Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Roadside Emergency Kit
Even if you faithfully follow our 10 maintenance tips, some breakdowns are unavoidable. Do yourself a favor and save some room in your trunk for the following items. They could turn a potential trip-wrecker into nothing more than an unexpected pit stop:

Screwdrivers and wrenches of various sizes
Jumper cables
A jack and tire iron
A can of "Fix-a-Flat" for temporarily sealing and inflating a flat tire
Water for both the radiator and yourself
Emergency flares and reflectors
Gloves
Blanket and towel
Flashlight [source: CBS News]

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wipe Your Feet

2.22.09 BY David Rupert

Article:

As a boy, my mother routinely reminded us to wipe our feet when we dashed into the house at full speed. She rarely even looked up as we came in. She just knew that brother and I would have dirty shoes.

Mom had good reason for concern. The empty lots and open fields were our playgrounds. And on the way home from our ventures, we walked through every mud puddle.

As an adult, I still clean my shoes before entering my home after a long day at school or work. I don't need my mother to remind me anymore—I get it because I pay for the carpet.

Recently, I've been thinking about the symbolism of removing the dirt from the world before entering my home. For years, I collected bad attitudes and negativity from the work world and brought them home to my young family. They never knew what my mood was going to be. Silently, hesitantly, they would size me up.

"What kind of day did he have? Can I tell him my problems? Can I share some good news? Will he snap at me for no reason?”

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Poka-Yoke: A Misunderstood Concept

Shigeo Shingo introduced the concept of poka-yoke in 1961, when he was an industrial engineer at Toyota Motor Corporation. The initial term was baka-yoke, which means ‘fool-proofing’. In 1963, a worker at Arakawa Body Company refused to use baka-yoke mechanisms in her work area, because of the term’s dishonourable and offensive connotation. Hence, the term was changed to poka-yoke, which means ‘mistake-proofing’.

Poka-yokes are mechanisms used to mistake-proof an entire process. Ideally, poka-yokes ensure that proper conditions exist before actually executing a process step, preventing defects from occurring in the first place. Where this is not possible, poka-yokes perform a detective function, eliminating defects in the process as early as possible.

Monday, July 06, 2009

It pays for companies to take care of talent
By Abigail L. Ho
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:22:00 07/06/2009

MANILA, Philippines - The economic downturn is forcing businesses to cut costs here and there, sometimes going to the painful extent of letting people go.

While this may make sense at the onset, enterprises should think twice, thrice, 10 times before doing something that drastic.

The People Management Association of the Philippines says businesses should focus on strengthening their human resource if they want to be able to ride the recovery wave when it comes.

In a presentation at the Philippine International Franchise Conference and Expo 2009 last week, PMAP president and Corporate Executive Search managing director Grace Abella-Zata said the best route was to combine “buying, building and borrowing” talents.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Chaos Theology

Finding hope in the midst of the terror of creation.

Mark Galli | posted 6/18/2009 11:32AM

The cover story for the July/August issue of The Atlantic is titled, "The Ideas Issue: How to Fix the World." The article addresses, among other things, the housing mess, the Afghanistan war, the collapsing environment, illegal immigration, and homeland insecurity. A subtext of many of the entries is international terrorism, the most dreadful and symbolic of global threats. These are all but snapshots of the terrible panorama of blood, fire, smoke, and darkness of the present world order.

Except that the word order hardly applies. It's chaos we're living in, and we are weary and sometimes frightened. Among the many filmmakers who paint this reality in vivid hues are the Coen brothers. Their movies always feature a character who brings chaos to the world. Yet whereas in early films, chaos is always brought under control (in Fargo, for example, police chief Marge Gunderson captures the cold-blooded killer Gaer Grimstud), at the end of their last film, No Country for Old Men, chaos is still on the loose.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Why Sing Hymns

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)

The trend today is to replace traditional hymns with contemporary praise choruses. This is not a good trend, especially for youth and new believers who need a strong doctrinal focus. Hymns present clear expressions of the knowledge of God and biblical truth. Col. 3:16 admonishes— Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

Read more at Surf-in-the-Spirit

Hymn Singing

December 31, 2002 AM
By Rev. Dr. Robert S. Rayburn
From: Biblical Worship

Over the past twenty-five years, the American evangelical church has moved away from the hymns we sing at Faith Presbyterian Church. What are now widely referred to as “praise songs” have replaced the hymns that had been sung in Protestant worship for many generations.

Churches began to sing these songs, often putting the text before the congregation by means of an overhead projector, in hopes that their worship would be more accessible to the ordinary American who, it was thought, found the established church music alien, dull, and hard to sing. So complete has been the transition in many churches that the rising generation of Christians is now largely unfamiliar with the literature of Christian hymns.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

BlogSpotting: Time Management for Leaders

Keeping the main thing the main thing.
Tim Avery

One of my colleagues recently pointed me to the blog of Barry Werner, whose background includes serving as director of operations for World Wide Pictures at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. In his entries, Werner has been walking through the Old Testament and considering how different leadership principles are represented in the passages he reads.

One of his recent posts—which he relates to Numbers 33—addresses the issue of self-discipline. He's primarily talking about time management, and I found this line to be the most helpful:

The essence of self-discipline is to do the important thing rather than the urgent thing.

An urgent task, after all, is easy to discern. All you have to know is the deadline, and how much time will be needed to accomplish it. In fact, an urgent task is almost impossible to ignore.

But an important task—well, to discern that requires a bigger-picture perspective, something quickly lost on a busy afternoon. Without a concrete deadline to remind us or compel us, we let it slide. So what do you do to clarify your daily priorities and stick to them?

Tim Avery is the associate editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Posted by Tim Avery at 1:55 PM on June 15, 2009 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

Read more at Building Church Leaders

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

'I Stayed'

There's power in knowing you and your spouse are in it for the long haul.

Christy Scannell

One of the advantages of living in San Diego, aside from the fantastic weather, is that we have two theaters that stage Broadway-bound shows, both to test how they fare with audiences and to get out the kinks before hitting the Great White Way. In the last few years I've seen several of these big productions, some winners (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and others not (The Full Monty).

A few years ago, my husband, Rich, and I zipped over to the Old Globe Theatre to take in A Catered Affair. We agreed the musical had its plusses and minuses, but one of the standouts was Tom Wopat (yes, that guy from the Dukes of Hazzard) singing a lump-in-the-throat-inducing number, "I Stayed."

To understand the impact of this song, you have to know that Wopat plays a 1950s middle-aged husband whose wife, among other issues, is accusing Wopat's character of having never really loved her. They married because she was pregnant, so she always suspected he rather would have been anywhere but with her. Now that their daughter is marrying and moving out of their home, she frets over what kind of life she will have with this man who only tolerates her.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Master the Art of Working Remotely
Gina Trapani, Work Smarter

10:23 AM Tuesday June 16, 2009

Over the past five years I've worked off-site and online for employers across the country using email, chat, and web-based collaboration apps. My work life has been the envy of my traditional nine-to-five friends. While they suit up in an office-appropriate outfit, grab the briefcase, and brave a commute every weekday, I get to work from home (and my employers get to save money on office space).

But working with people in different cities and time zones with minimal face time presents a whole new set of challenges. While the tools available for working remotely are better than ever, it's how you use them that really counts. Constant and clear communication is the key to a good remote working relationship. Here are some best practices I've found for working remotely online.

Read more at Harvard Business Publishing

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

How To Spot an Email Hoax
By David Emery, About.com

Without researching the factual claims made in a forwarded email there's no 100 percent sure way to tell it if it's a hoax, but here you'll find a list of common signs to watch for...

Here's How:

Note whether the text you've received was actually written by the person who sent it. Did anyone sign their name to it? If not, be skeptical.

Read more at Urban Legends

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Conversation starters with your wife

Try out these questions on your spouse: What is your favorite memory of our dating days? What is your best memory of your mother? Your father? What are your three favorite movies of all time? What's the one thing you'd like to be remembered for? If you had more time, what hobby would you like to pursue? What living person, other than family members, do you admire most? What's your idea of a perfect night out - or in? If you could only spend $10 on a date night, what would you do?

Print out these questions and ask her tonight. You might learn something about her you never knew before!

Why does your marriage matter so much to your kids? Find out here.

Huddle up and ask your wife tonight: Mind if I ask you a couple of questions?

© 2009 Family First. All Rights Reserved.

Marital Interaction
By: Ken Canfield

One of the best things a father can do for his kids is love their mother and build a strong marriage. The effort you put into your marriage is worth it to your children.

To prove that, I'm going right to the source. Just listen to this sixth grade girl who wrote about her father for one of our essay contests. She writes:

Everybody in my family has had to put up a lot with all the things that have gone wrong. One thing about this divorce is that when I go over to my friends' house to spend the night or something, their fathers usually come in and say, "good-night," not "good-bye." When my father comes over to get something and he is about to leave, he always comes over and kisses me on the cheek and then says "good-bye," and walks out. And it hurts a lot. Sometimes I want to just cry. I wish this never happened. . .

This girl feels the pain so deeply that she is tuned in to subtle nuances like the difference between "good-night" and "good-bye." Her father may see her regularly and show her physical affection, but still the dominant images of her father will always bring her pain.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

10 tips for swine flu planning

As the swine flu outbreak spreads, CIOs and other IT executives are dusting off their pandemic plans. Here are some tips. By Carolyn Duffy Marsan
30 Apr 2009

FRAMINGHAM, 29 APRIL 2009 - As the swine flu outbreak spreads, CIOs and other IT executives are dusting off their pandemic plans and preparing for the possibility of high levels of employee absenteeism and extended telework scenarios.

The swine flu threat comes at a time when IT shops are already stretched thin as a result of layoffs and other cutbacks because of the ongoing recession. We talked to several experts in the business continuity and IT operations, and here's the advice they are offering CIOs:

1. Stay calm. Model the behavior you want to see from your employees. This includes continuing to be productive but also shoring up your supplies of hand sanitizer and bottled water. "What CIOs and other managers of a company have to do is say this is business as usual, but practice better personal hygiene," says Richard De Lotto, principal analyst in Gartner's Banking and Investment Industries Advisory Services Group. "Other people will pick up on the examples set by executives."

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

‘Faces’ of disrespect here, there, all over
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:33:00 04/22/2009
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/letterstotheeditor/view/20090422-200741/Faces-of-disrespect-here-there-all-over

When someone shows up late for an appointment on “Filipino time,” that means he has no respect for your time.

When the sidewalks are reserved for vendors and parked cars, that means they have no respect for pedestrians.

When a rich person sees a long line and simply skips it and goes straight to the front, that means he has little regard for you.

When a jeepney stops in the middle of the road to load and unload passengers, that means the driver has no respect for the other motorists.

Corruption in the Philippines is learned behavior, we watch our parents. The fault lies not in our stars but in us.

—KAISER SOSA,
530 Don Juico Ave.,
Balibago, Angeles City

The Story We Long For

Sometimes we don't realize what we need to hear, again and again.

Gordon MacDonald | posted 4/20/2009

There is a wonderful organization that invites me to speak every April to men and women who are enrolled in their leadership development program. Every year their invitation makes it clear that they want me to say the same things I said the previous year.

So I try to do what they ask. I use the same introduction, employ the same outline, tell the same stories, and even repeat the same joke or two in the warm-up phase of the talk.

I did this for the eleventh time just a week ago.

My presentation is about how a leader handles his occasional moments of failure. Sometimes I start by saying that I feel as if I have an earned-doctorate in this subject because there have been more than a few failure-moments over my seven decades of life. Most of them are the simple, everyday failures that don't even deserve a mention in my journal. But I go on to admit to the audience that there have been some bad experiences of seismic magnitude.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Your Hidden Curriculum

What do people learn from you about the Christian life? Sometimes it's what you never intended to teach.

John Ortberg | posted 4/09/2009

A newsletter from the editors of Leadership Journal
Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Hi, friend:

An elder statesman once told me: "If you try to imitate someone who's really good at something, you'll probably imitate the wrong thing." His example:

students of a powerful New York preacher tended to preach with their pulpit robes open, just as their mentor did. But an open pulpit robe was certainly not what made that urban preacher's sermons so powerful. The students were imitating the wrong thing.

John Ortberg points out that all of us who lead, whether teachers or preachers or leaders of any sort, have both a formal curriculum (what we intend to communicate) and a hidden curriculum (what we don't realize we're communicating). Sometimes our hidden curriculum reinforces our formal curriculum, but other times it undermines what we intend to get across. You'll recognize more of the larger picture in Ortberg's article, Your Hidden Curriculum.

Read more at LeadershipJournal.net

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

10 symptoms you should not ignore
AN APPLE A DAY By TYRONE M. REYES, M.D. Updated March 17, 2009 12:00 AM

If you met an accident and were bleeding heavily, you probably wouldn’t think twice about seeking immediate medical care. The same goes if you suddenly doubled over with stomach pain or felt severe pressure or pain in your chest that wouldn’t go away. But what happens when you experience symptoms that don’t seem quite so alarming or are just a bit out of the ordinary?

While you don’t need to rush to the doctor with every unexplained muscle twinge or upset stomach, you also don’t want to ignore symptoms that could lead to early treatment before a condition becomes life-threatening. You’re going to have better outcomes if you seek early treatment. You can’t sit back and assume everything will get better on its own.

Read more at Philstar.com Health and Family

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