Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Top 10 reasons why Darth Vader was an amazing project manager

A project manager can have the responsibility of the planning, execution and closing of any project. It requires individuals who are intelligent and adaptable and can fine-tune the immediate strategy and manage particular tasks effectively while focusing on the main goal.

While organizations typically have subject matter experts, they also recognize that project management requires a different set of specialist skills. The tools and techniques of project management can be applied on any project and a good Project Manager should be able to add value to any environment, whether it's an IT implementation, a hotel build, an office refurbishment or construction of a Death Star.

Nice segue, huh?

Think about it. Vader takes personal charge (as the new Project Manager) to get the project back on track. After all, he built C3PO and a pod racer from scrap earlier in his life, and who was going to point out he had no major construction project experience? He also understood the business case and was fully committed into realizing the benefits on his project as soon as possible.

This week, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, a look at the top ten reasons why Darth Vader may have been a good project manager.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week:
"Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience." - Paulo Coelho (a Brazilian lyricist and novelist, 1947 - )
Top 10 Reasons Why Darth Vader Was an Amazing Project Manager

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Harvesters

You reap what you sow. Farming metaphors worked well in societies dependent on agriculture, and the idea of “you reap what you sow,” is that actions will have consequences and people can expect to harvest the fruit of their behavior, just as farmers expect to harvest the crops that they plant.

Of course, if you are that farmer, you actually reap what you sow. And until the combine harvester thresher came along, reaping wasn't always easy.

This week, a look at the history of the combine harvester thresher.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning." - James Russell Lowell (American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat, 1819 - 1891)

Fruit

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Talking to Kids About Quality Improvement

Like many people, I carry home the smells of my job. My last stop each day for one employer was the bakery, so those days I smelled like cinnamon or cookies. I have also arrived at home smelling like peanut butter, onions, garlic and cooked fruit. All of these odors helped me describe to my daughter what I really did each day at work, as trying to explain to a child what quality control and assurance was really about was not on my list of things to attempt.

I never considered using M&Ms to explain quality to anyone before. Maybe it is because always eat them first and ask questions later.

This week, a look at how to talk with your kids about quality improvement.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be." - Douglas Adams (English writer and dramatist, 1952 - 2001)

How to Talk With Your Kids About…Quality Improvement

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Shape

The shape of an object located in some space is a geometrical description of the part of that space occupied by the object, as determined by its external boundary – abstracting from location and orientation in space, size, and other properties such as color, content, and material composition.

Most shapes occurring in the physical world are complex. The shape of the Coca-Cola bottle...well, it doesn't defy traditional mathematical description, but it may require analysis by differential geometry to explain.

This week, a look at the shape of the Coke bottle.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "So Einstein was wrong when he said, 'God does not play dice.' Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that he sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen." - Stephen William Hawking, (British theoretical physicist and cosmologist, 1942 - )

Shape

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Raw Milk

I am neither a proponent nor an opponent of raw milk. I am, however, a proponent of food safety. All too often, raw milk is tied to illnesses. And it isn't just due to the machine that is the modern food industry.

This week, a look at how raw milk killed 48 in an outbreak in Boston a century ago.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart." - Johann Wolfgang Goethe (German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath, 1749 - 1832)

Raw Milk

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Warning - Shameless Self Promotion - Danger, Will Robinson! - Shameless Self Promotion - Warning

THINK Elemental is the newest line from the mind of Sidetracked Artist. Show your superior intellect or superior nerdiness by wearing apparel with words or phrases made with elemental symbols straight from the periodic table.

Why wear a shirt that just says beer, when your shirt can say BeEr (Beryllium and Erbium)? If you are a Twilight fan (and who isn't...sparkly vampires that reproduce!), then I RuN WITh VAmPIrEs is waiting for you. Whether you like CuPCaKEs or are a BrONY, we have something for you. Your name may even be possible using elements...just ask!


http://www.cafepress.com/sidetrackedart/8168371


Thanks for your support.

TTFN, Fred.


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Lasers

In everyday life we're more or less surrounded by laser applications. Carpenters use laser instead of spirit levels, hunters use laser instead of ordinary telescopic sights and most likely, you use laser when you listen to music.

This week, a look at the history of the laser

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap." - Cynthia Heimel (playwright, television writer, and author)

Light