"Hours Passed In Exile"

Dark Tranquillity

Lost to our many obligations, we often forget the real important things in life. Thanks to the Christmas festivities I had a chance to spend some quality time with my family.

After all, money are not important for themselves. It is the independence that they give us in this money-oriented world.

Strangely enough, the monk in a Frederick Lenz's book says something similar to: You have to be successful in this world, to help people believe you about the spiritual one.

For the New Year holidays I plan to stick to the spiritual and the snowflakes. After that... who knows.

Make a Positive Change

The Patrician from the Discworld stories says that there are two differences between good and bad people. The first is, that no matter what, the people on our side are the good ones. The second is that bad people make plans how to fulfill their evil deeds, while good people just sit and wait for the good hopes to become reality.

I have nothing to say about the first. However, as it is Christmas time, I would like to ask you to think about the second one. If you are a good person, please:

1. Make a wish.
   
2. Then make a plan.
3. Execute the plan.
4. Make a positive change.
5. Multiply the message.
6. Stick to the good side of the force.
7. On the seventh day - relax.
   

The Street Wisdom

When I was younger, I used to listen to a lot of rap music. My favorite was a verse from the late 2Pac. It sounded like: "You can be a lawyer or doctor someday. So set your priorities right." Is it not funny how some of the wisest words reach us not from the academics but from the street-wise?

How many books should I read to understand that no matter what seems important to me at the moment - like drinking and fighting, it is the long term goals that should guide my way.

Another such street wisdom that hit me this month is the band Deep Puddle Dynamics and their song The Scarecrow Speaks.

Anyway, it is Christmas time. I wish you maaaany, many happy things and even more clever wisdom.

Merry Christmas!

The Penguins

It is sometimes funny how many real life stories can be related to an animated movie. A simple 82 minutes of fun for the kids might hold characters description that can help us related them to our real world experience.

This time I will focus on the penguins simply because their picture is the easiest one to draw. I present you the Madagascar.

Look how sad and disappointed are the four penguins staying on the cold Antarctic beach. They have built an image of it in the cosines of their zoo cages. Now this image is somehow frozen and mostly shattered by the snowy winds.

They are just like the people pursuing their dreams. Occasionally when they fulfill their wishes and their dreams come true, the longing for a refreshing scent turns into a freezing stench.

However, what I especially like about the penguins is that they never give up and find another dream to dream.

Just like the Brand New Heavies song says: "Dream on, dreamer"

You can do the talk, but can you do the walk?

Realizing a problem is not the same as talking about it. See the post for GM (from TED).

The same is said about the Toyota model and the fact that only a few companies are able to reach similar perfectness.

If a manager in a company speaks about a problem and an intention to solve it, then we can measure his or her character, by watching closely the steps the manager takes.

A plasticine example

Sometimes when you are making plasticine figures you need flexible joints. Sometimes you need stick joints. It depends on how you treat the plasticine. You can warm it with your hands or you can freeze it in the fridge.

People are the same. With the right approach you can either stiffen or soften them. The BIG question it to know the magic word.

THANK YOU ;- )))

"Do onto yourself, before others do onto you"

Larry Burns on TED

A very interesting summary of a principle I have heard long time ago. At that time I was looking for a new job. I am glad that I found one before the company decided to shrink its volume.

It also connects with the Spencer Johnson's Who moved my cheese and the principle of preparing for the future. This is a lovely book about big changes. You might consider it a little bit unserious. However, one of the high-level managers at the company I currently work for has used it to prepare the management for the coming changes.

For some reason GM got out of luck and others did it onto GM. Now they need a bail out instead of being the grand saviors of the auto industry.

The frog and its pond

Somebody wise (probably from China) has said that you cannot speak to a frog about the sea as the frog knows only its pond.


At school we were really good compared to the other children in our pond. What made me sad was that whatever I do I will not get up to the height of the frogs from the bigger ponds. Except move to their pond.

Every task is like that. Either you are exceptionally good and eclipse the sea frogs, or you are the best in your pond, or you do not try at all.

"Get big, get niche or get out."

I am still looking for the source of both proverbs.

Wealth Multiplicator v.s. Grief Multiplicator

If I have 10 euros and lend them to somebody with a 10% interest, then the economy will have 10+10+1 = 21 euros, while the real money are only 10. In result, when the debtor goes bankrupt, the economy will say that 21 euros are lost, while they will be only 10, all out of my pocket. Hence, the lying nature of this system and crisis.

Some may argue about the interpretation of the money multiplicator economic term that we have been recently discussing with my wife. However the story of Bernard Madoff is a confirmation that I have never expected in such a clear way.

I would also like to state that the pure form of banking, as a form of redistribution of assets from people who have them to people who need them should be preserved as the single most influential driver of development (besides human creativity). Only so can we continue to operate with a wealth multiplicator.

It is only the manipulators who should be kept out of the money business. Otherwise the money multiplicator will continue to be a grief multiplicator.

A Lie Multiplied by A Hundred

At the university we were taught that a lie repeated anywhere from three to a hundred times becomes a reality.

Is it not a paradox, that the stock exchange system, which is based on lies, is actually so fragile?

Like a mist in a fog.

Shape vs. Function

Every big organization tends to be torn between two sets of rules. As I am reading

Monstrous Regiment, I decided to use the army as an example.

The army has official rules that define its shape. These are the official norms according to which the world believes the army functions.

The army also has rules that help it function. Nobody admits that they exist. Without them the whole structure will implodingly explode in a doomed attempt to fill the shape.

The big question is: Do we need to support both sets of rules?

A Nemawashi Juggler

Last year the tasks were hitting my head and crushing me onto the ground with an overwhelming fierce. The nemawashi principle of slow and deliberate planning followed by a fast execution was a mere whisper in an abandoned meeting room. I was running after the deadlines like a novice juggler believing that catching is the most important part.

Slowly it dawned on me that the preparation phase, the throwing is the one that needs my attention.

Trying to predict the steps ahead is taking me little by little out of the task swamp now. Thus giving me time to live.

"Your Attitude is Your Life"

Everyday is full of choices:
- choose an university
- choose a job
- choose a project
...
Choosing actually is not bad. It is a nice exercise for the brain. What matters is your attitude. Your attitude changes your life and the lives of the people around you.

Choose your attitude.
Choose Life.

Education

"We are born creative. We are then educated out of it" (Sir Ken Robinson)

I suppose that the reason to be in love with mathematics and physics is the freedom to use my "weapon of choice" to solve complex equations.

What do you think will happen if we start using the natal creativity and the gained as adults literacy to prepare for the unpredictable future? Will it be like the Toyota approach to solving problems? I suppose in personal plan it might be even better ;- )))

Mental Institution?

Zeitgesit is an interesting movie. So interesting in fact, that it made me feel the same as the movie The Twelve Monkeys.

While you watch them, the distinction between sanity and insanity will become unreal. Probably it is because it have never existed? In the end you wonder on which side of the mental institution wall you are standing and what good is the medical attention for.

Uuuuk?

Coconut, Creativity, Collaboration

Coconuts are tough to crack.

I have tried to make a hole with a hammer and a nail - not quite useful. I have even considered the opportunity to hold the coconut with my legs and use my electric drill to get to the precious core.

Luckily, before embarking upon this innovative approach, I have decided to ask Google. The solution was quite easy and far less endangering my precious feet.

Now I believe that through Creativity and Collaboration we can crack even the toughest Coconuts.

Why do I Look for More Knowledge?

It is because I have a

between my (y)ears.

SAP, Toyota and BPM

The first similarities between the SAP and the Toyota understanding of the world will strike from the very Forward page.

After reading just two pages, I realized that the goals for both of them are:
- evolution of existing processes
- revolution to a new level of processes getting outdated
- keeping the symbiosis between the previous two.

From then on, it just went enthralling.

The Intricacies of Human Perception

"What a nice snow we have today on these gorgeously romantic stones" I thought when I saw the picture this morning.

For me it might be really snow, since it is winter outside.

It can equally be the sand dunes near Tarifa, Spain where the photo was taken there this summer by a friend of mine.

From a factual point of view this last fact is important. From an emotional one - it depends.

Ken_Robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.
My greatest fears about my education, might actually prove right.
If we are blinded by our education system, do we stand a chance to distinguish good from bad?

(Business) Process Management

I have been interested in (business) process management for many years. Even before I knew what exactly it means. For example, I was keen on managing the process of disassembling my new toys and then assembling several other new toys from the parts in a business oriented manner (having several toys for the price of one plus the craftsmanship).

However, to put a new beginning (after my master degree in BA), I decided to check this Business Process Management: The SAP Roadmap book.

At first sight, it looks quite corporate. It is also very heavy. I suppose it is from the hidden knowledge inside ;- ))) It contains some remarks about the Toyota way as well, so I expect an interesting reading.

If I manage to understand it, expect more thoughts on it

Can you make a (positive) change

Sometimes I wonder how much effort is necessary to make something good for the community.

I think it is not so much.

The difficult part is to make it in a sustainable manner.

Almost always it is not a question of me doing something. It is more about involving more people in the good initiative, so that it can gain momentum.

It is almost like the Biblical: do not give food to the poor, but rather teach them how to earn it.

Shall I dare to believe?

I am reading the book The Toyota way. It is all about the perfect work environment in Toyota. Probably it really is so, since they are probably the mightiest car manufacturer in the world. Nevertheless, it still sounds incredible to me, especially comparing it to my experience.

I suppose that some bright day, I will find myself working in a similarly efficient organization.

Until that day come: Today -Toyota.
Tomorrow - Lexus?

When dealing with false money and unprotected expectations, panic rules the hearts of people

The last news I heard on the TV was about a big bank, that is supposed to be going down due to "lost faith of the investors". What I do not understand in this case is - how can a bank with more than 50 billion dollars more than the required reserves be at risk?

In parallel, another similar meaningless statement, sounding like: We predict that in 2008 our increase in profit will be less than the one in 2008. Therefore we are in crisis, so we will fire most of our american employees.

Are all the people lobotomized?

First Lego League

Working with kids from an elite school over a First Lego League mission proved to be extremely stimulating. My mind went wild while solving complex mathematical issues in the breaks. Communication with them proved to be an accelerated version of my otherwise heavy workload.

Unfortunately all these positive emotions happened last year while I was one of their two mentors.

This year I only watched the presentation of the new team. Nevertheless, the memories came to life and I felt again the thrill and emotional uplift of working with motivated young people.

Let's hope it will happen again ;- )))

A creative soup

Have you ever thought of ways to heat a soup, that should not be heated in the stove or on the hotplate, for a fear of burning it?

Well, we had to think about ways to heat our potato cream soup. The first attempts (on the hotplate and in the grill) resulted in... ;- )))

However, this weekend our creativity brought us to the idea of making the soup a little bit denser. Thus being able to dilute it with hot water, whenever we need it hot.

Long live the cooking creativity!

Paradise and denial

Finally I have managed to watch the beach.

Very nice music, very nice beach, very big lies and a lot of denial.

Is this movie a confirmation that we live only when we make mistakes?

To live in "interesting times"

A few days ago I was discussing the curve of the work load that we have to live with.
The obvious observation was that sometimes it is going steeply up to a point that goes beyond our strength. The result is that then we eagerly want to reduce this load. However, sometimes it is going down to the level of complete boredom. Subsequently we feel a desire to start a new venture, we get itchy feet, so to say.

Then I was wondering about techniques to level this workload, so that we have to apply an even amount of effort throughout our lives. It would be great, I thought, and was almost ready to jump with joy, but... a worrying image formed in my mind. The image of an emergency room, with a lot of hurrying doctors around patients. And the occasional biiiip sound of the supporting machine when a patient decides to totally level the work load.

No, thank you, was my decision. I would rather live with up and downs in the work load than in a constantly boring environment.

Creativity and Play - Photo

And now...
Here is a picture of my first creativity effort.
I would like to ask you to try it yourself. It is really quite fun.
It can even relieve you from the work stress, so that you can continue helping our world get out of the crisis situation.

World Piece ;- )))

Creativity and play

Hello again ;- )))
Three days ago, I stumbled across a very interesting presentation on ted.com about creativity and play.
It made me think that lately I was hardly ever using my hands to create something material.
One day later I was already equipped with plasticine, a modeling board and a modeling knife. The first result is already available - a small phone mock up of the corporate one. Soon I will post a photo of this great masterpiece.

The drive behind it

For quite some time now I have been wondering about the highs and lows of the blogging art. Mainly it was about having time and bravery to share.

Then came the Seth Godin's blog that started shaping some of my views of the world. And finally the post of the sought after employee: The marketer's attitude

I know I am not in the professional marketing. However, I believe that we as communicating entities are constantly in interaction with the other such ones. Therefore, knowing basic marketing principles might prove useful.

Being "curious enough about" my "own ideas I decided to blog" them for others to react to as this is the best way to find out my place in relation to you. So, I would highly appreciate your replies and try to reply with the same.