|
Listen on Public
Radio
Monday - 7:19am
Saturday - 8:19am
88.9FM WCVE, Richmond, VA
89.1FM WCNV, Heathsville, VA
90.1FM WMVE, Chase City, VA
|
|
Previous MindShifts
MindShift Resources
Executive Coaching
|
|
Let's connect...
|
|
One-click to opt-in to this
nonsense newsletter
|
|
One-click to share this
nonsense newsletter
|
|
One-click to opt-out of this
nonsense newsletter
|
|
PRIVACY PROMISE
Would I share your email address
with others?
Of
course not!
I want my email to be the only nonsense
you get.
|
|
REPRINT PERMISSION
You have my permission to use this
newsletter as you see fit - in your
publication, on your blog or in your own
newsletter. All I ask, no, insist on, is
that you please credit James Henry
McIntosh as the author and that you
provide a link to
www.nonsenseatwork.com.
Fair enough?
|
|
Unless otherwise attributed, all
material is written and edited by James
Henry McIntosh.
©2010 James Henry McIntosh.
All rights reserved.
|
|
designed & powered
by...
|
|
|
|
When efficient hindsight is meanest fun
Spring is
here and soon we will have that lazy,
hazy craving for hot days on the beach.
That craving once earned me a hot
glare from a business school professor.
The professor
was explaining why efficiency is
business magic.
Why efficiency mattered, why it
was better for all, why we, as future
superstar managers, had always to aim
for efficiency, and so on.
This was a
Friday evening class, believe it or not,
and so his enthusiasm was met with tired
stares.
So he asked us to imagine
planning a drive to a fancy holiday
resort.
What car would we choose based on
fuel consumption and miles to be
traveled?
That’s where
he lost me completely and I finally
spoke up.
“Sir, if that’s the destination,
then I’m taking the fastest car.”
To this day I
still think that effectiveness trumps
efficiency, even if it costs a glare or
two.
|
|
Hindsight is never 20/20
I recently
glared at ‘seagull commentators’ (to
misquote Ken Blanchard).
They swoop in on a bit of
left-over trouble, make much noise
dumping their hind-sighted opinions and
fly out again.
A reader
asked, “Do you mean that hindsight is
actually not 20/20?”
Exactly!
Hindsight is simply reverse
prediction.
Because an event has already
occurred, we have a tendency to see this
event as being more predictable than it
was before it happened.
So, when is
hindsight not 20/20?
When you cloud your hindsight
with opinions, perceptions,
interpretations, and so on, to fit your
idea of 20/20 accuracy.
When you ignore the fact that
hindsight is just as subjective as
future-sight.
Above all,
when you forget that the past is more
predictable than the future.
|
|
At the level of the meanest muttering
With
hindsight, we can say that societies
aspire to become better over time.
Blame it on evolution. Yet, all
societies run the risk of going in
the other direction.
Blame this on us.
I once worked
for a CEO whose executives
criticized him because his language,
they feared, was too fancy for all
employees to understand.
He explained that leadership
is about setting standards that
inspire others, even in language.
This is one direction.
Now consider
the First Amendment which laudably
protects free speech.
Sadly, it also protects
hurtful and hateful speech, as Chief
Justice Roberts recently pointed
out.
Surely, it is
an abuse of the intention of freedom
of speech to protect every insane
uttering.
If this continues unchecked,
then there is a risk that we all
will ultimately communicate at the
level of the meanest muttering.
When a civilized society
fails to frown on even simple
rudeness, well, that is evolution in
the wrong direction.
|
|
Trying to be glum is too much fun
Talk about
frowning on rudeness. . . .
Sometimes, I admit, happy
chappies with their fake smiley faces
and their ‘have a nice day’ choruses
annoy me into grumpy retorts.
But there’s good news.
I think I’ve found away to snap
out of it.
My grumpiness, that is.
Happiness
gurus tell you to choose your attitude,
to be happy, don’t worry.
Well, I think you should do the
opposite.
For one day put on your grumpy
face, look unhappy and glare at anyone
who dares to smile at you.
For one whole day wipe the smile
from your dial and put a frown on your
face. Yes, even when someone is
genuinely nice or a joke really funny.
There is one
rule, though.
Don’t be rude.
That is a frown too far.
Why is this
good news?
Because there is no way you can
make it through the day without cracking
a smile.
Trying to be glum is just too
much fun.
∞
Want to practice your frown on me?
Click here for my 'have a nice day'
retort
|
|
|
Welcome to our side of the nonsense
divide
Attraversiamo
|
|
