Rothacker Reviews

Dude

Courtesy of Roy Williams...

A Lesson in Socialism

This has been floating around the Internet and probably is an urban legend. My good friend Tom Steiger (Tom51), turned me onto it.

Subject: Why bother to study?

An economics professor stated he had never failed a single student before, but had failed recently an entire class.

That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, after the Great Equalizer completes his plans.

The professor then said, "Ok, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan." All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled round, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the third test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefits of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” — Thomas Jefferson                                                     Ron Hart provided quote.

I look to this for the lesson in socialism. I am not in a position to argue whether or not Obama's plan is true socialism...but I should become more educated to at least have an opinion.

The 100 Best Business Books of All Time - Again

Did anyone or thing ever make you feel like a rank amateur? Maybe you read some brilliant prose or saw a breath taking photograph. Whatever it was, you compared your own work to theirs and within a millisecond your place in the world was cast in proper perspective.

This happened to me the moment that I laid my eyes on The 100 Best Business Books of All Time.

The book, The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, is a stunning collection of business book reviews written by true professionals! As with the last time I told you about this book, I haven't yet completed it (in process now). The care and detail that authors Jack and Todd pack into every page will magnetize your attention and loosen your wallet. To help you keep track of your purchases (you will want to gobble up some of these books!), the lads include two checklists of the 100 books, within their book.  

The book's design and the inclusion of additional information beyond the reviews is another reason that I had to shout out again about this book before completing it.

Usually I do not recommend that you purchase a book from any specific source. This time however, I strongly recommend that you purchase The 100 Best Business Books of All Time directly from 800-CEO-READ. You'll get free shipping, a CD where Jack and Todd talk about their criteria for selecting the books and share chapter themes, an autographed copy of the book, and their annual magazine In The Books.

Update 9/3/2009 - I just completed reading In The Books. Ok, hands down beyond a shadow of doubt, you GOTTA buy The 100 Best Business Books from 800-CEO-READ! Please allow me to paint a picture. You're a little kid who loves candy. You get to go to the candy store now and then, but mom and dad only let you stay inside for a couple of minutes. Your big sister, who likes to tease you, gets a catalog of the very best candy from the candy store and lays it on your nightstand. This copy of In The Books lists the most notable candy, errrr business books from 2008, plus a more in depth look into The 100 Best Business Books, explaining its design and logistics. And speaking of design, the design of In The Books is smart, attractive and makes the magazine a pleasure to read.

To be honest, it feels good to cross paths with such a well written work (and their blog too), because I need something to look up to, something to strive for - a mark of most excellent writing in which to pursue. We all do.

This book is on its way to being smoked-n-signed.

Texting While Driving

Take a minute and watch this...

Don't text and drive...K?

Kirsten Olson: Wounded by School

Wounded by School by Kirsten Olson.

The first Foreword in Wounded by School was written by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot. Providing one wants the Foreword to entice the reader with a carefully structured point of view and summation of the book, Sara does this and so much more with one of the most well written Forewords I've ever read. The respect and importance that Sara, who is Kirsten's mentor, offers Kirsten and her work is articulated with care, concern and poetic flow.

Do you remember school? Or maybe your kids are in school? Was learning fun? Were you ever embarrassed in front of your class? Were you bored out of your mind? Did you get lumped and labeled with other students? Did you feel that your teacher cared? Did you have a low self-esteem due to something that happened at school? Did you feel as if teachers treated you like cows, herding you through the processing plant? Yes? Well there's a pretty good chance you were wounded by school.

 We've all seen how the system can unfairly treat students with learning challenges. It's easy to see how these students get wounded by school. But what is absolutely incredible are all of the so called average students who get wounded by school. With over ten years of field research behind her, Kirsten's findings are staggering.

The following are types of school wounds with an example from each category:

Creativity - Denial of what we are passionate about, or for what we have affinity, in favor of what is conventionally expected.

Compliance - Feeling that obeying the rules, especially in school, is of paramount importance for approval, for acceptance.

Rebellion - In response to being unsuccessful, or being told we are not worthy in school, fighting, acting out, becoming hostile.

Numbness - Loss of feeling around learning, numbness, being zoned out, diminishment of vitality around learning.

Underestimation - Outright denial of access to learning due to assumptions made about the learner.

Perfectionism - Sense that what we have done in school is never enough.

Of the Average - Feeling unseen, unknown, undersold in school.

Kirsten expands on these along with why schools wound in the first place. She weaves case studies throughout the book to help clarify her points.

A work like Kirsten's wouldn't be complete without showcasing a method for healing the wounds. She devotes the second half of the book to how people heal, stages of healing, parents, students and teachers who heal and wounded schools.

If you went to school, you'll no doubt be able to relate to Wounded by School. And that's what makes it so fascinating!

This book was smoked-n-signed.

In Your Planner

David, you always carried around words that would inspire you throughout the day in your planner. The following were the ones that made their way into your first planner.

Unless you are willing to drench yourself in your work beyond the capacity of the average man, you are just not cut out for positions at the top.      - J.C. Penney

                                                    

Two essential qualities in a good organizer are a thorough and constant perception of the end in view, and a power of dealing with masses of details, never forgetting that they are details and not becoming their slaves.  -Sir Arthur Helps

Docia Fletcher, who died in Baytown, Texas, one week before her 112th birthday, said her secret to long life was: live right, eat right, dress right and leave other folks' business alone.

You get quality Matthew says, by assuming the responsibility and authority for making sure the job gets done right the first time.

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of objective people and endure honest criticism; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, by a well-raised child or social improvement; To know even one person has breathed a little easier because you lived; To accomplish this is to have succeeded.  - Harry Emerson Fosdick

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to everyone you meet.

To make all of your friends feel that there is something positive in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and expect only the best.

To be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you would be about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and to happy to permit the presence of trouble.               -Christian Larsen

Images by Mark Lawrence on Flickr

The Call of the Wild and Personal Branding

Do you know what made the Cluetrain Manifesto so darn intriguing? The authors burned the bridge after writing it. In the lads' own words:

SO WHADDYA THINK? WILL CLUETRAIN BE THE NEXT BIG THING? Not if we can help it. Deep-six the bumper stickers. Forget the catchy slogans and funny hats. Let's not write the bylaws and pretend we did. Let's not start another frickin' club. The only decent thing to do with the CLUETRAIN  is to bury the sucker now while there's time, before it begins to smell of management philosophy.

Do you know what is starting to smell of bumper stickers? Personal Branding. I love everything about personal branding. But there are a whole lotta people jumping on the PB bandwagon and I am afraid we're already awash in a mudslide of frickin' clubs. 

What can we do? Deep-six the gurus and let Buck guide us.

In the book The Call of the Wild, Buck, a dog, journeys from a soft life in California to a demanding yet fulfilling life in the Yukon Territory. He transforms from a domesticated dog back to his ancestral roots, his authentic, wild self. Buck's wild self was always there. It was just buried under layers of domestication. At first when Buck tuned in, the wild side called to him in a faint whisper. The more he immersed himself in the wild, the louder the call became.

Buck didn't need a bunch of merchants selling him shovels and supplies to help him find gold, find his true self. He just needed to listen to his inner voice and follow its direction.

We too are capable of tapping into our inner voice for directions on how to be authentic. We truly do not have to wear a bunch of funny hats and draft up a bunch of bylaws. After all, do we really need to follow a prescribed method to discover who we really are?

Listen to the voice. Be true to who you are at all times. The secret is to be. For when you be, that's all the personal branding you need. Matter of fact, the gurus can write a bunch of catchy slogans and forge a management philosophy from your example of just being...and they probably will, will repackage it and sell it to others who are looking for their own pot of gold.

Just be.

The Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

The Call of the Wild is a book about Buck, a dog who through a series of circumstances and adventures, finds himself in the Yukon Territory of northwest Canada, answering a primordial calling. The book is set in the late 1800's around the Klondike Gold Rush. Jack London was twenty-seven years old when it was published in 1903.

For whatever reason, I missed reading The Call of the Wild and other books like Alice in Wonderland, when I was in school. So, in an attempt to keep my boring non-fiction business book mind off guard, I'll pick up one of these books from time to time and read it.

Two things caused me to not put this book down. One, Jack London's voice and storytelling. Jack, an  American, doesn't write like an olden time author. His cadence is fresh and doesn't require extra thought to figure out where he is going. Number two is the book's design. This is an EMC Masterpiece Series Access Edition. It's actually a fictional work held sentinel by a textbook. It is designed to teach students about plot, conflict, theme, motivation, characters, etc.

The book begins with a light biography of Jack London. It's followed by biographical and historical time lines. The introduction provides the book's setting in an historical overview. Then there is a list of characters followed by a map of the Yukon Territory.

Chapters - a thin line drawn down each page provides a separation for the margin. Within each margin is a question that helps the reader introspect deeper into the passage. At the bottom of every page is a dictionary-type description of selected words on that page.Techniques and exercises are found at chapter's end to help readers with recall, interpretation, synthesizing and connections to literary terms.

The book's end begins with a plot analysis followed by creative writing activities and projects. A glossary follows along with definition of literary terms.

My head was spinning from potential take-aways from this book - above and beyond the pleasure of reading a well written story. EMC's design and format flat out facilitates learning. If you have to present written instruction that contains unfamiliar terms, break down the meaning on that page - like the definitions found on the bottom of the pages here. Ask questions on that same page to provide a deeper understanding  of content. Provide a review that engages the reader.

If you are a writer of fiction and are in need of some light, remedial work, this book is the perfect elixir. It will take your hand and gently guide you through the parts of a plot. If you are a writer of non-fiction and bring your imagination along, the journey through the parts of a plot will unburden your suppression of facts and provide much needed word lubrication.

My next take-away is to be savored in its own post. I'll give you a hint though - it has to do with a journey through one's own mind and personal branding.

Presentation Zen: Think Like a Designer

Do you have the ability to design? If you have the desire to improve your diet, the organization of your bathroom or garage, a work process or the way your car runs, you have the ability to design. Just because you do not have the word designer attached to a title, doesn't mean you can't reap the benefits of design thinking - and even hang out your own design shingle even though it's just within your mind.

Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen has put together a most excellent ten tip list, plus one, to help everyone think like a designer.

Tip number 10 jumped off the page at me this morning...

(10) Sharpen your vision & curiosity and learn from the lessons around you. Good designers are skilled at noticing and observing. They are able to see both the big picture and the details of the world around them. Humans are natural pattern seekers; be mindful of this skill in yourself and in others. Design is a "whole brain" process. You are creative, practical, rational, analytic, empathetic, and passionate. Foster these aptitudes.

This reminds me of what Al Einstein said, "It is impossible to solve significant problems using the same level of knowledge that created them." 

I think if he could, Al would tell us to get off the hamster wheel and walk about in the world with our eyes wide open and engage our other senses as well.

Here is a little book with a big idea to get you started.

You Must Prevail

You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end - which you can never afford to lose - with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be. James Stockdale

You leaned heavily upon this quote David, to get through working for companies that sucked the life and soul from your being and then steam rolled your conscious to make sure that any semblance of life was crushed and any remnant of it was forever unrecognizable.

He puts up with a lot of bureaucrap but he says that avoiding crap shouldn't be the objective in finding the right work. The right question is, how can I find something that moves my heart, so that the inevitable crapstorm is bearable?

You've paid into social security since 1972. There might have been a collective total of two years when the crapstorm was bearable.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

The Serenity Prayer couldn't stop the crapstorm either, but it sounded nice.