11-07T22:33:00.003+08:00

Date: 4 - 6 Nov 2007

Place: Soraksan, South Korea

Experience: mountains, mountains, mountains... place of outstanding beauty.

Universals of culture

2007-10-16T18:09:00.002+08:00

What are the aspects of daily life?

George Murdoch's universals of culture

Age Grading

Community Organization

Cooking

Cooperative Labor

Cosmology

Courtship

Dancing

Decorative Art

Divination

Division of labor

Dream Interpretation

Education

Eschatology

Ethics

Ethno-botany

Etiquette

Faith Healing

Family Feasting

Fire Making

Folklore

Food Taboos

Funeral Rites

Games

Gestures

Gift Giving

Government

Greetings

Hairstyles

Hospitality

Housing

Hygiene

Incest Taboos

Inheritance Rules

Joking

Kin Groups

Kinship Nomenclature

Language

Law

Luck Superstitions

Magic

Marriage

Mealtimes

Medicine

Obstetrics

Pennal Sanctions

Personal Names

Population Policy

Postnatal Care

Pregnancy Usages

Property Rights

Propitiation of supernatural beings

Puberty Customs

Religious Rituals

Residence Rules

Sexual Restrictions

Soul Concepts

Status Differentiation

Surgery

Tool Making

Trade

Visiting

Weather Control

Weaving

Source:
In the bubble
John Thackara
Page 134
MIT Press
ISBN: 0262201577

Ethnosphere

2007-10-03T01:28:00.007+08:00

National Geographic explorer Wade Davis argues passionately that we should be concerned not only for preserving the biosphere but also the ethnosphere - the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination. It is humanity's great legacy. It's a symbol of all that we are and all that we can be as an astounding and inquisitive species.

Top 10 Believes

2007-09-30T14:29:00.003+08:00

What are my top 10 believes now?

Nothing is permanent ( including this list ).
Things fail when it is not designed to evlove with changes.
One can reduces one's ignorance by learning more about oneself and the World around us.
Sharing what I discover about myself and the World around me is intellectual philanthropy.
There is power when one knows one can be wrong.
There is always more than one way of seeing and doing things.
Listen to people who have unpopular views.
Do one's own thinking.
If one does not make choices, choices make one.
Connecting the disconnects

What are your top 10 believes now?

Mother Teresa's definition of poverty

2007-09-25T22:24:00.002+08:00

The hungry and the lonely, not only for food but for the Word of God; the thirsty and the ignorant, not only for water but also for knowledge, peace, truth, justice and love; the naked and the unloved, not only for clothes but also for human dignity; the unwanted, the unborn child, the racially discriminated against, the homeless and the abandoned - not only for a shelter made of bricks, but for a heart that understands, that covers, that loves; the sick, the dying destitutes and the captives - not only in body but also in mind and spirit; all those who have lost all hope and faith in life, the alcoholics and drug addicts and all those who have lost God ( for them God was but God is ) and who have lost all hope in the power of the Spirit.

Source:

A simple path

Lucinda Vardey, Mother Teresa

Page 30 - 31

Rider

ISBN: 0712674527

Generalize, don't specialize

2007-09-14T23:09:00.002+08:00

Why should we generalize instead of specialize?

Sense from:

Operating manual for Spaceship Earth

Buckminster Fuller

Page 40 - 41

Arkana

ISBN: 0140194517

A type of bird which lived on a special variety of micro-marine life. Flying around, these birds gradually discovered that there were certain places in which that particular marine life tended to pocket-in the marshes along certain ocean shores of certain lands. So, instead of flying aimlessly for chance finding of that marine life they went to where it was concentrated in bayside marshes.

After a while, the water began to recede in the marshes, because the Earth’s polar ice cap was beginning to increase. Only the birds with very long beaks could reach deeply enough in the marsh holes to get at the marine life. The unfed, short-billed birds died off. This left only the long-beakers. When the birds’ inborn drive to reproduce occurred there were only other long-beakers surviving with whom to breed. This concentrated their long-beak genes.

So, with continually receding waters and generation to generation inbreeding, longer and longer beaked birds were produced. The waters kept receding, and the beaks of successive generations of the birds grew bigger and bigger. The long-beakers seemed to be prospering when all at once there was a great fire in the marshes. It was discovered that because their beaks had become so heavy these birds could no longer fly. They could not escape the flames by flying out of the marsh. Waddling on their legs they were too slow to escape, and so they perished.

This is typical of the way in which extinction occurs through over-specialization.

10 ways to reinvent your company

2007-09-06T21:42:00.004+08:00

Here's a crash course from Keith Yamashita, cofounder and principal of Stone Yamashita Partners on the art and science ( mostly art ) of creating strategy and unleashing change.

Outlaw PowerPoint. Write down your vision as a story - with a beginning, middle and end - to clarify what must change first.
Don't rely on words alone. Bring your thinking to life: Create an exhibit, use diagrams, prototype ideas.
Make strategy an everyday act. The creation and re-creation of strategy shouldn't be a process that you undertake only when budgets are due.
Argue forcefully against your most dearly held hypotheses. Only then will you know if they stand up to scrutiny.
Make decisions, right or wrong. There's nothing worse than waffling.
Take over the TV station. Airtime is everything. Reinforce your messages in everything that you do. Use every ad, press release, store, package, and event to tell your story.
Embrace thine enemy. Make a list of the people who could legitimately stop your big idea from taking root. Befriend them. Convince them. Make it their responsibility to improve on your vision.
Don't hold meetings longer than two hours. ( Otherwise they're workshops, which require more planning. ) And don't walk out of a meeting without assigning a name to every item that needs follow-up.
Startle people. Break out of your comfort zone and do something unexpected. Run an offbeat ad. Institute casual-dress Tuesdays.
Don't throw anything out. Don't kill ideas that won't work right now. Someday soon, the world might be ready for them.

Source:

Keith Yamashita wants to reinvent your company

Fast Company 2002 Oct

Polly Labarre

What did I learn from Morrie

2007-08-26T13:54:00.002+08:00

I am currently reading Tuesdays with Morrie. The book tells a story of a dying college professor ( Morrie ) teaching his last class to one student ( Mitch ). As I read, I become one of Morrie's students. His class is about the meaning of life and the lessons in how to live.

Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it.
Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do.
As you grow, you learn more.
Be compassionate.
Be fully present. Be with the person you're with.
Be more open.
Death ends a life, not a relationship.
Devote yourself to loving others.
Don't assume that it's too late to get involved.
Dying is only one thing to be sad over, living unhappily is something else.
Every thing is impermanent.
Everyone knows they're going to die but nobody believes it.
Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others.
Love always wins.
Love each other or die.
Love is the only rational act.
Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.
Pay attention when your loved ones are speaking as if it were the last time you might hear them.
Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too.
Take responsibility for each other.
The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. You have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it.
The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love and to let it come in.
What we take, we must replenish.
When you are in bed, you're dead.
When you realize you are going to die, you see everything much differently.

Source:

Tuesdays with Morrie

Mitch Albom

Doubleday

ISBN: 0385496494

Little Bird

2007-08-21T00:44:00.003+08:00

One of the lessons in the book is once you learn how to die, you learn how to live. How should we die? Read on!

Source:

Tuesdays with Morrie

Mitch Albom

Page 81

Doubleday

ISBN: 0385496494

"Everyone knows they're going to die," he ( Morrie ) said again, "but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently."

So we kid ourselves about death, I ( Mitch ) said.

"Yes. But there's a better approach. To know you're going to die and to be prepared for it at any time. That's better. That way you can actually be more involved in your life while you're living."

How can you ever be prepared to die?

"Do what the Buddhists do. Every day, have a little bird on your shoulder that asks, 'Is today the day? Am I ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person I want to be?'"

Chestnut Lodge

2007-08-14T01:41:00.002+08:00

I recently read the book and watch the video - Tuesdays with Morrie. The video was as good as the book. It shows the main lessons to be learned in the book. It is a good addition to the book as not everybody wants to read. Video allows the book to reach more learners.

One event that I feel that is good to feature in the video but was not was what Morrie learn from working at Chestnut Lodge ( mental hospital ). He learn that people want someone to notice their existence and money cannot buy happiness.

Sense from:

Tuesdays with Morrie

Mich Albom

Page 109 - 111

Doubleday

ISBN: 0385496494

The Morrie I knew, the Morrie so many others knew, would not have been the man he was without the years he spent working at a mental hospital just outside Washington, D.C., a place with the deceptively peaceful name of Chestnut Lodge. It was one of Morrie’s first jobs after plowing through a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Having rejected medicine, law, and business, Morrie had decided the research World would be a place where he could contribute without exploiting others.

Morrie was given a grant to observe mental patients and record their treatments. While the idea seems common today, it was groundbreaking in the early fifties. Morrie saw patients who would scream all day. Patients who would cry all night. Patients soiling their underwear. Patients refusing to eat, having to be held down, medicated, fed intravenously.

One of the patients, a middle-aged woman, came out of her room every day and lay facedown on the tile floor, stayed there for hours, as doctors and nurses stepped around her. Morrie watched in horror. He took notes, which is what he was there to do. Every day, she did the same thing: came out in the morning, lay on the floor, stayed there until the evening, talking to no one, ignored by everyone. It saddened Morrie. He began to sit on the floor with her, even lay down alongside her, trying to draw her out of her misery. Eventually, he got her to sit up, and even to return to her room. What she mostly wanted, he learned, was the same thing many people want - someone to notice she was there.

Morrie worked at Chestnut Lodge for five years. Although it wasn’t encouraged, he befriended some of the patients, including a woman who joked with him about how lucky she was to be there “because my husband is rich so he can afford it. Can you imagine if I had to be in one of those cheap mental hospitals?”

Another woman - who would spit at everyone else took to Morrie and called him her friend. They talked each day, and the staff was at least encouraged that someone had gotten through to her. But one day she ran away and Morrie was asked to help bring her back. They tracked her down in a nearby store, hiding in the back, and when Morrie went in, she burned an angry look at him.

“So you’re one of them, too,” she snarled.

“One of who?”

“My jailers.”

Morrie observed that most of the patients there had been rejected and ignored in their lives, made to feel that they didn’t exist. They also missed compassion - something the staff ran out of quickly. And many of these patients were well-off, from rich families, so their wealth did not buy them happiness or contentment. It was a lesson he never forgot.

Tension of opposites

2007-08-07T23:55:00.000+08:00

Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted even when you know you should never take anything for granted. A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle.

Source:

Tuesdays with Morrie

Mitch Albom

Page 40

Doubleday

ISBN: 0385496494

Life Instructions

2007-08-07T13:27:00.006+08:00

Source:

Making Happy

Chris Glass

Revenue Management

2007-07-22T13:09:00.003+08:00

What is revenue management?

Terma

2007-07-15T12:42:00.001+08:00

What are Termas ( Tibetan )?

Termas ( sacred texts or objects ) are hidden by enlightened beings to be rediscovered at the appropriate time in the future by realised masters who have the necessary mystical vision and karma to find them. Sometimes the termas are hidden in such unlikely places as a lake, the sky or even a disciples mind. These hidden teachings manifest at unpredictable times and places when sentient beings are in need of their wisdom. As such, the discovery of a terma always creates a fresh opportunity for spiritual renewal.

Source:

Synopsis of Hidden teachings of Tibet

Tulku Thondup

Wisdom

ISBN : 086171122X

Japan design concepts

2007-06-14T12:24:00.003+08:00

Interesting design concepts of Japan:

Heisei - The peacefull mind
Kaizen - Striving for perfection
Kanso - Getting more with less
Kessaku - Creating masterpieces
Makoto - Building sincerity into products
Meisho / Deshi - Master / Apprentice approach
Mono-no-Aware - Things that touch the heart
Mushin - The power of the empty mind
Myo - The ultimate quality of beauty
Shibui - Eliminating the unessential
Shizenbi - Nature's standard of beauty
Zen - Recognizing reality

Source:

Elements of Japanese design

Boye Lafayette De Mente

Tuttle

ISBN: 978-080483749-1

Autobiography in five short chapters

2007-06-09T00:45:00.002+08:00

Autobiography in five short chapters

by Portia Nelson

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk

I fall in.

I am lost ... I am helpless.

It isn't my fault.

It takes me forever to find a way out.

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don't see it.

I fall in again.

I can't believe I am in the same place

but, it isn't my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

III

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in ... it's a habit.

My eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

I walk down another street.

One stick, two stick

2007-06-08T01:43:00.001+08:00

Story:

One stick, two stick: the way of the old African kings

An old man is dying. He calls his people to his side. He gives a short, sturdy stick to each of his many offspring, wives and relatives. "Break the stick," he instructs them. With some effort, they all snap their sticks in half.

"This is how it is when a soul is alone and without anyone. They can be easily broken."

The old man next gives each of his kin another stick, and says, 'This is how I would like you to live after I pass. Tie your sticks together in bundles of twos and threes." He waits quietly as his family ties the sticks together. There are many bundles, some of two sticks, some of three sticks. "Now, break these bundles in half."

No one can break the sticks when there are two or more in a bundle. The old man smiles. 'We are strong when we stand with another soul. When we are with others, we cannot be broken."

Moral of story:

In our aloneness we are broken and in our standing with others we cannot be broken.

Source:

What dying people want

David Kuhl

Pg xxviii

PublicAffairs

ISBN: 1-58648197-5

Grieving

2007-06-08T01:20:00.000+08:00

5 stages of grief

Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance

Source:

On grief and grieving

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, David Kessler

Pg 7

Simon & Schuster

ISBN: 0743263448

Desire and fear

2007-06-05T01:58:00.005+08:00

What is desire and fear?

Sense from:

Stillness Speaks

Eckhart Tolle

Page 58 -59

New World Library

ISBN: 157731400X

Most people's lives are run by desire and fear.

Desire is the need to add something to yourself in order to be yourself more fully. All fear is the fear of losing something and thereby becoming diminished and being less.

These two movements obscure the fact that Being cannot be given or taken away. Being in its fullness is already within you, Now.

World Cafe questions

2007-06-01T23:45:00.004+08:00

Questions for all seasons

Here are generative questions that we and other colleagues have found usefull to stimulate new knowledge and creative thinking in a wide variety of situations around the World. Look at these questions to jump-start your own creative thinking about the most appropriate ones for your specific situation.

Questions for focusing collective attention:

What question, if answered, could make the greatest difference to the future of the

situation we're exploring here?

What's important to you about this situation and why do you care?

What draws you / us to this inquiry?

What's our intention here? What's the deeper purpose - the "big why" - that is worthy of our best effort?

What opportunities can we see in this situation?

What do we know so far / still need to learn about this situation?

What are the dilemmas / opportunities in this situation?

What assumptions do we need to test or challenge in thinking about this situation?

What would someone who had a very different set of beliefs than we do say about this situation?

Questions for connecting ideas and finding deeper insight:

What's taking shape here? What are we hearing underneath the variety of opinions being expressed? What is in the center of our listening?

What's emerging that is new for you? What connections are you making?

What have you heard that had real meaning for you? What surprised you? What puzzled or challenged you? What question would you like to ask now?

What is missing from the picture so far? What are we not seeing? Where do we need more clarity?

What has been your major learning or insight so far?

What's the next level of thinking we need to address?

If there was one thing that hasn't yet been said but is needed in order to reach a deeper level of understanding / clarity, what would that be?

Questions that create forward movement:

What would it take to create change on this issue?

What could happen that would enable you / us to feel fully engaged and energized in this situation?

What's possible here and who cares about it?

What needs our immediate attention going forward?

If our success was completely guaranteed, what bold steps might we choose?

How can we support each other in taking the next steps? What unique contribution can we each make?

What challenges might corne our way and how might we meet them?

What conversation if begun today, could ripple out in a way that created new possibilities for the future of [ our situation. . . ]?

What seed might we plant together today that could make the most difference to the future of [ our situation. . . ]?

Source:

World Cafe

Juanita Brown, David Isaacs, World Cafe Community

Pg 173

Berrett-Koehler

ISBN: 9781576752586

Canadian Rockies photos

2007-05-27T11:05:00.002+08:00

Date: 15 - 19 May 2007

Place: Canadian Rockies, AB, Canada

Experience: mountains, mountains, mountains... place of outstanding beauty.

Hollyhock Photos

2007-05-27T11:00:00.005+08:00

Date: 11 - 14 May 2007

Place: Hollyhock, Cortes Island, BC, Canada

Experience: seaside, sea view, Red Forest, nature, garden, meditation, Yoga, decent accommodation, delicious vegetarian food, great company from intellectual curious, peace of mind seeking, interesting people.

Top 10 reasons to work at Google

2007-04-12T22:00:00.000+08:00

Top 10 reasons to work at Google

1. Lend a helping hand.

With millions of visitors every month, Google has become an essential part of everyday life - like a good friend - connecting people with the information they need to live great lives.

2. Life is beautiful.

Being a part of something that matters and working on products in which you can believe is remarkably fulfilling.

3. Appreciation is the best motivation.

So we've created a fun and inspiring workspace you'll be glad to be a part of, including on-site doctor and dentist; massage and yoga; professional development opportunities; on-site day care; shoreline running trails; and plenty of snacks to get you through the day.

4. Work and play are not mutually exclusive.

It is possible to code and pass the puck at the same time.

5. We love our employees and we want them to know it.

Google offers a variety of benefits, including a choice of medical programs, company-matched 401(k), stock options, maternity and paternity leave and much more.

6. Innovation is our bloodline.

Even the best technology can be improved. We see endless opportunity to create even more relevant, more useful and faster products for our users. Google is the technology leader in organizing the world's information.

7. Good company everywhere you look.

Googlers range from former neurosurgeons, CEOs and U.S. puzzle champions to alligator wrestlers and former-Marines. No matter what their backgrounds Googlers make for interesting cube mates.

8. Uniting the world, one user at a time.

People in every country and every language use our products. As such we think, act and work globally - just our little contribution to making the world a better place.

9. Boldly go where no one has gone before.

There are hundreds of challenges yet to solve. Your creative ideas matter here and are worth exploring. You'll have the opportunity to develop innovative new products that millions of people will find useful.

10. There is such a thing as a free lunch after all.

In fact we have them every day: healthy, yummy and made with love.

Source:

Top 10 reasons to work at Google

11 Forecasting Mindsets

2007-04-06T02:56:00.003+08:00

11 forecasting mindsets

While many things change, most things remain constant.
The future is embedded in the present.
Focus on the score of the game.
Understanding how powerfull it is not to be right.
See the future as a picture puzzle.
Don’t get so far ahead of the parade that people don’t know you’re in it.
Resistance to change falls if benefits are real.
Things that we expect to happen always happen more slowly.
You don’t get results by solving problems but by exploiting opportunities.
Don’t add unless you subtract.
Don’t forget the ecology of technology.

Source:

Mind Set

John Naisbitt

HarperCollins

ISBN: 9780061136887

From interesting to truth

2007-03-23T19:17:00.005+08:00

The truth isn't the truth until people believe you
and they can't believe you if they don't know what you're saying
and they can't know what you're saying if they don't listen to you
and they won't listen to you if you're not interesting
and you won't be interesting unless you say things imaginatively, originally, freshly.

Bill Bernbach

Source:
Creative Jolt
Denise Anderson, Rose Gonnella, Robin Landa
Page 79
North Light
ISBN: 9781581800111

View of life

2007-03-14T19:38:00.006+08:00

Human life itself may be almost pure chaos but the work of the artist and the only thing he's good for is to take these handfulls of confusion and disparate things, things that seen to be irreconcilable and put them together in a frame to give them some kind of shape and meaning. That's what he's for - to give his view of life.
Katherine Porter

Source:
Creative Jolt
Denise Anderson, Rose Gonnella, Robin Landa
Page 61
North Light
ISBN: 9781581800111

Meaning of life

2007-03-10T11:36:00.000+08:00

Source:

Meaning of life

Lev Yilmaz