I HATE folks that stand up before meetings to "present" and proceed to read from their 10 point font that they have placed on slide after slide.
Not only is this "death by powerpoint" - it serves the presenter poorly since no matter how dynamic they might be - most people over the age of 7 in the audience can READ their slides faster than the dman fool can drone through them.
A presentation is an opportunity to tell someone something useful - to give them information that they did not already know - help them avoid a trap they are already walking into - or show them how to do something they can not accomplish today.
A fantastic book regarding one of the great communicators of the last 25 years is JACKED UP by Bill Lane - former speachwriter for Jack Welch at GE.
GE's culture was about learning from best practices - not a cliche that I still associate with a former colleague known as Best Practice Brad that figured his lunch order, hair gel and fingernail cuttings should be collected and stored in the company archive with the same reverence as the Magna Carta - but the real opportunity to share something that IS working with others in the organization as quickly as possible.
Lane's point is that being ON MESSAGE - being consice - being on topic and being USEFUL should the the focus of EVERY presentation....
and he is right!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Pentagon's new map
Most of my friends know that I was a huge fan of Thomas Barnett's book "The Pentagon's New Map" 3-4 years ago when it was released. I probably gave away 10 copies over the last couple of years.
Barnett's work IS important - and is probably to first really interesting blueprint for american foreign policy since George Kennan sat in the basement of the US embassy in Moscow in the 40's and banged out the "Long Telegram" that eventually became the Doctrine of Containment (or at least the first iteration of that strategy as it morphed over the next 40 years)
Above is a link to a TED talk given a couple of years ago by Barnett.
For those of you who are not yet familar with the TED talks - run! don't WALK to their web site for some of these extraordinary 18 minute presentations.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Another amazing journey...
While one person I care about is out pedalling across Africa - other dear friends are taking their lives - shaking their environment like a rat in a terrier's mouth - and moving to Qatar to start a new adventure.
Mike is one of my oldest and dearest friends. Other than Derek, another swimming buddy from junior highschool - and a couple of others like them - he is the person I have known longest, and best for almost 30 years now. Not content to be acting Dean of a college department - Mike has decided to sell his home in Victoria, give up his job and move to the Middle East to teach so as to "live a little - and get a chance to try something new".
Man that takes some balls.
His wife Janice is also someone i have known and loved for years - and if MIKE has some stones for being willing to try a new career on the other side of the planet, I don't know what superlative one uses to describe a WIFE willing to pick up and support someone who wants to do so!
Janice has started publishing a blog detailing what it is like to start a new life.... check it out.
Folks like Mike and Janice / Spiros and Maria - these guys are taking "big bites out of life".... me? I think I got a repetitive stress injury a couple of weeks ago from my TiVO.
Mike is one of my oldest and dearest friends. Other than Derek, another swimming buddy from junior highschool - and a couple of others like them - he is the person I have known longest, and best for almost 30 years now. Not content to be acting Dean of a college department - Mike has decided to sell his home in Victoria, give up his job and move to the Middle East to teach so as to "live a little - and get a chance to try something new".
Man that takes some balls.
His wife Janice is also someone i have known and loved for years - and if MIKE has some stones for being willing to try a new career on the other side of the planet, I don't know what superlative one uses to describe a WIFE willing to pick up and support someone who wants to do so!
Janice has started publishing a blog detailing what it is like to start a new life.... check it out.
Folks like Mike and Janice / Spiros and Maria - these guys are taking "big bites out of life".... me? I think I got a repetitive stress injury a couple of weeks ago from my TiVO.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
An Amazing Journey
A dear friend and former colleague has just started out on an amazing adventure.... she and her husband are biking 12,000 kms from the mouth of the Nile to Cape Town - across Africa.
They are participating in a ride called the Tour d'Afrique.... 100 days - more than 100kms a day across a route that I would feel uncomfortable FLYING over.
God bless them - they are not doing it merely for the adventure but to help raise money for two interesting and compelling charities...... please take a look at their blog - (Maria writes really well - and her husband takes amazing photos)... and if you can please think about helping them with the fund raising.
http://cyclingtheroadlesstravelled.com/journal/
Monday, October 8, 2007
Colossus - a look at the American Empire
The follow up to Empire (outlined below) - Ferguson applies the same model he used to evaluate the impact of the British Empire - and now examines the limits and magnitude of American influence in the post cold war world.
No one - including Ferguson - can argue that there is another power even remotely as wide ranging as that demonstrated by America. Culturally, economically, politically, militarily - America is currently without peer. Given that level of influence, Ferguson makes the case that this hegemony is both necessary and beneficial to the world.
Ferguson's argument is not that the U.S. should try to copy the British Imperial model - but instead that America should learn from their predecessors and in effect quit trying to rationalize the fact that the US is not an empire (as both politicians and the media are inclined to cite) but rather to exert that influence effectively and benevolently.
Ferguson argues that despite the ability of the United States to be a force for good in the world, the American "empire," demonstrates serious weaknesses due to its three "deficits" - its financial deficit, its manpower deficit, and its attention deficit.
The financial deficit comes not from military spending, but from the estimated $45 trillion in unfunded liabilities from Medicare/Medicaid and, to a lesser extent, Social Security. The manpower deficit comes not from a lack of population, but from an unwillingness of Americans to serve abroad, either in the military or in civilian positions. The attention deficit derives from the American desire for instant solutions - and the lack of "stomach" for long difficult jobs including national rehabilitation of regions with NO history of democratic or even civil rule.
His argument in the end is subtle but I think accurate. We do have a model for "nation building" in places like Sudan and Iraq - but not a willingness to make the long term commitment necessary to overcome those three fundamental deficits - and to act as a true leader of nations.
Ferguson's book seeks to outline and explain - not to create solutions for US policy makers. It provides a perspective lost on most Americans and is thus very much worth reading - especially as a counterpoint to his work on the British Empire.
No one - including Ferguson - can argue that there is another power even remotely as wide ranging as that demonstrated by America. Culturally, economically, politically, militarily - America is currently without peer. Given that level of influence, Ferguson makes the case that this hegemony is both necessary and beneficial to the world.
Ferguson's argument is not that the U.S. should try to copy the British Imperial model - but instead that America should learn from their predecessors and in effect quit trying to rationalize the fact that the US is not an empire (as both politicians and the media are inclined to cite) but rather to exert that influence effectively and benevolently.
Ferguson argues that despite the ability of the United States to be a force for good in the world, the American "empire," demonstrates serious weaknesses due to its three "deficits" - its financial deficit, its manpower deficit, and its attention deficit.
The financial deficit comes not from military spending, but from the estimated $45 trillion in unfunded liabilities from Medicare/Medicaid and, to a lesser extent, Social Security. The manpower deficit comes not from a lack of population, but from an unwillingness of Americans to serve abroad, either in the military or in civilian positions. The attention deficit derives from the American desire for instant solutions - and the lack of "stomach" for long difficult jobs including national rehabilitation of regions with NO history of democratic or even civil rule.
His argument in the end is subtle but I think accurate. We do have a model for "nation building" in places like Sudan and Iraq - but not a willingness to make the long term commitment necessary to overcome those three fundamental deficits - and to act as a true leader of nations.
Ferguson's book seeks to outline and explain - not to create solutions for US policy makers. It provides a perspective lost on most Americans and is thus very much worth reading - especially as a counterpoint to his work on the British Empire.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
books ......
I am not for a moment going to pretend that there was a chorus of angst at the thought of this blog ending - but I did hear from a couple of folks... and I am not sure that they were being completely sarcastic.
One in particular suggested that since I was always passing him books to read - that I might want to post links to some recent "reads" for those like me whose tastes lean towards history / politics or to some epic craptacular book involving special ops troops or a darn good "whacking".......
In that light - I invite you (one of my 7 readers) to take a look at a couple of rather fantastic books by Niall Ferguson - now a professor at Yale who writes these fascinating economic histories.
The first - EMPIRE - is an analysis of the effects of the British Empire. He asks candidly if the empire was overall a force for good or ill in the world and what its lasting impact has been on the current global balance both militarily, politically and economically. His convincing argument is that while NO empire is by definition universally benificent, that never the less the overall impact of Britain's overseas empire was largely positive.
Ferguson points to the significant benefit that has come to those who are now part of the Commonwealth - in particualr the rule of law and a tendency towards largely stable parliamentary democracies and federal systems. Interestingly, his economic analsysis demonstrates that investment and "profit" from the empire largely went in the direction of the imperial possessions (colonies having become something of a bad word) not the "mother country"..... England's investments IN the new world, India etc were substancially greater than the direct economic benefit at home.
A crucial section of the book looks for example at the tax rates within Great Britain, and the costs of Empire bourn by those tax payers, versus the security benefits and the real tax levels in the colonies. The supposedly "crippling" levels of taxation in the American colonies was actually significantly smaller than the tax levies of the voters in England itself!
The link to Amazon is at the right - I really recommend this one.....
A quick review and link to the follow up book Collosus will be posted in the next day or so.
One in particular suggested that since I was always passing him books to read - that I might want to post links to some recent "reads" for those like me whose tastes lean towards history / politics or to some epic craptacular book involving special ops troops or a darn good "whacking".......
In that light - I invite you (one of my 7 readers) to take a look at a couple of rather fantastic books by Niall Ferguson - now a professor at Yale who writes these fascinating economic histories.
The first - EMPIRE - is an analysis of the effects of the British Empire. He asks candidly if the empire was overall a force for good or ill in the world and what its lasting impact has been on the current global balance both militarily, politically and economically. His convincing argument is that while NO empire is by definition universally benificent, that never the less the overall impact of Britain's overseas empire was largely positive.
Ferguson points to the significant benefit that has come to those who are now part of the Commonwealth - in particualr the rule of law and a tendency towards largely stable parliamentary democracies and federal systems. Interestingly, his economic analsysis demonstrates that investment and "profit" from the empire largely went in the direction of the imperial possessions (colonies having become something of a bad word) not the "mother country"..... England's investments IN the new world, India etc were substancially greater than the direct economic benefit at home.
A crucial section of the book looks for example at the tax rates within Great Britain, and the costs of Empire bourn by those tax payers, versus the security benefits and the real tax levels in the colonies. The supposedly "crippling" levels of taxation in the American colonies was actually significantly smaller than the tax levies of the voters in England itself!
The link to Amazon is at the right - I really recommend this one.....
A quick review and link to the follow up book Collosus will be posted in the next day or so.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Coming to an end
This should be one of 2-3 final posts to this blog.
The screen is indeed up and completed, the stereo system was installed today, and next week the final landscape lighting will be installed.
I will be posting pictures this weekend of the finished product - then one final set of "night" pictures once the lighting is in - and then we will bring to a close the 8 month process of getting the pool designed and built.
More soon before the final sign off!
The screen is indeed up and completed, the stereo system was installed today, and next week the final landscape lighting will be installed.
I will be posting pictures this weekend of the finished product - then one final set of "night" pictures once the lighting is in - and then we will bring to a close the 8 month process of getting the pool designed and built.
More soon before the final sign off!
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