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Summation
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Auren Hoffman's
Summation Push for April, 2003
This issue:
* Auren Quoted in Article on Psychographics
* Visiting with the U.S. Armed Forces
* The Connector: E-Mail/Web Time Management
* Book Review: Against the Gods
-- The Remarkable Story of Risk -- by Peter L. Bernstein
* Reader Responses:
(Jon Weber, Richard Miller,
Elizabeth Malloy, Sharon Miller, Yuta Lee,
Christine Herron, Pat Flanders, Nicholas Poras,
Beth Gilbert, Tim Dick, Scott Burger)
* Friend of Auren: Steve Vachani, CEO of Locksley
Ventures & FreeRazor.com
* Summation Push Pick Links
* Hoffman Reading List
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Variable Product Specialist interviewed me for an interesting article on marketing
and psychographics. It is worth reading:
http://www.summation.net/articles/psychographics.html
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VISITING WITH THE U.S. ARMED FORCES
by Auren Hoffman
From March 23 to March 29, I had the opportunity to visit with all four
branches of the U.S. military. Some of the highlights included:
* Enjoying
beautiful Nellis Air Force base supervised by Major
General Stephen Wood. Seeing the F/A-22 Raptor up close and meeting Lt. Col
Dave Rose who pilots the plane -- sometimes for up to 8 hours at a time (his
wife packs his lunch). Seeing the Predator. Learning why some bombs have
parachutes. Taking off in a C130 to head to San Diego. The 100th anniversary
of the Wright brothers' flight is coming up this December, 2003. Special
thanks to Colonel Walter Givhan.
* Landing in a C2 plane on to the U.S.S. Stennis
aircraft carrier (one of only 12 carriers in the U.S. Navy) and escorted by
Captains Jim McDowell and Jeff Niner. The aircraft
carrier's nuclear fuel lasts 25 years (and then will take a full 3 years to
refuel). On board with Australian Navy Commodore Jim Stapelton.
Watching day and night flights of F18s whirling around the Pacific Ocean.
Climbing up to "vultures row" during the
still of night and looking up at the magnificent, unimpeded stars. Sleeping
on the carrier in small bunk and loving it. Special thanks to Rear Admiral
Select Jeff Fowler.
* Flying in a KC 135 (better known as the "flying gas station") and
watching as we refueled a giant C5 over the California heartland.
* Shooting vehicle-mounted machine guns with the U.S. Army 1st Special Forces
supervised by Colonel Joseph Smith. Shooting the Berretta pistol and an
automatic rifle. Experiencing the night vision goggles. Special thanks to
Brigadier General Select Sal Cambria.
* Getting yelled out by a Sergeant at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in
San Diego. Special thanks to Colonel Marty Peatross.
And some overview thoughts and
questions developed on the trip:
* Military
personnel and their families make great personal sacrifices for our country.
* Will we be able to pull off the Joint Strike Fighter? Will all the branches
play nice and work together to make the JSF happen?
* How do we better increase the morale of the average 20-something enlisted
military personnel?
* Surveying the sea is very difficult. Little submarines are very scary --
they could be a potent weapon. Both Iran and North Korea have subs.
* Most military bases are experiencing encroachment of local counties. Nellis (Las Vegas), Camp Pendelton
(San Diego), and Fort Lewis (Tacoma) have experienced encroachment.
* What I heard at every base: "We never want a fair fight. We want a
HUGE advantage."
* Bandwidth is a huge problem that no one seems to have an answer for. All
the services want the troops to have a better ability to upload and download
photos and video. This was the most common answer to the "what would
make you a more effective fighting force?" question.
* For some odd reason, the Marines and Army have two completely different
light armored vehicles. That might be a breakdown in the procurement process
as both services use the vehicle for similar purposes and they did not have
to reinvent the Research and Development.
* Thailand has been a key ally. Wild Bill Donovan (the head of the OSS in WW
II and then Ambassador to Thailand) built many of the relationships 50 years
ago.
* Overall, procurement needs to be streamlined more. Bids and contracts take
too long and items are sometimes delivered long after they would be useful.
* All the military officers we met gave great presentations and had
incredible speaking skills and were adept at handling questions. Is the
military the largest purchaser of MS PowerPoint? Not sure, but they sure have
a lot of it. They also love their laser pointer. And they LOVE long acronyms,
org charts, and line diagrams.
* Winning wars is all about psychology. You've got to get the enemy to accept
that he lost. If the enemy never concedes defeat, it is extremely difficult
to win -- case in point is the current Palestinian situation.
* Reserve forces are a cost effective way of have an elastic military force.
The U.S. Armed Forces is using the reserves in an inventory management
structure much like WalMart does
inventory-on-demand.
* I'd like to see mid-level officers in the military have an opportunity to
join another branch so we can cross-pollinate the good ideas developed
throughout the military. Branches need to be more synergistic and we might be
able to accomplish this by rotating a small number of officers between the
branches.
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The Connector
Tools for Increasing Your Network
E-MAIL/WEB TIME MANAGEMENT
The Connector is not just someone who knows tons of people, s/he is someone
who truly understands time management. Here are some quick tips to increase
your productivity if you are a wired worker:
** Modify the start page of your web browser.
When most people open a new web browser window they see a news page like MSN,
Yahoo, Netscape's home, AOL, Drudge, etc. These sites are trying to captivate
you so you stay on them -- and they usually work. Instead of doing something
you planned to do, you get caught up in the newest story.
Change your default page to blank to decrease your temptation to be diverted.
** Turn off instant messaging.
This might be a huge sacrifice, but it stops distractions. Do you really need
to chat with people during the workday? Let your friends send you emails
which are much easier to manage on your own time.
** Change the start-up window when launching your contact manager.
Most people use MS Outlook to manage their emails, calendar, tasks and
contacts. When launching the program, instead of having the first thing you
see be your emails, change the default screen to view your tasks. This will
force you to take on the many to-do items you have for the day.
To make the change in MS Outlook go to Tools/Options/Other/Advanced - and
change the option "Startup in this folder:" to Tasks.
** Check your email regularly, but not every second.
Never check your email more than once every 30 minutes -- don't get sucked
into the e-mail trap that kills most people's productivity. If you only do
one small thing to change your habits, do this.
** Turn off all email reminders.
Email reminders kill your productivity because they distract you. And if you
are not going to check email more than once every 30 minutes, you do not need
to know the second you get an email. Turn off all sound, cursor changes, that
little icon in the bottom right-hand corner, etc. Any reminder you getting an
email will distract you. And, of course, either close or minimize you contact
manager.
** Powering through emails.
If you get home from a few days of vacation and are faced with hundreds of
emails to respond to, block out a few hours to power through all of them at
once. Then sort the emails by subject so you can immediately identify long
threads and you only have to reply to the last one.
These little changes sound stupid, but they will massively increase your
productivity.
Past musings on "The Connector" at http://www.summation.net/connector.html
(What are your thoughts about connectors? Write auren@summation.net)
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Useless Fact:
President John Tyler had fifteen children.
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Book Review:
Against the Gods
The Remarkable Story of Risk
by Peter L. Bernstein
In January I was in NYC with a few minutes to kill and I wandered into the
Barnes & Noble on 66th and Broadway. This store is incredible (and
huge!). While there I saw the Against the Gods book and I remembered that my
friend Doug Kilponen recommended it to me. Doug also recommended Generations
(see last Summation), one of my all-time favorites, so I figured I couldn't
go wrong. This book is a real gem. It goes over the history of probability
and mathematical decision-making and how these quantitative devices are the
bedrock of a complex economy that relies on futures, insurance, options, and
statistics. I HIGHLY recommend you read this book.
(To see more book reviews, check out the Hoffman Reading List at http://www.summation.net/reading.html)
(What are you reading? Write auren@summation.net)
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READER RESPONSES AND OPINIONS
Regarding last month's article on "First Names vs. Last Names
Personality Test" (see http://www.summation.net/push0302.html)
Jon Weber, Managing Director at Earned Capital, remarks:
I think that persons who use first names voluntarily are less formal, not
necessarily more individualistic. Use of the last name implies, to me at
least, a preference for reserve, except where used as a 1st name substitute
("Weber here"). To be sure, Tricky Dick and Slick Willie reflect a
lack of respect for the persons rather than a choice by them about their
appellation. ("I like Ike" was probably a politically motivated
calculus to bring the ex-general candidate closer to the polity).
Nonetheless, 1st name use for in public venues is a fairly recent US
phenomenon. Interestingly, in Brazil, from where I write these lines, most
everyone is referred to by 1st name or nickname (Lula, Fernando Henrique)
even in formal business and political settings, except when the name is very
common or already "in use" by someone in the same circle.
... and Richard Miller, CEO of Advisor Team, adds:
I came out of the brokerage/investment banking community prior to moving into
Internet. All the sales/trading types always seemed to be Richie, Charlie, JimmyMac, and so on, and the saying was never to trust a
banker who had a last name for a first name.
... and Elizabeth Malloy at Cable & Wireless
opines:
First names v. last names: I identify strongly with my last name. Partly
because Elizabeth is boring, partly because I was not a firebrand who would
put the name Elizabeth on the map in the way Hillary or Eleanor did, partly
because my last name (Malloy) is an easy nickname and finally because I think
so highly of the heritage it represents. This raises another, related issue:
last name choice for women upon marriage. I have no interest in losing my
last name, although the event has never presented itself. Finally the other
interesting slant on naming is this: I used to work in pre-school camps and noticed
that those kids with interesting names, even at the age of 2 or 3, both
received different attention and responded to it, forming unique
personalities that I'm sure set them apart favorably thereon. Names like Kent
and Olive for girls and Roary and Spencer for boys.
If I ever have kids, I'll be thinking hard about names as there is some push
and pull going on there!! ... and Winnie Wong
writes:
What about people who are known by their first and last name? For example,
everyone I know (and meet) always refer to me as 'Winnie Wong', never by my
first or last name.
Regarding last month's article on "The Connector" on Party Planners
(see http://www.summation.net/push0302.html)
Sharon Miller of Marquee Events chimes in:
Event planners have mastered the art of socializing. We are always making
appearances at all social functions to see familiar faces and hopefully new
faces. Not all event planners are networkers, some often remain only on the
operations side.....one has really mastered it if you can do both. This is
however a very exhausting role to play in life.
Regarding last month's article on Generation X and Reunions (see http://www.summation.net/push0302.html)
Yuta Lee offers:
One thought: With the proliferation of digital technology, in a few more
generations handwriting will only be an art form. An entire generation not
knowing how to use a pen is mind-boggling.
I think the loss of class reunions is tragic. But that is just a small piece
of what we will lose as a generation moving forward. To be a bit nostalgic, I
am going to walk down to the bookstore and buy the book with cash.
... and Christine Herron at Cycle Partners brings up
the following point:
This is a topical item for me, as I just completed fleshing out my
documentation to apply for membership in the Daughters of the American
Revolution. (Essentially, you are eligible if you can document that an
ancestor saw active duty in the Revolutionary War.) The last member of my
family to join was my Great-Aunt Pat, and since she is getting quite old, I
felt that I should join while she was still around to share our family
history. This made joining much easier for me, as it only takes 3 birth
certificates to document that I am related to my great-grandma. After that, I
am able to reference information from Pat's original application, including
lineage to and proof of ancestor's service.
What's fascinating is that the NSDAR has archived EVERY member's
application...and Pat had referenced her aunt, who had referenced her
grandmother, and so on. This never skips more than one generation. I believe
that two generations are the chasm that can't be crossed in generational
history. If I had not applied, it is extremely unlikely that anyone after me
would be aware of our ties, much less be interested in joining NSDAR.
Americans are much more mobile than they used to be. A scarce few of us can
still go down to the local chapel and page through the record of births for
each of the families in the community. So, while NSDAR has a more famously
checkered history than other institutions of like vintage, there is a sense
of responsibility to participate in order to leave the door open for those
that come after. In the personal scenario, without my participation, a chasm
would form in my family's lineage.
The question this brings up for me is, what will be the impact of a
generation - or even worse, two - that doesn't take pause to document their
past, providing a historical stepping stone for the generations to come?
Also, how does this intersect with the developments in gene research? Will
the stories, talents, and physical characteristics of the generations that
came before aid in interpretation of our own genetic codes? And if the chasm
grows, what research efforts will be hindered? There are potential
implications here beyond being condemned to repeat the past.
... and another interesting point from Pat Flanders:
i think an extension of what you're talking about
is reflected in the decline in community involvement (i
haven't read "Bowling Alone", but i've
heard from friends that it's an excellent overview of the decline in concern
over civic traditions and involvement). Quite frankly, i
don't really know much of what the elks, the soroptimists,
or even the daughters of the american revolution
do, and i'm actually quite skeptical of anything
that's overly organized and might foster "group-think". but these groups, and probably thousands of others across
the country, encourage bonds among people, and those bonds strengthen the
fabric of so many aspects of our society. all cliches aside, i'm heartened
every time i walk into a bookstore and there's a
group discussing a recent bestseller, or when a group of older men emerge
from the VFW hall...perhaps these people aren't making any direct
contribution to our society, but slowly and surely, they're helping preserve
what's great in it.
... and Nicholas Poras remarks:
I come from a town where most people went to the same elementary, middle,
high schools and in many cases the same preschool. My high school reunion
lasted a span of three days and had a great turn out. The first night was for
Reno High graduates only, no spouses, loved ones, etc allowed. It was a great
time and not very many people turned in before 3 am. The second night was
more formal and spouses, loved ones, etc were invited. The third day involved
everyone getting together at the school and touring the new buildings along
with a barbeque, a football game, viewing of pictures, etc. A great deal of us have moved to various places of the
world but we all look forward to the times when we can get together and drown
ourselves in nostalgia. Every year for the past decade a guy from the class
of '89 throws a Christmas party in which about 5 years from my high school
attend. This year was the biggest yet and once again has been moved to a
bigger club. Similar events occur amongst my college and law school people.
It may that as a generation we are less nostalgic because we have no great
war or are roots don't run deep in any one geographical area, but as a whole
I think that there are people that are and always will be of the nostalgic
type and those that won't, like you I am one of the nostalgic types.
... and Beth Gilbert differs:
While I agree with you that Generation X seems intent on doing things
differently than previous generations -- whether it's living a more
spiritually- or eco-conscious lifestyle, having more personal freedom, or
carving out a new future avoiding the mistakes of the past -- I don't think
nostalgia is dead. Not at all. It's just that Gen X is, and will be nostalgic
for different things.
It seems to me Gen X nostalgia is of a more recent time and more pop-culture
oriented. Since my college days, we've rehashed the last thirty or so years
in fashion, music, art, and decor. Hippies, 70's clothes, mid-century modern
furniture, and of course, you can't go to a party these days without those
disco favorites we all know so well playing at some point. The last JCrew catalog looked like they raided my closet from 7th
grade, but people are buying it. Consumer consumption is fueled by nostalgia.
Regarding Japan's debt, Tim Dick, CEO of Hawaii Superferry,
writes:
In the relevant facts dept, check the real time U.S. national debt clock. We
have about 2/3 of Japan's national debt per capita.
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
Separately, U.S. consumer debt is $1.7 trillion.
... and Scott Burger adds:
Just so you know, the US also has 6 trillion in debt (6,399,240,555,827.75
through yesterday, to be exact--from http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpdodt.htm).
(Write Auren your thoughts: auren@summation.net)
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THIS WEEK'S SUMMATION PUSH PICK LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK:
* ProtestWarrior (http://www.protestwarrior.com/) --
one of the funniest anti-anti-war sites. Thanks to David Blumberg for
pointing out this site.
* GreatBoyfriends (http://www.greatboyfriends.com) -
funny site for women who nominated single guys to be on the site.
* RSVP for the Party of the Decade (http://evite.citysearch.com/ggparty@eudoramail.com/2011Party)
-- taking place on Nov 11, 2011.
* Auren on How to sell via e-mail (from the book "21st Century
Selling"): http://www.summation.net/emailselling.html
* What am I reading? (http://www.summation.net/reading.html) -- The Auren Hoffman
Reading List.
* Send a tip to Summation (https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=push%40summation.net&item_name=Summation+Push&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD)
NOTE: Auren Hoffman works for Stonebrick Group but the opinions expressed
herein are solely those of Mr. Hoffman.
NOTE: You may reprint in full or in part (for free) with permission from
author.
Auren Hoffman's bio can be found at: http://www.summation.net/hoffman.html
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