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Posts from the ‘Daily Dose’ Category

Dec 19

Daily Dose 60: Practice

The new is always hesitant, slow, awkward. New skills need methodical attention before becoming natural.

Tricky fingerings worked out slowly on the piano become second nature and “easy,” once conquered.

The novice cook’s first meal often arrives in a rather unusual course sequence, while an experienced cook lays out a feast with only a rustle of busyness.

The new teacher spends every night preparing the lesson plan for one day’s lessons. The veteran teacher plans full lessons in minutes, compensating for individual and class needs all at the same time.

The distinction is not innate ability, but concentrated practice. Read more

Dec 18

Daily Dose 59: 80/20 Principle 2

If the good news about the 80/20 principle is we can expect major results for reasonable effort, what other news do we need to hear? As with most topics, time spent considering the balance points is usually time well spent.

The other side of the 80/20 principle is if we can accomplish 80 percent of result with 20 percent of input, then doubling or tripling input will not, indeed cannot double or triple result. We already know about this, the law of diminishing returns. Read more

Dec 17

Daily Dose 58: 80/20 Principle

Out in the realm of abstract math—not to be mistaken with arithmetic that simply connects or separates concrete numbers by straightforward operations like adding and subtracting—the mysterious “they” have repeatedly demonstrated in a variety of applications an interesting mathematical aspect to life. Roughly 80 percent of outcome almost always comes from something close to 20 percent of input. Read more

Dec 16

Daily Dose 57: Multitasking and Dovetailing

Years ago, multitasking–doing several tasks at once–received positive press. Organized people deftly performed two, three, and four things simultaneously. Having such employees meant increased productivity and profit margins.

Recent studies dampened the enthusiasm. Turns out, once put to the test, these organizers did not attend as well as they thought to their various assignments. Concentrating on one task, then moving to another, (i.e. changing focus) brought better results. The subjects believed they performed well, but the hard cold facts disproved their impressions of their performances. Read more

Dec 15

Daily Dose 56: Broken Windows

Vandalism was rampant in New York when Mayor Giuiliani took over. More police and stricter law enforcement did not solve the problem, but fixing broken windows did. Repeatedly repairing windows broken by vandals sent a message that both the factory and its location were valuable assets.

If the mayor and his consultants had been sitting on Grandma’s porch 150 years ago, she would have told them, “A stitch in time, saves nine.” Read more

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