Keeping track of things

Here is a really great product my son found for me. Really useful and easy to use. It enables you to store things you find on the web or even see, so that you can look at them later.

Take a look at www.evernote.com

The Real Golden Rule?

Some people say that the Golden Rule is a value which simply means "treat others as you would like to be treated."

This rule is encased in religious beliefs

Christianity
Matthew 7:12 "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
Luke 6:31 "Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them."

Buddhism
Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.

Islam
“That which you want for yourself, seek for mankind.
In his Last Sermon, the Prophet Muhammad admonished believers: "Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you."

Taoism
"Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss."

Judaisum
Leviticus 19:18 "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself"

The law of karma, says `for every event that occurs, there will follow another event whose existence was caused by the first, and this second event will be pleasant or unpleasant according as its cause was skillful or unskillful.' Therefore, the law of Karma teaches that responsibility for unskillful actions is born by the person who commits them.

Confucius
Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.

I don't think that it is simply "treating others as you would like to be treated", I think it is also about respecting others like they want to be respected. Treating them
like you want to be treated is selfish. Respecting them as they want to be respected is giving. Respect decides how we will treat people.....

What do you think?

Ford - what has changed?

Today is the 12th August 2008. On this date in 1908 the Model T rolled out of the Ford Motor Company factory. It was a sturdy 4 cylinder black car that came in two versions, tourer and roadster. Retail prices were $25 for the tourer and $825 for the roadster.

A hundred years later the car has changed significantly. Engines with higher performance, comfort and of course a range of colors and shapes. The sad, and arguably the most vital, aspect has not changed much at all. The Model T gave about 25 to 30 miles to the gallon!

It just goes to show, you get what you focus on. One has to wonder what it would be like if as much effort had been put into giving greater fuel efficiency from the beginning, what we would have today.

United Nations

I was very pleased to be invited to the United Nations today and be able to visit the Assembly Rooms, see all the great gifts given by nations and then spend some time with a UN Officer and learn more about the UN and what it is doing. He took the time to answer questions and explain some of the activities and philosophies in the UN.

We had a wonderful dinner looking out over the river and then had an excellent speech from Jim Cathcart. I have heard Jim speak before and he is a very talented speaker indeed. Tonight he had a message that I enjoyed and wanted to record.

It was about 'asking'. By asking we show strength and by asking we create a relationship which is of mutual benefit. I know in times past I have feared asking someone and there is no real reason for having failed to do so. I know I have come up with excuses why I have not asked them, but there has not been good reasons.

I thank Jim for reminding me that there is no reason not to ask for help and that it is not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of strength. We all need to be reminded of that at times.



If you want to know more about Jim Cathcart, please go to www.jimcathcart.com

The Future of Work

Over the last five years I have been speaking about how employers need to be thinking how they will re-structure their workplaces and I am seeing some interesting things happening. For example, Capital One Financial Corporation have a Future of Work program that is looking at how to make the work place more attractive and a place people want to stay.

The type of thing they are doing include: giving all new university graduates an iPod with preloaded books on it like, How to think like Leonardo Di Vinci, which allows people to learn at their own time and speed. Their aim is to provide a productive and rewarding environment to work in. The company recognizes the importance people place on their personal life and aims to provide an environment that allows them to create the balance between their professional and personal lives.




Well done Capital One Financial Corporation. It is time for more organizations to break their mind-set about how our business will look in the future and re-design it.

If ever there is a question on your mind about the need to be constantly reinventing how you do your business, what you do in your business and the way business will constantly be changing, then this story shows that anything can and will happen.

One of UK's biggest newspapers has decided to go with Google over Microsoft!

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?email&NewsID=22077

I hope you are thinking carefully about your business and asking yourself good questions about your business. Take nothing as a guarantee of the future.