My Ninja, Please! 4.11.11 : Human Capital
The capital that leaves in the elevator at night…please!
What are we really talking about here? Pencils? Paper? Toner? Oil? These are the kinds of things I picture when I hear the term resources. Things that are used up and/or thrown away when they are used up. Things that are both disposable and replaceable. Except, when I hear this term in organizations, they’re typically referring to people.
So if you’re using a term like "resources" to describe your people and if other things that are referred to as resources are disposable and replaceable, how might you treat your people? In what way does an organization that views their people as disposable "resources" behave? When we erect entire departments around managing our human "resources", how might that department view its role? As an organization, how much will you invest in training and learning for your disposable and replaceable "resources"? (Source)
Posted: April 11th, 2011
at 4:04pm by mnp
Categories: myninjaplease,life,development,trade
Comments: No comments
The Other Valuable Investments
Don’t have cash? Invest in time, resources and credibility.
So you have an idea, you are passionate about the concept, but you don’t have a lot of money. You may have seen the opportunity in your business dealings, or you are your target customer and have been seeking this very solution for a long time. Now what?
When most business people mention investors, they are typically referring to people with money. But in the case of the entrepreneur, there are many other ways that someone may invest in a company without a dime of capital.
Posted: April 11th, 2011
at 4:04pm by mnp
Categories: business,weaponry,entrepreneurship
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Mind Crunch 4.11.11 : The Entrepreneur vs. The Strategy Consultant
The Entrepreneur is very different from the typical McKinsey-esque strategy consultant. Both are extremely smart, driven, persistent, creative, and determined. But I have found that there are some major differences.
Posted: April 11th, 2011
at 11:05am by mnp
Categories: business,development,blogs,philosophy,entrepreneurship,mind crunch
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The Evolution (Death) of Software
Programming is deeply disappointing. We continually fail to live up to our own expectations, more so than any other form of engineering or craft. And it’s not getting much better. The lack of any substantial progress is the most disappointing thing of all. Worst of all: it is our own fault.
Most of the software and standards we use are deeply flawed. We all know it, but we accept it as a fact of life. I guess that at least half of programming effort is wasted by having to live with the accumulation of past mistakes that have become entrenched into dysfunctional standards and platforms. The problem is that it’s no one’s job to fix things. We are powerless as individuals, and we have no institutions whose job it is to fix mistakes. We need to build such institutions. But in the meantime, there is one thing we can do as individuals.
The fundamental reason that it always makes sense to live with flawed designs is that software reproduces without cost and never wears out. This is unique in human history, and we have not yet come to terms with its downside. Every other work of man has a natural lifespan that forces us to replace it regularly. Replacement is when things improve. You can incorporate new technologies and new designs. Without the steady demand for replacement, innovation languishes. This law holds true for life as well: evolution requires death.
I have therefore decided that in the future all of my software will have an expiration date. I will release it under a Darwinian License that says the software and any derivatives of it can not be used after a fixed date, except for educational and research purposes. By forcing an eventual complete rewrite, progress gets a chance. It is our duty as programmers to not let the dead hand of our own works hold back progress by those who come after.
Thom Singer’s 41 Things
10. Writing a book is hard work. Promoting a book is harder work.
9. Develop your public speaking skills. Join a Toastmasters group and participate actively for two years.
8. There is no substitute for integrity.
7. Have friends who challenge you to be a better person.
Posted: April 11th, 2011
at 11:05am by mnp
Categories: life,development,blogs,lists
Comments: No comments
Happiness and Money
A complementary quality-of-life research path has been to study the link between income (or material well-being) and happiness. In the 1970s the demographer Richard Easterlin discovered—now known as the Easterlin Paradox—that within countries there was a direct correlation between a person’s income level and his or her self-reported well-being, but over time and across countries there was no such association. The explanation was that one’s satisfaction is relative, not based on some absolute standard of living. So keeping up with the Joneses or suffering along with them are equivalent. Since then other researchers have found the expected positive relationship between income and well-being across countries.
At the moment, the measure of subjective well-being is perhaps the hot topic among economists and psychologists (the intersection of the two fields is known as behavioral economics). The development of National Time Accounting (NTA), with a focus on time-use and individuals’ emotional experiences across nations, is one such "happiness research" effort. The State of the USA project contributes many more scientific statistical indicators to help Americans evaluate how they—and we as a nation—are doing. Former Harvard president Derek Bok has also gotten into the fray with his book—The Politics of Happiness—on how governments can implement such findings to improve the lives of their citizens.
Meditation is Better than Medication
According to a new study, meditation practice is actually more powerful than medication in terms of its ability to relieve pain.
Researchers from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina worked on this breakthrough study to take a closer look at the type of impact meditation had on pain, and how much relief it could provide. (Source)
