My wife gave me a fascinating book called "Leonardo's Notebooks" by H. Anna Suh. The book is a rich collection of artwork and writings, arranged in three sections: Beauty, Reason and Art; Observation and Order; and Practical Matters. I'm delighted to borrow from the third section this morning, Practical Matters. Da Vinci possessed one of the greatest …
Category: Observations on Life
If today was your last day…
A friend of mine sent this link yesterday and I thought you would enjoy the message: What if today was your last day? Did you give it your all? Did you help everyone you could? Did you live up to your highest expectation of others? It is so easy to slide into a state of …
Smile! (You are getting old)
A recently published Gallup poll of 340,000 people between the ages of 18 and 85 indicates that the happiness waxes, wanes then waxes again in the life cycle of the average American. Late teens note a high sense of satisfaction with life as do people over the age of fifty. What happens in between is …
The Honest Skeptic and the Alternate Plan
I had the opportunity to make an in-depth study of the weather in the Southeast yesterday in preparation for a flight in a small aircraft. The latest "Surface Analysis" provided by http://www.aviationweather.gov showed a fascinating mix of both high and low pressure systems and warm and cold fronts scattered about the country. Pilot and author Robert Buck wrote …
Past, Present and Future: Brighter Days to Come
No matter how hard you plan, how hard you focus your intention, how many people you conscript to work with you in the achievement of your goals, the future somehow manages to be something of an unknown quantity. The kings of yore summoned astronomers and magicians to help them interpret the faint outlines of the forming future, …
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Confucius say…
"To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness." - Confucius Confucius, who presented himself as a "transmitter who invented nothing," left an indelible mark in the mind of man some 2,500 years ago. His teachings were compiled by his disciples after his death into a …
The Power of Food: Jamie Oliver’s One Wish for Humanity
As a father, a husband and a citizen of the world, I am compelled to do everything within my power to leave the world a better place than I found it. In my life I have witnessed many remarkable changes, the collapse of one of the world's great superpowers, the invention of new modes of communication …
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Bring on the Learning Revolution!
We live in an era of momentous change. The industrial revolution feathered out and the information revolution feathered in over the course of the last century and the world is a different place. The digital revolution is transforming every aspect of our lives and economic activity is becoming more and more virtual. This massive shift …
What is Progress? Insights from Gregg Hake
What is progress? I had to laugh when I read Norwegian ethnologist Thor Heyerdahl's clever definition of progress. He said that "Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity." Despite our supposed progress as a species, human beings have a knack for making life more complicated, more challenging and harder to enjoy. Most would agree that contentment comes …
Never Stop the Line: How One Bolt Changed My Attitude
The story of the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) plant, a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota Motor Company that began in 1984 and ended this past March, offers powerful lessons for American corporate and political leaders. As part of the joint venture, Toyota showed GM the secrets of its production system, one …
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Gregory Hake 