Category: Society
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Revenge of the Tipping Point
As promised, here are some thoughts regarding Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, Revenge of the Tipping Point. Instead of updating his first book, The Tipping Point, Gladwell explores different questions with this sequel, twenty-five years later. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the book, as narrated by the author. (That’s why I provided the Audible link above.)…
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Software Consultants
Writing software is not easy. Getting a large group of software developers to write quality software together is particularly challenging. For this reason, many people have come up with ways to help groups of software engineers improve how they write software together. Software Consultants can also be process innovators. They advise teams to try new…
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Strong Hurricanes
As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida on the heels of Hurricane Helene, I’ve decided to look at the history of strong hurricanes in the United States since 1900. Here’s what I’ve found. Note: The following is based mostly on these sources: Reuters, USA Today, and NBC. While this is not an exhaustive list, it shows that…
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Better Relationships
Yesterday, I wondered if I had anything useful to say about improving how people work together. While this topic is worthy of consideration, it’s a secondary concern. The primary question on my mind is more about how any two people relate to each other. Sure, it matters how effectively we can work together. But we…
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Working Together
What’s needed for team members to work well together? Observations I could go on. I’ve worked on many teams, some much more effective than others. The best teams work in a state of flow. The team members inspire each other. They grow together. Leaders can help bring the right people together. They can set the…
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Access to Great Content
Reading or listening to good books is one of my favorite activities. Yesterday, Malcolm Gladwell’s Revenge of the Tipping Point was released on Audible. I started listening as soon as I could. If his first book, The Tipping Point, was about the phenomenon of social contagion, this book promises to be more about the causes…
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Meditations
I’ve read about a third of Meditations: A New Translation by Marcus Aurelius, updated by Gregory Hays. Based on how much Ryan Holiday has gushed about Meditations, I expected to be blown away. But so far, that hasn’t happened. I agree with Pierre Hadot that the entries seem like “spiritual exercises”. In his Introduction, Gregory…
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The Origins of Taste
As we bumble our way through childhood, we begin to notice some cool things that touch our hearts. I learned how to ride a bike, and this gave me access to a much larger world than my own backyard. I could ride to two different parks, my elementary school, and more. Along the way, I…
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People Are Weird
Everyone has their quirks. We each have our habits, mannerisms, attitudes, convictions, rehearsed actions, hang-ups, beliefs, hopes, and dreams. It takes time for you to get to know anyone else well enough that you begin to understand his or her specific weirdness. Even when you know people very well, you can still discover additional weirdness…
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Mississippi Burning
Sometimes I wonder how it’s possible for multi-generational conflicts to exist. Then, I remember watching the movie Mississippi Burning. I remember the scene that hit me like a sledge hammer when I first saw it, so many years ago. Here’s the trailer. The movie is a work of fiction inspired by true events that took…