Business, Marketing, and New Technology
Posts tagged Positive thinking
Project Managers Need to Be Innovative as Well as Efficient
Feb 28th
Most project managers are going at full speed, with their hair on fire. It seems like there is too much to get done, and too little time. However, it’s just when you think you don’t have time, that taking a breather could be the most efficient thing to do.
You have systems already in place, and processes that have been used successfully time and time again. But, times always change, and technology moves on. Just because something was done a certain way in the past does not mean that it must be done that way forever. IT managers can pretty much depend on the fact that there is always a better was, if for no other reason than that something new has just been invented.
So, taking some time out to sit and review a process, to see it from a different perspective, just might reveal a new, or slightly different tack that will make the outcome better, faster, or easier for all concerned. Taking time at the beginning of a project to pause and think innovatively might make a difference in time, resources, and the quality of the finished project. Moving forward sometimes takes a little creative thinking.
Here’s a suggestion: When you are beginning a project that is familiar, something you’ve done before and think you have the perfect tools for, stop. Take some quiet time to think and look at the challenge from as many different angles as you can. Try to see it through new eyes with new perspective. Is there some way you could do things differently, upgrade, or include new innovations? Taking this time requires discipline, as project managers are always busy. But doing so just might make a positive difference in the final outcome.
Getting our Economic Lessons from Television?
Dec 20th
Every schoolkid has made the lament, “but I don’t need to know this!” It’s hard to make connections between what we learn in the structured class room, and how we are going to actually use the information once we get out into real life. Math is one subject that it is easy to see, being needed to balance the checkbook, and pay for things, calculating sales prices, etc. (that is, until we get to calculus, which is a little more illusive.)
Every teacher will agree, there is a real need to be able to connect random daily activities with the higher learning principles behind them. Enter TV! And what better TV show to tap into than one of the most popular shows ever, which has a topic about…. Random daily activities! Seinfield!
There is a new website that connects incidents on the show, with their economic principle. It uses the stories and activities of the characters to point out how people’s actions follow certain patterns, and relates these patterns to the economic concept behind them. It then gives you several other episodes to watch that apply the same concept, so you can see how it works in different situations. The website is called The Economics of Seinfield, and is actually a rather enjoyable way to get a grasp on what that boring professor is actually talking about.
Good News At Last
Sep 14th
In these times of distress, one can pick up any newspaper or turn on any
TV and get bombarded with news of murders, economic failures, destruction and stories that can make your toes curl. Thank Heavens for one free-lance writer, Cutressa Williams, who vowed to fill the happy-gap by publishing her own magazine that carries only uplifting and positive news. The new mag is called Positively Alabama, and can be found online at PositivelyAlabama.com.
According to Williams, the magazine will include stories about positive things people are doing, as well as “places and venues that make Alabama the Beautiful.” The goal is to have one central place for people to share their experiences and uplifting stories. Content will include narratives about neighbors and friends, and their accomplishments.
Williams is naturally nervous about launching her new venture, but is, of course, positive about it’s success. It is not only a new approach to the news, but a desperately needed one as well. She draws on her 13 years of freelance writing experience to bring professionalism to the effort.