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Showing posts from January, 2010

Think Simple to Solve Complex Problems.

1. When NASA began launching astronauts into space, they found out that the astronauts' pens wouldn't work at zero gravity  (ink wouldn't flow down to the writing surface). It took them one decade and  $12 million to solve this problem. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on practically any surface including crystal, and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 300 degrees C. And what did the Russians do? The Russians used a pencil. 2. One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management techniques was the case of the empty soap box, which occurred in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics companies. The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soap box that was empty.  Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department.  For some reason, one soap box went throug

The Duck and the Devil

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm.He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He Practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target. Getting A little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was Walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck Square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved.  In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see His sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the Dishes." But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in The kitchen." Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go Fishing and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make Supper."  Sall

'What goes around comes around.'

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you. He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.' Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to chang

Eligi Vivir - I chose to live.

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I picked up the Reader's Digest (Jan 2010) and found an article that was most amazing and very inspiring. A courageous woman named Daniela Garcia from Chile, put her life back together after a horrific accident at the age of 22 that deprived her of her limbs. In Daniela's final months of her fourth year in medical school (a specialty degree taking nine years to complete in chile), just before exams, she got on a train with other medical student to join in on the annual Inter College Games. Not sure whether or not to go because she was concerned about an upcoming exam, the time away from her studies and the cost of the event, she also felt a gnawing apprehension about the trip but because her classmates badgered her to join for her superior soccer ability, she went along. The games were held at a city far from Hungary. So they had to board a train. And as there was vacations in chile schools, the rush in the railways prompted the authori