Quotes and Memes

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.
– Benjamin Disraeli

If there is no wind, row.

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
– Calvin Coolidge

Life doesn’t require that we be the best, only that we try our best.
– H. Jackson Brown

ATTITUDE

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances – to choose one’s own way.
– Victor Frankl

Fifteen childhood characteristics that sometimes get lost in adults:
1. Seek out things that are fun to do
2. Jump from one interest to another
3. Curious, eager to try new things
4. Smile and laugh a lot
5. Experience and express emotions freely
6. Creative and innovative
7. Physically active
8. Constantly growing mentally and physically
9. Risk often – are not afraid to keep trying something that they aren’t initially good at and aren’t afraid to fail
10. Rest when their body tells them to
11. Learn enthusiastically
12. Dream and imagine
13. Believe in the impossible
14. Generally don’t worry about things
15. Passionate
– Ann McGee-Cooper – “You Don’t Have to Go Home from Work Exhausted!”

Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
– Nathaniel Hawthorne

The race is not always to the swift…but to those who keep on running.

Enthusiasm is contagious. It’s difficult to remain neutral or indifferent in the presence of a positive thinker.
– Dennis Waitly & Remi Witt

No one really knows enough to be a pessimist.
– Norman Cousins

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.

Pride is a personal commitment. It is an attitude which separates excellence from mediocrity.

Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic.
– Stephen Covey

Be what you wish others to become.

A person is as happy as he makes up his mind to be.
– Abraham Lincoln

We tend to judge others by their behaviors and ourselves by our intentions.
– Covey

You are going to spend the rest of your life doing something. It might as well be something you want to do.
– John Roger & Peter McWilliams

When written in Chinese, the word CRISIS is composed of two characters- one represents DANGER and the other represents OPPORTUNITY.

Only so far as a man believes strongly, mightily, can he act cheerfully, or do anything that is worth doing.
– Frederick W. Robertson

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
– Emerson

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
– Reinhold Niebuhr

If you’ve made up your mind you can do something, you’re absolutely right.
If you’ve made up your mind you can’t do something, you’re absolutely right.

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO OLD?
Consider:
– At age 96, playwright George Bernard Shaw broke his leg when he fell out of a tree he was trimming in his backyard.
– Actor George Burns won his first Oscar at 80.
– Painter Grandma Moses painted her first picture when she was past 80 years old. She completed over 1,500 paintings after that; 25 percent of those were produced when she was past 100
– Michelangelo was 71 when he painted the Sistine Chapel.
– Physician and humanitarian Albert Schweitzer was still performing operations in his African hospital at 89.

Don’t listen to the nay sayers:
“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
– (Charles H. Duell, Director of US Patent Office 1899)
“Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.”
– (Grover Cleveland, 1905)
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”
– (Harry M. Warner, Warner Bros Pictures, 1927)
“There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.”
– (Robert Miliham, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923)
“Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.”
– (Lord Kelvin, President, Royal Society, 1895)
“Ruth made a big mistake when he gave up pitching.”
– (Tris Speaker, 1921)
“The horse is here today, but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.”
– (President of Michigan Savings Bank advising against investing in the Ford Motor Company)
“Video won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”
– (Daryl F. Zanuck, 20th Century Fox, commenting on television in 1946)
“What use could the company make of an electric toy?”
– (Western Union, when it turned down rights to the telephone in 1878)

You have to do what you love to do, not get stuck in that comfort zone of a regular job. Life is not a dress rehearsal. This is it.
– Lucinda Basset

I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.
– Groucho Marx

Commencement address by Sir Winston Churchill at a graduation ceremony: “Never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never.” – this was his entire speech.

The Time to be happy is now.
The Place to be happy is here.
The Way to be happy is to make others so.

Point-of-view: Traveling through New England, a motorist stopped for gas in a tiny village. “What’s this place called?” he asked the station attendant. “All depends,” the native drawled. “Do you mean by them that has to live in this dad-blamed, moth-eaten, dust-covered, one-hoss dump, or by them that’s merely enjoying its quaint and picturesque rustic charms for a short spell?”

SMALL BEGINNINGS: An old man was walking along the beach with his grandson. His grandson picked up each starfish they passed and threw it back into the sea. “If I leave them up here,” the boy said, “they would dry up and die. I’m saving their lives.” “but,” protested the old man, “the beach goes on for miles, and there are millions of starfish. What you are doing won’t make any difference.” The boy looked at the starfish in his hand, gently threw it into the ocean, and answered: “It makes a difference to this one.”

HOW TO BE A “NO-LIMIT” PERSON: (Wayne Dyer)
1. BE A NO-LIMIT PERSON STARTING NOW.
We ALL have problems we have to deal with. Remember: I CANNOT control what goes out on outside, but I CAN control what goes on inside.
2. START MAKING GOOD CHOICES.
Don’t forget that you are the sum total of the choices you make. Remember: Anything inside that immobilizes me, gets in my way, keeps me from my goals, is all MINE. I can throw it away IF I CHOOSE.
3. TAKE SOME RISKS AND STOP WORRYING
Listen to those inner signals that help you make the right choices – no matter what anyone thinks. Remember: What you think of me is none of my business.
4. EXPECT TO STAY HEALTHY
Remember: You can set yourself up to be sick, or you can CHOOSE to stay well.
5. TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR FEELING AND REGAIN CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE
Remember: People who panic or get depressed usually do so because they have lost control.
6. LIVE THIS DAY AS IF IT WERE YOUR LAST
Rather than the bumper sticker that says: “This is the first day of the rest of your life”, think: “This is the last day of my life. And I am going to live it as if I didn’t have any more.” The truth is that the past is over and gone and the future is not guaranteed, so I should stop acting as if life was a rehearsal.

Your attitude and behavior are a function of your paradigm. For example: It’s Sunday morning, you are enjoying a quiet ride in the subway – no crowds. A man with several children gets on. The children act rowdy, shouting, disturbing others. You become irritated and finally say “Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people, I wonder if you couldn’t control them a little more.” The reply comes slowly: “I guess I should… We just came from the hospital… Their mother just died about an hour ago and I guess… I don’t know what to think…. I guess they don’t know how to handle it either…” You have just experienced a paradigm shift that puts the situation in new light. We all see things differently. Similar to putting someone else’s glasses on. We would see things distorted, but they don’t see things that way.

Anytime you thing that the problem is “out there”, that thought in itself may be the problem. If it is “out there” then you have no control and you have to wait until it changes.

When bitten by a poisonous snake, what’s the best thing to do? Remain quiet, suck the poison out. What’s the worse thing to do? Get upset, chase the snake and kill it. When unintentionally or intentionally the victim of an unkind remark, what’s the best thing to do? Forgive, move on, let go of the anger and resentment. What’s the worse thing to do? Strike back, harbor resentment and anger.

Some people go through life trying to find out what the world holds for them only to find out too late that it’s what they bring to the world that really counts. OR “It’s not what the world holds for you it’s what you bring to it” (Anne of Green Gables)

It’s a matter of ABC: When we encounter ADVERSITY, we react by thinking about it. Our thoughts rapidly congeal into BELIEFS. These beliefs may become so habitual we don’t even realize we have them unless we stop to focus on them. And they don’t just sit there idly; they have CONSEQUENCES. The beliefs are the direct cause of what we feel and what we do next. They can spell the difference between dejection and giving up, on the one hand, and well-being and constructive action on the other. The first step is to see the connection between adversity, belief, and consequence. The second step is to see how the ABCs operate every day in your own life.
– Martin Seligman

ALL I EVER NEEDED TO KNOW:
Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school. These are the things I learned: Share everything, Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup. The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup – they all die. So do we. And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation, ecology and politics and sane living. Think of what a better world it would be if we all – the whole world had cookies and milk about 3 o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.
– Robert Fulghum

Three step solution to depression:
– GIVING
– ForGIVING
– ThanksGIVING

If you THINK you are beaten, you ARE.
If you THINK you dare not, you DON’T.
If you’d LIKE to win, but THINK you can’t
It’s almost a cinch you WON’T.
Life’s battles don’t ALWAYS go
To the STRONGER or FASTER man;
But soon or late the man who WINS
Is the one who THINKS he can.

BIASES & PREJUDICES: The lives of many of us could be compared to the making of a clay vase. When the clay is soft, the potter shapes, molds and throws it. The potter then puts it into a kiln and fires it. It is then no longer possible to re-shape it. We are “shaped” by our experiences as we go through life. Unfortunately, many of us allow the fires of prejudice to harden us so that it becomes very difficult for us to re-shape our thinking or try to understand someone else’s point of view.

A couple got married. On their wedding night, the man, who stood 6′ 3″ and weighed 260 lbs, removed his pants and tossed them over to his new petite bride and said “I want you to try these on.” She stepped into them, pulled them up and said, “I’m way too small, there’s no way I can fill your pants.” The man replied, “That’s right and don’t you forget it!” The bride thought a moment, then removed her lacy undies, tossed them over to her rather large husband, and said “How about you trying these on”. Well, he got one foot in up the bottom part of his calf and he couldn’t go any farther. “I can’t get into your pants,” he said, exasperatedly. “That’s right,” his petite bride replied, “and you never will until you change your attitude!”

There is very little difference in people – but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is ATTITUDE. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative
– W. Clement Stone

SELF-ESTEEM controls PERFORMANCE/REALITY which stimulate SELF-TALK which reinforces SELF-ESTEEM. This cycle can work positively or negatively and is greatly influenced by the self-talk (“I knew I wasn’t good at –” vs “next time I’ll practice and do better at –“).

End of Quotes on “Attitude”

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Business

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In life, change is inevitable. In business, change is vital.
– Warren G. Bennis

If you’re working in a company that is NOT enthusiastic, energetic, creative, clever, curious, and just plain fun, you’ve got troubles, serious troubles.
– Tom Peters

The assets of most businesses walk out of the door at the end of each day.
The challenge to management is to create an environment which will motivate them to want to return the next day.
– Lynn Yates, modified by Grant Bright

**********

If you don’t know what to do with many of the papers piled on your desk, stick a dozen colleagues’ initials on them and pass them along. When in doubt, route.
– Malcolm Forbes

We found that the most exciting environments, that treated people very well, are also tough as nails. There is no bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo … excellent companies provide two things simultaneously: tough environments and very supportive environments.
– Tom Peters

If your company has a “clean-desk” policy, the company is nuts and you’re nuts to stay there.
– Tom Peters

Don Keough’s (CEO Coca-Cola) 11 Rules on “HOW TO LOSE”:
1. Stop taking risks
2. Be content
3. Never deviate from what the founder did
4. Be inflexible
5. Rely totally on research and experts
6. Concentrate on competitors instead of your customers
7. Put yourself – not the customer – first
8. Solve administrative concerns first
9. Let others do your thinking for example, headquarters
10. Rely on T-G-E: “That’s Good Enough” and T-N-M-J: “That’s Not My Job!”
11. Rationalize slow growth

If WE don’t take care of the customer … somebody else will.

Nordstrom’s Rules for Employees:
Rule # 1: Use your good judgment in all situations
There are no additional rules

SENSITIVITY TO CUSTOMER NEEDS: An architect built a cluster of office buildings around a central green. When construction was complete and the buildings were occupied, the landscaping crew asked him where he wanted the sidewalks. The architect knew a winter storm was approaching and asked the landscapers to wait a while. As he expected, the winter storm left a blanket of snow. People walking between the buildings left easily discernible trails. The architect then had the landscapers mark the most frequently used trails. These paths were then paved. Not only did the paths have a nice design that flowed in easy curves, but the paths accommodated the users needs in a most functional way.

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Change

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I am convinced that if the rate of change inside an organization is less than the rate of change outside, the end is in sight.
-Jack Welch, CEO of GE

When one door closes, another opens: but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
– Alexander Graham Bell

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.
– Ed Foreman

Managing Complex Change:
VISION+SKILLS+INCENTIVE+RESOURCES+ACTION PLAN = CHANGE
[_____]+SKILLS+INCENTIVE+RESOURCES+ACTION PLAN = CONFUSION
VISION+[_____]+INCENTIVE+RESOURCES+ACTION PLAN = ANXIETY
VISION+SKILLS+[_________]+RESOURCES+ACTION PLAN = GRADUAL CHANGE
VISION+SKILLS+INCENTIVE+[__________]+ACTION PLAN = FRUSTRATION
VISION+SKILLS+INCENTIVE+RESOURCES+[____________] = FALSE STARTS

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes

The only people who like change are wet babies.

In an earthquake, the most dangerous place to be is in a tall building that is not flexible. Yet, one of the safest places is a tall building that has been stressed for earthquakes – – in other words, one that has a deep foundation and is flexible. So, too, over the coming years, large organizations that remain rigid will crumble and fall, while those that succeed in adding flexibility, teamwork and creavity to their cultures will thrive.

THE BOOK OF LIFE
Chapter 1 – I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost. I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find the way out.
Chapter 2 – I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I’m in the same place, but it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3 – I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in, it’s a habit. Yet, my eyes are open. I know where I am. It’s my fault. I get out immediately.
Chapter 4 – I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.
Chapter 5 – I choose to walk down another street.
– Anonymous

When it becomes more difficult to suffer than change – THEN you will change.

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Communication (See also Listening)

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People should talk less and draw more. Personally, I would like to renounce speech altogether and, like organic nature, communicate everything I have to say visually.
– Goethe

God gave us two ears but only one mouth. Some people say that’s because he wanted us to spend twice as much time listening as talking. Others claim it’s because he knew listening was twice as hard as talking.

In the last analysis, what we ARE communicates far more eloquently than anything we SAY.

You can say “no” and smile only when there’s a bigger “yes” burning inside you.

A gossiper is a person who talks to you about others. A dull person is a person who talks to you about themselves. An interesting person is a person to talks to you about yourself.

What is the shortest word in the English language that contains the letters: abcdef? Answer: feedback. Don’t forget that “feedback” is one of the essential elements of good communication.

BODY LANGUAGE often communicates more than words do. In front of a group, do the following: Say “Watch me and do what I ask you to do. Make a circle with your thumb and forefinger – like this. Now put this circle on your chin.” (As you say this, put the circle on your cheek.) Many will put the circle on their cheek rather than their chins, showing that they were following the body language rather than the words.

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Creativity/Innovation
(See also Failure, Paradigms and Risk)

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Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
– R. Zaphiropoulos

The important thing is not to stop questioning.
– Albert Einstein

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
– Albert Einstein , On Science

Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one you have.

Those who say something can’t be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it.

If you are speaking from experience, you are already out of date.
– Dennis Waitley

You don’t understand anything unless you understand there are at least 3 ways.
– M. Minsky

The human mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes

Contentment: The smother of invention.

That so few now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of our time.
– John Stuart Mill

The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need a kick in the seat of the pants.
– Roger von Oech

down rights to the telephone in 1878)

The Model “T” – Why “T”? Because Ford had gone through A-S before being successful in producing and marketing the “T”.

Framework of reference: A woman conducting a survey into sexual behavior was questioning an airline pilot. She asked him, finally, when he had last made love. He replied, “1956.” She was most surprised, pilots being what they are. “Nineteen fifty-six?” she asked. “Well it’s only 2216 now,” he replied, looking at his watch. A joke involves a sudden switch from one framework of reference to another. This sudden switch of frames of reference is the kind of lateral thinking that can often generate creative ideas.
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Decisions (Making)

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Additional problems are the offspring of poor decisions.

Never mistake silence for agreement.

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
– Walter Lippmann

When debate fails to occur, the solution will always be weaker than it could have been.
– Thomas Isgar

Do Something,
If It Works,
Do More Of It
If It Doesn’t,
Do Something Else.
– FDR

Live your live with conscious choice rather than through unconscious programming. The observing consciousness is the vantage point from which we see our life from an objective point of view. Anytime you are experiencing a situation that doesn’t seem to be working for you, exercise the observing consciousness:
1. Observe your emotions; what am I feeling?
2. Observe your thoughts; what are the thoughts, judgments, attitudes or perspectives I have that are causing these emotions?
3. Look at your only options:
– change the situation
– change your thinking about the situation
– leave the situation
– stay stuck

Failure
(See also Creativity, Paradigms and Risk)

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When an ERROR occurs, then:
1. Acknowledge it
2. Correct it
3. Learn from it
4. Continue on …
If you follow this procedure, then ERRORS will never become FAILURES.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
– Benjamin Franklin

Thomas Edison viewed each setback he encountered in making a light bulb simply as another way NOT to make a light bulb.

Future

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We are more like human BECOMINGS that we are human BEINGS.

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Goals

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Goals should be SMART:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Assignable (who does what)
R = Realistic
T = Time-Related

The biggest lie on the planet: “When I get what I want, I will be happy.”

I find the great thing in this world is, not where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Human Relations

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Trust Builders:
1. Empathize
2. Remember the little things
3. Keep commitments
4. Clarify expectations
5. Be loyal
6. Sincerely apologize

I can live for two months on a good compliment.
– Mark Twain

The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated
– William James

Praise is like champagne. It is best served while still bubbly.

Respect can not be learned, chased or acquired – it can only be earned.

A true friend is someone who is there for you when he’d rather be anywhere else.
– Len Wein

If your friend won’t lend you fifty dollars, he’s probably a close friend.

A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.
– William Arthur Ward

The greatest good we can do for others is not to share our riches but to reveal theirs.

You can make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
– Dale Carnegie

If you treat a person as he is, he will become what he is; if you treat a person as he could
be, he will become what he can be.

To err is human; to blame it on others is even more human.

If you know why you drive others up a wall, perhaps you can help them down.

If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.
– Mark Twain

How do they train killer whales to jump over the rope at Sea World? Do they hang a rope 20 feet over the pool and then shout to the whale “Up, up, up!” No. They start with the rope under the water. When the whale swims over the rope, it gets rewarded. Then the rope is gradually raised. Each time the whale swims over it, again, a reward is given. How often do you give a “reward” to those with whom you work? Only when the final goal is reached or do you give praise along the way as incremental progress is made?
– favorite story of Ken Blanchard who has worked with the Sea World staff in San Diego

Don’t “should” on people. When people complain, say “I know you wouldn’t complain unless it was important, right?” Then say “If it’s important, I’m sure you would like to solve it, right?” Then ask “What are some of the options that are open to you?”

All of us have something to learn.
All of us have something to teach.

Everyone has a preferred pathway to excellence and to err is human.

The only nice thing about being imperfect is the joy it brings to others.

We are all part of a learning experience; we are all resources to others.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

When it comes to people, there are few simple answers.

When you hire people who are smarter than you are, you prove you are
smarter than they are.

Don’t try to control someone else. It won’t work. Think about a newborn infant. How much control do you have over whether it wants to poop, eat or cry? And you think you can control an adult!? Control yourself and you will then be truly ready to exert a positive influence on others.

Statement: “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times …”
Response: “If you’ve told me a thousand times, isn’t it about time that you learned something?”

Relationship is the hub of the universe.

If wisdom’s ways you’d wisely seek,
five things observe with care,
Of whom you speak, to whom you speak,
And how, and when, and where.

So remarkably perverse is the nature of man that he despises those that court him and admires whoever will not bend before him.
– Thucydides

Praise is like sunlight to the human spirit: we cannot flower and grow with out it.
– Jess Fair

There’s nothing so kingly as kindness, and nothing so royal as truth.

Oh many a shaft at random sent,
finds mark the archer little meant,
and many a word at random spoken,
may soothe or wound a heart that’s broken.
– Scott

If you know why you drive others up a wall, perhaps you can help them down.

Rules for Being Human (found on a refrigerator in Toronto):
1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.
3. There are not mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error and experimentation. The failed experiments are as much as part of the process as the experiments that ultimately work.
4. A lesson is repeated until learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.
6. “There” is no better place then “here.” When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will, again, look better than “here.”
7. Others are merely a mirror of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your answers lie inside of you. The answers to life’s questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen and trust.
10. You will forget all this.

What gets rewarded gets repeated.
– Jack Clemmer

The surest way to knock a chip off a fellow’s shoulder is by patting him on the back.

The greatest good we can do for others is not to share our riches, but to reveal theirs.

The inherent preferences of organizations are clarity, certainty and perfection. The inherent nature of human relationships involves ambiguity, uncertainty, and imperfection. How one honors, balances, and integrates the needs of both is the real trick of feedback.
– Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos

It takes a rare person to want to hear what he doesn’t want to hear.
– Dick Cavett

Never criticize until the person is convinced of your unconditional confidence in their abilities.
– Coach John Robinson

It is very difficult to apply the old Indian adage ‘Do not judge another until you have walked a mile in his moccasins,’ unless you get out of your own moccasins first.
– Thomas Crum

Understanding the diversity of our gifts enables us to begin taking the crucial step of trusting each other.
– Max DePree

If there is little or no trust, there is no foundation for permanent success.

Understanding the diversity of our gifts enables us to begin taking the crucial step of trusting each other.
– Max DePree

Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work.
– Warren Bennis
People loan their trust, they don’t give it.
– Doug Smith

Poor communication is a symptom of poor performance and low trust — not the cause.

Trust is difficult to define, but we know when it’s present and when it’s not.
– Warren Bennis

Trust resides squarely between faith and doubt.
– Warren Bennis

You don’t build trust over the wire. Building trust takes flesh and blood.
– Lipnack & Stamps

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.
– Harper Lee

Everyone needs to know and feel he is needed…everyone wants to be treated as an individual.
– Jan Carlzon

Understanding and accepting diversity enables us to see that each of us is needed. It also enables us to begin to think about being abandoned to the strengths of others, and admitting that we cannot know or do everything.
– Max DePree

My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant’s point of view.
– H. Fred Ale

What we must decide is perhaps how we are valuable, rather than how valuable we are.
– Edgar Z. Friedenber

The effective team leader acknowledges individual differences, and challenges the team to meet as many individual needs as possible while achieving the team’s goals.
– Fran Rees

Understanding is the willingness to put yourself in another’s shoes for the sake of appreciating that person’s experience of the world.
– Tom Rusk M.D.

Two heads are better than one only if they contain different opinions.
– Kenneth Kaye

Conflicting cultural values increase the risk of creating misunderstandings and decrease the morale and often alienate customers or business partners.
– Sylvia Odenwald

It’s the things in common that make relationships enjoyable, but it’s the little differences that make them interesting.

It is far better to be trusted and respected that it is to be liked.

If there be any truer measure of a man than by what he does, it must be what he gives.
– Robert South

The entire sum of existence is the magic of being needed by just one person.
– Vii Putnam

Tact is rubbing out another’s mistake instead or rubbing it in.

It is better to have loved and lost than to have hated and won.

It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.

Some people feel they work in an environment where doing a good job is like wetting your pants in a dark suit …it gives you a warm feeling but nobody notices!

MARRIAGE: The plural of spouse is spice.

If you continually give, you will continually have.

Those who are at war with others are not at peace with themselves.
– William Hazlitt

It is much easier to be critical than to be correct.
– Benjamin Disraeli

Nobody ever forgets where he buried the hatchet.
– Kin Hubbard

To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own.
– Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Prejudices are often based on pigments of our imagination.

Everything in the world we want to do or get done, we must do with and through people.
– Earl Nightingale

MARRIAGE: is like a bank account. You put it in, you take it out, you lose interest.
– Professor Irwin Cory

We own almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed but to those who have differed.
– Charles Caleb Colton

A Short Course in Human Relations:
The six most important words: I admit I made a mistake
The five most important words: You did a good job
The four most important words: What is YOUR opinion?
The three most important words: If you please
The two most important words: Thank You
The one most important word: We
The least important word: I

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
– Philo

Many people spend more time in planning the wedding than they do in planning the marriage.

The key to understanding others is to first understand yourself.

Every man, however wise, needs the advice of some sage friend in the affairs of life.
– Plautus

The greatest need of every human being is the need for appreciation.

Friendship is like vitamins, we supplement each other’s minimum daily requirements.

Never build your emotional life on the weaknesses of others.

We are not put on this earth to see through one another, but to see one another through.

Don’t worry over what other people are thinking about you. They’re too busy worrying over what you are thinking about them.

The greatest good we can so for others is Not to share OUR riches But to reveal THEIRS.

By working to improve your relationships with others you may be able to avoid the line from country western music: “I couldn’t see you leaving, but I can sure see you’re gone!”

An individual without information can’t take responsibility. An individual with information can’t help but take responsibility.
– Jan Carlzon, CEO SAS

The real secret of happiness is not what you have or what you receive; it’s what you share.

Never do card tricks for the group you play poker with.

Friendship is like a bank account. You can’t continue to draw on it without making deposits.

Never give advice in a crowd.
– Arabian proverb

Actually, the streets are quite safe today, it’s the people on them who aren’t.

Children smile on the average 400 times/day; Adults: 15 times/day. Ever wonder why?

Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

EMOTION is Energy in MOTION.

Men give away nothing so liberally as their advice.

The best index to a person’s character is how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and how he treats people who can’t fight back.
– Abigail Van Buren

When wealth is lost, nothing is lost;
When health is lost, something is lost;
When character is lost, all is lost.

We give advice by the bucket, but take it by the drop.

Harsh counsel has no effect. It is like a hammer which is always repulsed by the anvil.

Small kindnesses, small courtesies, small considerations, habitually practiced in our social intercourse, give a greater charm to the character than the display of great talents and accomplishments.
– Mary Ann Kelty

COMMITMENT: There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos (coyotes, rattlesnakes, etc. depends upon area of the country).

Advice is like snow. The softer it falls the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.
– Coleridge

Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go.

I like my tailor. He takes my measurements anew each time he sees me, whereas others expect me to fit old measurements.
– G.B. Shaw

He that gives good advice builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example builds with both; but he that give good admonition and bad example builds with one hand and pulls down with the other.
– Francis Bacon

10 COMMANDMENTS OF CORRECTING:
1. Thou shalt remember prior good deeds before thou passeth judgment
2. Thou shalt be aware that mortals err, often inadvertently
3. Before correcting, thou shalt find out what happened and why
4. Thou shalt not lose thy temper while correcting
5. Thou shalt not call employees “creative names”
6. Thou shalt not dredge up old misjudgments
7. Thou shalt make sure that all previous tutelages were received with clarity and understanding 8. Thou shalt check for insufficiencies in the skills of the error- maker
9. Thou shalt make thy corrections in private
10. After correcting, thou shalt discuss how such activities will be done in the future

10 COMMANDMENTS OF REWARDING:
1. Thou shalt seek out productive behavior
2. Thou shalt keep in mind that positive feedback to the employee is as the winds are to the eagle
3. Thou shalt offer gentle and frequent praise
4. Thou shalt reward valiant attempts as well as partial accomplishments
5. Thou shalt praise quickly after the event
6. Thou shalt remember that rewards declared in the presence of peers will multiply the power of the praise
7. Thou shalt tailor the reward to fit the deed and the doer alike
8. Thou shalt keep in thy memory that rewards yearned for by the accomplisher are the most appreciated
9. Thou shalt know that dollars are not the only reward
10. Thou shalt know that the language of the body can be as powerful as the speech of the tongue

When you look at others, imagine they are wearing a small sign around their neck that shouts in large letters: PMMFI (pronounced pum-fee). Pum-fee stands for “Please make me feel important!” Remember, people thrive on honest praise.

To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it.
– John C. Collins

ETHICAL MUSTS:
The six core ethical values parents should be teaching and modeling for their children, according to the Aspen Declaration on Character Education are:
1. RESPECT
2. RESPONSIBILITY
3. TRUSTWORTHINESS
4. CARING
5. JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS
6. CIVIC VIRTUE AND CITIZENSHIP

People don’t CARE how much you KNOW, until they KNOW how much you CARE.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
– Mahatma Gandhi

HOW TO RESOLVE CONFLICT:
When you ______________ (or) When (describe situation) I feel (describe feelings). What I would appreciate is (state specific change) so that WE can (state accomplishment) and avoid (state negative consequences).

Everybody you meet knows something better than you – find it and use it.

How to bring out the best in others:
1. Ask your people to share their ideas
2. Welcome change
3. Set challenging goals and measure performance
4. Be generous with feedback
5. Reward initiative
6. Develop people who show special potential

No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you.
– Althea Gibson

We judge others by their behavior. We judge ourselves by our intentions.
– Ian Percy

Harsh counsels have no effect; they are like hammers which are always repulsed by the anvil.
– Helvetius

Advice is like snow: the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon and the deeper it sinks into the mind.
– Samuel Taylor Coleridge

He that gives good advice builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example builds with both; but he that gives good admonition and bad example builds with one hand and pulls down with the other.
– Francis Bacon

Use non-verbal communication to SOFTEN the hard-line position of others:
S = Smile
O = Open Posture
F = Forward Lean
T = Touch
E = Eye Contact
N = Nod

To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it.
– John C. Collins

Every man, however wise, needs the advice of some sagacious friend in the affairs of life.
– Plautus

As a result of trying to solve the “big” problems we face in life, many of us end up sacrificing individual relationships by doing things that we may consider as being small or insignificant at the time. This reminds us of the George and Gracie routine where George asks Gracie, “How do you cook a pot roast?” She replied, “I put both a big pot roast and a small pot roast in the oven. When the small one is burnt, the big one is done just right!”

We give advice by the bucket, but take it by the grain.
– William Alger

Always do what is right. It will gratify most of the people, and astound the rest.
– Mark Twain

Some consultants are like the bottom half of a double boiler: They get all heated up but don’t know what’s cooking.

A Smile costs nothing.
Yet it’s worth so much.
It happens in a flash
And the memory sometimes lasts forever.
It cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen,
But it is something that is no earthly
Good to anyone
Until it is given away.
So, if in your hurry or rush
You meet someone who is too weary
To give you a smile…
Leave yours.
For no one needs a smile
So much as he who has none.

The Value of a Smile:
An electric lineman once came in contact with a live wire, and the left side of his face was paralyzed. The jury in considering the damages, asked him to smile, but he could only smile on one side of his face; they subsequently awarded him $100,000 damages. If half a smile is worth so much and yet costs nothing then we certainly ought to have it in good working order, ready for constant use. However, we should remember that one who doesn’t smile is no better off than one who can’t smile.

Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower.

People need your love the most when they appear to deserve it the least.
– John Harrigan

The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them.
– George Bernard Shaw

Everyone is like a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.
– Mark Twain

By doing simple acts of kindness for others, we can’t help but lift ourselves up, too.

TRUST: Many organizations (unknowingly) operate by the 97/3 rule. This rule postulates that 97 percent of all people tend to be honest, loyal and hard working. However, 3 percent are sociopaths and not to be trusted. Many organizations, due to fear of the sociopathic element, put systems in place to protect the organization from the things the 3 percent might do. Unfortunately, these systems are then applied to the 97 percent as well, who feel, as a result, that the organization doesn’t trust them.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
– Mark Twain

A man at a pay booth in a restaurant was overheard by the restaurant manager making a call. “Hello, Mr. Smith?” he was heard to say. “I understand you have been looking for an assistant.” He paused to listen to the response. “Oh, you hired one two months ago and are pleased with your choice? Well, thank you anyway. I hope you continue to be satisfied with your decision.” When he hung up the phone, the restaurant manager commented, “I happened to overhear your conversation. I’m sorry you didn’t get a shot at that job.” “Oh, that’s all right,” the man replied, “That was my boss. I was hired as his assistant three months ago and I was just phoning to find out how I’m doing!” Employees like to know how they are doing. When was the last time that you as a manager gave them some positive feedback? – or do you wait until they ask or call you?

There is a big difference between thinking: “I’m in a relationship and something’s wrong. Therefore something must be wrong with the relationship.” and thinking “I’m in a relationship and we’ve got problems. This is evidence that you are different than me.”
– Wayne Dyer

Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important.
– T.S. Eliot

The most important thing a father can do for his children is love their mother.

When an elderly woman was asked why she was standing in line to buy stamps from a teller when she could have used a stamp machine she replied: “The machine won’t ask me about my arthritis!”

Children aren’t happy with nothing to ignore, And that’s what parents were created for.
– Ogden Nash

PRAISE LOUDLY. Blame softly.

Charm is the ability to make someone think that both of you are quite wonderful.

To find out what others are feeling, don’t “prod” or “poke”. If you want play with a turtle, you can’t get it to come out of its shell by prodding and poking it with a stick, you might kill it. Be gentle not harsh, hard or forceful.

I’d rather see a sermon
Than hear one any day;
I’d rather one should walk with me
Than merely show the way.
The eye’s a better pupil,
And more willing than the ear;
Fine counsel is confusing,
But example’s always clear.
I soon can learn to do it,
If you’ll let me see it done;
I can see your hands in action,
But your tongue too fast may run;
And the lectures you deliver
May be very fine and true,
But I’d rather get my lesson
By observing what you do.
For I may misunderstand you
And the high advise you give,
But there’s no misunderstanding
How you act and how you live.
– Anonymous

Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you’ll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others.
– Jacob M. Braude

Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous – not just to some people in some circumstances – but to everyone all the time.
– T.J. Watson Jr.

Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.
– Confucius

I don’t like that man. I’m going to have to get to know him better.
– Abraham Lincoln

Think about the qualities of the best managers you ever worked for. You’ll find that most of them:
– were approachable and easy to talk to
– rarely became overexcited or flew off the handle
– didn’t let a few problems poison their whole outlook took a friendly, pleasant, positive approach
– showed consideration for the feelings of the people who worked for them

You can buy a person’s time; you can buy their physical presence at a given place; you can even buy a measured number of their skilled muscular motions per hour.
But you can not buy enthusiasm . . .
You can not buy loyalty . . .
You can not buy the devotion of hearts, minds, or souls.
You must earn these.
– Clarence Francis

Two parts of empathy: Skill (tip of iceberg) and Attitude (mass of the iceberg).

TRUST: “I know that you will not – deliberately or accidentally, consciously or unconsciously – take unfair advantage of me. I can put my situation at the moment, my status and self-esteem in this group, our relationship, my job, my career, even my life, in your hands with complete confidence.”
– Douglas McGregor

“LOVE”, the feeling, is the fruit of “LOVE”, the verb.

ONE SMALL ACT OF KINDNESS: An old man was walking along the beach with his grandson. His grandson picked up each starfish they passed and threw it back into the sea. “If I leave them up here,” the boy said, “they would dry up and die. I’m saving their lives.” “but,” protested the old man, “the beach goes on for miles, and there are millions of starfish. What you are doing won’t make any difference.” The boy looked at the starfish in his hand, gently threw it into the ocean, and answered: “It makes a difference to this one.”

The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.
– Theodore Roosevelt

Unexpressed feelings never die; they’re buried alive and come forth later in uglier ways. Let the feeling live – it dies birthing; deny the feeling life – it struggles for expression.

In the last analysis, what we ARE communicates far more eloquently than anything we SAY.

No involvement … no commitment.

You can say “no” and smile only when there’s a bigger “yes” burning inside you.

If you want to retain the loyalty of those who are present, you must show loyalty to those who are absent.

The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
– Frank C. Ross

As the Moslems say: “Trust in Allah – but tie up your camel.”

What kind of SERVICE do you give? Is it the best? Is it the most HONEST? A man, as a test of service stations, disconnected a spark plug wire, drove in and said he was having problems. Out of 667 garages, only 3 told him it was a spark plug wire and re-connected it for him. The rest gave him various estimates for “repairs” running from a few hundred to $3000.

End of Quotes on “Human Relationships “

————————————————————————
Humor (or “Humour” – for our British Friends)

————————————————————————

NOTE: This section contains examples of humor as well as comments on humor

It’s easy to identify people who can’t count to ten. They are in front of you in the supermarket express lane.
– June Henderson

Any child can tell you that the sole purpose of a middle name is so he can tell when he’s really in trouble.
– Dennis Fakes

We experience moments absolutely free from worry. These brief respites are called panic.
– Cullen Hightower

The trouble with jogging is that, by the time you realize your not in shape for it, it’s to far to walk back.
– Franklin P. Jones

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.
– Doug Larson

Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children, now I have six children and no theories.
– John Wilmot

Everyone is in awe of the lion tamer in a cage with half a dozen lions – everyone but a school bus driver.

You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.
– Woody Allen

Laughter liberates. It liberates from the fear of the sacred, of the past, of power. Laughter shows the world anew.
– Bakhtin

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.
– Timothy Leary

Everywhere is in walking distance if you have the time.
– Steven Wright

Comedy is just a funny way of being serious.
– Peter Ustinov

“Is this yours? Your dog just left it on my lawn.”

Instead of having “answers” on a math test, they should just call them “impressions,” and if you’ve got a different “impression,” so what, can’t we all be brothers?
– Jack Handy, Deep Thoughts

Your keyboard is not connected. Press F1 to continue.

Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.

As Vincent Van Gogh said: “Eh?”

No matter where you go … there you are.
– Buckeroo Banzi

My mother used to say there are no strangers, only friends you haven’t yet met. She’s now in a maximum security twilight home in Australia.
– Dame Edna Everage

Middle age is where your broad mind and narrow waist begin to change places.

– E. Joseph Cossman

I was a vegetarian until I started leaning towards the sunlight.
– Rita Rudner

SPEECH GOOFS

“I want to make sure everybody who has a job wants a job”
– George Bush, during his first Presidential campaign

“This is a great day for France!”
– Richard Nixon, while attending Charles De Gaulle’s funeral

“Now, like, I’m President. It would be pretty hard for some drug guy to come into the White House and start offering it up, you know? … I bet if they did, I hope I would say, ‘Hey, get lost. We don’t want any of that.'”
– George Bush, talking about drug abuse to a group of students

“For seven and a half years I’ve worked alongside President Reagan. We’ve had triumphs. Made some mistakes. We’ve had some sex … uh… setbacks.”
– George Bush

“I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy. But that could change.”
– Dan Quayle

“Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific. It is in the Pacific. It is a part of the United States that is an island that is right here.”
– Dan Quayle during a visit to Hawaii in 1989

“What a waste it is to lose one’s mind–or not to have a mind. How true that is.”
– Dan Quayle addressing the United Negro College Fund

“I am honored today to begin my first term as the Governor of Baltimore-that is Maryland.”
– William Donald Schaefer, first inaugural address

“The caribou love it. They rub against it and they have babies. There are more caribou in Alaska than you can shake a stick at.”
– George Bush, on the Alaska pipeline

“I hope I stand for anti-bigotry, anti-Semitism, anti-racism. This is what drives me.”
– George Bush

“If I listened to Michael Dukakis long enough I would be convinced that we’re in an economic downturn and people are homeless and going without food and medical attention and that we’ve got to do something about the unemployed.”
– Ronald Reagan

“My fellow Americans, I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”
– Ronald Reagan, about to go on the air for a radio broadcast, unaware that the microphone was already on

“Mars is essentially in the same orbit. Mars is somewhat the same distance from the sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe.”
– Dan Quayle

“Now we are trying to get unemployment to go up and I think we’re going to succeed.”
– Ronald Reagan

Walter Mondale: “George Bush doesn’t have the manhood to apologize.”
Bush: “Well, on the manhood thing, I’ll put mine up against his any time.”

“I’m not against the blacks and a lot of the good blacks will attest to that.”
– Evan Mecham, then governor of Arizona

“Nixon has been sitting in the White House while George McGovern has been exposing himself to the people of the United States.”
– Frank Licht, then governor of Rhode Island, campaigning for McGovern in 1972

“Winfield goes back to the wall. He hits his head on the wall and it rolls off! It’s rolling all the way back to second base! This is a terrible thing for the Padres!”
– Jerry Coleman, Padres radio announcer

“I want you to take your balls in your hand and bounce them on the floor and then throw them as high as you can. Now, have you all got your balls in your hands?”
– announcer of children’s radio show “Life With Mother” to her audience

“They X-Rayed my head and found nothing.”
– Jerome “Dizzy” Dean

“The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation’s history…this century’s history…. We all lived in this century. I didn’t live in this century.”
– Dan Quayle

End of SPEECH GOOFS

WHY? WHY? WHY?
Why is “brassiere” singular while “panties” are plural?
Why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are their floatation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes?
If nothing ever sticks to Teflon, how do they make Teflon stick to the pan?
Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM?
Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?
Why is it when you transport something by car, its called a “ship-ment” but when you transport it by ship its called a “car-go”?
Why is it that when you are driving and looking for an address, you turn down the radio?
Why are they called apart-ments when they are stuck together?
Why don’t they make the whole plane out of the same substance as the indestructible black box?
Why isn’t phonetics spelled the way it sounds?
AND THINK ABOUT THESE:
Do you need a silencer to shoot a mime?
How does the guy that drives the snowplow get to work?
What would Geronimo shout if he jumped out of a plane?

DAFFY DEFINITIONS: (Generated by a medical student)
Artery: Study of paintings
Bacteria: Rear entrance to a Cafeteria

Barium: What doctors do when their patients die
Cauterize: Make visual contact with a female
Dilate: To live a long life
Genetal: Not Jewish
Kidney: Part of a child’s leg
Mammogram: Telegram sent to Yo Mamma
Morbid: Higher offer
Nitrates: Cheaper than day rates
Pap Smear: Fatherhood test
Recovery room: An upholstery shot
Terminal Illness: Getting sick at the airport
Tumor: Comes after one more
Urine: Opposite of “You’re Out”
Varicose: Nearby
Vein: Conceited

NEVER LIE!
Husband to wife, walking in the door very early one morning: “Honey, I know you won’t believe this but when I go home last night I noticed all the lights were out, and so, not wanting to disturb you, I slept out in the hammock in the back yard.”
Wife: “You’re right I don’t believe you. I took down that hammock and stored it away last fall!”

Don Shula tells the story of when he took his wife and five children away to a remote place to “get away from it all.” He loves the fans, but they can be tiresome at times. While away, they decided to take in a movie at the only movie house in the nearby small town. When they entered the theater they noticed that all the lights were on. A small group sat down front, so Don and his family quietly slipped into the back row. Someone in the front turned around, said something to the rest of the group, and they all stood up and applauded. Don turned to his wife. “Boy, you just can’t get away from them. I guess I’d better go say hello.” “You must be real football fans to recognize me way in back,” he said to the group after walking down front. “Recognize you? We don’t know you from Adam. But the theater manager told us he wouldn’t show the movie unless seven more people showed up and then you walked in!”

I went into a general store. They wouldn’t let me buy anything specifically.
– Steven Wright

It all depends on your PERSPECTIVE:
Top 5 Reasons Why Computers Must Be Female:
5. No one but their creator understands their logic.
4. Even the smallest mistakes are immediately committed to memory for future reference.
3. The native language used to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
2. The message “bad command or filename,” is about as informative as “If you don’t know why I’m mad at you, then I’m certainly not going to tell you.”
1. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half you paycheck on accessories for it.
Top 5 Reasons Why Computers Must Be Male:
5. They’ve heavily dependent on external tools and equipment.
4. They periodically cut you off right when you think you’ve established a network connection.
3. They’ll usually do what you ask them to do, but they won’t do more than they have to and they won’t think of it on their own.
2. They’re typically obsolete within five years and need to be traded in for a new model. Some users, however, feel they’ve already invested so much in their machine that they’re compelled to remain with an under powered system.
1. They get hot when you turn them on, and that’s the only time you have their attention.

He has occasional flashes of silence that make his conversation perfectly delightful.
– not sure where this quote came from, sounds like something from a Jane Austin novel

HOW TO ANNOY OTHER PEOPLE
1. Leave the copy machine set to reduce 200%, extra dark, 17 inch paper, 99 copies.
2. Specify that your drive-through order is “to go.”
3. Make beeping noises when a large person backs up.
4. Holler random numbers while someone is counting.
5. Staple papers in the middle of the page.
6. Honk and wave to strangers.
7. Walk into a restaurant, eat their complimentary mints by the cash register, then walk out.
8. TYPE ONLY IN UPPER CASE.
9. type only in lowercase.
10. dont use any punctuation either
11. Buy large quantities of orange traffic cones and reroute whole streets.
12. Repeat the following conversation a dozen times: “Do you hear that?” (“What”) “Never mind, it’s gone now.”
13. Ask people what gender they are.
14. Sit in your front yard pointing a hair dryer at passing cars to see if they slow down.
15. Sing along at the opera.
16. Ask your co-workers mysterious questions and then scribble their answers in a notebook. Mutter something about “psychological profiles.”
17. If you have a glass eye, tap on it occasionally with your pen while talking to others.
18. In the memo field of your checks, write “for sensual massage.”
19. Highlight irrelevant information in scientific papers and “cc.” them to your boss.
20. Publically investigate just how slowly you can make a “croaking” noise.

Understand it? Why this is so simple a 4 year old child could understand it. Quick, someone run out and get me a 4 year old child.
– Groucho Marx

He who laughs, lasts.

As hard to get rid of as a BBQ stain on a new suit.

We all operate in two contrasting modes, which might be called open and closed. The open mode is more relaxed, more receptive, more exploratory, more democratic, more playful and more humorous. The closed mode is the tighter, more rigid, more hierarchical, more tunnel-visioned. Most people, unfortunately spend most of their time in the closed mode. Not that the closed mode cannot be helpful. If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time for considering alternative strategies. When you charge the enemy machine-gun post, don’t waste energy trying to see the funny side of it. Do it in the “closed” mode. But the moment the action is over, try to return to the “open” mode – to open your mind again to all the feedback from our action that enables us to tell whether the action has been successful, or whether further action is need to improve on what we have done. In other words, we must return to the open mode, because in that mode we are the most aware, most receptive, most creative, and therefore at our most intelligent.
– John Cleese

You don’t have to worry about being bit if the dog doesn’t have any teeth.

There is a big difference between having a sense of humor and being a wise-cracking “smart ass” to wit:
HUMOR:WIT:creates relaxationcreates tension produces togetherness and playfulnessdivision and distancegenerates charm, benevolence and magnanimitydefiance, malevolence and contemptdisarms the mindalerts it seeks intimacylongs for indiscretionbrings about humilityinsolencegives rise to toleranceto impatience and impertinenceleads to kindnessoften offends
Looks like the upper hand is on the other foot.
– Leslie Nielsen (“Hotshots! Part Deaux”)

To do is to be.
– Nietzsche
To be is to do.
– Sartre
Do be do be do.
– Sinatra

“Who am I and why am I here?” – Said (seriously) by Admiral Stockdale, Ross Perot’s running-mate for Vice President at a press conference

PRIORITIES: Overhead on a New York subway: “Be reasonable, Phyllis. I made this date with Rita months before we got married!”

How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? One, but the light bulb has to WANT to change.

A sense of humor can help you to:
– overlook the unattractive tolerate the unpleasant
– cope with the unexpected
– smile through the unbearable

Dear Abby: My husband and I are slowly drifting apart. What can I do to speed up the process?

Have I reached the person to whom I am speaking?
– Lily Tomlin

I feel so bad since you’ve gone. It’s almost like having you here.

The other day I got out my can-opener and was opening a can of worms when I thought, “What am I doing?!”
– Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts, Saturday Night Live

As unhappy as a termite in a steel mill.

TOO MANY: 4 men were traveling together on a train in Europe. One was from Russia, one from Cuba and two were from America. Three of them were businessmen and one of the remaining Americans was a lawyer. They got to talking. The Russian pulled out a bottle of vodka – they all took a drink, then the Russian threw rest of bottle out the window. When the American businessman asked why, the Russian replied “Oh, we have so much vodka in Russia – we’ll never drink it all!” Then the Cuban took out a tin of Havana cigars – he gave everybody one, then he threw the rest out the window. When asked why, he replied “Oh, we have so much tobacco in Cuba, we’ll never smoke it all!” Well, the American businessman, not to be outdone, thought for a moment, and then ended up pushing the American lawyer out the window!

The following story is a good one for practicing “VISIONING” and “EMPATHY”: Do you have days when everything seems to go wrong? Well, when you read what happened some years ago to a man in Barbados perhaps your problems will not seems so bad at all. His letter to his employers explained what happened when he went to repair a building damaged by a hurricane: “I rigged up a beam with a pulley at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple of barrels full of bricks. When I had fixed the building, there was a lot of bricks left over. I hoisted the barrel back up again and secured the line at the bottom, and then went up and filled the barrel with extra bricks. Then I went to the bottom and cast off the line. Unfortunately, the barrel of bricks was heavier than I was and before I knew what was happening the barrel started down, jerking me off the ground. I decided to hang on and halfway up I met the barrel coming down and received a severe blow on the shoulder. I then continued to the top, banging my head against the beam and getting my finger jammed in the pulley. When the barrel hit the ground it burst its bottom; allowing all the bricks to spill out. I was now heavier than the barrel and so started down again at high speed. Halfway down, I met the barrel coming up and received severe injuries to my shins. When I hit the ground I landed on the bricks, getting several painful cuts from the sharp edges. At this point I must have lost my presence of mind, because I let go the line. The barrel then came down giving me another heavy blow on the head and putting me in the hospital. I respectfully request sick leave.”

End of Quotes on “Humor”

————————————————————————
Leadership

————————————————————————

A leader’s dynamic does not come from special powers. It comes from a strong belief in a purpose and a willingness to express that conviction.
– Kouzes & Posner

People cannot be managed. Inventories can be managed, but people must be led.
– H. Ross Perot

Trust is a risk game. The leader must ante up first.
– Irwin Federman, CEO Monolithic Memories

You can only lead others where you yourself are willing to go.
– Lachlan McLean

Your job gives you authority. Your behavior gives you respect.
– Irwin Federman, CEO Monolithic Memories

Leaders get excited about their work and by their contagion, stimulate their (followers.) Excitement builds strong relationships and high morale throughout an organization.
Inspired leaders move a business beyond problems into opportunities.
– Dr. Abraham Zaleznik

Leadership happens at every level of the organization and no one can shirk from this responsibility.
– Jerry Junkins

Nothing is so potent as the silent influence of a good example.
– James Kent

Coaching isn’t an addition to a leader’s job, it’s an integral part of it.
– George S. Odiorne

Cooperation with others. Perception, experience, tenacity. Know when to lead and when to follow.
– Deng Ming-Dao

COACH:
C = Conduct one-on-one meetings regularly
O = Offer feedback and assistance
A = Avoid overlooking the “middle stars”
C = Create an Everyone’s a Coach environment
H = Help other succeed
or try this one:
COACH:
C = Commitment
O = Over learning
A = Audible-Ready (flexibility)
C = Consistency
H = Honesty based (walk your talk)
– (second set from “Everyone’s a Coach” by Don Shula and Ken Blanchard

Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader.
– General George S. Patton, Jr.

TOP 10 SAYING OF INEFFECTIVE LEADERS:
10. We don’t do it that way around here.
9. I don’t care what they told you in that training class, this is the real world.
8. Drop what you are doing and get this to me ASAP!
7. Don’t worry about WHY, just do it!
6. Don’t let me influence your decisions, but here’s my opinion.
5. I want you to take risks, but remember our motto: “Do it right the first time!”
4. You’re planning to work this weekend, aren’t you?
3. You oughta, wanta do this.
2. We need teamwork. By the way, I’ll be doing your individual rankings this week.
1. If and when I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.

(create a special section under leadership to put all this empowerment stuff?)

Empowerment: Recognizing that people already have power through their knowledge, experience and motivation, and then creating an environment that encourages letting that power out.

The beaver is very skilled at its craft. It knows exactly what to do to fix a dam. The last thing it needs is someone on the bank shouting out dam instructions.

You don’t empower people with a “Mandate.”

Management’s goal should be to do everything in their power to help others be as successful as possible. Management succeeds only when the rest of the organization succeeds.

Empowering others is essentially the process of turning followers into leaders.

Our chief want in life is somebody who will enable us to do what we can.

A seeing-eye dog is trained not always to do as it is told if what it is told doesn’t make sense.

A Swedish study of 12,000 male workers showed that those who felt they had no control over things at work had a 162% higher risk of heart attack than those who felt they had some control.

If employees understand the reasons behind the rules and regulations, the chances are excellent that they will respect them.
– Johnson & Johnson Co. (Employee Relations Manual 1932)

We get our power from the people we lead, not from our stars and our bars.
– J. Stanford

Empowerment is the process of increasing an individual’s belief in his or her effectiveness.

Three keys to Empowerment are:
1. Sharing Information with Everyone
– Without Information, People cannot Act Responsibly
– With Information, People cannot help but Act Responsibly
2. Declaring Boundaries that Create Autonomy
– Purpose, Values, Image, Goals, Roles, Structure & Systems
– Being Empowered to Act also means You are Accountable for Results
3. Allow Teams to Self-Manage
– Synergy: Empowered Teams Can Do More than Empowered Individuals
– Provide Training, Support & Encouragement
– Diversity: Appreciate Individual Differences
– Ken Blanchard

Find a middle ground between a doormat and a steamroller.
– Terry Paulson

Leadership appears to be the art of getting others to want to do something you are convinced should be done.
– Vance Packard

No one enjoys addressing others’ deficiencies. But failure to do so sends the message that people are on track when they really aren’t. And that may be the greatest disservice a leader can do to someone else.
– Eric Harvey

Little value comes out of the belief that people will respond progressively better by treating them progressively worse.
– Eric Harvey

Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.
– Margaret Thatcher

Truly great leaders spend as much time collecting and acting upon feedback as they do providing it.
– Alexander Lucia

The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he/she wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
– Theodore Roosevelt

Which way did they go? How many were there? How fast were they going? I
must find them; I am their leader.

If leaders are careless about basic things – telling the truth, respecting moral codes, proper professional conduct – who can believe them on other issues?
– James L Hayes

A loyal constituency is won when people … judge the leader to be capable of solving their problems and meeting their needs.
– John Gardner

Leadership is not the private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It is a process ordinary managers use when they are bringing forth the best from themselves and others.

Ultimately, leadership development is a process of self development.

Leadership Characteristics – Top Ten List
1. Visionary
2. Integrity
3. Consistency
4. Coach/Facilitator
5. Accessibility
6. Flexibility
7. Courage
8. Over-Communicates
9. Positive Role Model
10. Inspirational

What’s important as a leader is not what happens when you are there. It’s what happens when you’re NOT there.

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.
– Ken Blanchard

Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and actions.
– Harold Geneen

The leader is a teacher who succeeds without taking credit. And, because credit is not taken, credit is received.
– Lao Tzu, 6th Century BC

Leadership flows from the minds of followers more than from the titles of leaders, more from the perception of willing followers than from anointment.
– Lane Secretan

The motivating team leader is that one person with a dream for the future.
– Dr. Losoncy

What gets measured gets done; what gets recognized gets done even better.

A real leader, through actions and words, has the ability to motivate others to their highest level of achievement; then gives them the opportunity and the freedom to grow.

The leader acts with little motion, instructs not with words but by deeds, keeps informed but seldom interferes.

Leaders manage the dream. All leaders have the capacity to create a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then to translate that vision into reality.
– Warren Bennis

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you.
– Max DePree

Leaders have a significant role in creating the state of mind that is the society. They can serve as symbols of the moral unity of the society. They can express the values that hold the society together. Most important, they can conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations, carry them above the conflicts that team a society apart, and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best efforts.
– John Gardner

Leadership is just another word for training.
– Lance Secretan

A company is like a ship. Everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.
– Morris Wilks

There is a difference between leadership and management. Leadership is of the spirit, compounded of personality, vision and training. Its practice is an art. Management is a science of the mind. Managers are necessary; leaders are indispensable.

A leader is best when people barely know that he exists, Not so good when people acclaim him, Worst when they despise him. ‘Fail to honor people, They fail to honor you;’ But of a good leader, who talks little, When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, They will all say, ‘we did this ourselves.
– Lao Tzu

Law of Leadership: A successful team with 100 members has 100 leaders.
– Lance Secretan

The best leaders are clear. They continually light the way, and in the process, let each person know that what they do makes a difference.

When team members regard each other with mutual respect, differences are utilized and are considered strengths rather than weaknesses. The role of the leader is to foster mutual respect and build a complementary team where each strength is made productive and each weakness irrelevant.
– Stephen Covey

The essence of leadership is the capacity to build and develop the self-esteem of the workers.
– Irwin Federman

Leaders need to strike a balance between action and patience.
– Doug Smith

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.

Leaders are like eagles, they don’t flock; you find them one at a time.

Managers have employees, leaders have followers.
– Workplace 2000

Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success, leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
– Stephen Covey

Leading is Influencing, guiding in direction, course, action, opinion.
– Warren Bennis

Successful leadership requires positive self-regard fused with optimism about a desired outcome.
– Warren Bennis

Leadership without mutual trust is a contradiction in terms.
– Warren Bennis

If you think about it, people love others not for who they are, but for how they make us feel. We willingly follow others for much the same reason — it makes us feel good to do so.
– Warren Bennis

Leadership is like beauty; it’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it.
– Warren Bennis

Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can be and should be, and he will become as he can and should be.
– Goethe

Effective team leaders adjust their style to provide what the group can’t provide for itself.
– Kenneth Blanchard

Genuine leadership inspires, encourages and leads.

The signs of outstanding leadership are found among the followers.
– Max DePree

To get a feel for the true essence of leadership, assume everyone who works for you is a volunteer.
– Kouzes and Posner

Every leader needs to look back once in awhile to make sure he has followers.
– Kouzes and Posner

The mediocre leader tells The good leader explains The superior leader demonstrates The great leader inspires.
– Buchholz and Roth

Ineffective leaders don’t react to problems, they respond to problems and learn.
– Danny Cox

The level of morale is a good barometer of how each of your people is experiencing your leadership.
– Danny Cox

Effective team leaders realize they neither know all the answers, nor can they succeed without the other members of the team.
– Katzenbach & Smith

If I, the group leader, expect you, the group member, to be weak, then I elicit the weak part of you. If I expect you to be able to cope, I elicit your strength.
– Will Schutz

We are only as effective as our people’s perception of us.
– Danny Cox

Nobody in your organization will be able to sustain a level of motivation higher than you have as their leader.
– Danny Cox

When you treat people like adults, 95% act like adults.
– Roger Gasaway, GE

We are reluctant to let go of the belief that if I am to care for something I must control it.
– Peter Block

If you need ownership and responsibility from core workers, patriarchy can’t get you there.
– Peter Block

Communicate everything to your associates. The more they know, the more they care. Once they care, there is no stopping them.
– Sam Walton

You very best people will respond to what you actually do, what you evidently measure, and what you openly reward — every single time.
– Betsy Sanders

Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.
– John Whitmore

The most vital task of the leader is to motivate, inspire, empower and encourage the team’s primary resource — the unlimited, creative human potential to find better ways.
– Dr. Lewis Losoncy

Team leader’s encouragement = Team’s courage to believe.
– Dr. Lewis Losoncy

Manageers manage people and the human effort. Leaders focus on the deeper, non-physical dimension — energy, heart and spirit. Managers deal in organizational form, leaders embrace the unified culture and community.
– Jack Hawley

If you want someone to develop a specific trait, treat them as though they already had it.
– Goethe

95% of American managers today say the right thing. 5% actually do it.
– James O’Toole

Leadership is an activity — an influence process in which an individual gains the trust and commitment of others and without recourse to formal position or authority moves the group to the accomplishment of oneor more tasks.
– Dinkmeyer and Eckstein

The key element in good business management is emotional attitude. The rest is mechanics.
– Harvey Geenan

Managers control. Leaders create commitment.
– Jonh Zenger

If he works for you, you work for him.
– Japanese proverb

If you really want people to respond to your leadership, you have to have a personal relationship with them. they need to know you’re dependable and that you’ll be there if they have a problem. That’s personal power to me.
– Noreen Haffner

The way to make people shine is to let them be the gems that they are, and just provide a good setting and a little polish.

Managers are people who do things right; leaders are people who do the right thing.
– Warren Bennis

Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
– Plaque on Ted Turner’s desk

Be ENTHUSIASTIC as a leader. You can’t light a fire with a wet match!

It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.
– Eleanor Roosevelt

If you want to manage somebody, manage yourself. Do that well and you’ll be ready to stop managing. And start leading.

It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead – and find no one there. – Franklin D. Roosevelt

MANAGEMENTLEADERSHIPWorks IN the systemWorks ON the systemIs about doing things rightIs about doing the right thingsWorries about the span of controlIncreases the span of influenceHas you do thingsHas you want to do things
Give SPECIFIC praise and recognition frequently.

If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain.
If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees.
If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.
– old Chinese proverb

Lead people, manage things.

Bringing out the best in people: (by Alan Loy McGinnis)
1. Expect the best
2. Study other people’s needs
3. Set high standards
4. Create an environment where failure is not fatal
5. Use role models to encourage success
6. Recognize and applaud achievement
7. Place a premium on collaboration

Leaders are like eagles – they don’t flock … you find them one at a time.

People don’t CARE how much you KNOW, until they KNOW how much you CARE.

Celebrate what you want to see more of.

Serve but don’t be servile. To really help someone does not require groveling to convince them of your sincerity.

Outstanding leaders have that special capacity to be able to read the capabilities of the people with whom they associate and extract higher standards of performance than the people themselves though they could display.

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.
– John Maxwell

Every leader needs to look back once in a while to make sure he has followers.

You only have power over people so long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no long in your power – he’s free again.

Leadership is the wise use of power. Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it.
– Warren Bennis

A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results.
– W. Wilcox

The wicked leader is he who the people despise.
The good leader is he who the people revere.
The great leader is he who the people say, “We did it ourselves.”
– Lao Tsu

Come to the edge, he said.
They said: We are afraid.
Come to the edge, he said.
They came.
He pushed them … and they flew.
– Guillaume Apollinaire

Professionalism: It’s NOT the job you DO, It’s HOW you DO the job.

Cardinal rules of Leadership:
1. Praise in Public, Criticize in Private
2. Praise for What’s Right and Train for What’s Wrong

A leader should be out in front, clearing the way for the rest of the team. Similar to the game of curling, played on ice with big stones. You get out in front of the stone and sweep to help the stone get where you want it to go.

The best executive is the one who has the sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
– Theodore Roosevelt

PRAISE LOUDLY. Blame softly.

Leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate towards some goal which they come to find desirable (and which motivates them over the long haul).
– Orway Tead

As a team leader, create teams who: Care, Cooperate & are Committed.

If you want:Then use:ComplianceControl, Force, Bully, Intimidate, ThreatenAgreementBargain, Negotiate, Exchange, DickerCommitmentPersuade, Accept, Teach, Integrity, Consistency
What experienced professionals value most:
– respect and recognition of effort
– status and independence
– opportunity to make a difference
– honest, ethical management
– free exchange of information
– freedom in deciding how to do own work

Three things for a leader to remember when talking to his team:
– If anything goes bad, say “I did it.”
– If anything goes semi-good, say “We did it.”
– If anything goes real good, say “You did it.”
If you want your team to be a “winner”, the above is all that is required.

A good manager doesn’t try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people. If you’re the boss and your people fight you openly when they think that you are wrong – that’s healthy.
– Robert Townsend

Six Traits of Effective Leaders. They:
1. Make others feel important
2. Promote a vision
3. Follow the golden rule
4. Admit mistakes
5. Criticize others only in private
6. Stay close to the action

Effective leaders are known by the questions they ask rather than the statements they make.

When pulling a sled, unless you are the lead dog, all of the scenery looks the same.

What gets recognized gets done and what gets rewarded gets repeated.

Example has more followers than reason. We unconsciously imitate what pleases us, and approximate to the characters we most admire.
– Christian Nestell Bovee

Think about the qualities of the best leaders you ever worked for. You’ll find that most of them:
– were approachable and easy to talk to
– rarely became overexcited or flew off the handle
– didn’t let a few problems poison their whole outlook took a friendly, pleasant, positive approach
– showed consideration for the feelings of the people who worked for them

You don’t have to be brilliant to be a good leader. But you do have to understand other people – how they feel, what makes them tick, and the best way to influence them. There are a lot of brilliant people in this world who are, and will remain, ineffective leaders. Why? Because they are so interested in themselves and their own accomplishments that they never get around to appreciating and understanding the feelings of the other people who are sharing this world with them. Sometimes, usually later in life, these talented, egocentric individuals suffer painful hardships. They understand, often for the first time, the kind of problems less talented or less fortunate people have suffered all their lives. They suddenly discover a new and important dimension: sensitivity to the feelings, emotions, and experiences of other people. Effective leaders don’t wait for life to bring them to their knees before they appreciate the kind of problems others are facing. Instead they constantly try to put themselves in others’ shoes – try to imagine how they would feel in the same circumstances. They are constantly aware of what makes others tick, and try to be helpful at the same time they ask others to help them.
– John Luther

If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.
– W. Somerset Maugham

The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
– Frank C. Ross

The best leaders of all, the people know not they exist. They turn to each other and say “We did it ourselves.”
– Zen

To survive, men and business and corporations must serve.
– John H. Patterson

How many of you “crammed” in school? (most of us) How many have worked on a farm? Did you “cram” on the farm? That is, did you forget to plant in the spring, loaf through the summer, then try to do everything in the fall just before harvest? Doesn’t work. Growing plants is subject to natural laws & principles. Leadership. It doesn’t just “happen”. You can’t cram for it. It isn’t just a matter of attending a seminar or course. You need to work at it over a period of time to be effective. Why? Principles are involved. Takes time to appreciate and apply principles and allow them to become the center of your life. Values may vary from person to person but the principles of effective leadership are eternal and universal.
– Stephen Covey

In the last analysis, what we ARE communicates far more eloquently than anything we SAY.

Leadership has to do with direction. Management has to do with the speed, coordination and logistics in going in that direction. The WORKERS are chopping their way through the jungle. The MANAGERS are coordinating, making sure the tools are sharp, etc. The LEADERS climb a tree and shout “Wrong jungle!!” The MANAGERS shout back “Be quiet! We’re making progress!”

If you want to retain the loyalty of those who are present, you must show loyalty to those who are absent.

If, as a coach, you devote all your energies to your present players, it is true that, for the present, you can win. However, if you spend no time on recruiting, you will eventually lose.

Efficiency tends to deal with “Things”. Effectiveness tends to deal with “People”. We manage “Things” we lead “People”.

Guide others, do not try to steer them.

“Blind” or “Old Time” Leadership is like the old “galley” ships. 100s are rowing, but only one (the captain) knows where they are going.

There is nothing so annoying as a good example!!
– Mark Twain

In any situation, ask yourself: What strengths do I possess that can contribute towards accomplishing something in this situation? Then follow through.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT or growth is made possible only in those leaders that seek it as a result of an internal MOTIVATION to improve through the use of SELF-EXAMINATION, SELF-EXPECTATION and SELF-DIRECTION.

A BILL of RIGHTS for LEADERS & FOLLOWERS:
We, who lead and follow, hold these truths to be self-evident:
THAT every leader is sometimes a follower, and every follower is sometimes a leader
THAT the leader leads only when others follow; therefore it is the followers who bestow
leadership
THAT, therefore, the power of the leader emanates from the followers
THAT the collective wisdom of the followers is greater than the individual wisdom of the leader; therefore the leader is called to unleash the wisdom of the whole
THAT since power and wisdom reside in the followers, the leader’s goal is to help each follower attain his or her own full potential
THAT the inclination to follow stems from the spirit of the followers and their belief in the
integrity of the leader
THAT the leader’s goals are viable only when they are held commonly by the followers
THAT all leaders and followers are engaged in a common search to find a sense of individual
dignity and worth. Not only do we see these to be self-evident truths, but we hold them to be a
BILL of RIGHTS for followers. They are what we expect from each other while being led.
– Source: Gene Denk

THE BRIDGE BUILDER
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim —
That sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when he reached the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting strength in building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head.
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.”
– Will Allen Dromgoole

Guide others, do not try to steer them.

If, as a coach, you devote all your energies to your present players, it is true that, for the present, you can win. However, if you spend no time on recruiting, you will eventually lose.

As we approach the 21st century, leadership is becoming:
– A process entirely distinct from management
– A process in which other people besides managers can be leaders A relationship in which the focus is on the interactions of both leaders and followers instead of focusing on only the behaviors and /or traits of the leader
– A relationship that aims at mutual purposes rather than just the wishes of the leader
– A process in which people intend real changes as opposed to a process in which they achieve any goal
– A relationship in which only influence behaviors are acceptable rather than one wherein all legitimate behaviors (authority and other forms of coercion included) are acceptable
– “Leadership for the Twenty-First Century” – Joseph Rost

LEADERSHIP – FROM ISSUE TO ACTION:
l. BUILDING THE AGENDA: Leaders and followers decide to take on a significant issue after debating the pros and cons of attempting to do something about the issue.
2. ASSESSING THE ISSUE: Leaders and followers gather and analyze information and reach conclusions about the direction they intend to take concerning the issue.
3. PLANNING THE CHANGE: Leadership and followers develop an outline of the proposed change. The change reflects the mutual purposes of the leaders and followers.
4. GAINING SUPPORT: Leaders and followers influence others in the organization to support the change. People in the organization influence each other on the specifics of the proposed change.
5. MAKING THE CHANGE: Organizational policy makers decide on the proposed change. If the decision is positive, the staff members develop the strategies to institute the change in the organization. If the decision is negative, the leaders and followers go back to square one.
– “Leadership for the Twenty-First Century” by Joseph Rost

For other good quotes, see the book “Leadership” by William Safire.

End of Quotes on “Leadership”

————————————————————————
Listening (See also Communication)

————————————————————————

One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears – by listening to them.
– Dean Rusk

The spoken word belongs half to him who speaks, and half to him who listens.

– French Proverb

It takes a rare person to want to hear what he doesn’t want to hear.
– Dick Cavett

The only time some people really listen is when they are the ones asking the questions.
– Angela Bright

Are you really listening… or are you just waiting for your turn to talk?”
– R. Montgomery

Many a man would rather you heard his story than granted his request.

People should talk less and draw more. Personally, I would like to renounce speech altogether and, like organic nature, communicate everything I have to say visually.
– Goethe

One of the hardest things to do in life is to listen without intent to reply.

It is all right to hold a conversation but you should let go of it now and then.
– Richard Armour

One of the best ways to persuade is with your ears – by listening.
– Dean Rusk

You have two ears and one mouth and you should use them in that proportion – listen twice as much as you talk.

You can judge a good listener by asking the talker at the end of the conversation what the listener’s position is on the topic. If the talker doesn’t know, then the listener has probably done a good job of listening.

ACTIVE LISTENING:
1. Seek to understand first and to be understood second
2. Match tempo and tone
3. Listen TO, not against. Evaluate, not value judge.
4. Watch for: What is NOT said
5. Read facial and body language
6. Restate in your own words
(It is NOT required that the listener AGREE with the other person)

Every person I work with knows something better than me. My job is to listen long enough to find it and use it.
– Jack Nichols

Good listeners are not only popular everywhere but after awhile, they know something.

A LISTENING Chart:
When listening to presentations of others, use a fill-in chart that tracks the following:
Introduction: How did the speaker attract attention?
Quotes/Anecdotes/Analogies: Note and keep as appropriate
Resources: for additional information
Closing: How “clean” was the wrap-up?
Things to Avoid: How could the presentation have been improved?

End of Quotes on “Listening”

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Management

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A river without banks is just a large puddle. Lesson: We need guidelines, principles and some structure to be most effective.

Management is like writing in the snow. You’ve got to keep repeating the message over and over.

Over the years, I’ve had many executives come to me and say with pride: “Boy, last year I worked so hard that I didn’t take any vacation.” It’s actually nothing to be proud of. I always feel like responding, “You dummy. You mean to tell me that you can take responsibility of an $80 million project and you can’t plan to weeks out of the year to go off with your family and have some fun?”
– Lee Iacocca

Senior managers try to be explicit about our vulnerability and failings. We talk to people about the bad decisions we’ve made. It demystifies senior management and removes the stigma traditionally associated with taking risks. We also talk about the limitations of our knowledge, mostly by inviting other people’s perspectives.
– Robert D. Haas, CEO of Levi Strauss & Co.

The main challenge for information-age corporations is the retraining of manager, not the retraining of workers.
– John Naisbitt

Bicycle Management: Bend your back to those above you while you trample on those below.

Management’s goal should be to do everything in their power to help others be as successful as possible. Management succeeds only when the rest of the organization succeeds.

Since managers are no longer the guardians of the knowledge base, we do not need the command-control type executive.
– Shoshana Zuboff

There’s no reason that work has to be suffused with seriousness…. Professionalism can be worn lightly. Fun is a stimulant to people. They enjoy their work more and work more productively.
– Herb Kelleher, CEO, Southwest Airlines

Managers should ask themselves the question: “How many people do I report to?” If the answer is not equal to the total number of people in their department, they don’t understand the new environment.

The term “span of control” no longer makes sense… What we’re looking for is a span of support wherein managers understand that they are to help, coach and create learning, not to control.
– Ralph Stayer

The actions of a responsible executive are contagious.
– Joe D. Batton

When it comes to “Empowerment” you need to remember that once you teach a gorilla to dance you have to be ready to dance until the gorilla wants to stop.

People only respond negatively to controls when they are inappropriate for the situation.
– William Byham

Empowering means helping teams develop their skills and knowledge and supporting them to use their talents.
– Kenneth Blanchard

Empowerment is all about letting go so that others can get going. – Kenneth Blanchard

Giving someone the freedom to take responsibility releases resources that would otherwise remain concealed.
– Jan Carlzon

We do not produce excellence when we feel uninvolved, insignificant, and threatened.
– Kouzes and Posner

When your OUTGO exceeds your INCOME then your UPKEEP will be your DOWNFALL.

To survive, men and business and corporations must serve.
– John H. Patterson

Managers are people who do things right; leaders are people who do the right thing.
– Warren Bennis

The old style manager puts the megaphone to his or her mouth, the new style manager puts the megaphone to his or her ear.

For a manager to be perceived as a positive manager, they need a four to one positive to negative contact ratio.
– Ken Blanchard

People perform better for managers who are not interested in production alone, but who express interest in their employee’s welfare, keep in touch with them, and are approachable.

Maintain a positive attitude at work: Ask employees what they enjoy about their work. Too often, conversations center too much on mistakes and problems. When you ask. “What did you like about that last project?” you encourage employees to become conscious of how to get satisfaction from work. And they may think of ways to do their jobs better.

Re-engineering is in trouble. The revolution we have started has gone, at best, only halfway – you can’t forget that you’ve got people there as well.
– James Champy, author of Reengineering the Corporation and Reengineering Management

Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important.
– T.S. Eliot

The structural characteristics of learning organizations are permeability, flexibility, and network intimacy.
– Nick McGill and John Slocum, Organizational Dynamics

Management’s task is not to control or be a corporate cheerleader or crisis handler; it is to encourage experimentation, create a climate for open communication, promote constructive dialogue and give employees license to expose failures and promote dissent.
– Nick McGill and John Slocum, Organizational Dynamics

Strategy in a learning organization is predicated upon a recognition and acceptance that learning is the only source of competitive advantage.
– Nick McGill and John Slocum, Organizational Dynamics

If you want to manage somebody, manage yourself. Do that well and you’ll be ready to stop managing. And start leading.

Every manager/leader should be a CEO: Chief Empowerment Officer.

You can’t always wait for the guys at the top. Every manager at every level in the organization has an opportunity, big or small, to do something. Every manager’s got some sphere of autonomy. Don’t pass the buck up the line.
– Bob Anderson, GE’s former CEO

If you don’t know what to do with many of the papers piled on your desk, stick a dozen colleagues’ initials on them and pass them along. When in doubt, route.
– Malcolm Forbes

Once an organization loses its spirit of pioneering and rests on its early work, its progress stops.
– Thomas J. Watson

Good Questions to ask prospective employees:
1. Tell me about the best manager you’ve worked for. Why was he or she a good manager? What would the ideal manager be like?
2. What was your least favorite manager like? How did you handle the things you didn’t like about him?
3. Tell me about a disagreement you may have had with a previous manager. How did you resolve it?
4. If I was your manager, what would be the most important thing that I could do to support you?

The best executive is the one who has the sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
– Theodore Roosevelt

Praise is one of the manager’s most powerful tools. Here are two suggestions regarding praise:
– Don’t hide you praise behind criticism
– Be specific

I learned that, before you reach an objective, you must be ready with a new one, and you must start to communicate it to the organization. But it is not the goal itself that is important.
– Jan Carlzon, CEO SAS

Three Levels of Organizational Vision:
1. The Do-able
2. The Conceivable
3. The Previously Unthinkable

Successful Project Management: PLAN, EXECUTE, EVALUATE Sounds simple, but most projects aren’t well planned nor are they evaluated well. The tendency is to jump right into execution and as soon as execution is completed (which usually isn’t “soon”), move on to the next project without evaluating what happen on the present project and what could have been improved. Successful project management requires more front and back end resources (and less middle) than are usually allocated.

Key points to remember when you delegate:
1. Stress results, not details
2. Don’t be sucked in by giving solutions to employee’s problems
3. Turn any questions around (ask employee what they think)
4. Establish measurable and concrete objectives
5. Develop a reporting/feedback system
6. Develop strict but reasonable schedules
7. Keep a delegation “log” (who/what/when)
8. Recognize the talents and personalities of each of your employees

The 8 “T”s of empowering or motivating others by Jim Cathcart
Ask yourself:
1. Target: Does s/he understand and accept the purpose or goal?
2. Tools: Does s/he have the tools or information needed to do the job?
3. Training: Has there been enough training in how to use the tools well?
4. Time: Have they had enough time for the training to take effect?
5. Truth: Does s/he know how all of this fits together?
6. Tracking: Am I providing the feedback needed for them to stay on track?
7. Touch: Is there enough support and encouragement? (the human touch)
8. Trust: Do I trust them appropriately for their skill and mastery level?

Douglas McGregor’s list of the unique characteristics of an effective management team:
1. Understanding, mutual agreement, and identification with respect to the primary task
2. Open communications
3. Mutual trust
4. Mutual support
5. Management of human differences leading to group synergy
6. Selective use of the team
7. Appropriate member skills
8. Leadership: Managing and integrating the other 7 characteristics

Organizations that remain vital show their new employees that they are needed. At the same time, they never forget the value of their long-service employees. And they always give both a second chance.

Some managers approach employee dissatisfaction with the attitude: “Firings will continue until morale improves.”

THE TWELVE KEYS TO AN EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION (William P. Densmore):
1. Integrated Strategic Management
2. Focus on Results
3. Shared Aims, Values and Beliefs
4. Short-Term/Long-Term Balance
5. Superior Customer Satisfaction
6. Focus on Profits
7. Human Resource Practices
8. Freedom Within Bounds
9. High Expectations – Focus on Competence
10. Business Teams and Teamwork
11. Informal Networks and Relationships
12. Climate for Change
– see “Breaking Through” by Don Osgood for more information

“Blind” or “Old Time” Leadership is like the old “galley” ships. 100s are rowing, but only one (the captain) knows where they are going.

Efficiency tends to deal with “Things”. Effectiveness tends to deal with “People”. We manage “Things” we lead “People”.

It’s easier to change PEOPLE than to CHANGE people.

MANAGEMENT STYLES:
GHANDIDARTH VADER (*)Lived by Own ValuesThreats and IntimidationPersistenceMachiavellianVisionAbsolute ControlPerson ExampleFearPull Vs PushStubborn ConvictionCharismaDecisive(*) also could be called the “Wicked Witch of the East” Style. Examples from the movies “Ghandi” and “Star Wars” can be used to demonstrate the above.

Managers tend to go straight to the solution once they think they understand the problem. RESIST THIS URGE! “Solutions” often fail because they do not take into account the beliefs, values, and personal criteria of the individuals involved. Time must be taken to search for and understand beliefs and personal criteria of those involved. A solution which has personal beliefs and values as part of its foundation will inspire real motivation which, in turn, will lead to ownership of the solution and follow-thru of the decisions made.

Exercise caution regarding the use of newly learned management or communications skills or “tools”. There are NO panaceas. Tools and skills must be selected and applied according to the situation, circumstance and/or environment in which they are to be applied. There is no ONE encompassing tool or set of tools. They are not like the Ronco TV Gizmo or the ultimate Swiss army knife that claims to do everything (but really does nothing well).

A variety of different hats can be used to illustrate different management styles:
Fire-fighter (management by crisis)
Cop (directive – rules & regulations) can lead to
General (command) and then to
King (dictator)
Sports “Team” Player (participative)
Cowboy (laissez faire)
Oracle (Egyptian priest)
Mechanic (maintenance, father-knows-best).

The Bitterness of Poor QUALITY Lingers Long After the Sweetness of Meeting SCHEDULES is Forgotten.

End of Quotes on “Management”

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Meetings

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A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours.
– Milton Berle

The form of the meeting is simply a reflection of the culture.
– Terrence Deal and Allan Kennedy

A meeting is a gathering where people speak up, say nothing, then all disagree.

A meeting is indispensable when you don’t want to accomplish anything

Any meeting worth holding is worth planning.

A meeting is an event where the minutes are kept and the hours are lost – OR – A place where you keep the minutes and throw away the hours.

Seating for the best meeting: Seating arrangements can make a big difference in achieving your meetings’ goals. Want to encourage cross-talk and idea-sharing? Hollow squares or a U-shaped arrangement works best. To focus on a problem presented by a speaker, put seats in a semicircle. For a straightforward presentation, placing chairs in rows classroom-style works best.

Many meetings are like panda matings. The expectations are always high, but the results are usually disappointing.

The length of a meeting rises with the square of the number of people present.

At the end of a meeting, make sure specific assignments are made to specific people to ensure follow-thru. Remember: When everybody owns it, no one takes care of it! (This explains to a large extent the reason why the communist economic system failed)

When it is not necessary to hold a meeting, it is necessary to not hold a meeting.

End of Quotes on “Meetings”

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Memory

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It’s hard to be nostalgic when you can’t remember anything.

If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.
– Edgar Allen Poe

At the end of each day, the average person can remember:
11% of what they heard that day
30% of what they saw
50% of what they heard and saw
90% of what they did
Adults learn best by doing.

First you forget names, then you forget faces, then you forget to zip your fly, then you forget to unzip your fly.

We retain:

•10 percent of what we read
•20 percent of what we hear
•30 percent of what we see
•50 percent of what we hear and see
•70 percent of what we say
•90 percent of what we say and do

The mind is a wonderful thing. It starts working the minute you’re born and never stops working until you get up to speak in public.

Tell me and I’ll forget; Show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.
– old Chinese Proverb

Memories in our heads are much less locally stored than in a computer. Analogy: A word written on one page of a book vs word written across the edges of the pages of a book. In the second case, you can pull out several pages and still read the word written on the edges of the pages. The brain works the same way.

An elderly couple was rocking on the porch. The husband says: “I’m going to go get some ice cream at the store, do you want some?” To which the wife replied “Yes, get me some vanilla with strawberries. You’d better write it down, you know how forgetful you are.” “Hey, my memory’s no worse than yours!” “Okay.” Sometime later, husband comes home, gives wife a ham sandwich. Wife looks at it, says, “See, I knew you would forget – there’s no mustard on it!”

BRAIN: Parallel vs Serial processing: Try to find the location of one particular sentence in a book. Could tear out pages and have people read their page – would find out rapidly. However, if book was broken out into individual sentences, mixed up, and randomly handed out to the same group with the task of re-assembling them in the correct page order, it would be difficult. This is clearly a serial task. Biology (the brain) heavily emphasizes parallel processing.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
– Santayana

The only difference between a RUT and a grave is how deep, how wide and how long you are in it.
– Charles Garfield

End of Quotes on “Memory”

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Motivation

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I can live for two months on a good compliment.
– Mark Twain
It is a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.
– The White Queen, “Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll

When people work in a place that cares about them, they contribute a lot more than duty.
– Dennis Hayes

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.
– Jim Ryun

The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
– Chinese Proverb

Question: Do you reward how long an employee sits in the saddle, or how far s/he rode the horse? Sometimes management seems to reward those who put in long hours at work without looking at the results they accomplish.

There are two things that people want more than sex and money – recognition and praise.
– Mary Kay Ash

I’m not a great motivator. I just get rid of guys who can’t motivate themselves.
– Lou Holtz

What gets recognized gets reinforced, and what gets reinforced gets repeated.

Some people feel they work in an environment where doing a good job is like wetting your pants in a dark suit …it gives you a warm feeling but nobody notices!

Deficiency motivation doesn’t work. It will lead to a life-long pursuit of “Try to fix me.” Learn to appreciate what you have and where and who you are.
– Wayne Dyer

Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life – there, if one must speak out, the real man.
– Marcus Aurelius

If you love what you do, you will never work another day in your life.

A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae above a kick in the pants – but what a difference it makes!

Be all that you can be.

What gets recognized gets done and what gets rewarded gets repeated.

Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes.

The 8 “T”s of empowering or motivating others. Ask:
1. Target: Does s/he understand and accept the purpose or goal?
2. Tools: Does s/he have the tools or information needed to do the job?
3. Training: Has there been enough training in how to use the tools well?
4. Time: Have they had enough time for the training to take effect?
5. Truth: Does s/he know how all of this fits together?
6. Tracking: Am I providing the feedback needed for them to stay on track?
7. Touch: Is there enough support and encouragement? (the human touch)
8. Trust: Do I trust them appropriately for their skill and mastery level?
– Jim Cathcart

In any situation, ask yourself: What strengths do I possess that can contribute towards accomplishing something in this situation? Then follow through.

People tend to support what they help create.

Do Something,
If It Works,
Do More Of It
If It Doesn’t,
Do Something Else.
– FDR

“EVE” the Mother of Progress: CONCEIVE -> BELIEVE -> ACHIEVE

SUBCONSCIOUS MOTIVATION: Our subconscious will motivate us to do things to reach our expectations (either positive or negative). Example: ring on a string. Without perceptible physical actions we can mentally think back/forth, circle or stop and subconscious responses will cause small muscle control to result in our mental expectations.

If it is to be, it is up to me.

Every action has an equal and opposite criticism.

End of Quotes on “Motivation”

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Negotiation

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Win/win is an attitude, not an outcome
– Don Boyd

It matters not whether you win or lose; what matters is whether I win or lose.
– Darin Weinberg

We do not have to agree; we do need to understand.

The number one goal in resolving a conflict is to make sure both sides maintain their self-esteem.

Questions you can use when mediating a 2 person conflict: (ask each person)
1. What contribution do you bring to the team (or organization)?
2. What actions or habits do you have that may be unsettling or irritating to the other person?
3. What does the other do that annoys you?
4. What do you find valuable about each other?
5. What outcomes do you hope for as a result of this conflict resolution process?

If your attitude is “When you WIN, rub it IN”, you are doomed to eventual failure.

Common INEFFECTIVE strategies for resolving conflict:
1. Always BLAME others
2. GENERALIZE whenever possible – use words like always and never.
3. DENY that any problem exists
4. PERSONALIZE the dispute

One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears – by listening to them.
– Dean Rusk

Resolving conflict is rarely about who is right. It is about acknowledgment and appreciation of differences.
– Thomas Crum

In one of our concert grand pianos, 243 taut strings exert a pull of 40,000 pounds on an iron frame. It is proof that out of great tension may come great harmony.
– Theodore E. Steinway

Conflict isn’t negative, it just is.
– Thomas Crum

Under normal conditions, most people tend to see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear, and do what they want to do; in conflicts, their positions become even more rigid and fixed.
– Marc Robert

Embracing conflict can become a joy when we know that irritation and frustration can lead to growth and fascination.
– Thomas Crum

It is hard to change our point of view in a conflict. Most often, it is because we are not nearly as interested in resolving the conflict and possibly creating a new “pearl” as we are in being right.
– Thomas Crum

In a conflict, being willing to change allows you to move from a point of view to a viewing point — a higher, more expansive place, from which you can see both sides.
– Thomas Crum

Conflict can be seen as a gift of energy, in which neither side loses and a new dance is created.
– Thomas Crum

Through conflict we get to unity.
– Dean Tjosvold

Our lives are not dependent on whether or not we have conflict. It is what we do with conflict that makes the difference.
– Thomas Crum

When conflict becomes a win-lose contest in our minds, we immediately try to win.
– Thomas Crum

Embracing conflict can become a joy when we know that irritation and frustration can lead to growth and fascination.
– Thomas Crum

When we perceive conflict as a threat to our ego, our reaction is to defend or attack.
– Thomas Crum

Conflict management and problem solving are part of the same process.
– Thomas Isgar

Conflict can destroy a team which hasn’t spent time learning to deal with it.
– Thomas Isgar

Unresolved conflict leads to less-than-adequate performance, resentments, and lack of motivation.
– Fran Rees

Well-managed, cooperative conflict contributes to the productivity and innovativeness of organizations and the competence and well-being of people.
– Dean Tjosvold

Conflict involves incompatible behaviors rather than competitive goals.
– Dean Tjosvold

Assumption of cooperative goals leads to viewing the conflict as a common problem to be solved for mutual benefit.
– Dean Tjosvold

Cooperative conflict builds people up, strengthens their relationships, and gets things done.
– Dean Tjosvold

Work on developing a cooperative relationship, so when conflict comes, you believe you are allies.
– Dean Tjosvold

Conflict lies at the core of innovation.
– Emanuel R. Piore

If necessity is the mother of invention, conflict is its father.
– Kenneth Kaye

Conflict is neither good nor bad. Properly managed, it is absolutely vital.
– Kenneth Kaye

If we manage conflict constructively, we harness its energy for creativity and development.
– Kenneth Kaye

Within-group conflict is always personal and emotional — even if it begins with impersonal issues.
– Kenneth Kaye

Opposites attract — and then can’t stand each other.
– Kenneth Kaye

If you are leaning over to starboard to balance the boat against the other guy’s propensity to lean too far to port, both of you are about to get wet.
– Kenneth kaye

No matter how thin you make a pancake, it always has two sides.

You don’t have to worry about being bit if the dog doesn’t have any teeth.

UNDERSTANDING does not necessarily mean AGREEMENT.

He is no lawyer who cannot take two sides.

Often statistics are used as a drunken man uses lamp posts… for support rather than illumination.

If you are losing a tug-of-war with a tiger, give him the rope before he gets to your arm. You can always buy a new rope.
– Max Gunther

Sometimes you just have to play hard ball.

Remember: The world is not fair – but it is NEGOTIABLE!

The correct strategy for Americans negotiating with Japanese or other foreign clients is a Japanese strategy: Ask questions. When you think you understand, ask more questions. Carefully feel for pressure points. If an impasse is reached, don’t pressure; suggest a recess or another meeting.
– John L. Graham and Roy A. Herberger Jr.

It is always easier to ride a horse in the direction it is going. If the horse dies, get off of it.

OVERCOMING CONFLICT:
When you ______________ (or) When (describe situation) I feel (describe feelings). What I would appreciate is (state specific change) so that WE can (state accomplishment) and avoid (state negative consequences).

Never play cat and mouse games if you’re a mouse.

Power Base: A large ocean liner was headed across the Atlantic from Portsmouth to New York. As it neared its destination at night, a lookout on the wing of the bridge reported “Light, bearing on the starboard bow.” “Is it steady or moving astern?” the captain called out. The lookout replied, “Steady, captain,” which meant that they were on a collision course. The captain then called to the signalman, “Signal that ship: We are on a collision course, advise you change course 20 degrees.” Back came a signal, “Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees.” The captain said, “Send, I’m a captain, change course 20 degrees.” “I’m a seaman, second class,” came the reply. “You had better change course 20 degrees.” By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, “Send, This is the mighty ocean liner, HMS Franconia. Change course 20 degrees.” Back came the flashing light, “This is a lighthouse, suggest you change course 20 degrees.” Needless to say, the ocean liner changed course!

Use non-verbal communication to SOFTEN the hard-line position of others:
S = Smile
O = Open Posture
F = Forward Lean
T = Touch
E = Eye Contact
N = Nod

Win-Win NEGOTIATING is:
Two or more parties COMMUNICATE to reach an AGREEMENT in which all parties feel their NEEDS are satisfied and all parties are COMMITTED to follow through, based on a foundation of common and opposing INTERESTS, and aimed at maintaining or enhancing the RELATIONSHIP.

Handling ANGER: You can’t calm another person down. Their thoughts got them angry. Only their thoughts can calm them down. Your role is to try to influence their thoughts.

Don’t wrestle a pig in a mud hole. You both get all dirty, and the pig enjoys it.

We own almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed but to those who have differed.
– Charles Caleb Colton

Tell the TRUTH: A man came across a rare antique desk. He “bargained” to get the best price, telling them he only really wanted the legs, not disclosing the true value of the object. After striking an agreement, he arranged to pick up the desk the next day. When he arrived, he found that they had cut the table in pieces! “Why?” he asks. “Well,” they reply, “We noticed you had a very small car and thought that it would be difficult for you to put the whole desk in, so, since you really only wanted the legs anyway….”
– taken from an old Alfred Hitchcock show

A man in an insane asylum kept insisting he was Jesus Christ. Two psychologists after talking with him for a while asked “Are you REALLY Jesus Christ?” The man replied “Yes.” The psychologists left and returned shortly with some roughly hewn posts and some nails. As they approached the man he blurted out “Hold on, I’m reconsidering my position!”

INFLUENCING OTHERS: People will only change and “play ball” when, in their terms, it makes sense for them to do so. And, it makes more sense when they come to the conclusions themselves. Therefore, to influence others, don’t TELL them, ask open-ended questions which will draw them to the conclusions you wish to make.

People tend to think in bi-polar terms:

WinLoseRightWrongAllNothingSuccessFailureGoodBadAllyEnemyBlackWhiteUsThemMoralImmoralPerfectFlawedPartnerOpponentOvercome bi-polar thinking by introducting a THIRD or MULTIPLE options.

The word NEGOTIATE comes from the Latin: NEG = not; OTIO = leasure; and orginally meant to “conduct business”. Negotiating takes effort. It is really a people process.

Be sure you:
• know what you want
• anticipate what the other party wants
• sell yourself before you try to sell your ideas
• expand common ground to reach agreement. Remember that an agreement results from the ultimate expansion of common ground.
• attack the problem or situation, NOT the other party
• use the PRAM model: Plan, Relationships, Agreements, Maintenance
• avoid “hard” negotiating (eg “A lie is not a lie if the truth is not expected”.) It does not build trust or relationships.
• avoid “positional bargaining” which tends to deal only with the tip of the iceberg. Look underneath to find the substance.

End of Quotes on “Negotiation”

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Optimism

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The point of living, and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come.
– Peter Ustinov

Autumn is a season followed by looking forward to spring.
– Doug Larson

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.

I’d like to be an Optimist….. But I doubt if it would work.

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything.
They just make the best of everything.

The pessimist may be right in the long run,
but the optimist has a better time during the trip

In the long run, the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a
better time on the trip.

A father had two sons, one an incurable optimist, the other a resolute pessimist. He decided to conduct an experiment. He filled a room with toys, amusements and all kinds of goodies and placed the pessimist in it. He filled another room with horse manure and placed the optimist in it. Some time later he looked in on them. The pessimistic son was standing with his hands on his hips looking at all the goodies in the room with a suspicious expression on his face. He looked in on his other son. The optimist was smiling, standing waist deep in the manure, shoveling it as fast as he could over his shoulder. “What are you up to?” the dad asked his son. “Well, dad, with all this crap in here, I figured there’s go to be a pony in here someplace!!”

Take 15 golden minutes making positive affirmations:
At the beginning of each day, take 15 minutes to think about the positive actions you intend to take that day.
At the end of each day, take 15 minutes to think about what happened good that day and what new things you learned that day.

LIFE BEGINS EACH MORNING: Whether one is twenty, forty, sixty, or eighty; whether one has succeeded, failed or just muddled along – Life Begins Each Morning! Life is a day, this day. All past days are gone beyond revisiting. All days that still may come are veiled in mystery. Each new day is Life, and life begins anew with it. Each night of life is a wall between today and the past. Each morning is the open door to a new world – new vistas, new aims, new plans, new thoughts. The greatest fact in life is this, that it never is too late to start again. Biography simply overflows with inspiring examples of this truth. However discouraging your days may have been, keep this thought burning brightly in your mind Life Begins Each Morning! – L. M. Hodges

Opportunity is ever worth expecting; let your hook be ever hanging ready, the fish will be in the pool where you least imagine it to be.

Learned helplessness is the giving-up reaction, the quitting response that follows from the belief that whatever you do doesn’t matter.
– Martin Seligan, author of Learned Optimism

Life inflicts the same setbacks and tragedies on the optimist as on the pessimist, but the optimist weathers them better … The optimist bounces back from defeat, and, with his life somewhat poorer, he picks up and starts again. The pessimist gives up and falls into depression. Because of his resilience, the otimist achieves more at work, at school, and on the playing field. The optimist has better physical health and may even live longer. Americans want optimists to lead them. Even when things go well for the pessimist, he is haunted by forebodings of catastrophe. For pessimists, that is bad news. The good news is that pessimists can learn the skills of optimism and permanently improve the quality of their lives.
– Martin Seligan, author of Learned Optimism

Optimism is just a useful adjunct to wisdom. By itself it cannot provide meaning. Optimism is a tool to help the individual achieve the goals he has set for himself. It is in the choice of the goals themselves that meaning – or emptiness – resides. When learned optimism is coupled with a renewed commitment to the commons, our epidemic of depression and meaninglessness may end.
– Martin Seligan, author of Learned Optimism

I’m immortal… so far.
– Earle Robinson

When it is darkest, the stars come out.

I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad soldiers; we will settle this matter by lunch time.
– Napoleon Bonaparte

They are able because they think they are able.
– Virgil

Believe that life is worth living, and your beliefs will help create the fact.
– William James

Making the best of a bad situation or the ultimate optimist: If you fall off a building you can kick and scream all the way down or you take the opportunity to look in the windows as they go by.

The optimist thinks that this is the best of all possible worlds; the pessimist knows it.
– J. Robert Oppenheimer

What we see depends mainly on what we look for.

At the beginning of a class/course/seminar, show a glass 1/2 full of water. Ask, now is this glass 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Shows tendancy towards pessimism or optimism. Do you tend to concentrate on what’s there or what’s missing? As far as class is concerned, want to encourage students not to look for what is missing during the course but how what is being presented can be used and what needs it can fill.

End of Quotes on “Optimism”

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Paradigms
(See also Creativity, Failure and Risk)

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The older you get, the more you like to tell it like it use to be.

If you never climb a hill, you will never know it is different from a plain.
– Texas Bix Bender

We see the world as WE ARE not as IT really IS.

Almost every significant breakTHROUGH is a breakWITH.

A large ocean liner was headed across the Atlantic from Portsmouth to New York. As it neared its destination at night, a lookout on the wing of the bridge reported “Light, bearing on the starboard bow.” “Is it steady or moving astern?” the captain called out. The lookout replied, “Steady, captain,” which meant that that they were on a collision course. The captain then called to the signalman, “Signal that ship: We are on a collision course, advise you change course 20 degrees.” Back came a signal, “Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees.” The captain said, “Send, I’m a captain, change course 20 degrees.” “I’m a seaman, second class,” came the reply. “You had better change course 20 degrees.” By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, “Send, This is the mighty ocean liner, HMS Franconia. Change course 20 degrees.” Back came the flashing light, “This is a lighthouse, suggest you change course 20 degrees.” Needless to say, the ocean liner changed course!

The old system has two advantages over the new one: it is established and it is understood.
– Colton

Point-of-view: Traveling thru New Emgland, a motorist stopped for gas in a tiny village. “What’s this place called?” he asked the station attendant. “All depends,” the native drawled. “Do you mean by them that has to live in this dad-blamed, moth-eaten, dust-covered, one-hoss dump, or by them that’s merely enjoying its quaint and picturesque rustic charms for a short spell?”

The real problem is that PERCEPTION is all there is. There is no reality as such. There is only perceived reality, the way each of us chooses to perceive a communication, the value of a service, the value of a particular product feature, the quality of a product. The REAL is what we PERCEIVE.
– Tom Peters & Nancy Austin

You see best what you think you are SUPPOSED to see.
– Joel Barker

In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.

We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.
– Anais Nin

To illustrate how easy it is for a group of people to get “locked in” to a certain way of looking at things, try this experiment with a group: (Good exercise to illustrate Group Think)
1. Pick a number between 1 and 10.
2. Multiply it by 9.
3. If your number is two digits, add them together to make one number.
4. Subtract 5.
5. If your number is 1, remember the letter “A”, if 2, remember “B”, 3 = C, 4 = D, etc.
6. Think of a country that starts with that letter.
7. Think of the second letter of that country and then think of a mammal whose name starts with that letter. Now think of the color of that mammal.
Chances are pretty good most of the group picked a gray elephant from Denmark!

It’s always easy to see both sides of an issue we are not particularly concerned about.

It’s not reality that’s important, but how you perceive things.

The difference between a mountain and a molehill is your perspective.
– Al Neuharth

One person’s constant is another person’s variable.
– Susan Gerhart

You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
– Mark Twain

Houdini was imprisoned in a specially designed new prison cell, and was challenged to escape. Using a small metal strip he had concealed in his clothing, he struggled for 2 hours to open the lock. He started to get weary and frustrated, finally slumping against door, which swung open! It had never been locked! We mentally create our own locks and limits.

Titles tend to lead to mentally imposed restrictions. “I’m a ________, and therefore I don’t know anything about _________ . (or “therefore, that’s not my job.)

To see ourselves as others see us, It would from many a blunder free us.
– Robert Burns

I like my tailor. He takes my measurements anew each time he sees me, whereas others expect me to fit old measurements.
– G.B. Shaw

Mental Scotomas: “holes” in your consciousness that prevent you from “seeing” different viewpoints and perceptions. If you’re not looking for something you probably won’t find it!!

The fish only knows that it lives in the water, after it is already on the river bank. Without our awareness of another world out there, it would never occur to us to change.

Live your live with conscious choice rather than through unconscious programming. The observing consciousness is the vantage point from which we see our life from an objective point of view. Anytime you are experiencing a situation that doesn’t seem to be working for you, exercise the observing consciousness:
Exercising the Observing Consciousness:
1. Observe your emotions; what am I feeling?
2. Observe your thoughts; what are the thoughts, judgments, attitudes or perspectives I have that are causing these emotions?
3. Look at your only options:
– change the situation
– change your thinking about the situation
– leave the situation
– stay stuck

Too see your drama clearly is to be liberated from it.
– Ken Keyes, Jr.

The President Paradigm:
Name the five American Presidents NOT buried in the United States.
What is your paradigm? What are you visualizing? Re-examine the problem, break it down.
1. We are looking for five American Presidents
2. These five are not buried in the United States – which means:
a) They are buried in foreign countries
b) They are living!
The five Presidents are: Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford and Clinton.

Your attitude and behavior are a function of your paradigm. For example: It’s Sunday morning, you are enjoying a quiet ride in the subway – no crowds. A man with several children gets on. The children act rowdy, shouting, disturbing others. You become irritated and finally say “Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people, I wonder if you couldn’t control them a little more.” The reply comes slowly: “I guess I should…We just came from the hospital…Their mother just died about an hour ago and I guess…I don’t know what to think…I guess they don’t know how to handle it either…” You have just experienced a paradigm shift that puts the situation in new light.
We all see things differently. Similar to putting someone else’s glasses on. See things distorted, but they don’t see things that way.

My reality check just bounced.

Man’s mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimension.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes

Let me dispel a few rumors before they fester into facts.
– Robin Williams, from “Dead Poets Society”

A farmer once went to the county fair with a pumpkin that was the exact size and shape of a two-gallon jug. His pumpkin won the blue ribbon. When someone asked him how he grew a pumpkin to look like that, he said, “It was easy. As soon as it started to grow, I stuck it inside a two gallon jug – and here it is!” In the same way your life situation, your view of the world around you is shaped by the container you hold it in. Such beliefs can put a lid on potential. You might be a golfer who averages 90 for 18 holes. One day you’re on your way to a 70 at the 16th hole. You say to yourself, “This isn’t like me!” Hearing that, your subconscious makes sure you put the next ball into the woods or the sand. At the end of 18, you have your usual 90 average. “That’s more like me” you say to yourself. Your subconscious will work hard to match whatever you believe on the inside with what you see on the outside.

POINT OF VIEW: Two guys were sitting around the campfire when one of them spotted a grizzly bear approaching. He immediately got up and went in his tent. The other guy followed him in and notice that he was putting on his running shoes. “What are you doing that for,” he asked. “You know you can’t outrun a grizzly!” “That’s true,” the first guy replied, “but in this case, all I have to do is outrun you!”

Russian Olympian Vasily Alexeev was trying to break a weight-lifting record of 500 pounds. He had lifted 499 but couldn’t, for the life of him, lift 500. Finally, his trainers put 501.5 pounds on his bar and rigged it so it looked like 499 pounds. He lifted it easily. Once he had created this new reality, other weight lifters went on to break his record. Why? Because they now knew it was possible to lift 500 pounds. The limits we set for ourselves exist in our minds. Sometimes, if we let our hearts do the talking and believe in our ability to overcome past perceptions, we can create another reality.

People who are only good with hammers see every problem as a nail.
– Abraham Maslow

Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.
– Nobel Laureate, Albert Szent-Gyorgys

Habits are like a cable – we weave a strand of it every day and soon it becomes very difficult to break.

Habits are like gravity – they pull on us. Just like a rocket, once it escapes earth’s pull, it floats free, but it requires a lot of initial energy to break free. So we can break free of bad habits if we put enough energy into it.

Ancient maps and the symbols on them can be used to demonstrate the “paradigm” of the times – the thinking of the people and civilizations that drew the maps.

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
– Albert Einstein

FOUR LEADERSHIP PARADIGMS:
PARADIGM MANAGEMENT STYLE MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES
1. Stomach Scientific/Authoritarian Fairness
2. Heart Human Relations Kindness
3. Mind Human Resources Contribution
4. Spirit Management by Principles Meaning

He who is good with a hammer tends to think that everything is a nail. – Maslow
Some people who think that everything is a nail, are down on themselves because they are not a hammer. They tend to deprecate their own unique talents and capacities to use a chisel or a pair of pliers.

While driving along, a man noticed a woman driving behind him waving her arms and acting kind of oddly. Finally she passed him and shouted out to him “Pig”. He leaned out of the window and shouted madly “Sow”. Immediately after that the man hit the pig.

People hear and perceive exactly what they WANT to hear. This was illustrated by a speaker trying to convince a group of alcoholics the evils of alcohol. On the platform he had what appeared to be two identical containers of clear fluid. He announced that one contained pure water and the other was filled with undiluted alcohol. He placed a small worm in the container while everyone watched as it swam around and headed for the side of the glass, whereupon it simply crawled to the top of the glass. He then took the same worm and placed it in the container with alcohol. The worm disintegrated right before their eyes. “There,” said the speaker. “What’s the moral?” A voice from the rear of the room said quite clearly, “I see that if you drink alcohol, you’ll never have worms!”

Sometimes we complain about the resistance we sometimes encounter when trying something new or learning a new skill. Remember, however, that the kite flies highest when it faces the stiffest winds. Working against and overcoming such resistance will result in superior performance.

Some people steer by the light from the stars, while others steer by the lights from each passing ship.

Some of the most crucial steps in mental growth are based not simply on acquiring new skills, but on acquiring new administrative ways to use what one already knows.
– Seymour Papert

Societies need rules that make no sense for individuals. For example, it makes no difference whether a single car drives on the left or on the right. But it makes all the difference when there are many cars!
– Marvin Minsky

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.
– Kurt Vonnegut

Your family recently moved to a new neighborhood. Next to you lives another family who had a rabbit for a pet. Your family owns a dog who loved to chase rabbits. One weekend the neighbors went skiing. That Saturday, your dog shows up on your doorstep with the neighbor’s dead rabbit. Oh no, what shall we do? So, you wash it off, blow dry it and put in back in it’s cage. The next week you see your neighbor. “Hi! how was skiing?”, you ask. “Fine,” your neighbor replies, “But you know a strange thing happen to our rabbit while we were gone.” “Oh,” you ask innocently, “What happened?” “Well, our rabbit died last Friday and we buried it before we left, but when we came back we found it all cleaned up and lying in its cage!?”

A bank teller cashed a paycheck for a customer. The customer took 3 steps, then stopped, and said, “Excuse me, a think you made a mistake.” The teller immediately responded “I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything for you. You should have counted it. As soon as you walk away we are no longer responsible.” Whereupon the customer replied, “Well, okay. Thanks for the extra $20.”

POINT OF VIEW: Hold up a quarter to someone else so s/he can see the head side and you can see the tail side. Ask them to describe what they see. When they say “George Washington”, etc. get a puzzled expression on your face, then eventually disclose: “No, its not. Its an Eagle”, etc. reflecting what you see on your side. Dramatically demonstrates how we view things differently.

RULES OR GUIDELINES?:
The RULE book for baseball defines – 9 players, role of pitcher and catcher, other 7 can be anywhere on field. GUIDE lines define 1st, 2nd, 3rd basemen; shortstop; right, left and center fielders. However, care should be exercised that GUIDELINES don’t become RULES! Be flexible. Example: switching shortstop to right side for left handed batter.

Use a GYROSCOPE to demonstrate how, over time, we become fixed in our ways, personalities, and, as a mature person, psychologically resistant to change. With EFFORT, however, we can make changes. We are not today exactly what we were yesterday. We are almost imperceptibly different. We do change with time and we can control to an extent the direction of the changes.

The lives of many of us could be compared to the making of a clay vase. When the clay is soft, the potter shapes, molds and throws it. The potter then puts it into a kiln and fires it. It is then no longer possible to re-shape it. We are “shaped” by our experiences as we go through life. Unfortunately, many of us allow the fires of prejudice to harden us so that it becomes very difficult for us to re-shape our thinking or try to understand someone else’s point of view.

A white man was unsuccessful in trying to catch monkeys. Native took a narrow mouth pot and placed cookie at bottom. Monkey reached in grabbed cookie, but couldn’t remove hand. Was stuck didn’t think of letting go! We don’t want to get trapped into fixed methods of doing things to the point where we can’t see any other way. Babies tend to do the same thing (grasping reflex) “lock-on” to finger, can’t let go.

In an experiment, a scientist place a number of fleas in a glass jar. They quickly jumped out. He then replace the fleas back into the jar and placed a glass plate across the top opening. The fleas began jumping and hitting the glass plate, falling back down into the jar. After a while, the fleas, conditioned to the presence of the glass plate, began jumping slightly below the glass plate, so as not to hit it. The scientist then removed the glass plate as it was no longer need to keep the fleas in the jar. Do you create your own “glass plates” that keeps you restricted?

We tend to gather information to support our dominant beliefs (whether they be right or wrong!).

MENTAL CONDITIONING: A barracuda was starved, then put in large tank. A glass pane was inserted and a mackerel placed behind it. The barracuda banged itself into the pane five or six times, then conditioned itself to stop just short of glass pane. The glass pane was then removed. The barracuda continued to stop just short. A second barracuda was placed in tank – it quickly caught the mackerel thus “blowing” the first barracuda’s mind!

COMFORT ZONES:
Zones that correspond to our current self-image in any particular area of life, within which we effectively and efficiently perform tasks & exercise skills.
We feel very uncomfortable outside of that comfort zone.
Example # 1: $100 bill at end of 14′ board, 14″ wide, laying on floor. We would have no problem walking to end of board and retrieving $100. However, if board was extended from the edge of a building, 50 stories up in air, most of us would not attempt to retrieve the $100!
Example # 2: Driving across a bridge over a canyon. Bridge has railings along side, yellow lines showing lanes, etc.- we feel comfortable. What if we remove the yellow lines and take down the railings. We now feel uncomfortable and probably would not drive across bridge – BUT WHAT HAS CHANGED? It is all based on our mental perceptions.
Sometimes “rules” and “guidelines” can present a false sense of security. When taken out of their comfort zones, people tend to recreate their old comfort zone.
Example: Tear down slums and put up high-rise; high-rises become high-rise slums!

BELIEF creates the actual fact.
– William James

It’s easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of date.
– Roger von Oech

Whatever you resist, persists.

Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.
– Aristotle

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
– Aristotle

End of Quotes on “Paradigms”

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Points to Ponder

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Nothing in the world can take the place of persistance.
Talent will not; nothing is more common that unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistance and dedication alone are omnipotent.

It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.

I studied the lives of great men and famous women, and I found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm and hard work.
– Harry S. Truman

See WHY? WHY? WHY? in the Humor section.

The game of life is not so much in holding a good hand as playing a poor hand well.
– H.T. Leslie

There is no abstract art. You must start with something.
– Pablo Picasso

Luck never gives, it only lends.
– Swedish Proverb

Nothing lasts forever – not even your troubles.
– Arnold H. Glasow

Nothing in fine print is ever good news.
– Andy Rooney

Comedy is tragedy, plus time.
– Carol Burnett

Irony is when you buy a suit with two pairs of pants and then burn a hole in the coat.

Few things are more satisfying than seeing your children have teenagers of their own.
– Doug Larson

Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
– Albert Einstein , attributed

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
– Albert Einstein , Out of My Later Years

The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.
– Albert Einstein , Out of My Later Years

The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility.
– Albert Einstein , quoted in Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers

It ain’t over till it’s over.
– Yogi Berra

You can observe a lot just by watching.
– Yogi Berra

Every animal leaves traces of what it was; man alone leaves traces of what he created.
– Jacob Bronowski , The Ascent of Man

Life can be lived serendipitously. Look for a serendipitious moment and be surprised by what comes.

Attending to symptoms,we lose our purpose.
– Shoma Morita

You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.
– James Thurber

Don’t waste a good imagination on worrying.

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
– John Lennon

The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.
– H.L. Mencken

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.
– Timothy Leary

Patriotism: the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.
– Bertrand Russell

Patriotism: the virtue of the vicious.
– Oscar Wilde

Life has a value only when it has something valuable as an object.
– Hegel

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
– Salvador Hardin

We have met the enemy and he is us.
– Walt Kelly

The Earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the Earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
– Chief Seattle, leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes of the Puget Sound

Humans are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home.

– Bill Cosby

A radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.
– Franklin Delano Roosevelt

A child prodigy is usually one with highly imaginative parents.

A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.
– Sir Winston Churchill

Sleep, riches and health, to be truly enjoyed, must be interrupted.
– Jean Paul Richter

Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.
– George Burns

When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.
– Marquis De La Grange

Don’t write a check with your mouth that your body can’t cash.

The time comes in every life when you feel like you are bowling from behind a curtain.

There are no free throws in life, even when you get fouled.
– Deborah Miller Palmore, Olympian, Basketball

One of my favorite sayings I got off a soda bottle: “No deposit, no return.” To me that means that you’ll get out of life about what you’re willing to put into it.
– John Naber, Four-Time Olympic Gold Medalist, Swimming

Too much of a good thing is wonderful.

After you’ve heard two eyewitness accounts of an accident, it makes you wonder about our history.

When everybody owns it, nobody takes care of it.

What matters is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.
– Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant

Every day, try to help someone who can’t reciprocate your kindness.
– Philosophy of Coach John Wooden

Joy is not in things, it is in us.
– Benjamin Franklin

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.

The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.
– Pascal

We know the truth, not only by the reason, but by the heart.
– Pascal

In order to make a difference, you must first be able to tell the difference.
– Stuart Heller

Sometimes a thoroughbred has to do the work of a mule.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
– Theodore Roosevelt

I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.
– Abraham Lincoln

A stern discipline pervades all nature, which is a little cruel that it may be kind.
– Herbert Spenser

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else so you expect to find it?
– Dogden

The price of greatness is responsibility
– Winston Churchill

All motion is cyclic. It circulates to the limits of its possibilities and then returns to its starting point.
– Robert Collier

A small town is a place where there’s no place to go where you shouldn’t.
– Burt Bacharach

Everything that is done in the world, is done by hope.
– Martin Luther

Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Supply always comes on the heels of demand.
– Robert Collier

The trees that bend a little to the harmless breeze,
Will later grow to withstand the wild wind.

If there is no wind, row.

Good things happen when you make sure good things happen.

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It got so cold it froze up and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some manure on it. As it lay there in the pile of manure, it began to realize how warm it was. The manure was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the little bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of manure and promptly dug him out – and then ate him!
The morals of the story are:
1. Not everyone who drops manure on you is your enemy.
2. Not everyone who digs you out of a pile of manure is your friend
3. When you are in manure, keep your mouth shut!

Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns.
– J.M. Clark

The only completely consistent people are dead.
– Aldous Huxley

There is nothing to scratch but the surface.

You stand in your own light.
– John Heywood

As long as we have friendship, today is beautiful.
As long as we have memories, yesterday remains.
As long as we have hope, tomorrow awaits.

No job is too small to botch.

Take care of the beginning and the end will take care of itself.

Duty makes us do things well.
Love makes us do thing beautifully.

Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.
– Will Rogers

There are two kinds of cleverness. One consists of thinking of a bright remark in time to say it. The other consists of thinking of it in time not to say it.

What I can do, you cannot do. What you can do, I cannot do.
– Mother Teresa

Many a man in love with a dimple makes the mistake of marrying the whole girl.

Nothing is impossible for those who don’t have to do it themselves.

To look up and not down,
to look forward and not back,
to look out and not in; and
to lend a hand.
– Hale

Average is the best of the worst and the worst of the best.

Things not worth doing, are not worth doing well.
– Kenneth Blanchard

But is an acronym for Behold the Underlying Truth.
– John Roger & Peter McWilliams

Suits, ties, and panty hose are not how you dress for adventure.
– Peter Block

You can’t tell which way the train went by looking at the tracks.

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

Friends may come and friends may go, but enemies accumulate.

The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets.

No matter how thin you make a pancake, it always has two sides.

A man’s main job is to become supremely aware of and intimately involved in the great issues of his time.

Don’t complain that you are not getting what you want,
Just be glad you are not getting what you deserve!

A wise man doesn’t just wait for the right opportunity,
He creates the right opportunity.

There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.
– John Truslow Adams

You never know how many apples there are in a seed.

The one who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it.

One gift creates appreciation, many gifts create expectation.
– Tony & Grant Bright

Things are more like they used to be than they are now.

Things are more like they are today than they ever were before.

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.
– Eric Hoffer

You can pick your friends; you can pick your nose; but don’t try to pick your friend’s nose!

Time is nature’s way of making sure that everything doesn’t happen at once.

You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
– Mark Twain

It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

It is much easier to suggest solutions when you know nothing about the problem.

Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power.
– William Gaddis

The highest happiness of man is to have probed what is knowable and quietly to revere what is unknowable.
– Goethe

If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.
– Lin Yutang

No individual raindrop ever considers itself responsible for the flood.

No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched.
– George Hean Nathan

It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do for which we are accountable.
– Moliere

Hindsight is an exact science.

A man may imagine things that are false, but he can only understand things that are true, for if the things be false, the apprehension of them is not understanding.
– Sir Isaac Newton

No generalization is true… including this one.

Don’t wrestle a pig in a mud hole. You both get all dirty, and the pig enjoys it.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.
– G. K. Chesterson

The nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from.

Furious activity is no substitute for understanding.
– H. H. Williams

CYNIC: One who not only reads bitter lessons from the past, but who is prematurely disappointed with the future.

One person’s constant is another person’s variable.
– Susan Gerhart

I tried gardening once. My garden was one hundred percent natural. It had no pesticides, no chemicals, no additives … and no vegetables, no fruits and no flowers.

Pandora’s Rule: Never open a box you didn’t close.

Anytime you demonstrate something, the number of faults is proportional to the number of viewers.

Carelessly planned projects take three times longer to complete than expected; carefully planned projects only twice as long.

If all economists were laid end to end they would not reach a conclusion.
– George Bernard Shaw

We have two ends,
With a common link;
With one we sit,
With one we think.
Success depends on what we use
Heads we win; tails we lose!

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.
– John Lennon

In an avalanche, each snowflake will claim its innocence.

White man builds big fire, stands back. Indian builds little fire, huddles close.

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
– John Wooden

If you took all the economists in the world and laid them end-to-end, they couldn’t reach a conclusion.

Ignorance doesn’t kill you, but it makes you sweat a lot.
– Haitian Proverb

Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.
– H. L. Mencken

He who knows only his own generation remains forever a child.

If you have your sight, you are blessed. If you have insight, you are a thousand times blessed.

Past experience should be a guidepost, not a hitching post.

If one person calls you an ass, don’t worry about it. But if four people call you an ass, you had better go out and buy yourself a saddle.

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
– Anglund

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
– Dolly Parton

You will not be punished FOR your anger. You will be punished BY your anger.

Circumstances do not make a man – they reveal him.

Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications … are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.
– Einstein

FANATIC: Someone who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim.

There is one thing to admire about TV-sitcom families – they never waste time watching television!

Empty wagons make the most noise.
– Mrs. Dukes, Nick’s 8th grade teacher

You can see a lot by observing.
– Yogi Berra

I first learned the concepts of non-violence in my marriage.
– Ghandhi

Age is a high price to pay for maturity.

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.
– Pablo Picasso

Everything must degenerate into work if anything is to happen.
– Peter Drucker

Experience is not what happens to a man. It’s what a man does with what happens to him.
– Aldous Huxley

We’re all in this alone.
– Lily Tomlin

The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
– B.F. Skinner

Life is complicated … that’s why it is fun!

Your children need your presence more than your presents.
– Jesse Jackson

There is no mechanical problem so difficult that it cannot be solved by brute force and ignorance.

Never disagree with anyone who buys ink by the barrel.

It’s hard to be nostalgic when you can’t remember anything.

No job is too small to botch.

Albert Einstein when asked what he considered to be the most powerful force in the universe answered: “Compound interest!”

There is nothing to scratch but the surface.

If crime doesn’t pay … and if we don’t get paid for overtime … isn’t working overtime a crime?

What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want.
– Mignon McLaughlin

Without discipline, there is no life at all.
– Katharine Hepburn

Remember, we’re all in this alone.

It’s hard to be nostalgic when you can’t remember anything.

No job is too small to botch.

It is not the ship in the water but the water in the ship that sinks it. (I’m not exactly sure what this means or how it can be used but it sounds significant!)

Consider not how to work to make a living, but how to make a living work.

It takes both rain and sunshine to make a rainbow.

Pray as if it was all up to God. Work as if it was all up to you.

Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go.

A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove – BUT, the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.

When the teacher is ready, the learners will come.

When the learner is ready, the teacher will come.

Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you. – A. Huxley

If someone says that you are a “model” instructor, husband or whatever, just remember that a “model” is defined as “a small replica of the real thing”!

The whole theory of the universe is directed unerringly to one single individual.
– Walt Whitman

You have to take life as it happens, but you should try to make it happen the way you want to take it.

Power is like being a lady … if you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.
– Margaret Thatcher

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science.
– Albert Einstein

Some days you’re the bug. Some days you’re the windshield.

I wonder WHY.
I WONDER why.
I wonder why I wonder.
I wonder why I wonder why I wonder why I wonder.
– Richard Feynman, Nobel prize-winning physicist

According to your beliefs, so it is done unto you.
– Ancient Text

When a man is wrapped up in himself he makes a very small package.

Today’s laurels are tomorrow’s compost.

LIFE:
1. You do some stuff.
2. Some works.
3. You do more of the stuff that works.
4. What works is copied by others.
5. Go to step 1.

Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed … Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle … when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.

Courage is not limited to the battlefield or the Indianapolis 500 or bravely catching a thief in your house. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are the inner tests, like remaining faithful when nobody’s looking, like enduring pain when the room is empty, like standing alone when you’re misunderstood.

Publishing a book on poetry … (substitute any other appropriate expression) … is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.

The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
– Helen Keller

Life is raw material. We are artisans. We can sculpt our existence into something beautiful, or debase it into ugliness. It’s in our hands.
– Cathy Better

Some people forget to plant in the spring, idle away the summer hours and then expect to reap in the fall.

People are most lovable when they allow themselves to be vulnerable.

Cynicism is the protection of the mind against threatening thoughts, ideas and concepts.
Sarcasm is the protection of the tongue against threatening thoughts, ideas and concepts.

When man discovered the mirror (the social mirror of what others think of us), he began to lose his soul.

The art of becoming wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.
– William James

Only the most foolish of mice would hide in a cat’s ear. But only the wisest of cats would think to look there.

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.

A critic is usually a person who knows the way but can’t drive the car.

The middle of the road is where the white line is – and that’s the worst place to drive.
– Robert Frost

If your efforts are sometimes greeted with indifference, don’t lose heart. The sun puts on a wonderful show at daybreak, yet most of the people in the audience go on sleeping.
– Ada Teixeira

Paradox: If you give up the need for security, you will be secure.

Learn to pause…or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you.
– Doug King

The child is the father of the man.
– William Wordsworth

A winner loses more often than losers.

Never try to take a sip through a fire hose.

If you rest, you rust.

I’d rather know some of the questions than all of the answers.
– James Thurber

The trouble with self-made men is that they tend to worship their creator.

You only have power over people so long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no long in your power – he’s free again.

Whatever you resist, persists.

I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad soldiers; we will settle this matter by lunch time.
– Napoleon Bonaparte

Looks like the upper hand is on the other foot.
– Leslie Nielsen (“Hotshots! Part Deaux”)

Patient, heal thyself!

Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important.
– T.S. Eliot

This life is a test; it is only a test. If it were a real life, you would have received instructions on where to go and what to do.
– Unknown

This life is a test! It is only a test. If it had been a real life I would have been given instructions on where to go and what to do.
– Anonymous

Sometimes I get the feeling that the whole world is against me, but deep down inside I know that’s not true. There are a few people who are probably neutral.

The future influences the present just as much as the past.
– Nietzche

The reason lightening doesn’t strike twice in the same place is that the same place isn’t there the second time.
– Willie Tyler

Emotion is not something shameful, subordinate, second-rate; It is a supremely valid phase of humanity at its noblest and most mature.

The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the old man who will not laugh is a fool.
– George Santayana

It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit.
– Antoine Rivarol

While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till it be digested, and then amusement will dissipate the remains of it.
– Samuel Johnson

Caresses, expressions of one sort or another, are necessary to the life of the affections as leaves are to the life of the tree. If they are wholly restrained, love will die at the roots.
– Nathaniel Hawthorne

If the people don’t want to come out to the park, nobody’s gonna stop them.
– Yogi Berra

Sometimes when you rationaLIZE what you are really doing is making up rational LIES.

You belong to a small, but select group of confused people.
– Message in fortune cookie

You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?
– Stephen Wright

Reality is something you rise above.
– Liza Minnelli

Never do card tricks for the group you play poker with.

Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.
– Picasso

You REAP what You SOW: Life is like a boomerang. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.

It’s what you learn AFTER you think you know it all that counts.

The squeaking wheel doesn’t always get the grease. Sometimes it gets replaced.

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.
– Joseph Addison

Time is a trick of nature, designed to prevent everything from happening at once.

In times like these it helps to recall there have always been times like these.
– P. Harvey

The child is constantly confronted with the nagging question: “What are you going to be?” Courageous would be the youngster who could look the adult squarely in the face and say, “I’m not going to BE anything; I already am.” We adults would be shocked by such an insolent remark, for we have forgotten, if indeed we ever knew, that a child is an active, participating and contributing member of society from birth. Childhood isn’t a time when he is molded into a human who will then live life; he is a human who is living life. No child will miss the zest and joy of living unless these are denied him by adults who have convinced themselves that childhood is a period of preparation.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
– Goethe

It’s the little things in life that can “eat you alive”: How many people here have ever been bitten by an elephant? How many people here have ever been bitten by a mosquito?

Al Juodikis’s Rules of Life
• If Jack’s in love, he’s no judge of Jill’s beauty
• Too much of the world is run on the theory that you don’t need road manners if you are a five-ton truck
• – It is difficult to see the picture when you are inside the frame
• – When it comes to helping you, some people stop at nothing
• – One of these days is None of these days

Tom Hirshfield’s Rules of Thumb:
• If you hit every time the target’s too near
• Never learn details before deciding on a first approach
• Never state a problem to yourself in the same terms as it was brought to you

How long after you are gone will ripples remain as evidence that you were cast into the pool of life?
– Grant Bright

Anyone who lives within his means suffers from a lack of imagination.

Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.
– Charles Spurgeon

The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.
– William James

We shall not cease from exploring, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
– T.S. Elliot

No involvement … no commitment.

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.
– Goethe

80% of the meaningful results in your life flow from 20% of your activities. (Pareto’s law)

He who understands the “WHY” can live with any “WHAT” or “HOW”.

In times of storm, the shallowness of the root structure is revealed.

Almost every significant breakTHROUGH is a breakWITH.

“Personality” is just the tip of the iceberg of ones true “character”.

If you want to retain the loyalty of those who are present, you must show loyalty to those who are absent.

Principles are self-evident, self-validating, timeless and universal.
Example: The Law of the Harvest: “You will reap what you sow”.

Don’t be so humble – you’re not that great.
– N. Ghandi

Just as you rotate tires so that they wear evenly, so you need to rotate or balance your activities in life. This helps cope with stress.

We are more like human BECOMINGS that we are human BEINGS.

When it is darkest, the stars come out.

We ain’t what we want to be, And we ain’t what we gonna be, But we ain’t what we wuz.
– Carolina mountain proverb

When you fall, don’t get up empty handed.

One never goes as far as when one doesn’t know where one is going.
– Goethe

To be considered an “EXPERT”, one needs a large amount of knowledge of only a relatively few variety. In contrast, an ordinary person’s “common sense” involves a much larger variety of different types of knowledge – and this requires more complicated management systems. It is easier to acquire specialized knowledge than common sense knowledge.
– Marvin Minsky

Every action has an equal and opposite criticism.

The more equally attractive two alternatives seem, the harder it can be to choose between them – no matter that, to the same degree, the choice can only matter less.
– Edward Fredkin’s Paradox

You cannot THINK about thinking, without thinking about thinking about something.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
– Arthur C. Clarke

Given any controversial topic, any book about it that reaches the best-seller list is most likely wrong.
– Henry Palka of Hartford, Connecticut

As a person grows WISER, they talk less and say more.

It is the mark of civilized people never to go to bed on the same day that they got up.

Some people seem to easily become involved with projects that could only be described as a very big dances around a very small fires.

It is always easier to ride a horse in the direction it is going. If the horse dies, get off of it.

Ever notice that people who try to give you ADVICE never seem as intelligent as those who ask for yours?

AMBITION never gets anywhere until it forms a partnership with WORK.

Solitude is a good place to visit but a poor place to stay.

Some people see more in a walk around the block than others see in a trip around the world.

Treat strangers as if you expected to see them again.

TALENT is knowing how to do something; JUDGMENT is knowing whether to do it.

There is nothing as annoying as a good EXAMPLE!!
– Mark Twain

LIFE is the process of creating MEMORIES – let’s work on creating good ones.

EXPERT: A person who learns more and more about less and less until s/he knows everything about nothing. Converse: A person who learns less and less about more and more until s/he knows nothing about everything.

EXPERT: An “EX” is a has-been such as in “Ex-President”, a “SPURT” is a drip under pressure, so an EXPERT is a “has-been drip under pressure”!

RELATIVITY: Some Sobering Thoughts: If the sun was hollow, it could contain more than one million worlds the size of our earth. There are stars in space so large that they could easily hold 500 million suns the size of ours. There are about 100 billions stars in the average galaxy — and at least 100 million galaxies in known space.

If you know you’re in trouble and ask for HELP … you’re NOT in trouble.
If you know you’re in trouble and don’t ask for help … you ARE in trouble.

Until we can manage TIME, we can manage nothing else.
– Peter Drucker

It is the mark of an instructed mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision which the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness when only an approximation of the truth is possible.
– Aristotle

We have inherited the past; we can create the future.

When you try to make an IMPRESSION, sometimes that is the impression you make.

People are as small as the things that annoy them.

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his TONGUE.

Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.

Great OPPORTUNITIES come to those who make the most of small ones.

When a person is always RIGHT, there is something WRONG.

He climbs the highest who helps another.

When someone demands blind OBEDIENCE, you’d be a fool not be peek.

As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means that you cannot soar as you otherwise might.

The only difference between a RUT and a grave is how deep, how wide and how long you are in it. – Charles Garfield

EGOTISM and CONCEIT are the only diseases that make everybody sick except those that have them.

LUCK is when PREPARATION and OPPORTUNITY meet.

End of Quotes on “Points to Ponder”

————————————————————————
Potential

————————————————————————

Don’t rate potential over performance.
– Jim Fassel, Coach, Giants

Some people see more in a walk around the block than others see in a trip around the world.

The greatest discovery of our generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.
– William James

Most of us die with much of our beautiful music still in us, un-sung, un-played.
– Grant M. Bright

A fisherman was observed throwing the big fish back and keeping the small ones. When asked why, he replied that he only had a small frying pan! Some of us act in real life as if we only had a small frying pan, thus limiting our true potential.

The greatest good we can so for others is not to share OUR riches but to reveal THEIRS.

Use Your TALENTS: Two boys were walking down a country road when they notices two milk cans ready to be loaded onto a train for delivery to a nearby city. The boys looked around and seeing no one, they dropped a big bullfrog into each of the cans. During the journey, the bullfrog in can #1 said to himself: “This is terrible, I can’t lift the cover of the can, I never had a milk bath before, I can’t brace myself against the smooth sides, I’m trapped, there’s no use trying anything.” When the cover on can #1 was taken off, why, there was a big dead bullfrog. The bullfrog in can #2 was in the same tight spot, but this frog said to himself: “Well, I know I can’t lift the cover off and there seems to be no other way out of here, but let me think, what is it I am good at? Well, there’s one thing I know I’m good at and that’s swimming.” So he swam and swam and swam, and churned the cream floating on top into a lump of butter and sat on it. When the cover was removed, out he jumped, hale and hearty.

PEAK PERFORMANCE:
Mental Training Techniques of the World’s Greatest Athletes:
Great athletes train their minds as well as their bodies. There are various mental conditioning techniques many use when preparing for an event. Perhaps the best known technique is visualization, creating a mental image not only of the desired result (the gold medal, a new world record, a hole-in-one), but also of every move that will be taken en route to the ultimate goal. We can apply these techniques in the business world. Determine your mission and identify what your major goals are. Break down the big goals into a series of smaller goals. Be detailed and precise when setting your goals. When each smaller one is achieved, you’ll find you have increased confidence in tackling the next and the next. It’s self-motivating because you’re creating visible proof that you can indeed accomplish what you set out to do.
– Charles A. Garfield

FULL POTENTIAL: Do you continue to develop your full potential? A man received a blue ribbon at a county fair for his pumpkin that was shaped like a gallon jug. When asked how he grew it, he said he inserted the pumpkin into a gallon jug when it was small. It stopped growing when it filled the jug. Have you stopped growing because you have placed yourself into a mental container? How can you expand/break out of your container? The only real limitations are self-imposed. We must choose not to let others decide what we can or cannot be!

THE SLIGHT EDGE CONCEPT: The difference between mediocrity and superior performance can be attributed to being as little as 1-2% more efficient in terms of planning, study, application, interest, attention, effort, etc. Consider the difference between golf players:
# 1 Jack N. earned 230K with an average of 70.3
# 24 Bob C. earned 50K with an average of 70.9
The difference of 0.6 is only one missed putt in every 18 holes.

If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful after all.
– Michelangelo

Genius is the capacity for taking infinite pains.
– Carlyle

In an experiment, a scientist place a number of fleas in a glass jar. They quickly jumped out. He then replace the fleas back into the jar and placed a glass plate across the top opening. The fleas began jumping and hitting the glass plate, falling back down into the jar. After a while, the fleas, conditioned to the presence of the glass plate, began jumping slightly below the glass plate, so as not to hit it. The scientist then removed the glass plate as it was no longer need to keep the fleas in the jar. Do you have a “self-imposed” lid that prevents you from achieving new heights?

Geniuses themselves don’t talk about the gift of genius, they just talk about hard work and long hours.
– J.C. Penney

The fact is, the difference between peak performers and everybody else are much smaller than “everybody else” thinks.
– Charles Garfield

Most people are content to let “perfect days” happen at random rather than PLAN for them.

PRACTICE does NOT make perfect. However, actual practice combined with the practice of perfection in your imagination can lead to perfection.

An airplane on the ground rusts out faster than when it is in the air. If a ship stays docked in the harbor it will gain more barnacles making it unseaworthy. Are you making full use of your abilities and talents?

End of Quotes on “Potential”

————————————————————————
Problem Solving

————————————————————————

There is a difference between problem spotting and problem solving.
– Susan Woodring

Be thankful for problems. If they were less difficult, someone with less ability might have your job.

Houston, we have a problem.
– James Lovell

If I’d know how many problems I was going to run into before I finished, I can’t remember a single project I would have started.
– Andy Rooney

Solving problems is not so difficult. The trick is getting them to stay solved.

No problem can withstand the power of sustained creative thought.

The problem is not the problem. The problem is one’s attitude about the problem.

It is better to look for what works before you focus on what’s broken.
– C.W. Metcalf

When people become involved in the problem, they become significantly and sincerely committed to coming up with solutions to the problem.
– Stephen Covey

If you come to your boss early with a problem, you get a partner. If you come late with a disaster, you get a judge.
– Danny Cox

People who can’t admit they are part of the problem, will never be part of its solution.
– Kenneth Kaye

“DIS is DE” approach to problem-solving:
– “DE” fine the problem
– “DE” part from the norm
– “DE” lete the impractical
– “DE” velop the better
– “DE” termine the best
– “DE” liver the best

If you think something outside of yourself is the cause of your problem, you will look outside of yourself for the answer.

We teach collaborative problem-solving. In school that’s called cheating.
– Edward Bales, Motorola University

The chief cause of problems is solutions.

Solve it. Solve it quickly, solve it right or wrong. If you solve it wrong, it will come back and slap you in the face, and then you can solve it right. Lying dead in the water and doing nothing is a comfortable alternative because it is without risk, but it is an absolutely fatal way to manage a business.
– Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

People who are only good with hammers see every problem as a nail.
– Abraham Maslow

It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It is that they can’t see the problem.
– G.K. Chesterton

To every problem there is already a solution whether you know it or not.
– Grenville Kleiser

Successful people are simply people who learn to solve their problems … they are not people without problems.

Anytime you thing that the problem is “out there”, that thought in itself may be the problem. If it is “out there” then you have no control and you have to wait until it changes.

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
– Albert Einstein

The best solution to a problem is the most simple one that creates no new problems.

The best way out of a problem is through it.

Your solution to the problem changes the problem.

For every problem, there is a solution which is simple, neat & wrong.

End of Quotes on “Problem Solving”

————————————————————————
Public Speaking

————————————————————————

See Humor – Speech Goofs

Use QUESTIONS as an effective teaching aid: Can you imagine trying to improve your target shooting if you don’t look at the target to see the results of each shot? Questions help you to see how well you are hitting the target. Same would be true of trying to bowl by throwing the ball over a curtain that blocked the view of the pins.

For effective public speaking, remember the “SPEAK” acronym:
S = Simplify your material
P = Prepare & Practice
E = Enthusiasm
A = Anxiety – channel it
K = Knowledge of your subject

The ability to express an idea is well nigh as important as the idea itself.
– Bernard Baruch

The mind is a wonderful thing. It starts working the minute you’re born and never stops working until you get up to speak in public.

When making foils, avoid the “Lord’s prayer on the head of a pin” syndrome. A whole KJV Bible has been placed on one 2 1/4 inch Microfiche. Interesting, but not very useful. Is your foil too busy?

Understand it? Why this is so simple a 4 year old child could understand it. Quick, someone run out and get me a 4 year old child.
– Groucho Marx

If I went back to college again, I’d concentrate on two areas: learning to write and to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important that the ability to communicate effectively.
– President Gerald R. Ford

A speaker who is attempting to move people to thought or action must concern himself with Pathos (i.e., their emotion.)
– Aristotle

The power of the VISUAL: Consider the safety instructions sheet found on every airplane. This serves as a excellent example of the power of the visual over the written. Why? Overcomes language barriers, catches your attention, more info in shorter amount of time, get a “gestalt” viewpoint, easier to remember. Use VISUALS to capture the attention and retention of YOUR audiences.

Keep it SIMPLENumber of WordsGettysburg Address272
Bag of Lay’s Potato Chips401
IRS Form 1040EZ418
Average USA-Today cover story1,200

Never speak more clearly than you think.
– Jeremy Bernstein

INTIMIDATION: A survivor of the Jamestown flood finally died and arrived in heaven. He asks Peter if he can give a speech regarding his experiences and how he managed to survive. Just before he gives his speech, Peter says “Oh, by the way, just one small thing you might be interested in knowing – Noah is in the audience.”

ORATORY: The art of making deep noises from the chest sound like important messages from the brain.

JUST FOR SPEAKERS: (Try using these statements when appropriate!)
• These handouts may not make much sense at first, but you’ll discover that they’re very handy to doodle on when I get real boring!
• This lighting really plays tricks on your eyes. I’m actually a lot more handsome and skinnier than I look!
• That’s a very good question. See me during the break, and I’ll avoid answering it then, too!
• Don’t be embarrassed to ask even the simplest, most basic question – after all, those are the only ones I’ll be able to answer!
• Some of you in the rear may not be able to hear me. Those of you in the front may want to go back and join them.
• I’m not being paid to speak with you tonight. So that, right of the bat, blows my credibility.
• Before I begin, those of you with cellular phones may want to arrange for a wake-up call.
• People always feel optimistic about listening to me. They figure the next speaker can’t possibly be as bad!

NERVOUSNESS: Nothing wrong with having butterflies; but you want to have them fly in formation. Harnest your nervousness, make it work FOR you instead of AGAINST you. If you don’t have any nervousness, you’re not going to do a good job.

SEMINAR OPENER: The following quiz can be used as an ice-breaker at the beginning of a seminar. We are going to take a brief quiz designed to assess the type of audience we have here today. This quiz is based upon your individual preference for one of four symbols. The four symbols are: (Draw CIRCLE, TRIANGLE, “Z” and SQUARE) These symbols represent basic differences in personality traits. Which one appeals to you the most? (Think about it for a minute) How many thought the SQUARE best represented them? (write number down, then inform group it represents INTELLIGENCE) Then proceed with: “Z” – CREATIVITY, TRIANGLE- LEADERSHIP, CIRCLE – SEX & BOOZE. Follow with some apropos comments regarding the group!

Public Speaking IMPACT is based 55% on VISUAL (how you look when you say it), 38% on VOCAL (how you say it) and 7% on VERBAL (what you say). To illustrate the impact of the VISUAL, pick a few pictures from a recent issue of a magazine, describe them (ad for hotel, car etc.) one at a time, then show picture to audience. If a picture does that, what would a REAL LIVE DEMONSTRATION do? (an actual tour of a hotel, sit in a new car, etc.)

Tips on SPONTANEOUS SPEAKING:
Don’t get unnerved.
Take a few deep breaths.
Compose self/thoughts.
Discuss only 2-3 key points (don’t give an A-Z).
Stick to one subject.
Close firmly.
Don’t ramble on.

8 GREATEST SPEECH BLUNDERS:
1. Dullness itself: Relying on only one or two illustrations to make your points. (Use salient statistics … timely quotes … appropriate examples … personal stories to help visualize and remember)
2. NOT repeating your message enough. (Repetition is crucial to retention. Half an hour after a presentation, the average listener has already forgotten 40 percent of what was said. By the end of the week, 90 percent is usually forgotten. The more you repeat and illustration your message, the more retention you’ll get.)
3. NOT answering the audience’s most major question, “What’s in it for me?”
4. Burying your point. (Use signal phrases such as “What’s important here,” or “This can’t be overemphasized” to focus people’s attention on the most important parts of your speech.)
5. Forgetting to practice (and time) your speech out loud.
6. Forgetting to check visual aids for readability.
7. Answering hypothetical questions after the speech. (Turn the question back to reality by saying “Based on these facts and the existing situation, this is how I would handle the situation” or ask others in the audience for how they would handle.)
8. Getting distracted before you speak. (Always take 5 minutes or more to collect your thoughts, focus on your message and breathe before stepping up to the lectern.)

Roger’s Rules for SUCCESS (Book by H.C. Rogers):
The process of successful communication breaks down into 3 parts:
1. Know yourself
2. Know your objective and the major points of your message
3. Know your audience and speak to the individual (even in large groups)
Consider: Timing, Listening & Sensitivity

Woodrow Wilson was once asked how long it would take him to prepare for a 10 minute speech. He replied “Two weeks”. He was then asked how long it would take for a 1 hour speech. “One week”, he replied. 2 hour speech? “I’m ready right now,” he replied. (It’s easy to fill in time with “fat”. It’s much more difficult and takes more advance preparation to succinctly trim the fat and deliver the “lean”.)

What is the amateur speaker’s number one mistake? Looking away from the audience to read from slides or visual aids. Use a script or cue cards instead, or look at the original on the overhead projector while facing the audience.

THINK before you SPEAK.

It isn’t HOW MUCH you say, but WHAT you say, HOW you say it and WHEN you say it.

When in DOUBT, say NOTHING.

Audience Involvement Techniques:
STYLE: Drama, Eye Communication, Movement, Use of Visuals
INTERACTION: Questioning, Demonstrations, Gimmicks
CONTENT: Interest, Humor

End of Quotes on “Public Speaking”

————————————————————————
Risk
(See also Creativity, Failure and Paradigms)

————————————————————————

Excellence can be attained if you:
– Care more than others think is wise
– Risk more than others think is safe
– Dream more than others think is practical
– Expect more than others think is possible

What I admire in Columbus is not his discovery of a world but his having gone in search on the faith of an opinion.
– A. Robert Turgot

People wish to learn to swim and at the same time keep one foot on the ground.
– Marcel Proust

You fought the good fight. You were in it right up to the beginning.
– Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior

Be a risk taker when it comes to trusting others.
– James Kouzes & Barry Posner

Winners win and lose more frequently than losers because they stay in the game.
– Terry Paulson

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face . . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
– Eleanor Roosevelt

Our senior managers try to be explicit about our vulnerability and failings. We talk to people about the bad decisions we’ve made. It demystifies senior management and remove the stigma traditionally associated with taking risks. We also talk about the limitations of our knowledge, mostly by inviting other people’s perspectives.
– Robert D. Haas, CEO of Levi Strauss & Co.

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
– Robert F. Kennedy

Don’t fall victim to what I call the “ready-aim-aim-aim-aim” syndrome. You must be willing to fire.
– General George S. Patton, Jr.

Behold the turtle! He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.
– James B. Conant

The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse.
– Helen Keller

The country needs bold persistent experimentation. Take a method and try it; it if fails, admit it, and try another. But above all, try something.
– FDR, 1932

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly!
– Ralph Stayer

You don’t have to be a rogue interpersonally to be a risk taker.
– Doug Smith

The risk of losing is part of winning, but never losing means never getting what we want.
– John Roger & Peter McWilliams

You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

Nothing would be done at all if a man waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault with it.
– John Roger & Peter McWilliams

Better it is to TRY and FAIL than to FAIL by not TRYING.

Opportunity is ever worth expecting; let your hook be ever hanging ready, the fish will be in the pool where you least imagine it to be.

Take risks. You can’t fall off the bottom.

Build it and they will come!
– Field of Dreams

Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb … that’s where the fruit is.

Don’t wait for your ship to come in … swim out to it.

A mistake at least proves that somebody stopped talking long enough to DO something.

What kind of man would live where there is no daring? I don’t believe in taking foolish chances but nothing can be accomplished without taking any chance at all.
– Charles Lindbergh

Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.
– Aryn Rand

The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them.

A ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.

Persistence is what makes the impossible possible, the possible likely, and the likely definite.

Every time we’ve moved ahead in IBM, it was because someone was willing to take a chance, put his head on the block, and try something new.
– T. J. Watson, Jr.

You’ve got to jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down.
– Ray Bradbury

Don’t listen to those who say, ‘You’re taking too big a chance.’ Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor, and it would surely be rubbed out by today. Most important, don’t listen when the little voice of fear inside you rears its ugly head and says. ‘They’re all smarter than you out there. They’re more talented, they’re taller, blonder, prettier, luckier, and they have connections. I firmly believe that if you follow a path that interests you, not to the exclusion of love, sensitivity, and cooperation with others, but with the strength of conviction that you can move others by your own efforts, and do not make success or failure the criteria by which you live, the chances are you’ll be a person worthy of your own respects.
– Neil Simon

Remember the turtle – He never makes any progress till he sticks his neck out.

Of course we all have our limits, but how can you possibly find your boundaries unless you explore as far and as wide as you possibly can? I would rather fail in an attempt at something new and uncharted than safely succeed in a repeat of something I have done.
– A.E. Hotchner

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
– Albert Einstein

You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere.
– Charles Kettering

The good thing about being young is that you are not experienced enough to know you cannot possibly do the things you are doing.

I am convinced that one of the biggest factors in success is the courage to undertake something.
– James A. Worsham

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
– Niccolo Machiavelli

Do you see difficulties in very opportunity or opportunities in every difficulty?

Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
– Edison (He tried 10,000 different materials for the light bulb)

Do Something,
If It Works,
Do More Of It
If It Doesn’t,
Do Something Else.
– FDR

We are only born with two fears: loud noises and falling. All others are LEARNED.

The way to SUCCEED is to double your FAILURE rate.
– T.J.Watson, Sr.

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.
– Babe Ruth

MISTAKES are the stepping stones that lead to future accomplishments.

Do you have days when everything seems to go wrong? Well, when you read what happened some years ago to a man in Barbados perhaps your problems will not seems so bad at all. His letter to his employers explained what happened when he went to repair a building damaged by a hurricane:
“I rigged up a beam with a pulley at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple of barrels full of bricks. When I had fixed the building, there was a lot of bricks left over. I hoisted the barrel back up again and secured the line at the bottom, and then went up and filled the barrel with extra bricks. Then I went to the bottom and cast off the line. Unfortunately, the barrel of bricks was heavier than I was and before I knew what was happening the barrel started down, jerking me off the ground. I decided to hang on and halfway up I met the barrel coming down and received a severe blow on the shoulder. I then continued to the top, banging my head against the beam and getting my finger jammed in the pulley. When the barrel hit the ground it burst its bottom; allowing all the bricks to spill out. I was now heavier than the barrel and so started down again at high speed. Halfway down, I met the barrel coming up and received severe injuries to my shins. When I hit the ground I landed on the bricks, getting several painful cuts from the sharp edges. At this point I must have lost my presence of mind, because I let go the line. The barrel then came down giving me another heavy blow on the head and putting me in the hospital. I respectfully request sick leave.”

You miss a 100% of the shots you never take!

Some days you’re the bug. Some days you’re the windshield.

End of Quotes on “Risk”

————————————————————————
Self-Esteem

————————————————————————

Guilt is the only emotion that we teach.

Be Yourself.
– Bobby Ross, Coach, Lions

Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.
– Malcom Forbes

Occasionally, it’s a good idea to blow your own horn. Otherwise, someone else may start using it as a spittoon!

Self-esteem Test:
What do you see first in the following letters: (There are 2 answers)
IAMNOWHERE

The most important thought you can ever hold is: Your life matters.
– David McNally

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances – to choose one’s own way.
– Victor Frankl

No one can make me feel inferior but myself.
– Eleanor Roosevelt

Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life – there, if one must speak out, the real man.
– Marcus Aurelius

Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.
– Janis Joplin

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.

Deficiency motivation doesn’t work. It will lead to a life-long pursuit of “Try to fix me.” Learn to appreciate what you have and where and who you are.
– Wayne Dyer

90% of who you are you can’t touch, feel or smell.

If I am what I have
And if I lose what I have
Who then am I?
– Eric Fromm

What comes out of you when you are squeezed is what is inside of you.
– Wayne Dyer

Some people who think that everything is a nail, are down on themselves because they are not a hammer. They tend to deprecate their own unique talents and capacities to use a chisel or a pair of pliers.

Self-worth comes from one thing – thinking that you are worthy.
– Wayne Dyer

The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique.
– Walt Disney

When the fight begins within himself, a man’s worth something.
– Robert Browning

If you have your sight, you are blessed. If you have insight, you are a thousand times blessed.

In times of storm, the shallowness of the root structure is revealed.

SELF-ESTEEM: Jesuit priests rated themselves in the top 2% of performers of all Jesuit priests. Physicians rated themselves in the top 1% of performers of all physicians.

End of Quotes on “Self-Esteem”

————————————————————————
Self-Improvement

————————————————————————

High expectations are the key to everything.
– Sam Walton

If you don’t have enthusiasm, you don’t have anything.
– Kemmons Wilson, Sr., Founder of Holiday Inns

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.
– Woodrow Wilson

The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.
– John Rushkin

No one, not even you, gives one hundred-percent perfect performance every time. The business world belongs to the quick and the bold…not the perfect. It’s the struggle towards perfection that counts.
– Richard S. Sloma

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
– Aristotle

To be pleased with one’s limits is a wretched state.
– Goethe

Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change, windows on the world, “lighthouses” (as a poet said) “erect in the sea of time.” They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print.
– Barbara W. Tuchman

The mountain of life must have a peak, but only for those that believe that there are not more accomplishments to achieve.

Never be satisified because improvement is always possible!

Chase your passion, not your pension.

Your expected gains from any learning experience are directly proportionate to what you put into it.

A man is known by the skill he keeps.
– DR

The biggest career challenge you face today is not the competition, it’s yourself!

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?
– Rabbi Hillel

You are either green and growing or ripe and rotting.

Many people go through life doing the same things over and over but expecting different results.

Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself.
– Elie Wiesel

I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.
– Abraham Lincoln

The important thing in the Olympic games is not to win but to take part.
The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.
The essential thing is not that we have conquered but that we have fought well.
– Baron De Coubertin

Knowing others leads to wisdom; Knowing the self leads to Enlightenment.
Mastering others requires force; Mastering the self calls for inner strength.
– Lao-tzu

The biggest room in the house is the room for improvement.

I discovered you never know yourself until you’re tested and that you don’t even know you’re being tested until afterwards, and that in fact there isn’t anyone giving the test except yourself.
– Marilyn French

Our strength is that we don’t have any weaknesses.
Our weakness is that we don’t have any real strengths.
– Frank Broyles, University of Arkansas football team on the team’s prospects

The word “career” comes from the French word carriere, which originally meant “a racing course” and is related to the word “careen.” As a verb, it means “to move at full speed.”

We’ve been working on the basics because, basically, we’ve been having trouble with the basics.
– Bob Ojeda, L.A. Dodgers pitcher

A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time.
– Mark Twain

The most important relationship in your life — the one you’ll have, like it or not, until the day you die — is with yourself.
– John Roger & Peter McWilliams

No one can predict to what heights you can soar. Even you will not know until you spread your wings.

Most people add a silent, unconsious modifying phrase to all their commitments — ‘as long as it’s not uncomfortable.
– John Roger & Peter McWilliams

We must learn to tolerate discomfort in order to grow.
– John Roger & Peter McWilliams

If you want a quality, act as if you already had it.
– John Roger & Peter McWilliams

You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.
– Henry Ford

When people get in the habit of working on personal goals, they will automatically work on company goals.
– Danny Cox

You’ll never ruin your eyes by looking on the bright side.

Most folks don’t know what they want, but they’re pretty sure they don’t have it.
– Alfred E. Newman

It is not the circumstances, but what we think about them that determines our experience.
– Robert Kausen

If you wish to astonish the whole world, tell the simple truth.
– Rahel

The only person who needs to defend is the one who feels threatened.
– Dr. Lewis Losoncy

We must always be reaching toward our potential, not just our goals.

When you are too busy for friends, you are too busy.

Keep your words soft and tender because tomorrow you may have to eat them.

To change the situation, we have to first change ourselves. To change ourselves effectively, we have to first change our perceptions.

Don’t get sunburned basking in the sunshine of your success.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
– Dolly Parton

Though they sound simple, the basic steps to knowing yourself are tough: Seek out feedback from others, reflect on what you’re doing (especially when things go wrong), be honest with yourself about yourself, and don’t let success go to your head.

I am no longer what I was. I will remain what I have become.
– Coco Chanel

A smile is contagious; start an epidemic.

We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.
– Anais Nin

You cannot consistently perform in a manner which is inconsistent with the way you see yourself.
– Zig Zigler

Improve your looks instantly — smile.

Don’t wait to have a good day. Make one.

When your head swells, your brain stops working.

She who can laugh at herself will never be without something to smile about.

If you can ‘t be the star, for goodness sakes, don’t be the cloud.

Without self-awareness, my defense mechanisms are likely to dominate my perceptions.
– Will Schutz

Life is an echo — what you send out comes back.

The truth will set you free… But first it might tee you off.

No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.
– Kenneth Blanchard

People with humility don’t think less of themselves…they just think about themselves less.
– Kenneth Blanchard

There is no right way to do a wrong thing.
– Kenneth Blanchard

Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
– Stephen Covey

People don’t care how much you know…until they know how much you care.

We may affirm absolutely that nothing great in the world is accomplished without passion.
– Georg Hegel

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes

Winners develop a habit of doing the things that losers don’t like to do.
– Ed Foreman

Life is for laughing, loving and living.
– Ed Foreman
No situation is so bad that losing your temper won’t make it worse.

Opportunities are never lost; someone will take the one you miss.

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
– John Wooden

You teach best that which you need most to learn.
– Richard Bach

Trying, even though you fail, breeds learning; wishing you had tried only breeds discontent.

Yesterday is experience. Tomorrow is hope.

Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lesson afterward.

I believe the overall quality of work improves when you give people a chance to fail.
– Jim Kouzes, Barry Posner

Success does not breed success. It breeds failure. It is failure which breed success.
– Jim Kouzes, Barry Posner

When you are clear about what you want to learn, you will find your teacher. The teacher is already there. The two of you will meet because you are looking for each other.
– W.A. Mathieu

Learning is a major problem for modern organizations. Few know how to capture the experience generated by all the ad hoc teams and networks that increasingly populate the world.
– Lipnack & Stamps

The greatest assets to constantly develop, preserve and enhance are your own capabilities.

If you want to live a long life, focus on making contributions.
– Selye

The greatest discovery of our generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.
– William James

Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life – there, if one must speak out, the real man.
– Marcus Aurelius

We shall not cease from exploring, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
– T.S. Elliot

I am convinced that one of the biggest factors in success is the courage to undertake something.
– James A. Worsham

Only so far as a man believes strongly, mightily, can he act cheerfully, or do anything that is worth doing.
– Frederick W. Robertson

Once an organization loses its spirit of pioneering and rests on its early work, its progress stops.
– Thomas J. Watson

We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.
– Peter Drucker

Learning is the ultimate freedom.

Patient, heal thyself!

The more clear you are on what you want, the more power you will have.

EMPOWERING INDEPENDENCEDEPENDENCEINDEPENDENCEPracticesPrinciplesSkillsParadigmMethodsPurposesTransactTeach
There are only two things you “HAVE TO” do in life. You “HAVE TO” die. You “HAVE TO” live until you die. You make up all the rest.

Sometimes you must do the thing you cannot do.

Some people drink deeply from the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
– adapted by Grant M. Bright

He is truly wise who gains wisdom from another’s mishap.

He who has imagination without learning has wings but no feet.

What we love we shall grow to resemble.
– Bernard of Clairvaux

The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.
– John Ruskin

The years teach us much the days never knew.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

The groundwork of all happiness is health.
– Leigh Hunt

An African farmer had heard tales about other farmers who had made millions of dollars by discovering diamond mines. These tales so excited the farmer that he could hardly wait to sell his farm and go prospecting for diamonds himself. So he sold the farm and spent the rest of his life wandering the African continent, searching unsuccessfully for the gleaming gems that brought such high prices on the markets of the world. Finally, broke and worn out and in a fit of despondency, he threw himself into a rive and drowned. Meanwhile, back at the farm, the man who had bought his farm happened to be crossing a small stream on the property one day when he saw something gleaming at the bottom of the stream. He picked it up. It was a sparkling stone – a good size stone – and, admiring it, he later put it on his fireplace mantel as an interesting curiosity. Several weeks later, a visitor admired the stone, looked closely at it, hefted it in his hand and nearly fainted. He asked the farmer if he knew what he’d found. When the farmer said no, that he thought it was just a piece of crystal, the visitor told him he had found one of the largest diamonds ever discovered. The farmer was astonished. He told the man that his creek was full of these brilliant stones, and his farmland was covered with them. Not all were as large, perhaps, as the one on his mantel, but they were sprinkled generously throughout his property. Needless to say, the farm the first farmer had sold, so that he could search for a diamond mine, turned out to be the most productive diamond mine on the entire African continent. The first farmer had owned, free and clear, acres of diamonds, but had sold them for practically nothing in order to look for them elsewhere. The moral is clear: If the first farmer had only taken the time to study and prepare himself – to learn what diamonds looked like in their rough state – and, since he had already owned a piece of land, to thoroughly explore the property he had before looking elsewhere, his wildest dreams would have come true. EACH OF US IS, AT THIS MOMENT, STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS OR HER OWN ACRE OF DIAMONDS. If each of us will only have the wisdom and patience to begin by exploring ourselves, we will find that we contain all the riches necessary to be able to succeed in whatever endeavors to which we may set our minds and hearts. – A true story, originally told by Dr. Russell Herman Conwell, b. 1843, has been repeated by Earl Nightingale

Plant a thought, reap an act.
Plant an act, reap a habit.
Plant a habit, reap a character.
Plant a character, reap a destiny.

Commencement address by Sir Winston Churchill at a graduation ceremony: “Never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never.” – this was his entire speech.

The word question is derived from the Latin quaerere (to seek) which is the same root as the word for quest. A creative life is a continued quest, and good questions can be very useful guides. Most useful are open-ended questions; they allow for fresh unanticipated answers to reveal themselves.

All of life is an obstacle course, with ourselves as the chief obstacle.

KEEP YOUR SENSES ABOUT YOU! Helen Keller remembers talking to a friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods. When she asked her friend what she had observed, her friend replied, “Nothing in particular.” “I wondered how that was possible,” Helen said, “to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing of note. I who cannot see find hundreds of things: the delicate symmetry of a leaf, the smooth skin of a silver birch, the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. I who am blind can give one hint to those who see: use your eyes as if tomorrow you will have been stricken blind. Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never taste or smell again. Make the most of every sense. Glory in all the facets and pleasures and beauty which the world reveals to you.”

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.
– Henry David Thoreau

What are you doing with the handful of years you possess between the great bookends of mystery?

The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.
– Dr. Adolf Berle

The powerful play goes on – and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

If you try to get everything out of life, you may wind up with nothing.

Everyone and everything around you is your teacher.
– Ken Keyes, Jr.

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
– John Wooden

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.
– Henry David Thoreau

A young girl visited a farm one day and wanted to buy a large watermelon. “That’s three dollars,” said the farmer. “I’ve only got 30 cents,” said the young girl. The farmer pointed to a very small watermelon in the field and said, “How about that one?” “Okay, I’ll take it,” said the little girl. “But leave it on the vine. I’ll be back for it in a month!” Do you take the time to invest in your future? Spend a little time learning each day and you will reap big rewards in the future.

If you rest, you rust.

He who knows only his own generation remains forever a child.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes

Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.
– A. Huxley

The TRUTH: It may not lead you to where you thought you were going, but it will always lead you somewhere better. When ignored, it will eventually show itself. The closeness of your relationships is directly proportional to the degree to which you have revealed the truth about yourself. It can be painful.

What’s terrible is to pretend that the second-rate is first-rate, that you don’t need love when you do or that you like your work when you know quite well you’re capable of better.
– Doris Lessing

If you deliberately plan to be less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you will be deeply unhappy for the rest of your life.
– Abraham Maslow

Demons in our lives and be angels that we haven’t faced yet. They can lead you to discover new things about yourself and pave the way for greater personal growth.

We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.
– Benjamin Franklin

The potential possibilities of any child are the most intriguing and stimulating in all creation.
– Ray L. Wilbur

The child is the father of the man.
– William Wordsworth

I’ve never met a person, I don’t care what his condition, in whom I could not see possibilities. I don’t care how much a man may consider himself a failure, I believe in him, for he can change the thing that is wrong in his life any time he is ready and prepared to do it. Whenever he develops the desire, he can take away from his life the thing that is defeating it. The capacity for reformation and change lies within.
– Preston Bradley

The illiterate of the future are not those that cannot read or write. They are those that can not learn, unlearn, relearn.
– Alvin Toffler

It takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project.
– Napoleon Hill

POEM FOR EVERYMAN I will present you
parts
of
my
self
slowly
if you are patient and tender.
I will open drawers
that mostly stay closed
and bring out places and people and things
sounds and smells, loves and frustrations, hopes
and sadnesses,
bits and pieces of decades of my life
that have been grabbed off
in chunks
and found lying in my hands.
they have eaten
their way into my memory,
carved their way into
my heart.
altogether-you or i will never see them-
they are me.
if you regard them lightly,
deny that they are important
or worse, judge them
i will quietly, slowly,
begin to wrap them up,
in small pieces of velvet,
like worn silver and gold jewelry,
tuck them away
in a small wooden chest of drawers
and close.
– from How Do You Feel? by John Thomas Wood

If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain.
If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees.
If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.
– old Chinese proverb

I tell you that as long as I can conceive something better than myself I cannot be easy unless I am striving to bring it in to existence or clearing the way for it.
– George Bernard Shaw

People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy after.
– Oliver Goldsmith

Even the best lumberjack in the forest has to sharpen his ax occasionally.

The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.
– Eleanor Roosevelt

End of Quotes on “Self-Improvement”

————————————————————————
Stress

————————————————————————

A diamond is a chunk of coal that made good under pressure.

The trouble with life in the fast lane is that you get to the other end in an awful hurry.
– John Jensen

Death is nature’s way of saying “Slow down!”

Make your vocation your vacation.

I have a toy box with an assortment of energy toys in my office – a bola paddle (paddle with ball on a rubber string), a dart board, sunglasses with pop-out eyes, and a kazoo. Whenever I finish with a frustrating meeting or situation, I close my door and get out that paddle to relieve stress and recover my energy.
– Patsy Fulton

(Other possible contents for your “toy box”: clown nose (try putting on one of these the next time someone yells at you – the effect may turn out to be more of an adjustment for the other party than for you!); bubble blower; silly putty; juggling balls; special momentos from past vacations (a piece of shell that you picked up on that beach in the Caribbean, a small rock from that hike in the Grand Canyon (oops – probably a national park violation!), that piece of volcanic rock from the big island of Hawaii, etc.); a transformer (no, not something that connects to a model railroad – ask your kid.)
– Grant M. Bright

When bad things happen to you, use the Ready, SET, Go approach:
S – See it as temporary (will this be a big deal 10 years from now?)
E – Externalize (step back and see the big picture; don’t take it personally)
T – Take action (make plan/formula for correction, focus on things you can control)
This will generate a positive frame of mind that is future oriented.

When my work pile is getting deeper that I can handle or want to handle, I’ll let myself get lost in my picture of West Texas bluebonnets on the wall.
– C. R. Oliver, President, Hydrocarbon Sector, Fluor Daniel, Inc.

50-70 % of medical complaints contain some element of stress. Top 3 drugs: Valium; Tagament (ulcers); Interall (heart control) You can’t function under a heavy load all the time. Imagine making a tight fist and holding it for 20 years! Just as you rotate tires so that they wear evenly, so you need to rotate or balance your activities in life.
– Dr. Peter Atarian (1988)

He who laughs, lasts.

What comes out of you when you are squeezed is what is inside of you.
– Wayne Dyer

If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.
– Lin Yutang

When facing a stressful situation, the amount of stress you will feel is inversely proportional to the amount of information you can get.

The other day I got out my can-opener and was opening a can of worms when I thought, “What am I doing?!”
– Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts, Saturday Night Live

How NOT to cope with CHANGE reduce your STRESS levels:
1. Expect someone else to reduce your stress
2. Decide not to change
3. Act like a victim
4. Try to play a new game using the old rules
5. Try to provide a totally stress-free life environment
6. Try to control the uncontrollable
7. Choose your own pace of change
8. Fail to abandon the expendable
9. Slow down
10. Be afraid of the future
11. Pick the wrong battles
12. Try to psychologically unplug from disagreeable situations
13. Avoid anything new
14. Work on eliminating uncertainty and instability
15. Assume it is the responsibility of others to keep you “comfortable”
– modified from “The Stress of Organizational Change” by Pritchett & Pound

15 Steps to Lower Stress:
1. Invest 30 minutes in vigorous exercise 3 to 5 times a week
2. Learn relaxation techniques
3. Cut down on caffeine
4. Eat right
5. Meditate
6. Develop better time management habits
7. Play
8. Get plenty of sleep
9. Smile more. Laugh. Use humor to lighten your emotional load.
10. Count your blessings – daily
11. Say nice things when you talk to yourself
12. Simplify
13. Set personal goals. Develop a sense of purpose.
14. Forgive
15. Practice optimism and positive expectancy
– modified from “The Stress of Organizational Change” by Pritchett & Pound

Don’t count on anybody else coming along to relieve your stress. Put yourself in charge of managing the pressure. You are probably the only one who will, or even can, do much to lighten your psychological load.

In one of our concert pianos, 243 taut strings exert a pull of 40,000 pounds on an iron frame. It is proof that out of great tension may come great harmony.
– Theodore Steinway, Pres Steinway & Sons

Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

Its always easier to ride the horse in the direction that it’s going.

End of Quotes on “Stress”

————————————————————————
Success

————————————————————————

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
– Vince Lombardi

I have learned this at least by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in the common hours.

– Henry David Thoreau

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in an individual’s determination.
– Tommy Lasorda

Success is more attitude than aptitude.

Success is never final.
– Bill Parcells, Coach, Jets

The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
– Chinese Proverb

Success and failure. We think of them as opposites, but they’re really not. They’re companions – the hero and the sidekick.
– Lawrence Shames

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.
– Vidal Sassoon

Genius begins great works, labor alone finishes them.
– Joseph Joubert

The game of life is not so much in holding a good hand as playing a poor hand well.
– H.T. Leslie

Those with a job survived the Great Depression. Those with a craft succeeded.

Success is a matter of luck. Ask any failure.

Some people focus on what they’re going through; champions focus on what they are going to.

You may be capable of great things,
But life consists of small things.
– Deng Ming-Dao

The height of great men reached and kept was not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great.
– Mark Twain

One may conquer the highest mountain one step at a time.

Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.

– George Halas

There is no success without hardship.
– Sophocles

Everyone has a fair turn to be as great as he pleases.
– Jeremy Collier

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
– William Feather

Mistakes are the stepping stones to success.
– Charles E. Popplestone

Excellence is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, determined effort, and skilled execution.

Most look up and admire the stars. A champion climbs a mountain an grabs one.
– H. Jackson Brown

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.
– Francis Bacon

It is the last step in a race that counts. It is the last stroke on the nail that counts. Many a prize has been lost just when it was ready to be plucked.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.
– Ecclesiastes 9:10

Success is the peace of mind that comes when you know you have given everything you have to give to the opportunities that life has presented you.
– Don Shula

Bill Gates’ Success Factors for Microsoft:
1. Long-term Approach
2. Passion for Products and Technology
3. Teamwork
4. Results
5. Customer Feedback
6. Individual Excellence
Note: 1 & 4; 2 & 5; 3 & 6; should work to balance each other

Three definitions of SUCCESS:
1. Whatever makes you feel happy and fulfilled. (Many famous stars such as Elvis Presley were not successful under this definition and by their own admission)
2. How well you are doing compared with your own best-self (NOT others)
3. Steadily moving towards worthwhile predetermined goals

Many people have climbed to the top rung of the ladder of what they thought was “success” only to find out that it was leaning against the wrong wall.

Mistakes are oft the stepping stones to success.

Winners never quit. Quitters never win.

Some succeed because they were destined to, but most succeed because they were determined to.

The distance between success and failure can only be measured by one’s desire.

Success is the one unpardonable sin against one’s fellows.
– Ambrose Bierce

If you wish to succeed, consult three old people.

Every successful person has had failures but repeated failure is no guarantee of eventual success.

Be self-reliant and your success is assured.

Coming together is a beginning … keeping together is progress … working together is success.

Success is a ladder that cannot be climbed with you hands in your pockets.

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.
– Napoleon Hill

The biggest lie on the planet: “When I get what I want, I will be happy.”

Success isn’t how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.

Make SUCCESS part of the journey. Not the ultimate destination.

Success is not something you get out of what you do.
– Wayne Dyer

The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year.
– John Foster Dulles

Successful people are simply people who learn to solve their problems … they are not people without problems.

Self-actualized people are independent of the good opinion of others.
– Wayne Dyer

I believe there is one thing that all successful people have in common – and I’d sure like to know what it is!

Your successful past will block your visions of the future.
– Joel Barker

He had a lot of talent, but didn’t have much dedication, wasn’t organized, didn’t know how to learn, didn’t know how to comprehend what he was doing, didn’t try to learn how to get better.
– Jack Nicklaus on a golfer with a lot of talent who never “made” it

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

If at first you don’t succeed, you’re doing about average.

If at first you don’t succeed, try something else.

It is no use saying “We are doing our best.” You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.
– Winston Churchill

SUCCESS is a product of LUCK, VISION and COMMITMENT.
LUCK is the consistent ability to capitalize on events over which you have no control.
VISION is talented people thinking the unthinkable and attempting the impossible.
COMMITMENT is the willingness to pay the price necessary to cause luck and vision to happen.

To me a winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses those skills to accomplish his goals. Even when I lost, I learned what my weaknesses were, and I went out the next day to turn those weaknesses into strengths.
– Larry Bird

A magnifying glass, sun and a dry pile of leaves and easily be used to make a fire. However, if you keep the “hot spot” moving around, a fire will NEVER get started. Have to focus on ONE SPOT to start a fire. Many people spread their energies and efforts over so many things that they never really accomplish ANYTHING really important.

If you advance confidently in the direction of your own dreams, and endeavor to live the life which you have imagined, you will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
– Henry David Thoreau

How much we enjoy what we have is more important than how much we have. Life is full of people who have more than they know what to do with, but cannot be content. It is the capacity to enjoy life that brings contentment.

It has been said that good people usually come in last. Well, it may appear that they come in last, but it’s usually because they are running in a different race, a long term race that people who appear to come in first don’t appreciate nor understand.

The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.
– Theodore Roosevelt

Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.
– Conrad Hilton

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

80% of SUCCESS is showing up.
– Woody Allen

Many people define success in terms of the 3 “P”s: Possessions, Power, Position.
But does this definition of $ucce$$ really bring happiness? Can you be truly successful without satisfying your needs for happiness?

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.

To live your life in your own way, to reach for the goals you have set for yourself, to be the you that you want to be – THAT is SUCCESS.

I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!
– Theodore Roosevelt

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather the lack of will.

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.
– Henry David Thoreau

What are you doing with the handful of years you possess between the great bookends of mystery?

Some people dream of success … while others wake up and work hard at it.

Success is that old ABC: Ability, Breaks and Courage.
– Charles Luckman

Seven Basic Habits of Highly Effective People: (by Steven R. Covey)
1. Be Proactive
2. Begin with the End in Mind
3. Put First Things First
4. Think Win/Win
5. Seek First to Understand (Then Seek to Be Understood)
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the Saw (Self-Renewal)

SUCCESS is about going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
– Winston Churchill

Try not to become a success, but rather try to become a man of value.
– Albert Einstein

Five KEYS to Successful Living:
1. The capacity to LOVE (to give of yourself)
2. The capacity to LEARN
3. The capacity to LABOR (provides real rewards & satisfaction)
4. The capacity to LAUGH (at yourself & with others)
5. The capacity to LEAVE (the past and move to the future)
These may seem like rather simple qualities – they do, after all, exist to some degree in all of us. But it’s in applying them, in deepening and expanding them – that truly successful living occurs.
– Dr. Greiff, Harvard Business School

SUCCESS is the JOURNEY and not necessarily the DESTINATION.

If I am what I have
And if I lose what I have
Who then am I?
– Eric Fromm

The way to SUCCEED is to double your FAILURE rate.
– T.J.Watson, Sr.

Oh, trouble’s a ton, or a trouble’s an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it.
And it isn’t the fact that you’re hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it.
– Edmund Vance Cooke

In any situation, ask yourself: What strengths do I possess that can contribute towards accomplishing something in this situation? Then follow through.

End of Quotes on “Success”

————————————————————————
Teach/Teaching/Teacher

————————————————————————

To keep audience focus and attention during a presentation, do a “prize” give-a way every 20 minutes or so. Ask a review question on a pertinent point you recently made, first person with the correct answer gets the prize!

Your knowledge is a tool not a weapon…use it as a lever not a cane.

We become the best teacher by exposing what we most need to learn.

All of us have something to learn.
All of us have something to teach.

We are all part of a learning experience; we are all resources to others.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

At the end of each day, the average person can remember:
11% of what they heard that day
30% of what they saw
50% of what they heard and saw
90% of what they did
Adults learn best by doing.

Tell me and I’ll forget; Show me and I may remember; Involve me and I’ll understand.
– old Chinese Proverb (Probably derived from the following Confucius quote)

I hear and I think. I see and I remember. I do and I know.
– Confucius

Personally, I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
– Winston Churchill

Learning isn’t a means to an end; it is an end in itself.
– Robert A. Heinlein

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
– General George S. Patton

Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
– Malcom S. Forbes

Learning is the ultimate freedom.

Good Opening Exercise at beginning of a class: have 1/2 of class form a line on each side of room- place hands on person’s shoulders in front- massage- turn around, massage person behind you (demonstrates “experiential” learning and effective communications “little higher”, etc.!!)

We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.
– Peter Drucker (5-89)

Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for today. Teach a man how to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.

People learn best, not by being told, but by experiencing the consequences of their thoughts and actions.

An instructor should be an elicitor of relevant responses.

An instructor should not underestimate the value of up-front “disclaimers” before starting a class/course/seminar. For example “I know many of you are here simply to fill your requirements for management training. However, we might as well make this fun, etc.”

A good exercise at the end of a class/course/seminar, is to divide the class into 2 teams. Have them physically group together at opposite sides of the classroom. Ask 10 questions on the major content items of the course. Keep track on which group correctly calls out the answers to the most questions first. Be prepare to have a tie-breaker. Could use an independent judge to determine who was right/wrong. Offer a prize of some kind (the undying gratitude of the instructor, or some such).

Educational Philosophy:
I HEAR … I FORGET
I SEE …. I REMEMBER
I DO ….. I UNDERSTAND

At the beginning of a class/course/seminar, show a glass 1/2 full of water. Ask, now is this glass 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Shows tendency towards pessimism or optimism. Do you tend to concentrate on what’s there or what’s missing? As far as class is concerned, want to encourage students not to look for what is missing during the course but how what is being presented can be used and what needs it can fill.

Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education.
– Bertrand Russell

Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices.
– Laurence J. Peter

A teacher can never really TEACH unless he is still learning himself. A lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame.

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.

End of Quotes on “Teach/Teaching/Teacher”

————————————————————————
Teamwork

————————————————————————

Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.
– Henry Ford

The era of the rugged individual is giving way to the era of the team player.

Everyone is needed, but no one is necessary.
– Bruce Coslet, Coach, Bengals

E Pluribus Unum – From many, One

Conflict is inevitable in a team … in fact, to achieve synergistic solutions, a variety of ideas and approaches are needed. These are the ingredients for conflict.
– Susan Gerke, IBM, Leadership Development

Michael, if you can’t pass, you can’t play.
– Coach Dean Smith to Michael Jordan in his freshman year at UNC

Houston, we have a problem.
– James Lovell

We must all hang together,
or assuredly, we shall all hand separately.
– Benjamin Franklin

If I could solve all the problems myself, I would.
– Thomas Edison, when asked why he had a team of twenty-one assistants

Fourteen Impact Factors of Self-Directed Work Teams:
1. Self-interest
2. Belief in the team’s vision
3. Presence of leadership
4. Common values
5. Support and cooperation
6. Duty and responsibility
7. Challenge and opportunity
8. Shared goals
9. New member integration
10. Nonjudgmental attitude
11. Motivational atmosphere
12. Global perspective
13. Authenticity
14. Recognition

Geese thing (if not already in)

Just because we are all equal does not mean we are all the same.

The ratio of We’s to I’s is the best indicator of the development of a team.
– Lewis B. Ergen

What we want is performance…
What we ask for is teams…
What we get is confusion!
What we want is performance…
What we should ask for is performance…
What we will get is performance!

Synergy is the highest activity of life; it creates new untapped alternatives; it values and exploits the mental, emotional, and psychological differences between people.
– Stephen Covey

The key elements in the art of working together are how to deal with change, how to deal with conflict, and how to reach our potential…the needs of the team are best met when we meet the needs of individuals persons.
– Max DePree

A championship team is a team of champions.

Do you want a collection of brilliant minds or a brilliant collection of minds?
– R. Meredith Belbin

The path to greatness is along with others.
– Baltasar Gracion, Spanish Priest

Teamwork: Simply stated, it is less me and more we.

Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.

Teams share the burden and divide the grief.
– Doug Smith

Teams are successful when they are focused, have a short cycle time, and are supported by the executives.
– Tom Bouchard

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

The strength of the team is each individual member…the strength of each member is the team.
– Coach Phil Jackson – Chicago Bulls

A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of the others.
– Norman Shidle

You will be most effective when members can compliment each other without embarrassment and disagree without fear.

Effective teamwork will not take the place of knowing how to do the job or how to manage the work. Poor teamwork, however, can prevent effective final performance. And it can also prevent team members from gaining satisfaction in being a member of a team and the organization.
– Robert F. Bales

Teamplayer: One who unites others toward a shared destiny through sharing information and ideas, empowering others and developing trust.
– Dennis Kinlaw

Wearing the same shirts doesn’t make you a team
– Buchholz and Roth

Synergism is the simultaneous actions of separate entities which together have greater total effect than the sum of their individual effects.
– Buchholz and Roth

The goal is not to have a team, but to increase productivity and employee satisfaction.

Members of groups that do not meet regularly usually do not feel a strong sense of belonging and do not take ownership for the success of the group.

Gettin’ good players is easy. Gettin’ ’em to play together is the hard part.
– Casey Stengel

A demanding performance challenge tends to create a team.
– Katzenbach & Smith

The same dynamics that promote performance also support learning and behavioral change.
– Katzenbach & Smith

Overcoming barriers to performance is how groups become teams.
– Katzenbach & Smith

Teamwork represents a set of values that encourage behaviors such as listening and constructively responding to points of view expressed by others, giving others the benefit of the doubt, providing support to those who need it, and recognizing the interests and achievements of others.
– Katzenbach & Smith

Fun is only real and sustainable if it feeds off the team’s purpose and performance aspirations.
– Katzenbach & Smith

Real teams don’t emerge unless individuals on them take risks involving conflict, trust, interdependence and hard work.
– Katzenbach & Smith

Teamwork is the quintessential contradiction of a society grounded in individual achievement.
– Marvin Weisbord

Team members who feel threatened but who are not aware of it become rigid — and that stops teamwork.
– Will Schutz

A team is more than a collection of people. It is a process of give and take.
– Barbara Glacel & Emile Robert Jr.

Synergy — the bonus that is achieved when things work together harmoniously.
– Mark Twain

Teamwork is the lynchpin in our long term success.
– Ned Lautenbach

Teams are the means, not the end.

Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.
– Michael Jordan

None of us is as smart as all of us.
– Ken Blanchard

When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.
– Joe Paterno

A self-reinforcing upward spiral: performance stimulating pride stimulating performance.
– Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Without forgiveness, there can be no real freedom to act within a group.
– Max DePree

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.

If two people agree, one of them is unnecessary.

Work and self-worth are the two factors in pride that interact with each other and that tend to increase the strong sense of pride found in superior work teams. When people do something of obvious worth, they feel a strong sense of personal worth.
– Dennis Kinlaw

Working together works.
– Dr. Rob Gilbert

Either we’re pulling together or we’re pulling apart.

The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.

Coming together is a beginning
Staying together is progress
Working together is success
– Henry Ford

Teamwork is working together — even when apart.

A job worth doing is worth doing together.

Coming together, sharing together, working together, succeeding together.

A successful team beats with one heart.

Teamwork divides the task and doubles the success.

No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it.
– H.E. Luccock

Shared value is the unifying force of a team.

Teams are not ends in themselves; they are a means by which to achieve other organizational goals.
– Richard Wellins, William Byham, Jeanne Wilson

Teamwork doesn’t tolerate the inconvenience of distance.

Effective teamwork is all about making a good, well-balanced salad – not whipping individuals into a single batch of V8.
– Sandra Richardson, OD Consultant

To be a Most Valuable Player (MVP) on a team, you must have a Mission, a Vision, and a Passion.

Men have never been individually self-sufficient.
– Reinhold Niebuhr

SYMBIOSIS: Beneficial relationships can develop between very dissimilar things. Example: Lichen (pronounced “liken”) is actually a symbiotic community made up of fungus and algae which, in many environments, could not exist by themselves, but together are able to flourish. Very often, the blending of different (sometimes even opposing) ideas can result in very creative solutions. There is strength in diversity.

TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More

Good TEAMWORK is based on:
CLEAR GOALS & PRIORITIES
– which lead to:
CLEAR ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
– which lead to:
CLEAR PROCEDURES & PROCESSES
– which lead to:
GOOD INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Wild ducks make a lot of noise, but they also have the sense to benefit from occasionally flying in formation.

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.

Teamwork is the ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives.

A farmer who had a quarrelsome family called his sons and told them to lay a bunch of sticks before him. Then, after laying the sticks parallel to one another and binding them, he challenged his sons, one after one, to pick up the bundle and break it. They all tried, but in vain. Then, untying the bundle, he gave them the sticks to break one by one. This they did with the greatest ease. Then said the father, “Thus, my sons, as long as you remain united, you are a match for anything, but differ and separate, and you are undone.”
– Aesop

A successful team is a group of many hands but of one mind.

Skeptics on the new “team” work ethics will say:
TEAMWORK: another management fad that attempts to get employees to do more work without paying them for it
TEAM LEADER: the boss
TEAM MEMBERS: the people who carry out the boss’s orders
EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT/EMPOWERMENT: a technique that creates the illusion that management really cares about what I think
PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT: an opportunity to agree with what management has already decided
Be prepared for the SKEPTICS!!

It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.

There is no “I” in “TEAMWORK”.

Lucy to Linus (who is contentedly watching a TV show): “Change the channel!”
Linus: “Do what?”
Lucy: “CHANGE THE CHANNEL!!”
Linus: “What makes you think I should just respond like that?”
Lucy: (showing her hand) “You see this? These are just 5 little weak fingers. But when they are rolled together into something called a fist they become a weapon that is formidable to behold.”
Linus: (after contemplating Lucy’s fist, changing the channel and then looking at his own little fingers) “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”
When people come together for whatever reason the question that often surfaces as people try to work together is “Why can’t we get organized together? Why can’t we become something which although weak independently, becomes formidably strong when it’s put together?”

Most teams aren’t teams at all but merely collections of individual relationships with the boss. Each individual vying with the others for power, prestige and position.”
– Douglas McGregor

Example of Synergy: Blue circle overlapping with Yellow circle. The Green represents synergy. (Something new, but made up of the old)

As a team leader, create teams who: Care, Cooperate & are Committed.

Organization teams thrive on four types of team players: Contributors, Collaborators, Communicators, Challengers

I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity… to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that.
– Paul McCartney

TAKE FIVE LESSONS FROM THE GEESE AND WILD DUCKS:
1. As each goose flaps its wings, it creates a “uplift” for the birds following. By flying in a “V” formation the whole flock adds 71% more flying range than if each bird flew alone.
LESSON: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
2. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the birds immediately in front.
LESSON: If we have as much sense as a goose, we will join formation with those who are headed where we want to go.
3. When a lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position.
LESSON: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership – with people, as with geese interdependent with one another.
4. The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. LESSON: We need to make sure our honking from behind is encouraging – not something less helpful.
5. When a goose get sick, wounded or shot, two geese drop out of formation and follow their fellow member, to help and provide protection. They stay with this member of the flock until he or she either is able to fly again or dies. Then they launch out on their own, with another formation, or to catch up with their own flock.
LESSON: If we have as much sense as the geese, we’ll stand by one another like they do.

No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you.
– Althea Gibson

Ultimately the team must serve the needs of the individual.

When pulling a sled, unless you are the lead dog, all of the scenery looks the same.

We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.
– Benjamin Franklin

End of Quotes on “Teamwork”

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Technology

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The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.
– Albert Einstein , Out of My Later Years

I didn’t build it. I didn’t sell it to you. I didn’t break it. I’m just here to fix it.
– Johans Gustoff Wagner

Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all.
– John F. Kennedy

There is no mechanical problem so difficult that it cannot be solved by brute force and ignorance.

For half the people in the world, the nearest telephone is a two day walk away.

Two thirds of the earth’s population lives and dies without ever making or receiving a phone call.

1. They get hot when you turn them on, and that’s the only time you have their attention.

Humans ability to invent new things almost always exceeds their capacity to make them function correctly.

Technology does not drive change — it enables change.

You live in a deranged age, more deranged that usual, because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing.
– Walker Percy

Technological progress is like an ax in the hands of a pathological criminal.
– Albert Einstein

We must learn to balance the material wonders of technology with the spiritual demands of our human race.
– John Naisbitt

America has run the world for at least the past 50 years, and when you’re at the top that long, you forget what it’s like in the valley. There are 5+ billion people out there now who are willing to study harder, work harder for less money and be more industrious than we are. And we’re linked to them by technology. With telecommunicating, you can have your bookkeeping done in Madra, India, for less than it costs here. Today technology can replace whole new industries, so you have to stay flexible. To survive today, you have to be able to walk on quicksand and dance with electrons.
– Frank Ogden

The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.
– Sydney J. Harris

A lot of what appears to be progress is just so much technological roccoco.
– Bill Grey, Control Data

There will be a road.
It will not connect two points.
It will connect all points.
Its speed limit will be the speed of light.
It will not go from here to there.
There will be no more there.
We will all only be here.
– MCI TV commercial

The Ultimate Acronym:
ACRONYM: Automatic Computerized Reorganization Of Names Yielding Meaninglessness

In science, one can learn the most by studying what seems the least. Solomon said “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise.”

The most elegant computer programming language is the one that best matches the problem, the selected algorithm, and the programmer’s preferred methodology and style.

Given any controversial topic, any book about it that reaches the best-seller list is most likely wrong.
– Henry Palka of Hartford, Connecticut

AUTOMATION/MECHANIZATION: When an elderly woman was asked why she was standing in line to buy stamps from a teller when she could have used a stamp machine she replied: “The machine won’t ask me about my arthritis!”

Clarke’s Laws:
1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them to the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Clarke’s first law once was called just Clarke’s Law. Then the publisher of a translation called the second quote , Clarke’s Second Law. Clarke then called the third quote , Clarke’s Third Law and said if three laws was good enough for Newton then…….

Asimov’s Corollary (to Clarke’s First Law):
When the lay public rallies round an idea that is denounced by distinguished but elderly scientists, and supports that idea with great fervor and emotion– the distinguished but elderly scientists are then, after all, right.

NETWORKS: In the beginning of PCs people used “Sneaker-Net”. Carried diskettes to one another (using “sneakers”!)

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
– Arthur C. Clarke

Computers WORK, people THINK.
– Old IBM Adage

Illustrating the problems a computer would have in understanding the spoken word, consider the meaning of the following sentences:
I never slept with my wife before we got married. How about you?
She dropped the cup on the table and broke it.
He was at death’s door until the doctors pulled him through.
People can recognize friendship OR People can wreck a nice friendship.
Please write to Mrs. Wright right now.

End of Quotes on “Technology”

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Think/Thinking

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Brain teasers:
1. Add a line to make the following formula correct: 5 + 5 + 5 = 550
2. Fill in the last two missing letters of this sequence: O T T F F S S _ _
(Answers found at the end of this section)

It is easier to behave your way into a new way of thinking than it is to think your way into a new way of behaving.

When we stimulate our minds, we stimulate our souls.

You are not thinking, you are merely being logical.
– Neils Bohr to Einstein

The fact that logic cannot satisfy us awakens an almost insatiable hunger for the irrational.
– A. N. Wilson

I was a free thinker before I knew how to think.
– George Bernard Shaw

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.
– Confucius

An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows.
– Dwight D. Eisenhower

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.
– Albert Einstein

Action is the sequel to thought, not its precursor.
– Susan Gerke

Common sense is not a simple thing. Instead it is an immense society of hard-earned practical ideas – of multitudes of life-learned rules and exceptions, dispositions and tendencies, balances and checks.
– Marvin Minsky

Thoughts are mostly echoes of your past perceptions.
– Karl Albrecht

MIND: A mysterious form of matter secreted by the brain. Its chief activity consists in the endeavor to ascertain its own nature, the futility of the attempt being due to the fact that it has nothing but itself to know itself with.
– Ambrose Bierce

I can tolerate a mind that’s DUMB, but not one that’s just plain NUMB.

COMPUTERS WORK, PEOPLE THINK.
– Old IBM Adage

There is no singularly real world of thought; each mind evolves its own internal universe.
– Marvin Minsky

No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched.
– George Hean Nathan

We are least aware of what out minds do best.
– Marvin Minsky

The brain is as strong as its weakest think.
– Eleanor Doan

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
– William James

The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory.
– Paul Fix

I’d rather know some of the questions than all of the answers.
– James Thurber

I roamed the countryside searching for the answers to things I did not understand. Why shells existed on the tops of mountains along with the imprints of coral and plant and seaweed usually found in the sea. Why the thunder lasts a longer time than that which causes it and why immediately on its creation the lightening becomes visible to the eye while thunder requires time to travel. How the various circles of water form around the spot which has been struck by a stone and why a bird sustains itself in the air. These questions and other strange phenomena engaged my thought throughout my life.
– Leonardo da Vinci, Renaissance Man

The seven multiple intelligences:
1. Verbal – the ability to use words
2. Visual – the ability to see things in your mind
3. Physical – the ability to use your body well
4. Musical – the ability to understand and use music
5. Mathematical & Logical – the ability to apply logic to systems and numbers
6. Introspective – the ability to understand thoughts and feelings in yourself
7. Interpersonal – the ability to relate well to others
– Jim Cathcart

Brain: An apparatus with which we think that we think.
– Ambrose Bierce

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
– Albert Einstein

The number of synapses in the brain increase sharply from birth to about 2 years of age. At 2 the child possesses two times the number of synapses of the average adult. This could be compared to the sculptor who starts off with a large block of clay (more than needed) and then gradually removes clay that is not needed. So the mind of the child is equipped at age two with a very large potential. Latent skills, abilities and talents are ready and waiting to be developed. If not used, they will atrophy with age and will be more difficult to learn and develop later. This emphasizes the need to surround the child with a rich learning environment at an early age.

Some of the most crucial steps in mental growth are based not simply on acquiring new skills, but on acquiring new administrative ways to use what one already knows.
– Seymour Papert

Never speak more clearly than you think.
– Jeremy Bernstein

It has been the persuasion of an immense majority of human beings that sensibility and thought (as distinguished from matter) are, in their own nature, less susceptible of division and decay, and that, when the body is resolved into its elements, the principle which animated it will remain perpetual and unchanged. However, it is probable that what we call thought is not an actual being, but no more than the relation between certain parts of that infinitely varied mass, of which the rest of the universe is composed, and which ceases to exist as soon as those parts change their position with respect to each other.
– Percy Bysshe Shelley

Answers to brain teasers:
1. Change the first + sign to a 4. (There is also another solution – can you figure it out???)
2. This sequence of letters represents the first letters of “One, Two, Three, etc.” So the last two would be E and N for Eight and Nine.

End of Quotes on “Think/Thinking”

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Time Management

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If you wait, all that happens is you get older.
– Larry McMurtry

The surest way to be late is to have plenty of time.
– Leo Kennedy

One of the greatest labor-saving inventions of today is tomorrow.
– Vincent T. Foss

Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.
– Goethe

Nothing breeds inactivity like not knowing what you’re doing.
– Lester Bittle

Interruptions: The average worker gets interrupted five times each hour. It takes an average of 5 minutes to handle each interruption and 1 minute to get back to what you were doing. This adds up to 30 minutes each hour or 50% of your time!!

You’ve got to think about “big things” while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.
– Alvin Toffler

Many people assume that they can probably find many ways to save time. This is an incorrect assumption for it is only when you focus on spending time that you begin to use your time effectively.
– Merrill Douglass

Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed.
– Peter F. Drucker

TIME – Use It Or Lose It. Time, like a snowflake, disappears while we’re trying to decide what to do with it.

What comes first, the compass or the clock? Before one can truly “manage time” (the clock), it is important to know where you are going, what your priorities and goals are, in which direction you are headed (the compass). Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going.
Rather than always focusing on what’s urgent, learn to focus on what is really important.

It is always amazing how many of the things we do will never be missed. And nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.
– Peter F. Drucker

A magnifying glass, sun and a dry pile of leaves and easily be used to make a fire. However, if you keep the “hot stop” moving around, a fire will NEVER get started. Have to focus on ONE SPOT to start a fire. Many people spread their energies and efforts over so many things that they never really accomplish ANYTHING really important.

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles today Tomorrow will be dying.
– Robert Herrick

TIME MANAGEMENT:
Think of a big jar (represents time in a week).
Fill it with large rocks – is jar “full”? No
Fill it with pebbles – is jar “full”? No
Fill it with sand – is jar “full”? No
Fill it with water – is jar “full”? Yes
What is the proportion between rocks, pebbles, sand & water?
Who is in control of what goes in your jar?
Do you just wait for things to fall in? – or
Do you plan to make sure the important things (large rocks) get handled?

Why kill time when you can make it work for you.

You cannot kill time without injuring eternity.

Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
– Dale Carnegie

Simple gardening principle: Water what you want to grow. Assess your life. Are you really watering the important things? Some people plant seeds then water elsewhere. It’s not just “sowing.” You must also water what you sow if you truly want to reap the fruitage.

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.
– Benjamin Franklin

We all sorely complain of the shortness of time, and yet have much more than we know what to do with. Our lives are either spent in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we ought to do. We are always complaining that our days are few, and yet we act as though there would be no end to them.
– Seneca

“The Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chaplin. Good song for stressing the need to take time with your children.

Learn to pause…or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you.
– Doug King

What is the best use I can make of my TIME right now?

End of Quotes on “Time Management”

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Values

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How to be “Culture Smart”: (by Sondra Thiederman, “Getting Culture Smart”)
– Learn about differences
– Look for commonalties
– Avoid stereotypical thinking
– Know your own culture
– Communicate respect
– Empathize, don’t patronize
– Be your best self
– Trust your instincts
– Practice “personal correctness”
– Expect the best

Values are the gold that’s in each of us. They’re the real fortune of our organization.

Hold yourself responsible to a higher standard than anyone expects of you. Never excuse yourself.
– Henry Ward Beecher

The true purpose of our value statements is to guide both our behaviors and our decisions.

I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!
– Theodore Roosevelt

Our efforts to do a better job of living our values will undoubtedly come with flaws. But if we meet those flaws and occasional failures with both persistence and patience, we can unlock the fortunes that exist within our organizations.
– Eric Harvey & Alexander Lucia

It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time on acrimony and division.

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.
– Van Goethe

Values tend to whisper, whereas feelings and emotions tend to shout.

It’s not what you carry “on” you (techniques, gimmicks, etc.) It’s what you carry “within” you (principles, beliefs, values, etc.)

The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.
– William Safire

Never place loyalty to an institution above loyalty to yourself.

The life of a small group of people who live true to their convictions, does more and more certain good than all writings. Let us, therefore, young and old, direct all our actions as much as possible towards the realization of our convictions.
– Tolstoi

The more investment you have in your beliefs, the harder it is to change them.

The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.
– William James

It is easier to SAY what we believe than BE what we believe.

Strong beliefs win strong men and then make them stronger.
-Walter Bagehot
And as men become stronger, so do the organizations to which they belong.
– Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

If you want to live a long life, focus on making contributions.
– Selye

So never be afraid, never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion; against injustice, lying, and greed. If you will do this, not as a class or classes, but as individuals, men and women, you will change the earth.
– William Faulkner

What do we live for it if is not to make life less difficult for each other?
– George Eliot

John Steinbeck in his book “Of Mice and Men” pointed out the decline in moral values when one of his characters commented, “There’s nothing wrong anymore.”

The soil in return for her services keeps the tree tied to her, the sky asks nothing and leaves it free.

End of Quotes on “Values”

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Vision

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If you can’t imagine it, you can never do it. In my experience, the image always precedes the reality.
– Marilyn King, Two-time Olympic Pentathlete

The soul cannot think without a picture.
– Aristotle

Leaders are responsible for the creation of a vision, and the vision provides the basic energy source for moving the organization towards the future.
– “The Transformational Leader”, Tichy and Devanna

It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.

No dream is too old to redeem.
– Sharon Williams

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.
– Edgar Allan Poe

Nothing much happens without a dream. For something really great to happen, it takes a really great dream.
– Robert Greenleaf

Vision without action is meaningless.

An effective vision, like a good story, draws people in with sight, feelings, even taste and smell. These elements create ‘whole’ experiences rather than thoughts.
– Woodward & Buchholz

Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way and who will be sharing the adventure with them.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
– Eleanor Roosevelt

If you can dream it, you can do it.
– Walt Disney

No one can predict to what heights you can soar. Even you will not know until you spread your wings.

Vision animates, inspirits, transforms purpose into action.
– Warren Bennis

Have you ever noticed that the only ones who ever reach their dreams are those who have them!
– Dr. Lewis Losoncy

Never make the mistake of limiting the visions of your future by the narrow experience of your past.
– Dr. Lewis Losoncy

One person with a dream becomes a majority in any size group.
– Dr. Lewis Losoncy

The motivating team leader is that one person with a dream for the future.
– Dr. Losoncy

Great athletes train their minds as well as their bodies. There are various mental conditioning techniques many use when preparing for an event. Perhaps the best known technique is visualization, creating a mental image not only of the desired result (the gold medal, a new world record, a hole-in-one), but also of every move that will be taken en route to the ultimate goal.

I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp in-focus PICTURE of it in my head.
– Jack Nicklaus

Your successful past will block your visions of the future.
– Joel Barker

VISIONING: If you clearly and vividly IMAGINE yourself in the first person doing, being, having the things and qualities you truly want … then you will be using positive imagination to begin a change to fulfilling that image.

PRACTICE does NOT make perfect. However, actual practice combined with the practice of perfection in your imagination can lead to perfection.

VISION without ACTION is just a DREAM.

End of Quotes on “Vision”

Date:11/14/97 22:00:00

People change in 4 different seasons. When they hurt enough, they have to. When they see enough they are inspired to. When they learn enough, they want to. When they receive enough that they are able to.