This is what you don't want.
I was reading an interesting article in February’s Inc. magazine (FYI I’m able to see into the future) by Joel Spolsky about communication, or more so, over communication. Everyone has finite resources (time, money, energy) that they want to use as effectively as possible. A big part of using your resources effectively within your organization is effective communication. In the article, Joel describes a few ways in which the way we communicate may be becoming less effective instead of more.
It all starts with Brooks’ Law. Fred Brooks worked on a massive software project for IBM in 1975. As the project fell behind schedule, IBM added more and more people to the project to speed up the completion time. What Brooks noticed was that adding personnel had the opposite effect; it actually slowed the project down. Brooks’ Law says that “adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.” The Law…
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Every year around October, resorts across the US are scrambling to become the first to open. Snowmaking (an energy and water intensive process) is employed by almost all resorts in order to at least open by Thanksgiving in order to capture tourist dollars on what is a very busy weekend on the slopes. By April or May, however, when these same slopes now have a base of ten plus feet, the resorts close as skiers and snowboarders have lost interest and moved on to warmer weather pursuits. After a big winter, resorts often have snow through midsummer. Which begs the question, why don’t we just move our idea of “ski season” a month or two back in order to coincide with nature’s schedule?
Real snow is better than manmade, anyways. Just don't forget the sunscreen.
We have also become quite accustomed to being able to enjoy certain fish year-round regardless of the fact that fish should be…
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I’m going to introduce you to someone who should be a “household” name in the online entrepreneurial community. If you know Seth Godin, great. I’ll share two pieces he’s written about entrepreneurship for you. If you haven’t heard of Seth Godin, even better! This may be one of the most important blog posts you’ve ever read about entrepreneurship/marketing.
Godin is a marketing genius. I’ve haven’t had the opportunity to read 100% of what he’s written between his books and blogs, but from what I have read, I’m sold. And so is almost anyone who comes across his writing.
Now that I’ve shared a link to his bio, and you’ve gotten to know what he’s all about, let me share two great books he’s written. First, is a free e-book called The Bootstrapper’s Bible . This literally is a manual on how to get over the hurdles of financing your own start-up. Everything about this to the point e-book is hands-on…
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I recently watched the documentary Food Inc. The premise is, as Michael Pollan states in the film, “The way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than in the previous 10,000.” The case for this statement is made well throughout as the film follows multiple food industries such as chicken, beef, corn and other produce as well as the people and parties involved. As I watched I realized how far removed I am from knowing the origins of what I put in my mouth to sustain my life. Thinking even further, I realized how far removed I have become from the origins of almost all of the goods I purchase. You mean my bed frame came from a tree? Wow! I realized that it was made of wood and therefore came from a tree, but when I saw it in the store it was just a completed bed frame. I failed to connect…
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This Christmas I was blessed to travel to Thailand to visit my parents. My parents currently live in Bangkok, a sprawling city of almost 12 million people in the metro area which spans nearly 3,000 sq. mi. (New York City has 18 million people in the urban area across 3,352 sq. mi.). Your arrival by air is the first indication of the impact a dense population, for which 2/3’s of the country’s GDP is reliant on exported goods, has on the environment.
While you fly over some countryside on the way in, by the time you are on the road from the airport the consistent gray skies soon engulf your view. As you get closer to the city the choking traffic becomes apparent. 4 designated traffic lanes somehow turn into 5 as cars move to every available inch of road. Traffic lights can take up to 10 minutes or more to change, while congestion piles up.…
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