Artistic Growth
“Artistic growth is, more than anything else a refining of the sense of truthfulness. The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult that really is.”
Fear
“When I dare to be powerful—to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde
A Cubicle’s-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions
by Scott Adams
My wife gave me this book when it first came out in hardcover. At the time I worked in a cubicle for a large international corporation and had a boss we all called “Meathead.” I told my wife, “Thanks, but I don’t want to read this book. It looks too cynical and depressing. Please, return it.”
I now run my own company from an office with a view of trees and deer. A few weeks ago a vendor trying to get my business gave me a free copy of this book, so I read it.
Suddenly, I recognized that The Dilbert Principle is hilarious and insightful.
by Scott Adams
To purchase through Amazon.com, click here.
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See the Dilbert archive. click here.
The Power of Love
Mom’s love permanently changes children…and grandchildren, 
according to research by Moshe Szyf at McGill University: “rats that are good moms can permanently change the way the genes of their offspring act, causing the pups to be calmer throughout adulthood”
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“the actual sequential structure of our DNA, can pretty much shrug off the influence of any external environmental factors, short of massive radiation. However, the expression of individual genes within that sequence can be permanently altered by such seemingly innocuous influences as diet or how others treat us.
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“rats that had received healthy doses of maternal licking as pups grew up to (more…)
Dreams by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
–From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes
published by Alfred A. Knopf/Vintage.
Copyright © 1994 by The Estate of Langston Hughes.
He who flings mud loses ground
“Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intention to hurl it at your enemy; you are the one burned and harmed.”
Are you sacrificing the real now for an imaginary future?
Three versions. One contemporary, the second hundreds of years old, and the third thousands. One colloquial, the other literary, the last allegorical. The same abiding wisdom.
One:
A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.
“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.
“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.
The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.
The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life.”
The American interrupted, “I have (more…)
Integrity-based, relationship-building selling system
You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar:
The Sandlr Sales Institute’s 7-Step System for Successful Selling
by David H. Sandlr, John Hayes
I put off reading this book for months. Reading another how-to, self-help autobiography was like a trip to the gym: I knew I should, but it could always wait. Most sales trainers left me with a simple pair of thoughts: that stuff would really work–if I could force myself to do it! The Sandlr System leaves me with: this stuff works–and it feels natural!
The book is very professionally written: not literature just clear, concise and readable. A lively mix of (more…)
An intimate conversation with an adventurous sage.
Autobiography of Values
by Charles A. Lindbergh
Charles A. Lindbergh, first person to fly the Atlantic alone, is a fascinating character. This book, written at the end of his life, is a glimpse in the fertile mind of a great man. He tells the story of being one of the first modern media celebrities, an unsought burden. We also follow him through his careers as a civilian combat pilot in World War II and as a medical researcher.
I wrote this review before I was aware of Lindbergh’s pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic statements. People are complex and mysterious. My admiration of some aspects of his work and stated philosophy should not be taken as an endorsement or even toleration of his significant flaws.
The real appeal of this book is not the facts of Lindbergh’s life, amazing and interesting as they are. The true privilege for the reader is to hear Lindbergh ruminate on the nature of life and spirituality, the ways to remain sane and centered in modern society, and what it means to (more…)
A fantastic book on negotiation
Getting Past No: Negotiating Your Way from Confrontation to Cooperation by William L. Ury
A practical guidebook to “Win-Win” negotiation.
William Ury is not only an experienced high-level negotiator but an acute student of his art who can distill his wisdom into concise, memorable lessons. This book is indispensable for anyone who wants to do well in negotiations, formal or informal, without humiliating or destroying the other side. For Ury and his disciples, Win-Win is not a feel-good aspiration but a profitable practice. As a negotiation style that builds relationships while getting things done, Win-Win is a cornerstone of the “Sustainable Workstyles” we teach at MayoGenuine.
A key insight of his method is the possibility of being “soft on the people, hard on the problem.” Negotiation is so often associated with macho words like “bruising,” “hard-nosed,” and “marathon” that it is easy to forget negotiation is not war pursued by other means. We negotiate as an alternative to battle, not as another version of it. Everyone wants (more…)
Do you have emotions or do emotions have you?
If we learn to be aware of feelings without grasping or aversion, then they can move through us like changing weather and we can be free to feel them and move on like the wind. It can be a very interesting meditation exercise to focus specifically on our feelings for several days. We can name each one and see which ones we are afraid of, which we are entangled by, which generates stories, and how we become free. “Free” is not free from feeling, but free to feel each one and let it move on, unafraid of the movement of life. We can apply this to the difficult patterns that arise for us. We can sense what feeling is at the center of each experience and open to it fully. This is the movement toward freedom.
Jack Kornfield in A Path with Heart
See free, easy Meditation Instructions on this blog.
Silent Sin
To sin, by silence, when they should protest makes cowards of men.
Abraham Lincoln
Speak out
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Character
From PowerMinute,
a free cybercolumn
A friend told me he and his wife had recently gone to another state to bring his wife’s mother to live in a care facility near them. He had taken time off from work to move her. Since she had relocated, he had regularly stopped by to see her. It was also necessary for them to augment the mother-in-law’s income to cover the cost of her new residence.
I commented, “It’s nice of you to do all this.” A little sheepishly he said, “Down deep I really didn’t want to do it. I did it because it was the right thing to do.”
In one short, simple statement my friend defined character. “Doing what you should do when you don’t want to do it.”
How addicted are you to the illusion of control?
While coaching top executives, I often paraphrase contemporary philosopher Ken Wilber to the effect: I have found that most of my trouble comes from trying to control things that, if left alone, would take care of themselves.
We have all heard the advice to empower self-directed teams, push responsibility down close to the action, give authority over service decisions to the person in contact with the customer. Implicit in all these dicta, however, is the assumption that it is properly the executive who has the power, responsibility, and authority being meted out. What is it about showing up for work that strips people of agency? Maybe management should stop ignoring the fact that people are doing a fairly good job of managing their lives and consider that these skills can be used at work?
Before you agree or (more…)
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