Dec 17
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
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
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
In our house bits and bites happened two ways: for the children it meant an occasional weekly cycle of receiving treat tidbits for very distinct, specific practicing, chore, or school tasks. They might get one M & M for practicing a scale once. Five times, five M & Ms. Another day might be one goldfish cracker for playing four measures of a song. Or maybe they would get a slice of a snack cake for doing a math problem or reciting one verse. These were not big rewards, just a little fun way to spark up the practicing, school work, or chores once in awhile. In our low budget atmosphere it made bags of M & Ms, and boxes of Little Debbie cakes go a long way! Read more
If a little is good, more must be better. If a little plant food generates bursts of colorful blooms, wouldn’t more make even more blooms even bigger? If I can get so much done in a concentrated ten minute cleaning session, think what I could do in an hour. Yes, think about it. The results might surprise you. At what point does too much plant food begin to burn the roots, decreasing the size and health of the blooms? Take pictures after a ten minute session and an one hour session. Is there a noticeable difference in final outcome? Not likely. The increased effort probably went to less visible projects (think washing walls: lots of intense labor, but very little increase in the “tidy look” department). Welcome to the world of diminishing returns. Read more
Priority Stewardship 