A Carpenter's Thoughts
Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart. – ConfuciusBest 80s TV Shows
Best 80s TV Shows
- Magnum PI
- Miami Vice
- Three’s Company
- Remington Steele
- The A-Team
- Knight Rider
- CHiPs
- Cheers
- MASH
- The Cosby Show
- Dallas
- Taxi
- The Dukes of Hazard
- The Jeffersons
- Happy Days
Greatest Guitarists in History
- Jimmy Paige
- Jimi Hendrix
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Duane Allman
- Robert Johnson
- T-Bone Walker
- Buddy Guy
- B.B. King
- Chuck Berry
- Eric Clapton
I think it gets really tough to sort out the following 30 plus guitar players, but they were all great.
Any that need to be here on this top9/10 list?
Maybe this one should go to 11.
Top ten most useful words and phrases to learn in any language
- Bathroom
- Eat
- Sleep
- Yes
- No
- Hello
- Goodbye
- 0-10
- Thank you
- “OK”/”Okay” is key, but may differ in exact meaning
Any suggestions?
Health care reform is important, but personal responsibility is needed to reach the big goal, prevention.
We are on our way to a better country with a real health care system that will be fit for a great country. Thank you President Obama for sticking to your guns and making sure this gets done. And, we will do it better than the rest because we have so many countries that we can learn from, and have taken our sweet time getting here. But even with a great health care system, the difference in how healthy we will be is in our own hands everyday. Americans are too fat and lazy. The good life has left us this way and only we can get ourselves out of it.
Three steps to a healthy future:
1) Eat less, especially sugar and processed junk food
2) Live active lives. We weren’t meant to sit all day at a desk or in a car.
3) Get some exercise, sweat a bit
Health care reform is important, but personal responsibility is needed to reach the big goal, prevention. We can get all the health care we want, but prevention is the key in our own hands.
It is what you make it
With an election that went so well there is a shout from the world for the beginning of a better world. For too many years, people have watched a world and remarked “It is what it is.” But now we can, and will, say “It is what you make it.”
Culture and Business
Culture, Language, and Business
No matter who you are or where you are, culture and language matter. Whether I am traveling abroad, doing business with a foreign organization, or just chatting with a person from another culture, I consider knowing about that other culture and language to be essential.
Marketing and Selling American products internationally offers as much risk as it does reward. In order to succeed, American companies must hire people who are as passionate to achieve business success as they are passionate to understand culture and people. A person who can push through the complexities of language and culture will be able to adapt and shift faster than others and will find success in the growing markets such as China, or even the multicultural markets of the USA.
Many people have experienced difficulties interacting and communicating with people of different cultures, nationalities, and who speak different languages. Sometimes this process can be made easier and the people and business will both benefit. Perhaps a project manager in the USA is dealing with a team in China and the two sides are not able to clearly communicate important items like current situation, goals, and objectives. Well, this train my never leave the station because of an inability to communicate across borders, cultures, and languages. As a leader in this situation, a project manager must take the lead in finding the keys to this cross cultural interaction.
”The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” –Peter F. Drucker
Resources
There are many good resources for learning about people, places, and culture and I would suggest that any step is a good first step in that learning process. I have listed below some links to resources that I have found useful and interesting in my process of learning and enjoying people, places, and groups from all around this wonderful world.
Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands (http://www.getcustoms.com)
The Culture Code – Archetype Discoveries Worldwide (http://www.archetypediscoveriesworldwide.com/discoveries.html)
Economist.com Country Briefings (http://www.economist.com/countries)
CIA – The World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook)
The Global Leader: Understanding Chinese Business Culture and Business Practices
Chinese Culture and Chinese Business Culture
Asian Marketing Services (AMS) is a pioneer in providing businesses access to the Asian and Hispanic American markets.
Universal keys to cross culture interactions
The Goal: A set of basic concepts that will help people in their cross cultural interactions.
Here is a shot in the dark based on my experience:
- We are all human: We have more in common than dividing us.
- Enjoy differences: Variety is the spice of life.
- Be adaptable: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
- Respect: We all want it, so give it to get it. That includes not pushing your values on others.
- Attention and Awareness: Pay attention to and be aware of yourself as well as of others and your environment.
- Body Language: Body language may differ in meaning, but it always matters.
- Knowledge: Learn about the world and people, including culture, language, and history.
