Building Teams for your Start Up

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Be careful with your new hires in a startup. Talented people want to work with other talented people because they enjoy the inspiration and celebrating each other’s success. Seeking creativity is different from running from restrictions and rules. Build a team, don’t just fill positions.

Has you opponent said to you: I Read Your Book

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Erwin Rommel was a German general and military theorist A defining scene took place after Patton, played by George C. Scott, beat Rommel’s Tank Division. He had set a brilliant trap for the tanks and when the dust cleared after the battle was over, Patton was delighted with the victory and seemed to be talking directly to Rommel as he looked over the battle scene and yelled out joyfully. “Rommel I read your book”.

Study your competition! The lesson from Patton’s claim that he read Rommel’s book is that he beat Rommel’s forces on the battlefield. He felt it was important to understand more about his opponent.

The Strength of the Pack is in the Wolf is a Strategy to understand and use

     Lou Holtz was well known for his coaching technique, and success at Note Dame, has this statement associated with him:

      “For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” 

This powerful statement defines teamwork. Working together for the good of the pack, or in Holtz’s case, the team. The example of how the wolves that individually are smaller and less powerful than mountain lions, for example, work together to take down prey much larger than an individual wolf seems obvious enough and their advantage is in collaborating with their pack.

The book, American Wolf, brings deep insights into wolves and their life daily life in a pack where a strong leader is very important. 

Even though many associate this quote with Lou Holtz it was originally used by Rudyard Kipling in his poem:   "NOW this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky; And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die."

      "NOW this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky; And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die."

Click Book to see Review

Changing Ourselves, both Past and Future

Throughout this blog there are many quotes and books that point to the reality of changing ourselves.

Reading is the key. It tell us, as C.S. Lewis said:

“The good of literature is that we want to become more than ourselves, we want to see with others eyes, to imagine with others imaginations, to feel with others hearts, as well as our own.” 

For me the more I read the more this truth becomes not just something that I believe, but something that I know.

T.S. Eliot's comment seems to add to what Lewis said: "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time".

It must mean that we not only can change the future but we can change how we see the past. 

Sometimes One Review Really Suggests Looking at Another One.

Recently I posted a review on Thoreau's Walden. Whenever Thoreau is mentioned you see something like the following:

Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts. He began writing nature poetry in the 1840s, with poet Ralph Waldo Emerson as a mentor and friend.

 

Yes, Emerson was a mentor to Thoreau. He lived with in walking distance of the remote Walden. In fact he owned the land that Thoreau built the cabin on. 

Jon Krakauer's book, "Into The Wild", didn't end well. Christopher McCandless died after 4 months on the remote wilderness of Alaska, and he paid a steep price for what he learned. It was Thoreau's writings about finding ones self through deliberate solitude that took Chris to the wilderness but perhaps Chris found a much tougher nature than Thoreau found.

"Into The Wild" is an older book but not as old as Walden. When I first read Krakauer's book, I thought of the very different outcome and circumstances between it and Walden. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Help me get away from the Past

Recenty I posted in the "Stories" section on this blog some comments about "writing in the moment". I listed 4 books about writing that I had enjoyed and had reviewed on this site before. I linked those books in that post back to the reviews.

Writing in the moment, posted in the stories section, was intended to deal with the quality of our overall writing skills, rather than just whether were picking a particular moment to write, but even so this particular moment is a little challenging to write in, because it is hard to leave the news events of this week, and focus anywhere else.

The mass shootings in this country are upsetting.  I thought this picture before had some relevance.

Relevant Quote

“What day is it?"
It's today," squeaked Piglet.
My favorite day," said Pooh.” 
― A.A. Milne

This little guy is on the verge of getting erased but he may be telling us an important truth. If we can't look back at the past we may lose sight of where we are going, even if we do live in the moment. 

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More on Fantasy

This week I posted on Google+ .  This is a similar social media tool to Twitter but not nearly as popular. It is easy to use but harder to feel a part of just yet.

I posted on several google+ communities and had a few things to say about Fantasy in those posts.  I referred the readers to the blog site and to the January 31st  post on Fantasy. From that post I linked to a couple of prior posts on the subject. (just click the bold item above. 

Today may not reflect much of a personal thought but then some days are like that. It is Valentines day. So Happy Valentine Day.........

Today is also a day of tragedy with another school shooting. So sad.

 

Spiders are not so bad once you get to know them (say hello)

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I just wrote a review for a book by Gary Paulsen called "Hatchet". (see book reviews)

Brian the 13 year old boy that was the only survivor of a small plane crash deep in the forested areas of Canada had to find a way to eat, and to avoid the dangers around him.

He learned by making mistakes and he also learned to think before he acted. He would stand, very silent, and observe the surroundings before making any movement. He felt he gained new insight that way.

Sometimes that approach couldn't save him. He avoided a bear and some wolves only because he was lucky.

What about a big black spider? No this wasn't a scene in the book i just reviewed, but I saw a huge spider this week and learned a few things. I learned that this variety of spider would not bite humans and lived on bugs mostly. That was interesting but the only reason I learned about this was that a man who knew all about this type of spider was on hand and told me about it.

What would I do if I was stranded in the far off forested regions of Canada and one of these guys came crawling up my leg? I haven't a clue right now and hope I never learn. In years past the answer would be that I would grab the Hatchet and finish off the spider.

This week, after being up close with this spider and learning more about it, I would hate to see it needlessly killed. The key to this situation is to know something about the spider.