A long time ago, my father gave me a book. Since this was a unique event in our relationship, I obviously read it. The book was In search of Excellence. All is in the title…
The book has probably influenced a generation of American engineers and managers in the 80s. It deals with the quest for excellence in life as the ultimate goal. I particularly liked a story about the excellence achieved by the doorman of a known hotel that remembers the names and faces of all his customers. When the author visited this hotel 10 years later, the doorman still remembered his name…
For a long time I looked for a book having the right to sit near my In search of Excellence. And in order to give one to my father.
I think I have found it (thanks to my friend Arnaud).
The book is Getting things done, the art of stress-free productivity. Again, everything is in the title. This book offers a method and numerous tips to eliminate what clutters our minds, increases our stress, reduces our productivity and leads to failures. The book is clear, the method difficult, and the potential immense.
More than anything else, this book, though having a less noble title than the one of my father’s book, it has the same quality and pretentiousness: trying to improve our self makes us better in all that we do: With yourself, your family, your friends, At work, at home, on vacation, in what we know already and in what we will discover in the future.
President Nicolas Sarkozy wants every French child to be responsible for the memory of a Jewish child killed during the Holocaust. I am jewish and I don’t think this is the right way to do that.
I think the Holocaust was a unique and exceptional event that only a strong educational experience will humans understand a tiny part of its horror. No history course can achieve that goal, in my opinion.
I think the right solution was 1) build a real modern Holocaust museum in France, like YadVashem in Israel 2) Make all high school students go visit the museum once 3) Like in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, put a badge on each visitor’s jacket with the name of a Jew exterminated during the Holocaust. The visitor loses its name and takes the one of the dead during the two-three hours visit.
But I think the most disturbing thing is the feeling that Sarkozy seeks to bring religion into politics. One day we will here a replica of George Bush saying something like “God bless France”. That day, it will be time to go to politics and fill the gap.
Jerome Kerviel is responsible for losing 5 billions euros (7 billions dollars) !
I do not understand the lynching being perpetrated against this man. I don’t have sympathy for the guy because I do not know him, but (once again) the medias fried him without a trial.
I hope that the presumption of innocence still exists in courts. But when it comes to society, “real life, real people” it is just the opposite. The blood of this investment bank professional is now served by the medias on breakfast, diner, through snacks at 10am, 4pm and midnight. Obviously, with his full name, place of residence, Curriculum Vitae, salary and photos. The people are thirsty; the SOCIETE GENERALE bank is clean as snow, everyone (almost) is happy.
I don’t know how this will end. But I’m rather sure he will go to prison whether he is guilty or not.
I am interested in Evan Williams’ approach to create new products differently (he is the founder of Blogger and Twitter).
Briefly: We are used to innovate this way: “What feature can we add to it a better product ?”. Why not try that way: “What features can we remove to make it new ?”
I like this approach because I believe in the genius of simplicity.
Evan gives an example of a company which succeeded rather well using this approach. Created in 1998 it was inspired by Yahoo portal, took away all functionalities related to the portal and kept the search box. The company name is google…
But the following is a little trickier : he suggests a meeting website, in which to answer a proposal for a meeting, the site shows you no more than a photograph of the person and two buttons: Yes & No.
It is impossible to avoid the question of global warming. Because yes, some doubt something is happening, and to ignore what some may consider as free thinking is not without risk.
But it is important to recall that the issue is not whether the planet is warming or not. The question is whether there is a risk of major climate change, leading to severe changes in the environment and in life, including our life the one of our children.
Today, some very serious institutions indicate that this is a major risk. It is therefore imperative to consider accepting this risk up to the threat it suggests, and take measures to reduce it.
Briefly, this is risk management.
An Oregon professor of science speaks about that with a lot of common sense, humor and conviction. Make this information available to your friends, to other people, to politicians, for them and for us to do something about it.
Being yourself means to listen and to understand what you are, what you are not, what you really want, not what friends, family or society dictates what you want to or what you should do.
Rollo May writes in Man’s Search for Himself that “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice…it is conformity.”
According to the dictionary, conformity is “..action in accord with prevailing social standards, attitudes, practices, etc. … compliance or acquiescence; obedience…”.
Mr. Keating, in the extraordinary movie the Dead Poets Society, illustrates the dangers of conformity by telling his students to walk freely in the schoolyard. Each student walks away in his way of doing so, and in the direction he chooses. But, after a while, all the students gather and then walk in the same direction, at the same pace, like soldiers. One group, one rhythm, one thought.
It is important to understand who benefits from conformity, as we live in a in society with conflicting ideas and powers. Conformity benefits conservative minds, those opposed to change. “We should not change. It works already. “,” Why start a business? You have a good job! “,” Becoming an actor is insane, do not even think about that! “,” Doing research is useless. We already have what we need.”,” Why Innovate? “,” Why change? ”
Conservative minds believe that too much freedom leads to chaos. This vision of the world has its origins in refusing to trust others. That is why they are continuously adding rules. For example, in families (through prohibitions), in business (authoritarian rules) and in our own society (conservative politics).
There is a Talmudic discussion around the proverb Im ein ani li, mi li? It means If I do not take care of myself, who will take care of me? In other words, we have the freedom of choice, but by choosing something, or by rejecting it, we need to know what it is and why do we do it.
The purpose of this post is to understand, to grasp, to think, to remind you (and myself), why being yourself is so important, in order to have a better life. Without denying it is hard to win its own trust, its own confidence, everyone has the choice to find out who he is and to become himself. Because, nobody else can do that for you, instead of you. I think that choosing the path of conformity, which may give you the impression of control and power of your life, is ephemeral. Conformity leads only to mediocrity, to the feeling of a missed life, to failure.
Better life is a matter of choice. Being happy is a matter of choice. And being yourself is a fundamental key in achieving it.
Lawrence Lessig, a brilliant professor of Law at Stanford Law School, one of American’s top 50 visionaries, fighting for free culture, presents here how creativity is being strangled by the law, why this should change, for us and for our children.
This way of seeing the world, in opposition to conservative minds, shows the extraordinary powerful minds behind what makes Internet go forward.
19 minutes et 7 seconds in order to believe in mankind again.
The days preceding the New Year are special. It is then that we form the thoughts in the hope they become reality. This capacity of creation, a priori unique to human kind, enables us to make, go forward and get better.
Now that I am forty years old, I believe that the key for creation is in the capacity to change. A successful change, i.e. one which leads to new good habits and the abolition of the bad ones, is the consequence of looking the future, not analyzing the past.
I hope year 2008 will be, for me and for you, the continuation and the beginning of a change. Look at the future and change whatever you believe is important. You are capable of doing it, using the right strategy.
This year, I will continue changing in order to be and stay happy. As Mark Twain said: “Happiness is like when the sun goes down in Sweden - it is there for all but the majority of us look elsewhere”.
Happy New Year 2008 to you all, from me, my Florence and my kids !
