Is a $900 Billion Cap on Healthcare Reform Realistic?

On October 18, 2009

The Effect of Your Emotions on Your Business

For the last 2 years I’ve been in and out of the hospital with my daughter, thankfully she’s well today and we’re all moving forward as a family. When life throws us for a big loop it’s important that you keep in mind that you are human and emotions are part of that. But… Business and [...]
On October 18, 2009

Wonka’s Two Rules of Economics

When I was young I had an aunt who owned a sweet shop. When you are six years old, things don't get better than that. Aunt Hatty was my very favourite aunt in the whole whole world -- and she was smart. She was always reading stuff and improving herself. She keenly felt her lack of formal education and wanted to make up for it. She decided to teach me applied and behavioural economics, at the age of six. She probably taught me many things which I promptly forgot or never figured out in the first place. But two lessons remain with me to this day. Lesson One Whenever I visited Hatty, she would give me a choice between...
On October 18, 2009

Weekend Round-Up

Telegraph Why bad bosses like Basil are also nastiest There's a reason Basil Fawlty bullied Manuel. Aggressive bosses who are overwhelmed by their own inabilities are more likely to lash out than competent leaders, says a study by the University of Southern California published in the Psychological Science. It seems the combination of power and incompetence makes a nasty cocktail. In an experiment where volunteers had to punish mistakes by using a range of horn blasts, the lowest at 10 decibels, the highest at 130 decibels, those who felt the most powerful but least able were apt to go for the ear splitting blast. Volunteers who felt neither powerful nor capable used quieter forms of punishment, as did confident volunteers....
On October 18, 2009

From Virtualization to Cloud Computing: The Great Leap Forward

How should IT leaders scale virtualized environments so that they can be managed for elasticity payoffs? What should be taking place in virtualized environments now to get them ready for cloud efficiencies and capabilities later? And how do service-oriented architecture, governance, and adaptive infrastructure approaches relate to this progression?
On October 17, 2009

Holiday Inn’s “Swinger Convention” Scrutinized

The Holiday Inn Grand Island Resort and Convention Center in Grand Island, N.Y. booked a three-day swinger convention called, "Entice the Falls," which would have included a late-night Club Erotica with body painting, sensual massage and other events. (Swingers are typically couples who exchange partners.)However, the body painting and late-night club was against city code according to town elders, so it was canceled. Despite a lot of controversy and complaining, the convention still went ahead. And why shouldn't it? In a rough economy the hotel was able to book a convention that filled the hotel. The Holiday Inn Grand Island, located on the upper banks of the Niagara River near Niagara Falls, sold out all 263 rooms for the weekend.  While there is a...
On October 17, 2009

Twitter and Amateur Vintners Mash Up for Charity

Everyone likes a wine with character. How about one with 140 of them? Yes, the people at Twitter -- the social media site where users post messages no longer than 140 characters -- are getting into the wine business, putting together an ambitious project aimed at raising money for literacy.
On October 17, 2009

Spellchecker Drives a Stake Through Vampire Words

This is a guest post by Mike Marshall. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here. Ali Hale’s recent CopyBlogger post spoke about Vampire Words: the conditional words like “usually”, “typically”, “maybe”, or “generally” that can portray a lack of confidence, muddle your message, and suck the life from your writing. If you fall prey to these words in your writings, there are a few tools within Microsoft Word that can help you drive a stake through the heart of these vampire words.

Original Post: Spellchecker Drives a Stake Through Vampire Words


On October 17, 2009

So long, farewell, and happy trails to all of you!

Dear readers, Today marks the final installment of Team Taskmaster. I've enjoyed writing for you for the past year and a half, and as I've endeavored to share my insights and discoveries with you, I've also learned a lot along the way. I've seen that being effective at work is about more than making lists, that flexibility can improve productivity when it comes to your workday (or your mindset), and that a job is, well, just a job. I've learned that rewarding and engaging your team should be about more than money, and that a literal or figurative pat on the back and a heartfelt "Thank you" can have a far greater impact than a few extra dollars. I've discovered...


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