Thought 31JUL2009

MONKEY MANAGEMENT
Start with a cage containing five monkeys. In the cage, hang a banana on a string and put a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result, all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when any monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it. Now, turn off the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm. Again, replace a third original monkey with a new one. The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well. Two of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey. After replacing the fourth and fifth original monkeys, all the monkeys that have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs, why not? Because that's the way it's always been around here. And that's how company policy begins.
Source Unknown
Quien en tiempo huye, en tiempo acude / He that fights and runs away, lives to fight another day - Spanish Proverb

Thought 30JUL2009

ON BUSINESS
Finding a bright spot in the ominous task known variously these days as "rightsizing" or "workplace reengineering" isn't easy. But one consultant brought in to help remaining managers through the process of reducing the workforce while maintaining productivity added a contemporary twist to the old classic. "What does the optimist say about the glass and the water?" he asked. "It's half full," was the reply."

And what does the pessimist say?" he queried. "It's half empty." "And what does the process reengineer have to say about it?" Silence - until the consultant revealed the new additional answer: "Looks like you've got twice as much glass as you need there."
Cited in More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES
Quien lengua ha, a Roma va / Better to ask the way than to go astray - Spanish Proverb

Thought 29JUL2009

ON ATTITUDE
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
John Homer Miller - Cited in BITS & PIECES
Quien por su gusto padece, (que) vaya al infierno a quejarse / You must face the consequences of your actions - Spanish Proverb

Thought 28JUL2009

TAKE A CHANCE
Always take a CHANCE.

The end result may not always be what you hoped for but that's fine... At least, you will never go through life wondering "What if... and "If only...."
Source Unknown
Quien teme la muerte no goza la vida / Cowards die many times - Spanish Proverb

Thought 27JUL2009

TEN COMMANDMENTS OF BEING A GREAT HUSBAND
(1) Thou shalt not hog the pillows and blankets.
(2) Thou shalt not commit mayhem in the bathroom.
(3) Thou shalt consume and relish all meals and smack thy lips in appreciation. [Never saying, "I had this for lunch."
(4) Honour thy bills and thy credit cards.
(5) Thou shalt give thy spouse equal time during football playoffs.
(6) Thou shalt not nag thy spouse except when justified. [Thou shalt remember it is never justified]
(7) Remember thy toilet seat and keep it down.
(8) Thou shalt not procrastinate on household tasks without good reason. [i.e. taking wife out for dinner]
(9) Thou shalt remember thy wife's birthday and forget her age.
(10) Thou shalt not be stingy with hugs, kisses, cuddles and snuggles, for thou shalt get them paid back in full.
On my birthday card (for the year 2000) from my wife
Si vale la pena hacerlo, vale la pena hacerlo bien / If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well - Spanish Proverb

Thought 24JUL2009

JUST PLAYING
When I'm building in the block room, Please don't say I'm "just playing." For, you see, I'm learning as I play. About balance and shapes. When I'm getting all dressed up, Setting the table, caring for the babies. Don't get the idea I'm "just playing." For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I may be a mother or a father someday. When you see me up to my elbows in paint, Or standing at an easel, or molding and shaping clay, Please don't let me hear you say "he's just playing." For you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm expressing myself and being creative. I may be an artist or an inventor someday.

When you see me sitting in a chair "Reading" to an imaginary audience, Please don't laugh and think I'm "just playing." For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I may be a teacher someday. When you see me combing the bushes for bugs, Or packing my pockets with choice things I find, Don't pass it off as "just playing." For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I may be a scientist someday. When you see me engrossed in a puzzle, Or some "plaything" at my school, Please don't feel the time is wasted in "play" For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm learning to solve problems and concentrate. I may be in business someday.

When you see me cooking or tasting foods, Please don't think that because I enjoy it, it is just "play." I'm learning to follow directions and see differences. I may be a chef someday. When you see me learning to skip, hop, run and move my body, Please don't say I'm "just playing." For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm learning how my body works. I may be a doctor, nurse or athlete someday. When you ask me what I've done at school today, And I say, "I played." Please don't misunderstand me. For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm learning to enjoy and be successful in work. I'm preparing for tomorrow. Today, I'm a child and my work is play.
By Anita Wadley - from Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul, Copyright 1999 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Tanto tienes, tanto vales; nada tienes, nada vales / You are what you own - Spanish Proverb

Thought 23JUL2009

I N S T R U C T I O N S F O R L I F E
(HAPPY 2000 from The Dalai Lama)
1) Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2) When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3) Follow the three Rs - Respect for self - Respect for others - Responsibility for all your actions.
4) Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5) Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6) Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7) When you realise you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8) Spend some time alone every day.
9) Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10) Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11) Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12) A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13) In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
14) Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15) Be gentle with the earth.
16) Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
17) Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18) Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19) Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
Found - as written on a Nepalese Good Luck Mantra
Tarea que agrada presto se acaba / All things are easy that are done willingly - Spanish Proverb

Thought 22JUL2009

ON ATTITUDE
The mind can convince a competent person that he is incompetent or an adequate person that he is highly talented. Unfortunately, self-doubt and negative attitudes seem to have a more powerful influence on the mind than positive attitudes. Usually a person is not aware that he is setting himself up or limiting his capabilities.
Bruce Bowman - extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II', Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994.
Tomar las cosas a pechos, da fin a los hechos / Anger and hate hinder good counsel - Spanish Proverb

Thought 21JUL2009

RECOGNIZE YOUR WINNERS
Frank Tarkenton, former Minnesota Vikings quarterback, once called a play that required him to block onrushing tacklers. NFL quarterbacks almost never block. They're usually vastly outweighed by defenders, so blocking exposes them to the risk of severe injury. But the team was behind and a surprise play was needed. Tarkenton went in to block and the runner scored a touchdown. The Vikings won the game.

Watching the game films with the team the next day, Tarkenton expected a big pat on the back for what he'd done. It never came. After the meeting, Tarkenton approached coach Bud Grant and asked, "You saw my block, didn't you, Coach? How come you didn't say anything about it?"

Grant replied, "Sure, I saw the block. It was great. But you're always working hard out there, Fran. I figured I didn't have to tell you." "Well," Tarkenton replied, "If you ever want me to block again, you do!"
Don Martin - extracted from 'A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul', Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communications Inc., 1996
Vida sin amigos, muerte sin testigos / Friendless in life, friendless in death - Spanish Proverb

Thought 20JUL2009

ON POTENTIAL
I have no doubt whatever that most people live whether physically, intellectually, or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness... Much like the man who, out of his whole body organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger... We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon, of which we do not dream!
William James (1842 - 1910) - Psychologist
Visita cada dia, a la semana hastia / A constant guest is never welcome - Spanish Proverb

Thought 17JUL2009

ON CHANGE
We live in a time of paradox, contradiction, opportunity and above all, change. To the fearful, change is threatening because they worry that things may get worse. To the hopeful, change is encouraging because they feel things may get better. To those who have confidence in themselves, change is a stimulus because they believe one person can make a differences and influence what goes on around them. These people are the doers and the motivators.
Buck Rogers - Getting the Best Out of Yourself & Others - Extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II', Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994.
What is bad luck for one man is good luck for another - Ashanti Proverb from Ghana

Thought 16JUL2009

ON MARRIAGE
What you are as a single person, you will be as a married person, only to a greater degree. Any negative character trait will be intensified in a marriage relationship, because you will feel free to let your guard down - that person has committed himself to you and you no longer have to worry about scarring him off.
Josh McDowell - Secret of Loving - Extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II', Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994
There is no medicine to cure hatred - Ashanti Proverb from Ghana

Thought 15JUL2009

THE MIND
Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity, and in cold weather becomes frozen: even so does inaction sap the vigor's of the mind.
Leonardo da Vinci
When a king has good counselors, his reign is peaceful - Ashanti Proverb from Ghana

Thought 14JUL2009

ON PLANNING
"In our world today people complain that they don't have any time for themselves. But lack of direction - not lack of time - is the problem. Example: Chances are good you get at least twice as much work done on the day before vacation as you do on a normal working day. Here's why: The night before the day before vacation you list on a sheet of paper or your laptop the things you must get done tomorrow. In short, you've got a game plan and you make a commitment to fulfill that game plan - and that's exactly what you do.

Question: Doesn't it make sense that if one day of planning your activities can accomplish such dramatic results, that if you planned your family time, exercise time, recreation time and personal growth time, that your life would be much better balanced, and you would have more of the benefits of life? Think about that, follow through and good things will happen to you."
From Zig Ziglar Newsletter
Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped - Chinese Proverb

Thought 13JUL2009

THE BRASS POLE
Thanks to our industrial ingenuity and know-how, we live longer, better and more enjoyably these days. Science, electronics and such march on - but still nobody has been able to figure out a better way for a fireman to get downstairs faster than by sliding down the brass pole. It began in 1889.
Extracted from Bits & Pieces, The Economics Press, Inc., Fairfield, New Jersey, USA - From the Library of Puan Hajah Zaihani Abdul Hamid
People should not talk while they are eating or pepper may go down the wrong way - Chinese Proverb

Thought 10JUL2009

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
Although it's usually unpleasant, many people are forced to learn things the hard way. And before they can truly appreciate success, they have to experience failure. Especially in business. In fact, very few successful people haven't had to face difficult challenges along the way. But a business reversal or personal setback will often bring out the best in people and enable them to find courage and strength they never even knew they possessed. In these uncertain times, there's always a chance you might find yourself in a similar situation. Nevertheless, if you genuinely believe in yourself, you have what it takes to turn things around for the better.
Bill Daniels - Extracted from 'Bits & Pieces', The Economic Press, Inc., Fairfield New Jersey. From the Library of Puan Hajah Zaihani Abdul Hamid
A cup of coffee commits one to forty years of friendship - Kurdish Proverb

Thought 09JUL2009

GREATEST ASSETS
I believe that a business's greatest assets are in the human assets and the improvement of their value is both a matter of material advantage and moral obligation. I believe that employees must be treated as honourable individuals, justly rewarded, encouraged in their progress, fully informed and properly assigned, and that their lives and work must be given meaning and dignity, on and off the job. If I have the supervision of so much as one other person, I will strive to honour these principles in practice.
Clarence Francis - Former CEO of General Foods. Extracted from Bits & Pieces, The Economics Press, Inc., Fairfield, New Jersey, USA. From the Library of Puan Hajah Zaihani Abdul Hamid
Tenga yo salud, y dineros quien los quisiere / Health is better than wealth - Spanish Proverb

Thought 08JUL2009

BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU DO
Successful people are not in a job for something to do ... they are in their work to do something. This requisite is difficult to explain to those poor souls struggling through their work day. But those fortunate people who work for a cause rather than so much an hour know exactly what it means.

Get beyond the job description, title, pay cheque, or "to do" list. See the end result. Become absorbed with your organization's purpose and mission.
extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II, Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994
Ojos que no ven, corazon que no llora / siente. Long absent, soon forgotten - Spanish Proverb

Thought 07JUL2009

NOT MUCH HOPE
A woman attending a state fair stopped by the tent of a fortune teller. Looking into her crystal ball a frown spread across the fortune teller's face as she predicted, "The next fifteen years of your life will be filled with disappointment, unhappiness and poverty."

"Then what?" asked the anxious woman. "You'll grow accustomed to it."
Extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II', Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994.
A fool dreams of wealth, a wise man, of happiness - Kurdish Proverb

Thought 06JUL2009

LIKE WHAT YOU ARE DOING
One of my favourite questions to ask applicants I'm interviewing is : "What prompted you to apply here?" Over and over again, I've heard, "I thought you might have something available I would like." Our organization doesn't have positions people automatically like. However, we have committed people who love what they do. I'm baffled by the number of people who spend five-sevenths of their week doing something they don't like so they can spend the other two-sevenths doing what they enjoy.

"Whether we find pleasure in work or whether we find it a bore," said BC Forbes, "depends entirely on our mental attitude." Sister Mary Lauretta adds, " To be successful, the first thing to do is fall in love with your work." In other words, the secret to happiness, success, satisfaction and fulfillment in our work is not doing what one likes, but in liking what one does.

When all else fails, listen to the advice of the seven dwarfs : "Whistle while you work."
extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II, Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994
Il-mara taf tghallik fis-sema u taf twaddbek fl-infern / A woman can raise you to heaven and can dump you in hell - Maltese Proverb

Thought 03JUL2009

ON INTEGRITY
"Chances are good that you would like to have more of the things money will buy and all of the things money won't buy. Money is not the most important thing in life, but it is reasonably close to oxygen. Most of us like what money buys - nice clothes, a nice house, a nice car, nice trips, memberships at country clubs and a host of other things. But we love the things money won't buy. It will buy a house, but not a home; it will buy a companion, but not a friend. Money will buy a bed, but not a good night's sleep, and a good time, but not peace of mind.

Message: Build your life on integrity. You can have more of the things money will buy and all of the things money won't buy. Take that approach to life and I will see you at the top!"
From Zig Ziglar Newsletter
Min ma jbossx, jifsa / He who doesn't fart, lets out silent ones - Maltese Proverb

Thought 02JUL2009

THE RIVER
Rivers hardly ever run in a straight line. Rivers are willing to take ten thousand meanders and enjoy every one and grow from every one. When rivers leave a meander they are always bigger than when they entered it. When rivers meet an obstacle, they do not try to run over it - they merely go around, but they always get to the other side.

Rivers accept things as they are. They conform to the shape they find the world in, yet nothing changes things more than rivers. Rivers hardly ever are in a hurry, yet is there anything more likely to reach the point it sets out for than a river?
James Dillet Freeman, extracted from Bits & Pieces, The Economics Press, Inc., Fairfield, New Jersey, USA - From the Library of Puan Hajah Zaihani Abdul Hamid
Ahjar weggha minn demgha / Better an ache than a tear - Maltese Proverb