Focus on Connecting Until Success

Black Beauty–The Black Stallion–Hidalgo–Seabiscuit and Young Black Stallion.

This was hit pretty well (understatement).

If you are unfamiliar with this book, go out and get a copy.

The Crab and her Mother

Said an old Crab to a young one, “Why do you walk so crooked, child? walk straight!” “Mother,” said the young Crab, “show me the way, will you? and when I see you taking a straight course, I will try and follow.”

Example is better than precept.

The law of nature leads us towards perfection and happiness.

Consider the following 4 concepts.

1. Nobody cares unless it makes them look bad

Most people will not pay close attention to comments, news articles or conversations that do not either directly or indirectly make them appear in a negative light.

2. Blame someone else

In a situation which could be deemed as one person’s fault, they will invariably try to blame somebody else. This could also relate to the metaphor “A bad workman blames his tools”. Very few people will immediately take the blame for their actions without first attempting to adhere to this ‘Law’. Those that don’t are usually trying to apply the fourth ‘Law’ of Human nature.

3. Humor is at somebody else’s expense

This is one of the more complicated laws, but has been genuinely proven. It means that something is only funny or humorous if it demeans, insults or otherwise humiliates, somebody else. When surveyed, 48 in 50 people claimed the funniest thing that they could remember was another person being hurt or insulted.

4. “Make to Break, Give to Take”

This is the last and most difficult to understand of the four ‘laws’. It is generally accepted that this law refers to “give and get” meaning that people are only willing to give something away when they think or intend to get something else in return. It is hard for most people to understand but, when logical and knowledgeable thought is applied, it can make perfect sense.

These laws are widely debated; it is difficult to truly confirm or disprove these ‘Laws’ completely. When striving for perfection and happiness, apply the four laws to your facts and play with them.

Conventional Wisdom is a term used to describe ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public or by experts in a field. If you look at the history of what we’ve believed to be “conventional wisdom”, one knows there is wisdom in attempting to express words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

Conventional wisdom is often seen as an obstacle to introducing new theories, explanations, and so as an obstacle that must be overcome by revision. In other words, when we receive new information that is contrary to our beliefs in present conventional wisdom, it may have a property that feels like inertia. This inertia may be due to ideas that are convenient, appealing and deeply assumed by the public, who hang on to them even as they grow outdated. The unavoidable outcome is these ideas will eventually not match reality at all, so conventional wisdom will be violently shaken.

Some examples of conventional wisdom are listed below. Some wisdom has been revised. Some has not. Action by the public and experts must be taken in order to change the status quo.

Conventional Wisdom (examples)

the world is flat
smoking is not harmful to health
People work better under pressure
With today’s technology, there’s no advantage to working in the same building (city, country, …)
We must lower costs because we can’t raise revenue
Numeric performance ratings are meaningful
Cubicles are cheaper than offices
This is a young person’s game
Only a seasoned veteran can handle this
People can’t manage others who are more experienced
We can get this done with 10% fewer people
We can save money by keeping our computers one more year
We can’t afford training
Contractors are the cheapest way to go. No, wait, outsourcing is.
People are most motivated by money
The most qualified person is someone who’s done it before
Adding features increases market share
Being first is more important than getting it right
We have to because customers are pressing us
Competition is the best way to stimulate creativity
If we add people (reduce requirements, increase the budget, announce it publicly) they’ll finish sooner
If we tell them they have to do it, they’ll find a way
If we tell them we can’t do it, we’ll be fired
We need the most modern technology

New ideas challenge, improve and revise conventional wisdom. Being open to new information will help us all get it right.

“Early in my career, I struggled with consistency, but I couldn’t get more consistent than this year.”

I don’t know the year Federer made the above quote but as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, we can all do more to absorb some aspect of his effortless balance.

Andy Roddick’s Two Handed Backhand in slow motion:

If you haven’t spoken to mom recently, send her this one:

The Ford Model T was made to handle any road. Watch the video below to appreciate the assembly production, style options and entertainment of the ride.

In the scene prior to this, many shots were fired. Who was counting?