Monthly Archives: December 2004

IT’S TIME TO MOVE TO CANADA, EINSTEIN

In 1896, Albert Einstein repudiated his German citizenship (and also, incidentally, his Jewish faith) citing Germany’s “intolerable chauvinism” and shortly thereafter became a Swiss citizen. He traveled extensively between the US, Germany and Switzerland until 1932, when he left Germany … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works | 9 Comments

MORE ON COLLABORATION

My regular readers know I’m currently infatuated with understanding the process of True Collaboration: The creation of a collective work-product by a highly responsive, interactive, iterative give-and-take process that yields something greater than what any set of individuals working alone … Continue reading

Posted in Working Smarter | 4 Comments

STATUS REPORT ON IMPLEMENTING THE ‘GETTING THINGS DONE’ PROCESS

So far, so good. I took a look at quite a few of the computer tools that ‘plug in’ to the Getting Things Done process, and found them all over-engineered for my needs. I don’t own a PDA. And the … Continue reading

Posted in Working Smarter | 7 Comments

WOULD YOU BUY FROM A STORE WHERE EVERYTHING WAS LOCALLY MADE?

We don’t shop much. We’re empty-nesters, so there’s no one outgrowing or wearing out stuff to buy for. We know what we like to eat, so we grocery shop once a month. When we buy gifts, we buy, as a … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works, Working Smarter | 16 Comments

WRITE YOUR OWN STORY

Yesterday I received a list of questions from a reader who’s doing a university research project on me. His questions probed what caused me to quit my job last year, to put my own house in order and to start … Continue reading

Posted in Our Culture / Ourselves | 7 Comments

STRATEGY+BUSINESS’ BEST BUSINESS BOOKS OF THE YEAR, AND MY TOP 12 LIST

My critique of the 36 books in Strategy + Business magazine’s Best Business Books of 2004 list, and my suggestions for what should have been on the list. Of all the year-end business ‘lists’, the S+B Best Business Books list … Continue reading

Posted in Working Smarter | 3 Comments

NEWS OF THE WEEK

Opposition rally in the streets of Kiyev, Ukraine Blogosphere rattled by Sony Cease & Desist Order: Blogger Jason Kottke has been served with cease & desist orders for putting online the same information about the end of a Jeopardy game … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works | 10 Comments

A THEORY OF BALKANIZATION

Take a look at a world map and you’ll see some interesting patterns. Countries that have moved from totalitarian states to semi-democracies in the past century have almost all split, largely along ethnic or religious lines, into much smaller countries, … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works | 5 Comments

SEVEN STEPS TO HANDLING ANY SITUATION EFFECTIVELY

Cyndy over at MouseMusings sent me a paper in response to my Personal Unproductivity post that contrasted the workflow management styles of left-brain versus right-brain dominated thinkers. Here’s a part of it (my paraphrasing): Work Management Attribute Left-Brainers Right-Brainers Favoured … Continue reading

Posted in Working Smarter | 9 Comments

WE NEED AN ONLINE CONSUMER INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Consumer Reports provides an excellent service, conducting extensive and unbiased testing of big-ticket products, canvassing over 100,000 people each year for their assessments of all major US consumer brands, and providing helpful consumer advice on major services. But there’s only … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works | 12 Comments