"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.