I was reading the San Jose Mercury News one morning while staying with my brother during a visit some years ago at San Mateo, California, USA and I noticed that the front page of the paper featured a repair of a road culvert. The culvert, a canal by the side of a main thoroughfare, wasContinue reading “The Devil is in The Details”
Category Archives: Aha!
We Need Librarians More Than Ever
How relevant are librarians in the 21st century? In the 1970’s, when I was much younger, a library was that room of stand-alone shelves filled with books, spaced by a few tables and chairs. The librarian was the one minding that room, making sure we who visited kept quiet while we browsed through the titlesContinue reading “We Need Librarians More Than Ever”
Finding the Right Management Style
“Different Strokes for Different Folks” are what we apply when we as managers deal with subordinates. “Different strokes” imply that we should behave differently toward different people. But behaviour just by itself might not be enough. A household of two (2) married relatives of mine has two (2) female domestic helpers and a male familyContinue reading “Finding the Right Management Style”
Blaming Doesn’t Solve the Problem
Frustrated by their violations of rules and disorderly conduct that led to disturbances, a homeowners association banned mainland Chinese people from leasing residential houses within a posh village in the southern suburbs of Manila. Majority of the homeowners cheered the resolution released by the board of governors of the village. A very few who raisedContinue reading “Blaming Doesn’t Solve the Problem”
Finding Fault in Who versus in What
There seems to be a lot of finger-pointing going around. People pointing to other people as causes of problems: One country points to another for the coronavirus pandemic. One politician points to another for failure in stopping the spread of the virus; A restaurant owner blames a vendor’s delay in deliveries as reason for theContinue reading “Finding Fault in Who versus in What”
No Pain, No Gain
I’ve been lifting weights for a long time. It’s been an on and off activity but I’ve been doing it since I was a teenager. Have I become a stronger person? No. Do I have a bigger, more good-looking physique? No. I am fat and diabetic. I’m have a body that is nowhere close toContinue reading “No Pain, No Gain”
When Increasing Capacity Becomes a Priority
One Sunday morning, a homeless woman at a traffic intersection was approaching cars and begging for alms. Some drivers give but most don’t. But the woman persists anyway; she shows a sign saying she’s homeless and asks for money for food. I thought as I observed the homeless woman: if the government could spend soContinue reading “When Increasing Capacity Becomes a Priority”
Weighing the Benefits of Quantities, Streaks, and Trends
People put a lot of weight on numbers, especially those that show significance in terms of accomplishment: 100 days in political office; 10,000 followers for a social media influencer; 100,000 likes for a viral post on the worldwide web; 1,000,000 units sold; 1 billion customers served by a fast-food chain. But as much as weContinue reading “Weighing the Benefits of Quantities, Streaks, and Trends”
When Idle is Not Necessarily Bad
A chief executive officer (CEO) of a large corporation was touring a manufacturing facility. As with all CEO’s touring a factory, he had an entourage of executives accompanying him as he walked and shook hands with workers on the production line. As he strolled through the facility’s main line where the most important manufacturing processesContinue reading “When Idle is Not Necessarily Bad”
Cultivating Passing Thoughts into Aha! Moments
The late Isaac Asimov was a famous author who wrote science fiction stories (e.g. the Foundation series) and essays. In one such essay, The Eureka Phenomenon, Dr. Asimov writes how some scientists made great discoveries out of the blue. He cites: Archimedes who, while taking a bath, solved the problem of determining the volumeContinue reading “Cultivating Passing Thoughts into Aha! Moments”
Ellery's Essays 