cannyben

My wife makes great Chinese food! She’s been making it a long time, but somehow, it always has that same wonderful flavor. I too make terrific Chinese food, but it tastes differently. Here’s the striking part: we both use the same ingredients! The difference is in the proportions. No two are alike! That’s one of the things I appreciate most. Have you ever met anyone just like you? I mean really just like you: same height, weight, appearance, talents, preferences, hopes, beliefs, aspirations, passions…? No, Even the identical twins I’ve talked to can tell me how they differ. There are no two people who are truly identical. Even our bodies testify to our uniqueness. We all have different DNA, different fingerprints, and different retina patterns. We are each a unique masterpiece. It’s no surprise then that the same is true for our talents and motivations.

In the rich world globalization had driven the wedge between social classes, while in the poor world, the main divide is between countries: those that adjusted to globalization and, in many areas, prospered and those that adjusted badly and, in many cases, collapsed.Indeed the Third World was never a bloc the way that that the first and second worlds were. But it was united by its opposition to colonialism and dislike for being used as a battlefield of the two then-dominant ideologies. As the Second World collapsed and globalization took off, the latter rationale evaporated, and a few countries, most notably India and China, accelerated their growth rates significantly, enjoying the fruits of freer trade and larger capital flows. And although these two countries adapted well to globalization, there is little doubt that their newfound relative prosperity opened many new fissure lines. Inequality between coastal and inland provinces, as well as between urban and rural areas, skyrocketed ...

The first big mistake we make as leaders is to fail to ask what mistakes we were making.Managing instead of leading:Managing has more to do with directing day-to-day tasks, whereas leading has more to do with focusing a vision, goal setting, and motivation.When a leader spends more time managing than leading, morale suffers among the subordinates. Most people prefer a goal to shoot for and some freedom to figure out how to reach that goal. We all crave at least a partial sense of control.In a study, two team leaders were given a difficult problem to solve. The complex problem involved mental gymnastics, difficult decisions, and intense concentration. Both teams participated in the project in a room where distracting sounds were piped in through speakers. The music, noise, and voices were enough to drive one to distraction. Which, of course, was the point.Team A couldn’t do anything about the distracting sounds. They just had to put up with them. Team B was told that by pushing a button...

The first big mistake we make as leaders is to fail to ask what mistakes we were making.Managing instead of leading:Managing has more to do with directing day-to-day tasks, whereas leading has more to do with focusing a vision, goal setting, and motivation.When a leader spends more time managing than leading, morale suffers among the subordinates. Most people prefer a goal to shoot for and some freedom to figure out how to reach that goal. We all crave at least a partial sense of control.In a study, two team leaders were given a difficult problem to solve. The complex problem involved mental gymnastics, difficult decisions, and intense concentration. Both teams participated in the project in a room where distracting sounds were piped in through speakers. The music, noise, and voices were enough to drive one to distraction. Which, of course, was the point.Team A couldn’t do anything about the distracting sounds. They just had to put up with them. Team B was told that by pushing a button...

The first big mistake we make as leaders is to fail to ask what mistakes we were making.Managing instead of leading:Managing has more to do with directing day-to-day tasks, whereas leading has more to do with focusing a vision, goal setting, and motivation.When a leader spends more time managing than leading, morale suffers among the subordinates. Most people prefer a goal to shoot for and some freedom to figure out how to reach that goal. We all crave at least a partial sense of control.In a study, two team leaders were given a difficult problem to solve. The complex problem involved mental gymnastics, difficult decisions, and intense concentration. Both teams participated in the project in a room where distracting sounds were piped in through speakers. The music, noise, and voices were enough to drive one to distraction. Which, of course, was the point.Team A couldn’t do anything about the distracting sounds. They just had to put up with them. Team B was told that by pushing a button...