THE ACHIEVEMENT
DIGEST "TAD"
A Unique Publication For Leaders
JUNE 2005
Gene Griessman, Ph.D. Editor 404-256-5927
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WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE?
QUOTABLE QUOTES
LEADERSHIP LESSONS-THE EXECUTIVE COACH
LINCOLN'S LOG
TRAVEL NOTES FROM A ROAD WARRIOR
VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOUR PERSONAL GROWTH
FEEDBACK
QUOTABLE QUOTES
***FREEDOM OF SPEECH
“The right to be heard does not automatically include the
right to be taken seriously.” --Hubert Humphrey
***TRUTH
“A lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with
outright. But a lie which is part a truth is a matter
harder to fight.” --Alfred Lord Tennyson
“Rat poison is ninety-eight percent perfectly good food, but
the other two percent will kill you.”—Ken Futch
***HISTORY
“What is constant in human history is greed and foolishness
and a love of blood...” Cormack McCarthy “All The Pretty
Horses”
***IDEALISM
“Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is
full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many
persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.”—Max Ehrmann
“Desiderata”
***PRUDENCE
“By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he’s
too old to go anywhere” --Billy Crystal
LEADERSHIP
***When to Leave Well Enough Alone
Herbert Simon was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in
1978 for his pioneering work on decision making. Simon also
did world-class work on game theory and computer technology.
(I experienced an ah-hah moment when Simon told me that he
defined competence as “patterns stored in memory”—a concept
that I later devoted a chapter to in “The Achievement
Factors.”)
Simon disagreed with economists who believe that
optimization and maximization are fundamental laws of human
behavior.
Simon believed that people who behave rationally are not
optimizing anything at all; they are simply making decisions
based on what they think they can and cannot do.
Most of the time people don’t strive for some absolute
notion of perfection but rather for what is possible within
the bounds of their given situation.
In fact it’s a mistake to hope for too much, Simon
believed. People torment themselves too much by seeking
absolute perfection. The proper procedure, he thinks, is
to determine the boundaries of what is possible and then to
keep one’s sights within those boundaries.
There are times when good enough is good enough. Voltaire
wrote, “The good is the enemy of the best.” But Simon
believed that in science and in life the best can be the
enemy of the good.
It’s possible to dissipate so much time and energy striving
for perfection that nothing is left to do some things very
well.
Many people keep nattering over a project long after the
time for any meaningful refinement has passed. Customers
won’t value that final 1% improvement if your shipment
arrives so late that the opportunity to sell it has been
missed.
Perfection is worth striving for—sometimes. If you make
parachutes, landing-gears, or do brain surgery, do strive
for perfection. Even if you’re writing an application
letter or a proposal, it makes sense to triple-check
everything because many decision-makers will toss a letter
or proposal as soon as they spot a misspelling.
But for most of life, successful living, and successful time
management, depends on knowing when to strive for
perfection, and when to leave well enough alone.
(If
you’re interested in learning more about this important
concept, I’ve written a section on the subject in Time
Tactics of Very Successful People, pp. 93, 94, 95. To
order go to
www.achievementdigest.com/timetacticsofverysuccessfulpeople.html.
A special offer is available when purchased with other
items.)
***BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW
*Africa
is as large as the U.S., Western Europe, India, and China
put together.
*In 1860, when Victor Emmanuel defeated the papal armies,
Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli, Secretary of State for the
Vatican, suggested to the American ambassador that
the presence of an American warship offshore would be
desirable, and that if Pius IX needed to abandon Rome, he
might seek refuge in the U.S. (One hundred years later, to
the year, the United States elected its first Catholic
President.)
*Number of visitors to Yellowstone National Park in
1904 (the first year records were kept)-—13,727. In
2004—2,868,317
*Average number of vacation days in the United
States—13. In Germany—35
*An estimated 650,000 Americans died of influenza in 1918.
(This is a rough estimate. Information about the epidemic
was suppressed at the time.)
WHO HAS EYES TO SEE, LET HIM SEE
In 1978 China accounted for
less than 1% of the world’s economy, according to an article
in the October issue of Foreign Affairs. That year total
foreign trade amounted to $20.6 billion. Presently China’s
foreign trade is about $851 billion—the third largest in the
world. The other side of the coin: In per-capita terms,
China ranks roughly one-hundredth in the world.
LINCOLN'S LOG
***Lincoln’s
Nervous Breakdowns
I often am asked if Lincoln
could be elected President today. The answer is No.
Lincoln had two serious nervous breakdowns and
suffered from severe depression throughout most of his
life. Political decision-makers today would conclude that
Lincoln did not have the emotional strength to deal with the
pressures of the office—an irony if ever there was one.
Joshua Wolf Shenk, in the cover article of the October issue
of Atlantic Monthly, makes a strong case that
Lincoln’s emotional illness made him a more viable political
figure and more creative. Lincoln’s evident pain and
sadness contributed to his mystique. Lincoln possessed
gravitas, that mysterious quality that causes people to take
someone seriously.
Lincoln’s melancholy moments also may have
contributed to his creativity. According to psychologist
Kay Redfield Jamison, “There is a great deal of evidence to
suggest that, compared to ‘normal’ individuals, artists,
writers, and creative people in general, are both
psychologically ‘sicker’…and psychologically ‘healthier’
(for example, they show quite elevated scores on measures of
self-confidence and ego strength).”
TRAVEL NOTES FROM A
ROAD WARRIOR
CHICAGO
***The
American Girl Place
I had heard about this
phenomenon on the news, and when I saw scores of happy
little girls of all ages with their moms or dads or
grandparents streaming in and out of the place, as the
father of three amazing daughters and two little
granddaughters, I knew I had to go inside. And what a
warm, cheerful delight it proved to be.
The American Girl Place bills
itself as a place for smiles on the Miracle Mile. And it is
true. Everyone I saw was smiling because it’s full of
surprises. There’s a theater, and cooking classes, and
books, and clothing, and a hair salon where girls can get
made up just like their favorite doll, and dolls, dolls,
dolls for many moods and from many time periods. I was
particularly taken by the Café, done in happy colors and
offering three-course dinners ($18) or lunches ($17) or
traditional afternoon tea ($16). There’s another American
Girl Place in New York and a new one is slated to open in
Los Angeles next year. 111 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago,
IL 60611 1-877-AG PLACE,
www.americangirlplace.com
***RL Next door to The American Girl Place is RL, one of
the best people-watching spots in all Chicago. RL is
designer Ralph Lauren’s foray into the restaurant business.
The dining room is handsome and club-like, the food
excellent, and the service superb. Its clientele consists of
upscale locals and knowledgeable out-of-towners. The place
was so crowded at lunch that I had to take a small table
behind the bar, which turned out to be a pleasant place. I
requested a Shrimp Louis, which wasn’t on the menu. (Crab
Louis was on the menu.) They made the change without a
murmur, and produced a beautiful salad with the choicest
shrimp imaginable. 115 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL,
312/475-1100
***Salpicon If you think Mexican cuisine is limited to
refried beans and enchiladas, you haven’t tasted the
delicious offerings at Salpicon, the hands-down favorite of
many Chicago food buffs. Don’t take just my word for it.
The Sun-Times says it offers “the best upscale Mexican fare
in the city.” I loved their queso fundido con camarones, an
appetizer that’s a meal in itself. It’s melted Chihuahua
cheese, with Serrano chilies, onions, and grilled tiger
shrimp served with warm tortillas for making tacos. My main
dish was pescado al chipotle—Alaskan halibut wrapped in
sweet potato strands, sautéed and served with a chipotle
cream sauce with oyster mushrooms and herbed white rice.
You absolutely must try their pastel tres leches for
dessert. It’s a light orange-flavored cake soaked in three
milks, frosted with freshly whipped cream and served with
raspberry sauce. www.salpicon.com
312-988-7811; 1252 N Wells,
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FEEDBACK
***
Thank you Gene. We always read your newsletter to our
home-schooled kids. They always have such interesting
insights and we have some very inspiring family
conversations. We recently took the kids savings from the
bank and put it in the money market. Two years ago, the kids
each purchased stock and now follow their stock weekly in
the Wall Street Journal or on line. They are 12, 14 and 16
and these are some ways we hope to prepare them for
leadership in this global economy. --Jack McEntee
***”The DVD
Abraham Lincoln on Communication, is a compelling and
memorable educational experience and a joy to watch and
listen to.
The DVD explains ten timeless principles of communication
that Abraham Lincoln used to compose his inaugural addresses
and his Gettysburg Address. I show this peerless
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forward to seeing it again. It is not unusual for students
to give it an ovation. --Bill Funchion, Waubonsee
Community College, Sugar Grove, IL.
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