Category: General

black taxi – but anyway

OK – so here’s the Blues Traveler hit But Anyway covered by Black Taxi. I don’t know when this was recorded but I’m guessing around 1999-2000 or something like that. I was probably in some growth stage as my voice is pretty interesting. But anyway, it was fun.
Note: I had to upload as a video as Blogger won’t accept mp3s yet, so I made a slideshow with some pics from high school days. Didn’t have many digital photos to work with, but some are entertaining.
Black Taxi

Dave Conlogue – Lead Guitar
Kyle Berardinelli – Bass Guitar
Jerrod Cattey – Drums
Dan Ridgeway – Harmonica
Kevin Berardinelli – Vocals
Dan Goucher – Band Manager

Ian Johnson – Roadie / Videographer / Chick Magnet

organizational cycling

It is imperative for every organization to align around common procedures. Whether it’s sales, product management, operations/production, client relations, beta testing, etc. establishment of a framework is beneficial in many ways. This is not to say that independence is a bad thing, however, no matter if the organization is big or small, a good balance of procedural alignment and individual direction is a recipe for success.

Ideally, most processes can fit into 4 main boxes forming a circle of logical steps. Binning concepts into 4 boxes allows for intuitive realization of processes. Studies in numerology have generally put 5 or 7 as good numbers for the human brain to process, however it is my opinion that 4 is a good cyclical standard. This is because it is even and natural to break down into two pairs, where a pair is then recognized as one (e.g. ying and yang, ernie and bert, salt and pepper).

I think the sales meeting cycle is a good example of a process in need of procedural definition. the image is an example of a 4-step sales meeting cycle, binning components within the process and looping for continuous flow. This is just a framework to follow that can assist in other organizational elements, such as quality control, effective communication, annual reviews, strategic sales assessments, and technical developments. If each participating member/employee can think along each step, their brain will be triggered with preparation needs, innovations, self-confidence, and self-awareness. Especially in sales, these are all positive elements in moving forward as a team.

Anyways, the point here is that whether in a start-up or very old organization, it’s important to get things on paper, and procedural frameworks are a good start. These are not to be hard-coded into our brains, but general cycles to follow and refer to when necessary. Visually, they will trigger the effective communication and commonality needed for teamwork, and allow for innovation and confidence needed for positive individual contribution. balance is beautiful.
“Last night I was laying in bed looking up at the stars and sky and I thought to myself, where the heck is the ceiling?”

interconnectedness

I just read the Global Risks 2009 report from the World Economic Forum. It details the breadth of risks faced by the entire globe in addition to full descriptions of new and emerging risks such as global governance gaps. It also, with some hints to their algorithms & methodology in Appendix II, plots the risks based on likelihood and severity (in terms of dollars and/or lives lost). Finally, it shows the interconnectedness of such risks with a good little link analysis diagram, where thickness of the connectors depict the strength of connection.
It’s a good (but lengthy) read for anyone trying to understand the state of the world, and a good follow-up to Obama’s speech last night. He mentioned several of these risks and this report surely helps contextualize the risk network. In a sense, no one problem can be solved independently, but must be considered in conjunction with several other problems.

With regards to Obama’s speech in general, I’d like to focus on the optimism posed in his closing remarks. I love the ending and think it should resonate throughout his presidency and beyond:

“We are not quitters.

These words and these stories tell us something about the spirit of the people who sent us here. They tell us that even in the most trying times, amid the most difficult circumstances, there is a generosity, a resilience, a decency and a determination that perseveres, a willingness to take responsibility for our future and for posterity.

Their resolve must be our inspiration. Their concerns must be our cause. And we must show them and all our people that we are equal to the task before us.

I know that we haven’t agreed on every issue thus far, and there are surely times in the future when we will part ways. But I also know that every American who is sitting here tonight loves this country and wants it to succeed. That must be the starting point for every debate we have in the coming months, and where we return after those debates are done. That is the foundation on which the American people expect us to build common ground.

And if we do — if we come together and lift this nation from the depths of this crisis, if we put our people back to work and restart the engine of our prosperity, if we confront without fear the challenges of our time and summon that enduring spirit of an America that does not quit, then someday years from now our children can tell their children that this was the time when we performed, in the words that are carved into this very chamber, “something worthy to be remembered.” Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.”

Great finish, Obama. As an added point, the line about starting and finishing every debate with the acknowledgement of common goals and foundations should especially resonate all over. In a classroom, soccer field, corporation, or on the street – there is always some common goal, foundation, or bond that should keep everyone together. Whether this is what Newton was describing with his Law of Universal Gravitation between two masses, who knows.

“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.”
– Niels Bohr

the power of context

Well I’m truly working on reading for pleasure more often. I’m generally seasonal in my reading: I’ll go through weeks of consistent, nightly reading, followed by periods of addictions to Good Eats and Unwrapped (11pm and 11:30pm on Food Network) without reading. Oh well, both are fun, quality decompressors before hittin’ the hay…

That being said, I’ll hopefully post some excerpts from books I’m reading and try to provide some of my original insight if it’s not too weird.

Right now I’m trying to finish up Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, which talks about the social epidemics that surround us in our lives (e.g. Blue Clue’s and NYC crime in 1980’s and 1990’s). The book digests the onset of such epidemics into three rules: The Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. You can read into these more on Gladwell’s own site and/or on Wikipedia which does a decent job of explaining the book.

With respect to The Power of Context, Gladwell says that human behavior is strongly influenced by the situational environment. For the NYC example, crime dropped when graffiti was cleaned off subway cars and fare-cheaters were booked. As the environment was cleaned, so were the behaviors of potential criminals.

In particular, I enjoy Gladwell’s relation of The Power of Context to Walter Mischel’s (Dept of Psych, Columbia / Wikipedia) research on personality psychology. Mischel’s research speaks to how people tend to perceive and define other people in simplified ways, such as aggressive, kind, honest, or patient. However, in reality we are all complex, multifaceted individuals who respond in different ways at different times depending on the dynamic elements of our environment (who we are with, what we are doing, where we are, when we are doing it).

To put this simpler, a person is not independent and mischievous on one day, and warm, honest, and dependent on the next day, but rather he/she is independent, mischievous, warm, honest, and dependent all together – and the impression given, of any of these traits and at any singular moment, is highly dependent upon the situation and the environment, or the context.

Pretty neat stuff – I guess it’s nice to see correlating theories and practical examples rolled up together.

“The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.”
– Joe Ancis

on love

Love’s great. It’s the reason people run, fight, cry, smile, think, sleep, and most of all, live. It’s the fuel that can’t be mined, refined, and sold, but is certainly clean and renewable. If you don’t have love, you just haven’t realized it’s there.

Some of my roommates and I watched Love Actually today – great flick. Hugh Grant makes a great Prime Minister and his girl Natalie is a cutey patootey. So is Aurelia, for some of the movie at least. I also like how Aurelia and the writer fall in love even though they speak completely different languages. A prime example of love knowing no bounds.

Anyways, Happy Valentine’s Day and remember, Cupid aint stupid, he’s just a baby and sometimes has bad aim.

“What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

two quick email tips

Here are two quick notes on how to improve email communications within an organization. 

In addition to good filters, flags, folders, rules, and search, it seems that sometimes there is no way around a good old fashioned email headache (I think I get on average about 30-40 work emails per day). Although you cannot control how your senders organize their emails, when they send them, how frequently they send them, or how they format them, it is your duty to maintain organization and minimize headaches for recipients of your emails. Hopefully karma applies to email traffic…

1. Minimize emails! Take an extra minute or two to gain all your thoughts around a subject. Create the email as a draft and come back to it later. By minimizing the amount of emails that end up in other people’s inboxes, it will help manage and maintain email threading as well as package your organized, detailed, well-worded thoughts in your email communications.

2. Keep threads going when appropriate. Well-titled subject lines should stick around like discussion board threads. If you are responding to an email that arrived a week ago, find that last email in the thread and reply to it. Maintaining the breadcrumb of communication will assist in your own personal work efficiency and desktop organization and additionally allow all parties involved the ability to see what has been discussed previously.

first post… welcome!

Well it’s about time I started a blog. I’m not going to recruit followers but indeed need a place on the interwebs where I can capture my thoughts. If some followers accidentally get piped to my blog and gain interest, well alrighty then! I’ll keep it interesting.

Well how about an explanation of the name to start. Adsideology was something I started back in college. I was learning about different religions, philosophies, philanthropies, and sciences, and realized my thoughts aligned with no existing thought group. Rather than confuse anyone interested in my personal beliefs, I thought I would give a name to my way of thinking in hopes it would help me explain its roots.

Adsideo is latin for to sit or to be at one’s side; to give comfort or advice. More broadly, I see it as the science of developing strong, mutual relationships through general social interaction, while finding happiness and love in the search for questions and answers. It is meant to instill good values in anyone looking to better understand the world in which we live.

I don’t expect that to wow anyone or to make anyone better understand me, but hopefully through some more reading of my blog you’ll find something interesting to talk (or laugh) about with others.

As a final note, this blog might be about anything. I love my job, I love sports, I love science, I love working with kids, I love reading, I love learning, I love asking questions, I love dreams, I love getting dirty, I love my family, I love my friends, I love cooking as much as I love eating, I love technology, I love space, I love math, I love thinking, I love music, I love how the word “love” probably looks funny to you now. So, it might be about anything.

“Spend your days not in anonymity, but rather in the societal sharing of culture, intelligence, and imagination.”