Live Life With No Regrets!

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is states that the more precisely you want to ascertain the position, the more the momentum is uncertain.

The reason for this is because the observer is affects the what is being observed. To ascertain the position of an electron more precisely, more gamma-ray energy is used. However, the more energy is used, the more it affects the momentum of the electron.

The observer also affects what is being observed, it is also part of a larger system.

This principle also is found in psychology. When psychologists tried an experiment of lighting on productivity, it wasn't the amount of light that affected their productivity, rather the changing light intensity alerted the workers that they were being observed and hence increased productivity whether it was brighter or darker. Psychologists try as much as possible to remove possible observer effects.

The thing about this principle is that the way management or leaders want to affect their followers. Management looks at workers as "them" or as numbers but that are separate from themselves. If we want to change others, we cannot help but change ourselves. It isn't just your actions that affect the system, it is you yourself.

If you want to encourage greater ethics, effectiveness or efficiency, you yourself must allow yourself to be affected by your calls of higher standards, that is because you, yourself are part of the system. If you refuse to change, your followers themselves will not change.

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Not actually my fault. I reached the station at about 7:05am. Coming out I saw a group of people waiting for the bus. After 10 minutes, the group realized that we were waiting at the wrong side of the road. It was actually behind!

That's social proof for you. Following the crowd. As well as past experiences since the normal place to wait for shuttle buses to Suntec and Millennia is there.

Next, because there was such a huge crowd going to the National Stadium, traffic was slowed. The bus dropped us almost 800meters from the starting line. Quite a distance to walk. And finally because of the 50,000 crowd, I couldn't get to the front of the starting line.

Next time go earlier. This was a good experience to learn for my marathon attempt.

I learned also from this experience several spiritual truths.

I felt frustrated walking and moving through the crowds trying to find a way to move faster. Everyone was walking at a slow pace. The competitive runners were already way ahead of me. By the time I reached the 3km mark, the front race-walkers were already finishing!

Many people take the Christian walk to be just that, a fun-walk. They just relax, take their time.

There were groups of people in the walk holding banners and such promoting their own products and agendas. Health products, Falungong, Cars, Banks, etc. The same thing with many people in religious organizations. They too have their own agendas.

Forget about these people, focus on the goal. Don't spend time just socializing.

But the Christian walk isn't just a walk, it's also a race. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

I learned that you shouldn't hang around with those who are merely content to have a fun-walk. They only block you from achieving your goal of finishing the race well. As someone said, "If you want to fly with the eagles, you shouldn't be scratching with the turkeys."

In the race, run up there with the people who are also wanting to win their race. It encourages you and motivates you too.

Also, follow the rules or else you will be disqualified. "Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules." (2 Tim 2:5), . "No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." (1 Cor 9:27)

Warm up well and prepare well, be early. Spend time in preparation each day to race.

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I will focus less about myself and resolve to focus more on myself.

To be less concerned about other people and focus on being more concerned about other people.

(A profound statement.... think about it.)

Posted by Nico at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Nothing is also something.

For example, mathematics of the Roman system was convulated because there was no zero. The invention of zero by the Hindus helped to streamline and make things more easier, now we take it for granted.

In the Tao, nothingness is also a quantity to be manipulated. The value of a cup isn't in the clay, it is the empty void created in its shape that is useful.

In Zen, the simplicity of emptiness, clear space helps to soothe the mind, with less things to distract our thoughts, we are able to concentrate. Zen influence is clear in all of Apples products, this makes them so beautiful, it was what made Steve Jobs strive for a fanless power supply in the Apple II, the absence of noise makes it beautiful. The absence of too many unnecessary buttons or features on the iPod also helped to make it a beautiful success.

Instead of adding more and more, consider what things are to be removed in our lives.

When we are children, we want more and more things, but as an adult, I find that I want to have less and less things. Remove things that you don't need. Simplicity, clearness and nothing is something that I want more of.

Posted by Nico at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In Control of Achieving the Goal

1. A playing field with clearly marked territory.
• Goals and values define the playing field and rules of the game..
• Leaders decide what position team members play.
• Freedom to take charge comes from knowing exactly what territory is yours.
2. Thoughts, feelings, needs, and dreams are respected, listened to, and acted upon.
• You can't be in control unless the rest of the organization supports you and doesn't rip you, or your work, apart.
• Golden Rule of Management: Value Individuals as persons.
• Information is the gatekeeper to power. Everybody needs full open access to information. Managers must be willing to give up the levers of control they've worked a lifetime to get hold of. It's tough to be boss without being bossy.
3. Able but challenged.
• Production expectations should be within capacity and skills, but if you undershoot you'll insult.
• Nothing drains self-esteem faster than knowing you're ripping off the system, not contributing. If people can't do a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, you demean them..
• Gung Ho requires a stretch: work that demands people's best and allows them to learn and move ahead into uncharted territory..

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Worthwhile Work

1. Knowing we make the world a better place.
• It's the understanding, not the work.
• It's how the work helps others, not units dealt with.
• Result: self-esteem--an emotion whose power ranks right up there with love and hate.
2. Everyone works toward a shared goal.
• Goal sharing means buy-in, not announcing. Trust and putting team members first lead to support for goals.
• The manager sets critical goals. The team can set the rest. (People support best that which they help create.)
• Goals are marker posts you drive into the future landscape between where you are and where you want to be. They focus attention productively.
3. Values guide all plans, decisions and actions.
• Goals are for the future. Values are now. Goals are set. Values are lived. Goals change. Values are rocks you can count on. Goals get people going. Values sustain the effort.
• Values become real only when you demonstrate them in the way you act and the way you insist others behave.
• In a Gung Ho organization, values are the real boss.

Posted by Nico at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1. Knowing Your Priorities.
   Know yourself, be integrated.
2. Establishing Realistic Goals and Expectations.
   Goals that are based unrealistically on poor information, self-inflation, pride, poor research, very limited experience, or no expertise are designed for failure.
   
   To break the habit, choose simple goals that are easily attainable.
3. Knowing There Is Always a Price to Pay.
   This applies to both action and inaction. Unwillingness to pay a price destroys the possibility of decision, responsible
4. Self-Confidence I: Recognizing Major Personal Assets.
   We must believe in ourself, or else we will be uncommitted to our decision.
   
   Know that you have assets or take a personal self-inventory.
5. Knowing and Exploring Your Proclivities.
   Your personal and inner urges.
   Your hidden talents should be brought out.
6. Self-Confidence II: Getting Over Fear of Rejection and Failure.
   The obsessive need for "Love" can hand over all decision-making to others. (Personal Note: Making a decision ourselves can actually be more loving than letting others make a decision. Especially when you're the one in charge or know the right thing to do.)
   Fear of rejection kills spontaneity and adventure of any kind.
   We simply must take chances and realize that while our pride may be hurt, our real selves remain unscathed.
   Allowing ourselves to be rejected is actually liberating. We are actually free! We are then able to make decisions, not out of fear, but of real desire.
7. Knowing That It Is Easier to Leave a Person, Place, Situation, Job, Activity or Anything Else than to Find One to Go To.
   Leaving doesn't solve problems. We sometimes have an imaginary place somewhere that always makes our present one far inferior.
   
   Decisions without destinations are usually suspect.
   
   Decisions involving destinations are usually the real thing.
8. Knowing That Conditions Are Always Imperfect.
   Decisions and moves be predicated on our needs, desires, assets and priorities.
   It is imperative that we know that success through decision power is the result of commitment to our choice.
9. Recognizing That Moods Make A Difference.
   Sometimes we may have to wait for the right mood. (But do not use this as an excuse for a pseudodecision).
   If it is not a command decision. The timing may not be right. The death of a bereaved one, or the overenthusiastic euphoria over a certain option through perhaps a vacation.
10. Accepting Ambivalence.
    Mixed feelings can be there and sometimes almost always there, it is part of human nature. Consult your hierarchy of priorities.
11. Self-Confidence III: Handling Insecurity and Anxiety.
    Don't get anxious about being anxious.
    The initial anxiety is actually preparation psychological for a shift of a center of gravity. It heightens and alerts our minds of the coming change.
    As long as we accept fear and anxiety they won't snowball.
12. Acquiring Commitment, Investment, Involvement.
    'nuff said.
13. The Value of Integrated Concentration.
    Bring our total selves into it. Align our thoughts and efforts into the action, just like the molecules in a Samurai sword have been aligned through thousands of folds to create the finest cutting edge.
14. Profiting from Other People's Experience, Expertise and Help.
    Do not let pride stop you from asking others for their experience.
    This takes self-esteem and humility.
    
    The more secure you are about yourself, the less fear you have of being thought of as "stupid" and "dumb."
    
    The irony is that those who have strong opinions are least afraid to ask others of their opinions. They are also less vulnerable to manipulation and coercion.
15. Delegating Responsibility.
    This involves humility to say, "I can't do it all myself."
16. The Effective Use of Time.
17. Insight, Motivation, Discpline.
18. The Postponement of Gratification.
19. The Value of Struggle.
20. Self-Confidence IV: Knowing and Accepting What It Means to Be a Person.
    Separate yourself from your image. Sometimes we are trapped by an image that is imposed by others. Or our pride and temptation steps in, e.g. "You will be the youngest person ever to have done this.", etc.

Posted by Nico at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

---

"Every time you make a real decision, you own more of yourself."

---

This book was written by a medical psychologist who writes about decision making from the psychological point of view.

The book is well written and easy to follow in point form. His illustration and examples flesh out the simple points that he is trying to expouse.

He divides his book into 7 Sections.

First, he describes what real decisions are versus "psuedo-decisions", decisions that are not really decisions at all.

Things like procrastination, ambivalence (waiting for things to turn up), letting someone else decide, going against the tide (just to be different, a subtle for of dependency), one-foot-in and one-foot-out (trying to have all options without making a decision), looking back/foot-dragging and wondering what might have been (an infantile desire and belief that we can have everything we want.)

Secondly, he goes on to describe the various decision blockers, priorities, the stages of decision making, deadlocks, twenty secrets of decision success and finally overcoming indecisiveness.

I recommend this book for those wishing a introduction to making decisions and those wishing to understand the psychology of making a decision and improving your self-esteem.

Ultimately, making decisions means taking control of your life.

Remember the Big Fact: No decision is really better than the other, but the commitment to it makes the difference.

The book of James was right in saying (about asking for wisdom): "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." (James 1:6-7)

Your decisions affects YOU! Making a decision means taking control of your life and gaining more self-esteem. The feedback result is that you feel good that you have taken control of your life.

"Any choice you make will be a constructive one, as long as it springs from real desires, values and priorities, and has your full commitment."

Decision making is a lot like commanding a ship. You can go left or right. But you cannot have both. Some people have problems, because they want both.

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Richard Feynman, the youngest scientist on the Manhattan Project (i.e. he helped build the Atomic Bomb) has the following problem solving algorithm:

1. Write down your problem.
2. Think very hard.
3. Write down the answer.

Posted by Nico at 7:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From this article on the COCOMO Estimation model:

"One of the most important observations in the model is that personnel motivation overwhelms all other paramters. This would suggest that leadership and teamsmanship are the most important skills of all, but this point was largely ignored. Researchers would rather create tools."

Therefore including this the most important thing they should teach in Software School or even Computer Science isn't just algorithms or problem solving techniques but leadership!

I would therefore propose that in light of this the following be taught in computer science curriculum:

1. Leadership & Motivation.
2. Software Complexity and simplifying complex problems, estimating and planning.
3. Learning skills.

Posted by Nico at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

6. The Law of Solid Ground. This law means that when you make action and decisions, you must get the support of the leaders behind you. Just because a decision is right, isn't just enough, you must have their trust before you do so. The 3 C's: Competence, Connection, and Character are important. Be honest, don't hide facts. Cast your vision, answer their questions and guide them through decisions. Live your values everyday, not just when you feel like it.
7. The Law of Respect. The stronger your leadership, the more they will respect you, the more they will follow you. Strength is commitment to your values. Your decision to hold on to principles.
8. The Law of Intuition. Leaders see everything in terms of using their resources to achieve goals. They read their situation, the trends, the resources, people, and themselves. It is an art that is developed.
9. The Law of Magnetism: A leader attracts people who are like minded. Your attitude attracts people of the same attitude, age, background, values, ability and life experience. If you want to attract people better, you have to improve yourself, get the experience of people you want in your team.
10. The Law of the Connection: First win the heart, then the only their head. Connect with them, have meals with them, joke with them, know their names, their wives, kids. Be a friend with them.

Posted by Nico at 7:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The only Bible that people only read are Christians. We must let the Living Word live in our lives.

It's easy enough to say "God loves you." Heck, you may as well say, "Allah loves you or Buddha loves you or Krishna loves you." But rarely have I heard Christians say "I love you."

What's the reason for that? Because by saying "I love you" you're committing yourself to a certain lifestyle, a certain way of life that involves courage and sacrifice.

Not many people want to commit themselves to the Christian way. It's alright to let God take away some of our bad habits, but to be totally committed... that's something else.

But when He does take ALL of our lives... something wonderful happens.

Posted by Nico at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Have you ever watched the news and whenever someone asks a politician something he never answers the question directly? For example, "When did you decide to XXXXX?". No one answers "This morning, 8am". Normally the would answer, "We started a sub-committee and it went through xxxx and xxx. After periodically xxxx we decided to xxxx after conferring with xxxx this morning at 8am.".

Posted by Nico at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Success is a contextual value, having different definitions according the person, the time, and the circumstances.

In perhaps 80-95% of cases, our success is dependent on other people or rather our ability to get other people to provide the resources like time, money, information, wisdom, assistance, prestige, to achieve our goals.

When it comes to other people, we then need to have influence. And influence is leadership.

Perhaps, when I grew up I didn't understand what leadership is. But after understanding first that we have an underlying purpose in our lives, a goal to achieve, then leadership comes into the picture. Leadership is not a measure of our success. A person who's idea of success is living like a hermit on top of a mountain would not need leadership skills. But when it comes to achieving a success that involves the effort and resources of more than one person then leadership is needed.

Maxwell's 21 laws provides insight to what leadership is, through stories he illustrates principles that affect leadership and who the true leader is.

Most leadership books assume that you are the positional leader. E.g. the newly promoted manager, the CEO, the CG leader. And it then teaches you how to use that position or how group dynamics work, etc. Maxwell says that these leadership books aren't leadership books at all. They're actually management books.

Leadership is influence.

Maxwell's 21 Laws of Leadership in my own words:

1. The Law of the Lid. This means that your leadership affects how much you can achieve. Ability to lead determines the degree of success in your endeavours.


2. The Law of Influence. This means that leadership is influence. No matter what your positional power is. If you cannot get people to follow you, you're just going for a walk.


3. The Law of Process. This means that it must be learnt and practices. When people confer to you a title, you don't really become a leader. Leadership is practised daily. A title just means that someone finally recognises your leadership ability.


4. The Law of Navigation. You must plan ahead to handle obstacles. Excellence in gathering your resources and mapping your way through treacherous obstacles, whether social, psychic, materially, spiritually, politically.


5. The Law of E.F. Hutton. This means that it isn't just the content of what you say that matters, it's who you are that matters even more. (Who is E.F. Hutton? Forget about E.F. Hutton. It's just something that means more to an American who has seen an insurance ad.) People listen to you because of who you are. Or to be more precise, your character, your relationships, your prestige, your credibility, your links, your track record, your knowledge and abilities.

To be continued...

Note: Every word that we say matters in life. Especially off the cuff. I've been influenced just as much by off-the-cuff remarks as well as by formal speeches and talks. As the Bible says, we are accountable for every word that we say.

Posted by Nico at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Leadership is a very important yet misunderstood subject.

There are people who are the managers, HOD's, CEO's etc. But who the leader is, can be--as is often the case--different.

Leadership is also a multiplier effect. Having your workers "work harder" or longer hours doesn't make it more effective. Good leadership provides multiplier effects that makes 8 hours of work turn into 16 hours of effectiveness. I would rather have a great leader with people working 7 hour days than a lousy leader with people working 16 hour days.

Church is one of the best places to develop leaders. Why? Because there leaders become leaders purely from leadership capability, not like positional or rank status like in corporations or in the army.

Which leads to another thought, what is the "real world". Terms like "when I enter the real world" or "it's different in the real world".

We are born and study for about 1/3 of our lives. We then work for another 1/3 and live retired for another 1/3.

If the working world is the "real world". Then it seems we live in a "fantasy world" for 2/3 of our lives.

Your life is real whether you are a child or retired. The terms "real world" seem to imply that the 2/3 of our lives that we live in the "unreal world" seem to be unimportant and trivial. It then seems to be the cause of people neglecting the growth of their children when they are busy "pursuing their career" (whatever the word "career" means) and the purpose of their lives after retirement. (If there is such a thing as "retirement").

Posted by Nico at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

People don't like bullies. Even extremely competent people have proven themselves. People just don't like to see unfairness, injustice and bullies. Power is meant to serve the people, not to serve themselves.

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People who produce good results.--Feel Good About Themselves.

Most companies spend all their time looking for another management concept and very little time following up the one they have just taught their managers.

Just like people who try a new fad diet, they try something for a couple of months give up and then wonder why it doesn't work.

ABC's of management:
A = Activators
B = Behaviour
C = Consequences

Activators are those things that have to be done by a manager before someone can be expected to accomplish a goal.
Behaviour is what a person says or does.
Consequences are what a manager does after someone accomplishes or attempts to accomplish a goal.

One minute management is a positive approach to managing people.

One of the problems is that many managers seem to praise or reprimand their staff depending on how they themselves feel on any given day, regardless of anyone's performance. If they are feeling good, they pat everyone on the back, and if they are in a bad mood, they yell at everyone.

When to reset goals and when to reprimand:

If a person:

CAN'T DO something-->Go back to goal setting. (A training problem).

WON'T DO something-->Reprimand (An attitude problem).

5 Steps to training a learner to be a good performer:

1. Tell what to do
2. Show how to do
3. Let person try
4. Observe performance
5. Praise progress or redirect

Only positive consequences encourage good future performance.

Most managers attitude seems to be: when people perform well, do nothing. When people make a mistake, complain. The old "leave-alone-rebuke" technique'.

Most people think activators have a greater influence yet only 15-25% of performance comes from activators while 75-85% comes from consequences like praisings and reprimands. (Note: Pareto principle at work again.)

Goal setting without any managing of consequences, will only get things started and bring short term success for a manager.

As a manager the important thing is not what happens when you are there but what happens when you are not there.

You don't reprimand a learner. You reprimand only when you know the person can do better. When you leave your staff after a reprimand, you want them to be thinking about what they did wrong, not about the way you treated them.

When you end a reprimand with a praising, people think about their behaviour, not your behaviour.

Rule of reprimand: You only have 30 seconds to share your feelings.

If you're reprimand is interrupted, stop what you are saying and make it clear to that person that it is not a discussion. "I am sharing my feelings about what you did wrong, and if you want to discuss it later, I will. But right now this is not a two-way discussion. I am telling you how I feel."

Do not begin with praise, then reprimand, then praise again. (I.e. the "sandwich method.") Because when you go to see a person just to praise him, he will not hear your praising because he will be wondering when the other shoe will drop.

PRICE:

• Pinpoint
• Record
• Involve
• Coach
• Evaluate

Pinpoint is a process of defining key performance areas for people in observable measurable terms. (In essence, one-minute goals)

Record. You want to be able to measure present performance and keep track of progress in that area. You are able to make sure the problem is real and not "just a feeling".

Involve. Share feedback without judgment and in a spirit of learning. Feedback is the breakfast of champions. Also, involve him in establishing activators. One minute management doesn't work unless you share it with your staff. Also decide what are the positive consequences when goals are achieved.

Coach. Observe performance and manage consequences.

Evaluate. Track performance progress and determine future strategies. Evaluate performance for periods of no longer than 6 weeks. (Whereas, other organizations do quarterly, or yearly evaluations).

Achieving good performance for most people is a journey--not a destination.

We mean them no harm.--Make sure this message gets to your subordinates.

"...a manager is not just to sit back, cross arms, look stern and evaluate. It's to roll up sleeves and be responsive to people and what they need to perform well."

It's more constructive for people to compete against a performance standard than against one another.

Posted by Nico at 7:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Life must be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
Søren Kierkegaard

Posted by Nico at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The one minute manager is the book that made me a fan of Kenneth Blanchard.

In it, he uses very simple principles in management. That I am surprised is not used widely. It's a very thin book, but something that people who get promoted to management should read.

Below are my notes from the book and the summary of the diagram.

PDF of image available here.

'Effective Managers... manage themselves and the people they work with so that both the organization and the people profit from their presence.'

People who feel good about themselves - produce good results.

1. Review & Analyse what you accomplished last week.
2. Problems that you had.
3. What still needs to be accomplished.
4. Develop plans & strategies for next week.

The purpose of this organization is efficiency. By being organized we are a great deal more productive.

Productivity is more than just the quantity of work done. It is also the quality.

Quality is simply giving people the product or service they really want and need.

The 3 things about the one minute manager is this:

• Set 1-minute goals WITH your subordinate.
• Use 1-minute praisings when goals are achieved.
• Use 1-minute reprimands when goals are not achieved.

1. Agree on your goals.
2. See what good behaviour looks like.
3. Write out each of your goals on a single sheet of paper using less than 250 words.
4. Read and re-read each goal, which requires only a minute or so each time you do it.
5. Take a minute every once in a while out of your day to look at your performance, and
6. See whether or not your behaviour matches your goal.

If you can't tell me what you'd like to be happening, you don't have a problem yet. You're just complaining. A problem exists only if there is a difference between what is actually happening and what you desire to be happening.

1. Tell people right from the start that you are going to let them know how they are doing.
2. Praise people immediately.
3. Tell people what they did right--be specific.
4. Tell people how good you feel about what they did right, and how it helps the organization and the other people who work there.
5. Stop for a moment of silence to let them 'feel' how good you feel.
6. Encourage them to do more of the same.
7. Shake hands or touch people in a way that makes it clear that you support their success in the organization.

1. Tell people beforehand that you are going to let them know how they are doing and in no uncertain terms.

The first half of the reprimand:
2. Reprimand people immediately.
3. Tell people what they did wrong-be specific.
4. Tell people how you feel about what they did wrong-and in no uncertain terms.
5. Stop for a few seconds of uncomfortable silence to let them feel how you feel.

The second half of the reprimand:
6. Shake hands, or touch them in a way that lets them know you are honestly on their side.
7. Remind them how much you value them.
8. Reaffirm that you think well of them but not of their performance in this situation.
9. Realize that when the reprimand is over, it's over.

"It's ironic, most companies spend 50%-70% of their money on people's salaries. And yet they spend less than 1% of their budget to train their people. Most companies, in fact, spend more time and money on maintaining their buildings and equipment than they do on maintaining and developing people."

Everyone is a potential winner.
Some people are disguised as losers.
Don't let their appearances fool you.

You really have only 3 choices as a manager:

1. First, you can hire winners. They are hard to find and they cost money.
2. Or, second, if you can't find a winner, you can hire someone with the potential to be a winner. Then you systematically train that person to become a winner.
3. If you are not willing to do either of the first two (and I am continually amazed at the number of managers who won't spend the money to hire a winner or take the time to train someone to become a winner), then there is only the third choice left--prayer.'

Take a minute: Look at your goals. Look at your performance. See if your behaviour matches your goals.

We are not just our behaviour. We are the person managing our behaviour.

Reprimand before praise. Not the other way round. Praising is reminding people they are valuable and worthwhile.

Touching is important if you know the person well and are clearly interested in helping the person to succeed in his or her work. But not if you or the other person has doubts about that.

Touch is a very powerful message.

Touch is very honest. People know immediately when you touch them whether you care about them, or whether you are just trying to find a new way to manipulate them.

When you touch. Don't take. Touch people you manage only when you are giving them someone--reassurance, support, encouragement, or whatever.

Manipulation is getting people to do something they are either not aware of or don't agree to. That is why it is so important to let each person know right from the start what you are doing and why.

Goals begin behaviours, consequences maintain behaviours.

Nobody ever really works for anyone else. I just help people work better and in the process they benefit our organization.

Posted by Nico at 5:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A very funny entry on Mr Brown.

But besides that, it made me think of why God doesn't seem to distinguish between those worship him and those who don't. Why is it that even the unrighteous seem to get blessings on earth despite shunning God?

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?" (Matthew 5:44-46)

Using rewards to cause someone to worship you, does it make you genuinely worship him? It's like bribery.

What about miracles? Those were used to prove he had the power. And even then he fed many people and healed many, even though later they were ungrateful.

Makes you think... God doesn't use political tactics to bribe people to worship him.

(This entry edited immediately after posting to remove any references to any specific political parties. Remember, prison got no broadband.)

Posted by Nico at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)