Don't censor Mark Twain's N word - Leonard Pitts Jr. - MiamiHerald.com

Don't censor Mark Twain's N word - Leonard Pitts Jr. - MiamiHerald.com

Well said Mr. Pitts!

Sunday Silliness - Accomplishments o)

Gen Y Communciation

Some 30 million young people in their late teens to early 30s are expected to join the U.S. workforce in 2010.  Effectively communicating with them will be crucial to our continued economic progress.  Empowerment is what this generation craves, looking for more than a paycheck, desiring to be serving a cause.

The old command-and-control style of managing just does not work with this generation.  Here are five ways to engage them:

Don't manage, mentor: Growth, Skills, Contribution, Learning.

Don't assign, explain: Experience, Understanding, Life Skills.

Don't dictate, solicit: Daily Employee Input.

Don't ignore, respond: Empowerment, Listen, Communication.

Don't conceal, communicate: Feedback, Social Interaction with peers, Dialogue.

Science Scene - Starbucks going LED

On a light-by-light basis, changing from incandescent to LED only makes a tiny difference in energy consumption and cost, but when you're talking about retrofitting a thousands of Starbucks stores, the energy savings can be huge.

That's just what Starbucks has found now that the replacing of incandescent and halogen lights in 7,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada has been completed.  The company's Director of Environmental Impact said that the program is on target to cut lighting energy consumption by 80 percent.

The good folks at Greenbiz did the math and figured that each 1,000 square foot store was saving $600 a year and reducing CO2 emissions equivalent to 10 barrels of oil.  The lights also cut total store energy consumption by 7 percent.



Source

AAADD: KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

          
                                                                           
                Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -                
                 Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.                 
                                                                           
                         This is how it manifests:                         
                                                                           
                        I decide to water my garden.                       
                   As I turn on the hose in the driveway,                  
             I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.            
                                                                           
                       As I start toward the garage,                       
                   I notice mail on the porch table that                   
                  I brought up from the mail box earlier.                  
                                                                           
           I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.          
                                                                           
                      I lay my car keys on the table,                      
           put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,           
                      and notice that the can is full.                     
                                                                           
                       So, I decide to put the bills                       
                                    back                                   
                on the table and take out the garbage first.               
                                                                           
                             But then I think,                             
                   since I'm going to be near the mailbox                  
                    when I take out the garbage anyway,                    
                     I may as well pay the bills first.                    
                                                                           
                    I take my check book off the table,                    
                 and see that there is only one check left.                
                My extra checks are in my desk in the study,               
                 so I go inside the house to my desk where                 
                                 I find the                                
                      can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.                      
                                                                           
                      I'm going to look for my checks,                     
                  but first I need to push the Pepsi aside                 
                so that I don't accidentally knock it over.                
                                                                           
                         The Pepsi is getting warm,                        
        and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.        
                                                                           
                As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,               
                      a vase of flowers on the counter                     
                      catches my eye--they need water.                     
                                                                           
                     I put the Pepsi on the counter and                    
                      discover my reading glasses that                     
                    I've been searching for all morning.                   
                I decide I better put them back on my desk,                
                 but first I'm going to water the flowers.                 
                                                                           
                I set the glasses back down on the counter,                
        fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.       
                   Someone left it on the kitchen table.                   
                                                                           
               I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,              
                            I'll be looking for                            
                                the remote,                                
            but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,           
          so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,          
                     but first I'll water the flowers.                     
                                                                           
                     I pour some water in the flowers,                     
                 but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.                
                                                                           
                  So, I set the remote back on the table,                  
                   get some towels and wipe up the spill.                  
                                                                           
                    Then, I head down the hall trying to                   
                    remember what I was planning to do.                    
                                                                           
                           At the end of the day:                          
                            the car isn't washed                           
                           the bills aren't paid                           
                           there is a warm can of                          
                        Pepsi sitting on the counter                       
                    the flowers don't have enough water,                   
               there is still only 1 check in my check book,               
                          I can't find the remote,                         
                          I can't find my glasses,                         
             and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.            
         Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,        
           I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,           
                           and I'm really tired.                           
                                                                           
                    I realize this is a serious problem,                   
                   and I'll try to get some help for it,                   
                     but first I'll check my e-mail....

Rare Earth Debacle

Japan has already taken measures to innovate around China’s monopoly on the global supply of refined rare earth elements, and the U.S. is now doing the same [China supplies 95% of these elements, and they are slowing or stopping shipments for political gain]. Rare earths producer Molycorp has secured the proper permits and clearances needed to reopen the Mountain Pass, Calif., mine that should be able to cover the current domestic demand for rare earths once it reaches full production.

Mountain Pass would be the first domestic producer of rare earths in the U.S. in more than a decade, when cheap Chinese imports rendered the U.S. market unprofitable. The 50-acre pit near Las Vegas is about 500 feet deep currently, but expansion will push it down another 1,000 feet in coming years.

By 2012, Mountain Pass is projected to be capable of delivering around 20,000 tons of rare earth materials per year. Molycorp says it has already lined up contracts for a quarter of the materials it will mine during that first year of full production, and already has letters of intent to sell the rest in U.S., Japanese, and European markets.


The materials that come out of Mountain Pass will be used to make high-strength magnets necessary for electric vehicle engines, wind turbines, and a variety of other high-tech products. However, the U.S. possesses neither the technology nor the licensing to manufacture the neodymium-iron-boron alloy necessary for their production. As such, Molycorp has partnered with Japanese firm Hitachi Metals to manufacture the magnets in the United States.

The development of a domestic U.S. source of rare earths really doesn’t come as a surprise, though it does add another wrinkle to the ongoing rare earths narrative that is increasingly seeing the U.S., Europe, and Japan aligning themselves opposite China in a sometimes quiet, sometimes overt struggle for these prized raw materials that are necessary to manufacture everything from portable electronics to emerging green technologies to high-tech weaponry. Both the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense have voiced concerns about a disruption in supply, concerns that were exacerbated this year when China quietly imposed a brief and unofficial embargo on exports to Japan.

In addition to re-establishing our own mining capability, I hope this will give us additional motivation to recycle technical components and start thinking about recycling from a product life cycle perspective.

Source

Science Scene - It Is Almost Rocket Science

A newly discovered molecule called trinitramid could be the key to a future rocket fuel that is 30 percent more efficient than current rocket fuel.

Scientists at Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden discovered this new molecule in the nitrogen oxide group -- only eight such compounds are known to include only nitrogen and oxygen -- while doing research on new rocket fuels.

The scientists realized that the new compound could be stable in solid form and, if so, could lead to rocket fuel that is 20 - 30 percent more efficient, could dramatically cut the greenhouse gas emissions from a shuttle launch and support a rocket with a much larger payload. 

The research team has been able to produce enough of the compound in a test tube for it to be detectable, but more will have to be produced and more tests will have to be conducted before its deemed stable enough.

Source

Listening Tour

Successful leaders know that it’s critical to tune in to what’s most important to their stakeholders.   Listening is a great way to do that.  Especially if you’re the newest member of the leadership team, going on a listening tour can be a valuable way to build relationships and determine your priorities.   In planning your listening tour, identify your stakeholders and develop a list of questions to ask each of them in conversation. Building your conversation around some questions will enable you to compare what you hear and to identify your initial priorities.

• What are the key outcomes that will make this year successful for you and your team?
• What kind of support would you like to see from me and my team to support your success?
• What is working well that my team should keep doing?
• What would you like to see my team start or stop doing to be more effective?
• If you were to look out 12 to 24 months from now and envision my team as completely successful,  what would you see in terms of results and the mindsets and behaviors that drive results?
• What advice do you have for me in my new role?

What do you next?  Here are some road tested suggestions:
1.        Organize your thoughts and come up with your short- and long-term priorities.
2.        Share what you’ve learned with your team and get them engaged in creating and following through on an action plan.
3.        Circle back with the rest of your stakeholders to let them know what you’ve learned and how you’ll be following up.
4.        Stay connected with your team and your stakeholders to ensure that the priorities are addressed and that everyone is aware of the progress and what they can do to help.


We have two ears and one mouth for a reason.  When you’re the leader the best way to make progress on the things that matter most is to listen more and talk less.  Going on a listening tour is a great way to get started.


Source

Sunday Silliness - Worth :o)

For those that have been following me for awhile, I hope you have enjoyed the Sunday Silliness series.  There are 132 demotivators, so this has been an at least 2-year endeavor.  If there are no complaints, I will start over again next week with the "A's" :o)

Happy New Year - Tips :o)

So here we are, it is the morning after, do you remember what you were so resolute about last night just as the clock struck midnight?  It is rumored that more than 40% of us make New Year's resolutions.  If you remember, and if your are part of that 40%, then here are some tips to keeping those resolutions.  (Source)

Be specific. 

Write it down.

Review your resolution constantly. 

Hold yourself accountable. Tell other people about your resolution.

Think small. Change does not need to be radical unless you want it to be.
Consider making only pleasant resolutions. 
Keep your resolution every day. 
Set a deadline.
Don’t give up if something interferes with your deadline.


Hope You All Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!