Lack of Dots

A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have. - Steve Jobs


Be sure you learn something every day; on all sorts of subjects.

Nothing to Say

If a thing goes without saying -- let it. - Jacob Braude


If only the world could be such a nice quiet place.......

Your Works Speech

When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt. - Henry J. Kaiser

When someone talks nonstop about how great their work is, start looking for its flaws.

Quackable

Always behave like a duck - keep calm and unruffled on the surface but paddle like the devil underneath - Jacob Braude


Quack, quack.

Leave Wiggle Room

Life is not a struggle, it's a wiggle. - Peter McWilliams


Unless your opponent is yourself.

Big Ding

I want to put a ding in the universe. - Steve Jobs

He has.

Be Stubborn

Stubbornness is also determination. It's simply a matter of shifting from "won't power" to "will power." - Peter McWilliams


Shift.

Avoiding the Inevitable

No matter what you work on, you're not working on everything else. So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well. There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important. That last type, I'd argue, is good procrastination. - Paul Graham


Don't delude yourself into not doing what has to be done.

Uncomfortable Progress

Always work hard on something uncomfortably exciting. - Larry Page


Progress is not comfortable.

Multiple Choices

It's not so important what you work on, so long as you're not wasting your time. Work on things that interest you and increase your options, and worry later about which you'll take. - Paul Graham


The more options you have the better. Heinlein said (correctly) that specialization is for insects.

What Do you Want to Be?

If I were back in high school and someone asked about my plans, I'd say that my first priority was to learn what the options were. You don't need to be in a rush to choose your life's work. What you need to do is discover what you like. You have to work on stuff you like if you want to be good at what you do. - Paul Graham


You need to practice the skills needed to get into the game you enjoy.

Good Posture

Help others get ahead. You will always stand taller with someone else on your shoulders. - Bob Moawad


It's hard to slouch with someone standing on your shoulders.

Becoming an Adult

There's no switch inside you that magically flips when you turn a certain age or graduate from some institution. You start being an adult when you decide to take responsibility for your life. You can do that at any age. - Paul Graham


Parents need to teach their kids to take responsibility so they can become successful adults.

Changing Plans

The world changes fast, and the rate at which it changes is itself speeding up. In such a world it's not a good idea to have fixed plans. - Paul Graham


It's kind of like sailing; sometimes you tack, sometimes you run with the wind.

Geek Man Talking

Dressing up is inevitably a substitute for good ideas. It is no coincidence that technically inept business types are known as "suits." - Paul Graham


Yeah, but it impresses the ladies.

Dewdrops in the Dawn

Dewdrops in the Dawn 

by Sheree Zielke

(dedicated to mothers & children and grandmothers & grandchildren the world over)

I know not what, I know not why,

For those morning dewdrops make me cry.

In awe.

Birthed in groans, before the light,

Those lovely dewdrops are a sight.

To behold.

A tentative touch, afraid to break,

Lovely dewdrops, the Lord doth make.

For us.

To have, and to hold, but not too strong,

For dewdrops change, as days grow long.

Too much.

As the sun raises fiery arms towards the day,

Those tiny dewdrops slip away.

Too fast.

Were I the sun, and in my sky,

I wouldn’t raise my arms so high,

I’d let those little dewdrops lie,

For just a while longer.

Inner Treasure

Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness. - George Sand


Giving, losing and acquiring can be done morally, honorably and fairly if you have, and live by, principles with the same values. If folks want to call it kindness, I'll let them. 

Questions Are Like Answers

Asking the right questions takes as much skill as giving the right answers. - Robert Half 


The right answer is always truthful, factual, honest, impartial and tactful. The right question should be the same.

Goal Focusing

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. - Henry Ford 


If you happen to glimpse an obstacle, view it not as a brick wall but as a speed bump and refocus on your goal.

Crocs, Sharks, Piranha . . .

Really listening and suspending one's own judgment is necessary in order to understand other people on their own terms... This is a process that requires trust and builds trust. - Mary Field Belenky


Mary; Watch for those crocs in your calm waters.

Destiny's Choice

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. - William Jennings Bryan


If you want your destiny to be abysmal go back and sit on the couch.

Enjoying the Pleasure

People seem to enjoy things more when they know a lot of other people have been left out of the pleasure. - Russell Baker


Misery loves company.

Calm Waters

Don't think there are no crocodiles because the water is calm. - Malayan Proverb


Remember, crocodiles are cold-blooded predators.

Rights and Duties

The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty. - Jean-Jacques Rousseau


There must be a slave for there to be a master, so beware of those who invent new rights and duties.

Original Quality

It's cheaper to design manufacturing quality into a factory than it is to inspect it in after the product has already been built. - Seth Godin



The same could be said for raising kids, living your life, building a barn.......
Doing things right from the outset is the best course.

Efficient Tyranny

If anyone ever tells you that something you love is “inefficient,” and the cure is to shove something you hate down your throat, then “efficiency” has become a mere rationalization for tyranny. - Alex Epstein


e.g. Light bulbs; doctors; building design; food; cars; fuels; appliances; fireplaces; etc, etc, etc

The Unreasonable Ones

We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed but to those who have differed. - Charles Caleb Colton


The unreasonable types.

Unreasonable Progress

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. - George Bernard Shaw


Societies which make "reasonable" as the ultimate goal don't progress.

Levering Friendships

Don't make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up. - Thomas J. Watson 


Also make friends that you can mentor so they can lever themselves up.

Almost Perfect

Just because nobody complains doesn't mean all parachutes are perfect. - Benny Hill


There are those who would complain in light of perfection. They do so in order to try to appear better than perfect.