I don't know whether my life has been a success or a failure. But not having any anxiety about becoming one instead of the other, and just taking things as they come along, I've had a lot of extra time to enjoy life. - Harpo Marx
All posts by Alexander
Book review: The naked ape
The naked ape is a classic. It's about humans, but it's written by a zoologist, who treats us as just another type of ape.
The premise is this: If you took the skin of one of each species of primate and examined them closely, there's one that would stick out - the human. We're … Continue Reading ››
Book review: The art of systems thinking
Systems thinking is the key to understanding many of the problems that we face today as individuals and organizations. Peter Senge defined it as one of five key disciplines necessary to create a learning organization, but systems thinking is useful far beyond that.
This book, subtitled "Essential skills for creativity and problem solving", is … Continue Reading ››
Exercise
Check out this quote from an article in Fast Company:
A nine-month study of 80 executives found that those who worked out regularly improved their fitness by 22% and demonstrated a 70% improvement in their ability to make complex decisions as compared with non-exercisers.A couple of days ago, there was a doctor on TV talking … Continue Reading ››
Free books
A lot of people talk content. Baen are delivering, and have been for a couple of years. And oh yeah - successfully! Most of their books are available on paper or as ebooks, and in many cases you can read the first few chapters for free.
In the Baen Free Library you … Continue Reading ››
In the Baen Free Library you … Continue Reading ››
Quote
Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred. A … Continue Reading ››
Book review: Det gener
Tor Nørretranders has written an excellent book about generosity. It has gotten a decent amount of media exposure since it came out, mostly due to some (literally) sexy catchphrases.
But the book has merit far beyond easy catchphrases. Humans are generous, artistic, flamboyant, playful individualists. And what's more, we're the happiest when we can … Continue Reading ››
Infocom adventures
I used to love playing the Infocom adventure games on my Commodore 64. Yes, they had no graphics and no sound. But they did have excellent text and the cleverest, most infuriating puzzles. Also the games had an excellent parser, that could even understand input like "Put the x in the y using z" … Continue Reading ››
Appreciative Inquiry resource
I just stumbled on an article describing Appreciative Inquiry. It's an excellent intro from the author of "The thin book of appreciative inquiry".
There isn't much information on how to get started using AI, but the governing principles and values of AI are described. And most importantly, there's an actual case story … Continue Reading ››
There isn't much information on how to get started using AI, but the governing principles and values of AI are described. And most importantly, there's an actual case story … Continue Reading ››
Book review: Birth of the Chaordic Age
This is one of Dee Hock's favourite tricks to play on an audience. "How many of you recognize this?" he asks, holding out his own Visa card. Every hand in the room goes up. "Now," Hock says, "how many of you can tell me who owns it, where it's headquartered, how it's governed, or where … Continue Reading ››