Yesterday, I was walking along the streets of Boston, and noticed the biannual dumping of perfectly good stuff by college students on the sidewalks and streets. Mind you, this isn't just the dorm room poster collection or something - we're talking furniture in like new condition, clothing, lights, etc. - things that people with less money could use in their homes.
- Jewel, A Life Uncommon
... when so many businesses fail at ordinary.
For a long time, business owners wanted robots. Many still think they do. Obedient, efficient, precise - qualities that were highly valued in the manufacturing era in which most of us got an education and entered the workforce. Our entire educational system is based on making human robots - grades are effectively batches of similarly aged human robots, and standardized testing is effectively basic quality control. Robots deliver precise metrics that managers crave - X number of widgets manufactured, X number of items painted, X speed of items processed at the cashier.
In old Japan, it was fairly common for a young person in the tradesman class to be apprenticed to a master. Whether it was blacksmithing, cooking, or any tradeskill, apprenticeship was just about the only way to get an education. What's interesting about old Japanese apprenticeships was the duration and work asked of the apprentice. In many cases, an apprentice would spend many years doing very menial work, like sweeping the floor of the blacksmith shop.
Ever had a day when you felt off, when you weren't accomplishing what you needed to accomplish, or worse, felt as though you didn't have the ability or capability to accomplish?
Chel Wolverton wrote a great blog post the other day about marketers spending too much time consuming, studying, and theorizing, but not enough time doing.
In part 1, written last summer, I encouraged you to use the nearly unlimited power of social media to build the kind of inspirational network you need as a foundation for success. We tend to become the company we keep, so why not use social media to find the examples of success and happiness that you want more of in your life?
DJ Waldow asked:
The third expansion pack to the World of Warcraft franchise, Cataclysm, will be coming out this year. Everything that players have known and loved for the last 5 years is on the table for a re-write, from how characters work to the virtual places and hangouts where players have spent their time for half a decade. It's Blizzard Entertainment's way of rebooting the franchise, changing up how it will work, and theoretically giving them room to continue growing the franchise.
