We were down at the local supermarket today, and the guy behind the cash register was slouched in his chair like a rag doll, made no eye contact with customers, and had a vibe about him that said “I’d rather be anywhere else”. Normally, I’d be thinking along the lines of “indifferent asshole, why doesn’t he cheer up”, but suddenly it hit me: Maybe there’s a good reason he’s like that.
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Author: Alexander
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Exercise: Believe the best about people
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Exercise: See the stuff you like
Walking down the street, it’s easy to fall into the habit of noticing all the things you don’t like. The next time you’re out shopping, driving your car or just walking around somewhere, try this simple exercise to break the habit…
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Book review: Orbiting the giant hairball
Gordon Mackenzie spent 20 years working for Hallmark, and his experiences there have enabled him to write what he calls “a corporate fools guide to surviving with grace“. There’s no doubt that Gordon is a free spirit, and here he shares the mindset and that allowed him to survive and prosper in a large, conservative organization. That’s how he came up with the mental image of the corporate hairball – a disgusting but instructive metaphor…
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Politicians and morals
Thor Pedersen, the danish minister of finance, is accused of owning a farm without living on it, even though danish law requires him to. He is being attacked relentlessly by both the opposition and the media. He’s admitted to breaking the law, and promised not to do it anymore.
Thor Pedersens guilt or innocence aside, there’s one question you have to ask yourself.
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Online comic strip: Staggering heights
I’m an avid fan of online comics, from Dilbert to Doonesbury. But one of my favourites is a relatively unknown strip called “Staggering Heights“. It chronicles the lives and trials of a sleazy barfly named Jake, and a highly irregular cast of costars (my favourite is Murray – your average 300-pound truck driver turned woman).
The humour in the strip has both depth and variety, and the artwork is among the very best I’ve seen in any strip – online or offline.
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Book review: The Zen of Groups
This “Handbook on meeting people with a purpose” by Dale Hunter, Anne Bailey and Bill Taylor weighs in at a little under 200 pages, but it is packed with useful information. I bought it on amazon mainly because the title made me curious, and it was a quick and interesting read.
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Robinson and ads
You know guilty pleasures, right? How about guilty suffering? It’s not that you really like it, you just can’t resist it..?
That’s how I feel about the Robinson TV-show (“Survivor” in the US). But the shows undeniable entertainment value aside, one question keeps popping up.
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Book review: The fifth discipline
The fifth discipline by Peter M. Senge is one of those books that truly make a difference. It is referred to in many different contexts, and it played an important role in shaping the concepts of the learning organization.
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First entry
So it’s here. I wonder what it’ll be. Expect less – experience more.
