Maybe the internet will not douse our love of books yet, nor replace deep thinking/deep reading as we have feared.

Definitely the internet creates an instant mentality - short burst of reading here and there, as well as many shallow diversions…. but it may not replace deep reflection as yet in our generation.

Study: Young adults heavy library users - Yahoo! News

Young adults are the heaviest users of public libraries despite the ease with which they can access a wealth of information over the Internet from the comforts of their homes, according to a new study.

Two quotes caught my eye over the holidays:

- In starting a business, we should start small.  But in whatever we do, we should not stay small-minded.

- There are only two things we can give to our schildren. — One is roots.  the other is wings.

It is always great to visualize tomorrow.  A hundred years ago, new yOrk live on the verge of new hope, and it crystallized.

Now the prediction is not so rosy — it seems New York, and even our own world is starting to burst on the seams….  Whatever it will be , and whereever we are, it will be upto us.

As we approach 2008, there is nothing more sure than our conviction that the world is ” as we make it.”

The World of Tomorrow - New York Times

The point of such predictions was not necessarily that they were accurate but that people cared enough about the future to bother thinking about it. With that in mind, 10 knowledgeable New Yorkers, from the Nobel laureate Paul Nurse (Simon Flexner’s successor) to a 12-year-old girl named Kate, were asked to imagine the city a century from now.

Whether their visions turn out to be right or wrong, whether they are bleak or tongue-in-cheek, all are generous efforts to wonder about the lives of New Yorkers of 2108, as those New Yorkers of 1908 once wondered about ours.

Cicero, more than 2,000 years ago, declared that there are six fatal mistakes of man:

1. The delusion tha tpersonal gain is made by crushing others.
2. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected.
3. Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it.
4. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;
5. Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and studying.
6. Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

It does seem that 2,000 years have passed, and these observations are as valid as ever.

A year ago, I wrote that it is better to focused on hiring wise people rather than smart people.

Just today, I saw a quote saying it is better to be wise than smart. 

However, the last few days have given me experience that made me not too sure….  We need people to constantly make decisions fast , even in the face of incomplete information, and to have a bias for action - which tends to be in the province of the definition of being smart rather than wise ( too much contemplation and consideration).

Wise or smart?

Maybe let me put it this way — in life and in business, the most important thing is the ability to move forward and accomplish  ( the bias for action is being smart)  what you believe are the most important things in your life (the understanding of what is most important to you is being wise)… 

You have decided to take the plunge, raise the money from  your savings as well as from your family, and have now ‘inaugurated’ your small business.  What are the things to keep in mind?  

Don’t take risks you cannot afford.  

As you venture on your entrepreneur venture, there will be many mistakes you will commit.  Even the most successful enterprises commit mistakes in which they lose people and money.  The reason

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If you look around the fellow passengers in a plane, you will be stuck with the realization that some people may be paying 3 to 5 times more than others to be in the same plane, enjoying the same service.

If you make a phone call, that same phone call may cost ( depending on what service you are using) free, or it could be at 2 or 3 dollars a minute.  And it does not matter whether you are calling somebody 10,000 miles away or somebody next door.  The person you are talking to halfway around the world may be free, and you may be paying a dollar a minute  to talk to somebody in the same building.

We are in an economy where you don’t get what you pay for.  You get charged on an amount the vendor can get away with.

One of the best examples I can give is internet in hotels.

This is probably one of the cheapest amenities a hotel can give.  ( after the initial infrastructure investment, it is almost free to give out — compared to giving free coffeemaker, ironboards, breakfast, swimming, gym, etc).  And it is something that many people look for that we thought a hotel that does not offer such would be at a competitive disadvantage.

It did not work out that way.

Of course, any hotel worth its salt should have internet, but many are not providing it for free.

In fact, the irony about it is that as per my experience, most budget hotels offer it for free, and most luxury hotels offer it at an outrageous price ( $2 or more per hour, $10 to $15 per day).

I got into conversation with an attendant from a big name luxury chain, and he admitted that this was always the complaint of guests.  But the hotel chain figured ( as do most luxury hotels) that people who are paying $150 to $250 per day won’t mind an additional $10 for the internet since they are company reimbursable anyway.  He figures the hotel easily earns thousands of dollars extra per week by choosing to charge for it - so what the heck!  It was worth it to argue for a few times a week, or maybe ocassionally losing or frustrating a guest.

That , my friend, is the internet economy.

This is an interesting topic for me, because I have meet people with this trait which Bing has aptly named as lack of awareness.

And I believe this is one of the fundamental requisites of success — being aware.

I believe you may have meet people who contribute minimally to the organization yet seemingly think that they are responsible largely for its success?  Or you have meet people who irritate you no end, and yet is surprised why you are frustrated with them?

It is supremely important to be conscious — of your situation, and how people are reacting to the you, and to the things around them…

Ask Bing: I asked for a raise and got fired - Dec. 10, 2007

I was fired from my job solely because I asked for a performance raise. Is this legal and, if not, what is my recourse against this employer?

Ans…..  Thanks for your time.

I’m sorry, but I find it impossible to believe that you were fired just for asking for a raise. I think it may be that you were fired for lack of awareness.

This is my initiative for now …. I lately realized I cannot grow the business further unless I stop doing my subordinates jobs for them.

Teach them skills and hold them accountable — easy to say, difficult to do.  But that is what they say — if you want to grow, you have to learn to train, trust, and then let go.

Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey?

You’re racing down the hall. An employee stops you and says, “We’ve got a problem.” You assume you should get involved but can’t make an on-the-spot decision. You say, “Let me think about it.”

You’ve just allowed a “monkey” to leap from your subordinate’s back to yours.

You’re now working for your subordinate. Take on enough monkeys, and you won’t have time to handle your real job: fulfilling your own boss’s mandates and helping peers generate business results.

Sometimes we get carried away with cookie cutter solutions.  The great talent of leadership is not to know what to do, but in identifying in each of your managers and people, and knowing their strengths and weakness, know what role they play, and what actions for them to carry out to contribute to the overall mission of the organization.

What Great Managers Do

You’ve spent months coaching that employee to treat customers better, work more independently, or get organized—all to no avail.

How to make better use of your precious time? Do what great managers do: Instead of trying to change your employees, identify their unique abilities (and even their eccentricities)—then help them use those qualities to excel in their own way.