Monday, June 15, 2009
The Means is the End of Machiavelli
Machiavelli argued that the end justifies the means, but what if there is no end and in the end the means is all there is? Then the means would have to justify the means and that would put an end to Machiavelli.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Be wary of truth-sayers
Be wary of truth-sayers (even the one writing this). Although we are constantly in search of truth, the truth is that any real deep meaningful truth that may exist is likely beyond our capacity of comprehension. Anything we may believe to be true is highly subjective. Therefore we must be vigilant. We should never fall prey to comfortable “truths”. Truth is not revealed by the majority. Truth is not revealed through the beliefs of our ancestors or the values of the society around us. We must constantly question and re-evaluate that which we believe to be true and be humble enough to admit that although we may hold a truth to be true that truth is at best a victim of our perceptions.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Rules are made to help us, when they don't help us we can ignore them!
Behaviour in all organisations is steered by a system of formal and/or informal rules and values. In the event that a conflict arises between a rule and a value we should always opt in favor of the value. Rules are made to help us, when they don't help us we can ignore them!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Fantasies, Dreams and Reality
The differnce between fantasies and dreams is desire. the difference between dreams and reality is effort!
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Make the Most of This Crisis, They don't come along too often
I am not going to add to the mass of amature analysis about the current financial crisis facing the worlds economy. There are journalists, bloggers, politicians and gurus to cause enough confusion without my help. I would like to comment on a side effect of the current situation. It is really interesting to see how different people react under pressure (including myself). It seems that extreme circumstances tend to bring out the best and the worst in us. I have witnessed some people excerise great creativity in solving the challenges posed by the current financial situation but I have also seen extreme cases of tunnel vision, lack of focus and even apathy. Why is it that some people can meet these challenges with energy and resolve while others seem to fall apart?
I wouldn't be surprised if DNA plays a certain role in this. Some are born with better genes to handle a crisis. It is not unlikely that our socialization has a significant effect. Still I can't help thinking that there must be things we can learn, things we can practice that will make us better prepared for tough situations. Police and firemen train themselves to be able to handle situations that would be difficult for the untrained to handle. They learn how to handle their fear, how to protect themselves and how close to a fire you can stand without getting hurt. When it comes to the business world we are not talking about life-threatening risks. No one gets physically injured because profits are down. Surely if we can train ourselves to face raging fires and armed criminals while remaining calm and thinking rationally, we ought to be able to face a global financial crises.
Analyze your ghosts!
The ghosts you see and understand are not nearly as scary as the ones you don't. Often we are frightened of things without really understanding what it is we are really scared of. Potential risks become much easier to deal with if we identify them and analyze the impact these risks pose for us (as well as the probability that they will happen). May dad always says that 90% of the things we worry about never happen. Suppose you are worried about losing your job. The first question is how likely is it that it might happen? What would be the impact on you if it did happen? How hard would it be to get a new job? Would you have to take a pay cut or move to another town? What sacrifices would you have to make if you had to take a lower paying job or move to another town? By working through all the consequences you can develope an understanding of how you would handle the problem if it happened.
What's the worst that could happen?
Another trick is to ask yourself what is the worst that could happen? What is the worst that could happen at work? What would you do if the worst happened? Could you live with that? Could you handle the situation? If so, then you can get back to living your life and stop worrying! No one wants to lose their job or lose money on the stockmarket. When it happens it can be extremely challenging. Our emotions can swing from apathy to rage and back again. But being mentally prepared for the challenge, understanding the consequences and having at least a vague strategy for handling the situation can be a big help in meeting a crises. If you are feeling very brave you might even ask yourself what's the best that could happen? (A new, more interesting job with a better salary?) A crisis can be the catalyst you need to create positive change. Change in your life or in your organization!
I wouldn't be surprised if DNA plays a certain role in this. Some are born with better genes to handle a crisis. It is not unlikely that our socialization has a significant effect. Still I can't help thinking that there must be things we can learn, things we can practice that will make us better prepared for tough situations. Police and firemen train themselves to be able to handle situations that would be difficult for the untrained to handle. They learn how to handle their fear, how to protect themselves and how close to a fire you can stand without getting hurt. When it comes to the business world we are not talking about life-threatening risks. No one gets physically injured because profits are down. Surely if we can train ourselves to face raging fires and armed criminals while remaining calm and thinking rationally, we ought to be able to face a global financial crises.
Analyze your ghosts!
The ghosts you see and understand are not nearly as scary as the ones you don't. Often we are frightened of things without really understanding what it is we are really scared of. Potential risks become much easier to deal with if we identify them and analyze the impact these risks pose for us (as well as the probability that they will happen). May dad always says that 90% of the things we worry about never happen. Suppose you are worried about losing your job. The first question is how likely is it that it might happen? What would be the impact on you if it did happen? How hard would it be to get a new job? Would you have to take a pay cut or move to another town? What sacrifices would you have to make if you had to take a lower paying job or move to another town? By working through all the consequences you can develope an understanding of how you would handle the problem if it happened.
What's the worst that could happen?
Another trick is to ask yourself what is the worst that could happen? What is the worst that could happen at work? What would you do if the worst happened? Could you live with that? Could you handle the situation? If so, then you can get back to living your life and stop worrying! No one wants to lose their job or lose money on the stockmarket. When it happens it can be extremely challenging. Our emotions can swing from apathy to rage and back again. But being mentally prepared for the challenge, understanding the consequences and having at least a vague strategy for handling the situation can be a big help in meeting a crises. If you are feeling very brave you might even ask yourself what's the best that could happen? (A new, more interesting job with a better salary?) A crisis can be the catalyst you need to create positive change. Change in your life or in your organization!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Solutions or Confusion?
Remember when everything caused cancer? Every other day there was a new story about some new research that showed some new substance in our daily lives that was killing us. It finally got to the point where cynics and comedians came to the conclusion that life is deadly and living is lethal. The end result being that many people just gave up with the excuse that if everything you eat is going to get you then it doesn't matter what you eat!
Now I am afraid the same thing is happening with the environment. Today I was sitting drinking a bottle of mineral water in a cafe when a man came up and told me that mineral water was bad for the climate. I fully expected to hear a lecture about the stupidity of carting bottled water around the world in boats, trucks, planes and trains when we have fantastic drinking water coming right out of the tap (I basically agree with this!).
To my surprise he just laughed and said that scientists have discovered that the CO2 in bubble water destroys the ozone. Then he said "the scientists are all wrong! The problem isn't bubbles in the water; there are just too damn many people on the planet!" As our conversation went on he informed me that when we die our bodies give off gases that have a negative effect on the ozone. I cleverly suggested cremation but he said that was even worse!
So according to my new friend, the "cafe environmentalist", we virtually everything we do while we are alive is bad for the planet and even when we die it is bad for the planet so it really doesn't matter what we do! Being no expert in these issues I tried to suggest that if some things we can't control (like death) are bad for the environment then it is even more important that we do everything we can to minimize the negative impact of those things we can control!
Unfortunately I think my buddy has already joined the cynics! If everything we do is bad for the environment then it really doesn't matter what we do! I hope he is wrong!
Now I am afraid the same thing is happening with the environment. Today I was sitting drinking a bottle of mineral water in a cafe when a man came up and told me that mineral water was bad for the climate. I fully expected to hear a lecture about the stupidity of carting bottled water around the world in boats, trucks, planes and trains when we have fantastic drinking water coming right out of the tap (I basically agree with this!).
To my surprise he just laughed and said that scientists have discovered that the CO2 in bubble water destroys the ozone. Then he said "the scientists are all wrong! The problem isn't bubbles in the water; there are just too damn many people on the planet!" As our conversation went on he informed me that when we die our bodies give off gases that have a negative effect on the ozone. I cleverly suggested cremation but he said that was even worse!
So according to my new friend, the "cafe environmentalist", we virtually everything we do while we are alive is bad for the planet and even when we die it is bad for the planet so it really doesn't matter what we do! Being no expert in these issues I tried to suggest that if some things we can't control (like death) are bad for the environment then it is even more important that we do everything we can to minimize the negative impact of those things we can control!
Unfortunately I think my buddy has already joined the cynics! If everything we do is bad for the environment then it really doesn't matter what we do! I hope he is wrong!
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