A recurrent topic of discussion around here is the way technologies that we grew up with ‘Way Back When are being superseded by newer ones. An underlying assumption in many of these conversations is that folks much younger than we are losing out in some way as these transitions take place. Today I became aware of another such, with the …
A Thought for Today
A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying. –B.F. Skinner, American psychologist, inventor, and author Questions: None. Just consider its applications in your own activities.
But I Don’t Want To!
About 25 years ago I chided my father for hiring folks to do various things around his house that I felt he not only could have, but should have done himself. Fast forward to today, and I find myself in the unfortunate position of wanting to hire folks to do various things around the house that I not only could, …
Meeting the Customer’s Needs
I’m very dependent on automation in my at-the-computer work. I’m a firm believer in having the machine do as much of the work as possible, leaving my resources for other, presumably more creative tasks. To that end, I use macros to smooth my activities. Some of the macros are software, often called up by specific keystrokes, that do sequential tasks …
Why the Other Line Is Likely to Move Faster (video)
This youtube-hosted video is a very engaging and entertaining quick view of queuing theory that provides an eminently practical everyday application. Questions: Are you aware of what criteria you use when making decisions? If so, what are those criteria? Are your criteria based on emotions or logic? Do you always use the same approach to making decisions? Is …
Is Failure an Option?
Failure seems to be much in the news lately. Over the space of just a few days, I came across several interesting items in the New York Times (What if the Secret to Success Is Failure?), the Harvard Business Review (Three Ways to Turn Setbacks into Progress), and a blog post from The 99 Percent (Why Success Always Starts with …
Why Fix It…
An item in this morning’s online Wall Street Journal caught my eye. It deals with a redesign of a very common office and household item, the venerable paper clip. In summary, ACCO Brands Corp., one of two key manufacturers of this item, is introducing a new version of the paper clip, which they’ve been making since 1903. From a purely …
Perceived Powerlessness
As I write this, the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. is feeling more than a bit of what Earth’s dynamic systems can evince: Hurricane Irene—while weakening from its higher-powered status—is causing major disruptions to various ecological systems and those wrought by humanity, as well. Whole areas of Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware are being evacuated, and the mayor of New …
Selling the Sizzle?
I’ve always been fascinated by spaceships–first, the science-fiction variety, with the then-requisite pointy nosecones, swept-back wings, and cockpit canopies, all of which made them look like super, super-fast fighter jets. As I got older (I’m not sure I can say “matured”) and began to work as a contractor in and around the NASA environment, I learned that such constructs were …
Poor Decisions and Awful Consequences
The fact of and the effects from the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011 horrify everyone. The impotence of humans in the face of such forces should provide ample evidence that we humans are not as powerful as we like to think we are. The hubris that we tend to bring to our technological endeavors particularly was …