Quotes on Friendship

“The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echos of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.”
~Pearl S. Buck

"People's lives change. To keep all your old friends is like keeping all your old clothes—pretty soon your closet is so jammed and everything so crushed you can’t find anything to wear. Help these friends when they need you; bless the years and happy times when you meant a lot to each other, but try not to have the guilts if new people mean more to you now.”
~Helen Gurley Brown

“You can win more friends with your ears than your mouth.”
~Anonymous

Capitalism and Socialism Systems

Almost two months ago, I spent a week in Cuba with my newly wedded wife (our honeymoon). Since I love reading, I brought a few books along to spend some time reading on the beach and by the pool.

One of the books I brought along is, Pricing on Purpose: Creating and Capturing Value by Ron Baker. It never crossed my mind, before leaving for Cuba, that the book is about capitalism and that I was going to a socialist country.

It was an interesting experience to read about capitalism and then to see first hand how a socialist system in Cuba is organized by different principles. One most notable experience is that all the employees at resorts are employed by the government in the name that everybody is on equal terms. It seemed to me that it was rigorously restricting individuals on many levels.

I could literally sense a yearning for freedom in some of the individuals we (my wife and I) came in contact with. Ron Baker says, “Nobody, it seems, dreams about capitalism, until they are faced with life under the misery and poverty of communism or socialism.”

The socialist system stifles the creativity of many where as capitalism is a system of freedom, that encourages creativity yet so few take part in the creativity and in return, creates complacency.

Pope John Paul II addressed the faithful in 1991 in his introduction “Centesimus Annus” which addresses several key areas including:

-Human Dignity
-Human Rights
-Justice
-Development
-Peace
-Economic Systems
-Foreign Debt

He says: “The social order will be all the more stable, the more it takes this fact [Freedom and Sin] into account and does not place in opposition personal interest and the interests of society as a whole, but rather seeks ways to bring them into fruitful harmony.”

Bringing the two in harmony is the tension we must face everyday if we actively participate in any social order. It is not an easy way to live. I have found this practically true in the corporate environment.

Pope John Paul II goes on to say: “In fact, where self-interest is violently suppressed [often the case in a socialist system], it is replaced by a burdensome system of bureaucratic control which dries up the wellsprings of initiative and creativity.”

But this is also true in a capitalist system. Bureaucratic control seems to be just as real in a capitalist system then in a socialist system. The only difference is that the socialist , in power, creates bureaucracy for the interest of a society as a whole, which often is highly selfish and the capitalist, in power, creates bureaucracy for selfish reasons. In both cases, it “dries up the wellsprings of initiative and creativity.”

In summary, my conclusion is that the capitalist system has many benefits over the suppressive socialist system.

Reading and Toastmasters

I'm a vivid reader and usually can be found reading two to three books at the time.

Books that I have recently read include:
Pricing on Purpose: Creating and Capturing Value by Ron Baker
How to Make Collaboration Work by David Straus
Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell

Books that I'm reading right now:
The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom
How to Make Meetings Work by Michael Doyle and David Straus

And books I have lined up that I will read in the near future:
The Strategy & Tactics of Pricing by Thomas Nagle and Reed Holden
The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter Senge

And I'm also currently working on a speech for Toastmaster called "Economics 101" which I plan on posting here on my blog.

That is it for now!

Questions Often NOT Asked

I just read an article from Ed Kless who teaches Project Management at Sage Software and other courses. Ed has a good perspective on adding value and delighting customers.

I like to read what Ed writes in articles for the software industry although he tends to be sarcastic at times.

Pricing is a challenge in any industry and it is hardly ever done with the customer in mind.

Ed says, "Pricing with purpose is not gouging; it is not just about trying to maximize fees. It is about customer responsiveness and an assurance of quality of work as defined by the customer. It is about great project management and using predictive indicators rather that retrospective analysis."

To read the whole article Pricing with Purpose click here (scroll half way down).

Eric Fetterolf, a colleague in the software industry, challenges all end users to ask the following questions before engaging a software vendor. He says that these are questions often not asked by the end user:

-What value do you, the software reseller, bring to this engagement beyond the software features and functions?

-What do you, the software reseller, actually sell?

-What support options do you, the software reseller, offer?

-How do you, the software reseller, stand behind your work?

-Should I look for a short-term, transactional relationship or a long term, strategic partnership?

For the answers click here (scroll all the way to the bottom).

Prove People Wrong

I've been slow at posting lately. Perhaps it is because of a lack of inspiration.

For now here are a few quotes:

On Diplomacy, "It takes in reality only one to make a quarrel. It is useless for the cheep to pass resolutions in favour of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion" ~Dean Willing R. Inge

On Confidence, "My mother convinced me to learn to enjoy having people tell me I can't do something. Now it's second nature; I love to prove people wrong. ~Andre Ware

That is all for today!

Say More in Less

Jim Estill wrote a blog on wordiness. He talks about how to say more in less words and how it is respectful to the time of people.

Jim says, "Saying more in less words is a sign of high intelligence"

Instead of saying more click here to read Jim's blog. It is short with some good quotes.