Action Figure Daniel

Author: Daniel

  • Teachers: You’ll need it later in life

    (I found this in my notes–towards the bottom of the list–next to the note Can I, May I and Can I Go to the Bathroom.)


    One of my personal favorites was being told that I would need something later in life. The teacher didn’t know when or how, just that I would. Now that I am later in life I look back on these statement and realized they might as well have told me that at some point I would be shot by a mobster, they just don’t know when or why.

    The key thing this statement communicates to children is that the all knowing teacher knows that you will need some bit of information but that the children, in their limited knowledge and understanding will need to struggle and figure out, throughout life, how to use the information. If they happen to die before figuring it all out then they will die wondering “how was I supposed to use that incredibly valuable piece of information that no one knew how I would use it?”.

    What is tremendously better is what my college algebra teacher was explained to me: “higher math is required not because you’ll actually need it, because you won’t. Higher math teaches you to think differently, that’s why we learn it.” Thus explanation is so much better than “because you’ll need it in some indefinite time in your life for some indefinite purpose.”

  • The (unexpected) blessing of Chat

    I remember back when my work first switch to our current email service, Google Apps, from the old antiquated one, a private offering. The old service provided basic email services, 100mb of space and no calendaring or document sharing support. For its time it was normal, compared to now it was dismal. As I was proposing the switch from the old service (which we paid for) to the new service (which was free at the time) I was explaining the benefits of Google Apps: Gmail was a smarter email system, shared calendaring, Docs and Spreadsheets that have only got better with time, Chat to allow instant communication, and of course, Free. I think it was the word “free” that won out in the end, but I remember that Chat was of particular concern. Mostly, the management was concerned that employees would abuse it.

    Fast forward four years to yesterday: My work just announced the opening a new location. While the new store will not be open for several weeks (the actual opening date has not been announce) the announcement alone has caused a fervor of activity. There are computers to get ready, inventory to order, people to hire and plans to put down. I, being a remote worker, do not have the normal luxury of roaming in and out of offices to get the answers to questions I have about the opening. How many computer terminals do we need? Who is the store manager? What dates have been announced? How will the new store effect back end staffing? Each of these is a pressing question that needs to be answered sooner rather than later: they each effect a series of other choices that need to be made.

    Features such as a live shared calendar are good to be able to track dates on a unified calendar; we are using a Google Spreadsheet to track assignments, record progress notes and completion of tasks. But it is Chat, the Google instant messaging service built into Gmail, that is proving to be most helpful with getting quick responses to simple, but important questions. The one service that we feared would be damaging is invaluable. Unlike email, Chat has a more immediate and pressing presence and allows for quicker back and forth communication and the resolution of additional questions that arise.

    This instant communication is good for handling questions, but there is more to it than just question answering. Chat allows remote workers, whether it is me several hundred miles away from the company or the Customer Service Office just a few miles away from the Corporate Office, that help us feel closer together. Close enough to vent our frustrations, tell jokes and even share pictures all the while remaining productive and active in our respective offices. In some ways, I think Chat allows us the benefit of both worlds: distance brings us more productivity because it puts us closer to what each of us manages (the Customer Service people are closer to the warehouse people they work closely with, the Admin people are closer to their records, the merchandiser are closer to their catalogs and I am closer to my phone) while also allowing us to feel a sense of connectedness and camaraderie that improves moral and binds us together.

  • “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell

    People who have been successful through out history (at least modern history) have been so because of the enormous effort they have put into their success, so argues Gladwell. He suggests that coming from a wealthy background and being born with a high IQ can help lay a foundation for that success but notes that there are more that many people who inherited wealth squander it and that there are more geniuses who have less than noteworthy jobs than those who do. Instead, proficiency and success usually comes after about seizing an opportunity, applying about 10,000 hours of practice and recognizing your cultural legacy. As with Gladwell’s other books, Outliers presents a narrative with a broad collection of story to illustrate his point.

    Interesting tidbit: nineteenth century European farmers generally worked about 1200 hours a year. That is 200 more hours a year than hunter/gatherers (and I was always under the impression that we changed from hunter/gatherer to farmer because it was easier). Both of these pale in comparison to the rice farmers of the era who generally worked (and many still do) 3000 hours a year.

  • “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell

    Most of the most important decisions we make, are made in a split second using “thin-slicing” decision making. These decisions are often made more correctly than we can manage if we put our minds to it. For example, doctors diagnosing heart attacks usually go through a long list of tests and procedures to determine if the attack is real. Doctors correctly diagnosed the heart attack 70%-90% of the time. Gladwell cites a study by Dr. Goldman who took hundreds of heart attack case studies into a computer program developed by physicists to build correlation models for particles. The result was a comparatively simple, and much less (needlessly) expensive, algorithm that allowed doctors to correctly diagnose heart attacks more than 95% of the time. Goldman’s process, as is the point of the book, happens with less information, much quicker and more accurately than the traditional process.

    Interesting tidbit: John Gottman, a psychologist at the University of Washington, has developed a 15 minute analysis, that with a 95% accuracy, can determine if a couple will still be married in 15 years. All by “thin-slicing” the conversation.

  • “Made to Stick” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

    This book seeks to capture the essence of why things stick with us in society. Why is the urban legend about a man waking up in a tub of ice with his kidney removed still floating around when we cannot barely remember yesterday’s news? Why is Southwest still profitable (for 30 plus consecutive years) while other airlines struggle? The brothers Heath identify many underlying reasons and write them in an easy, and fun, easy to follow narrative.

    Interesting tidbit: In one study, people who thought analytically before being asked to donate to African relieve donated an average of $1.14 out of $5. People who thought emotionally before being asked to donate to African relieve donated an average of $2.38 out of $5.

    Side trivia: you are 300 times more likely to be killed by a deer than a shark.