New Friends from Down Under

We had a great visit with houseguests Rick & Marcy Paynter this week.

Rick is a pastor in Melbourne, and they are friends with my mate Steve. Check out their website. Marcy is a Creative Arts lover, so she and K!Mberly shared some drama. They introduced us to a great learning resource from Mars Hill Church in Michigan, USA, called Nooma.

Zeroing In on a Hundred

UCLA has set the standard in US collegiate athletics, and are about to be the first team to reach the milestone of 100 team championships.

They were a relative newcomer when they won their first championship in 1950, more than fifty years after Yale won the first NCAA team title. However, since then they have passed up every other school by a wide margin.

"The Bruins are No. 1 in No. 1s and are on the cusp of a milestone.

The women's water polo team notched UCLA's 99th NCAA team title on May 14 — toppling USC in the championship game, no less. Stanford is second with 92 titles, and USC is third with 84, with a huge margin over fourth-place Oklahoma State, which has 47."

Coaching Your Best People

Here's some practical help from Marcus Buckingham's book, "First, Break All the Rules" on how to attract, retain and develop top performers.

"Gallup narrowed the material down to 12 questions that proved to be effective tools to measure the core elements needed to attract, focus, and keep the most talented employees. Here they are:

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?

2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?

3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?

4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?

5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?

6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?

7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?

8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?

9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?

10. Do I have a best friend at work?

11. In the last six months, have I talked with someone about my progress?

12. At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?

According to the book First Break All the Rules, questions 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 are linked to retention."

The Fictional Defense

"It's just a story" say the movie makers, but they take the Davinci Code details so seriously.

"Given this kind of dialogue, it's impossible to take the filmmakers seriously when they say that their movie makes no historical or theological claims. Why did they feel the need to add details missing from Brown's book, or to correct some of its errors, if the historical claims didn't really matter? And would they have been just as pleased with a closing scene in which Langdon said Jesus is the divine Son of God who became man to show us how to become the fully human beings we were originally meant to be? Somehow, I doubt it."

A Maniacal Focus on Talent

I love what this article has to say. Basically:

It's the people, stupid!

While most organizations may say they agree with this value (our people are our biggest asset), most don't actually act like it.

Perhaps it's because they don't know what to do. Finding and cultivating talent isn't easy. It's a soft science, which most of us aren't good at.

Or perhaps they don't really have the vision for it, assuming that top performers will develop themselves without corporate guidance. They may question whether the time and effort spent by organizations to develop their people really pays off.

But some companies like those studied in this article, have developed systematic approaches to finding and developing their top performers.

Who should be leading the way in developing people? Churches!

"All leading firms display this one obsessive characteristic: a maniacal focus on getting, developing and retaining the best talent. Their attention to human resources is pivotal to their performance: staff stay with them and grow to become great leaders, and good leadership leads to superior financial performance. A veritable mantra for success."

Laughable "Code" Kicks Off Cannes

Didn't anyone else feel this way about the book?

I can't understand how it became such a hit, except that people love a conspiracy theory.

Pedantic, polemic, arrogant, clumsy, plodding.

"Da Vinci's overreliance on exposition drew jeers on several occasions toward the end of the screening and even prompted a few walkouts, as it faithfully went through the motions of translating Brown's elaborate puzzler of a book to the big screen.

'At the high point, there was laughter among the journalists. Not loud laughs, but a snicker, and I think that says it all,' the Associated Foreign Press quoted Gerson Da Cunha from the Times of India."

How to Become an Expert Performer

In a word, practice.

And a word of caution: If you're going to spend enough time practicing something to become great at it, you had better pick something you like to do.

Which is why people don't often become experts at things they don't like - they are not willing to spend the time practicing that is necessary to become an expert.

"Their work, compiled in the 'Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance,' a 900-page academic book that will be published next month, makes a rather startling assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Or, put another way, expert performers — whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming — are nearly always made, not born. And yes, practice does make perfect. These may be the sort of clichés that parents are fond of whispering to their children. But these particular clichés just happen to be true.

Ericsson's research suggests a third cliché as well: when it comes to choosing a life path, you should do what you love — because if you don't love it, you are unlikely to work hard enough to get very good. Most people naturally don't like to do things they aren't 'good' at. So they often give up, telling themselves they simply don't possess the talent for math or skiing or the violin. But what they really lack is the desire to be good and to undertake the deliberate practice that would make them better."

What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?

This NY Times article lists 27 books. How many have I read? Zero. Most of the authors I've never even heard of.

Wow, it's a little sobering to realize how out of touch I am with what is considered great literature.

I read good non-fiction books, but the fiction I read is pure entertainment: John Grisham, David Baldacci, etc.

Maybe I should try a few of these for a stretch.

Universal Library

I remember reading in the 90s that the future was digital. This prfoundly influenced me to realize that what I had in digital format was useable, and re-useable.

But it was really in the 00s that Google led the way in teaching us that what was digital was searchable, making it useable to others also.

"When Google announced in December 2004 that it would digitally scan the books of five major research libraries to make their contents searchable, the promise of a universal library was resurrected. Indeed, the explosive rise of the Web, going from nothing to everything in one decade, has encouraged us to believe in the impossible again. Might the long-heralded great library of all knowledge really be within our grasp?

Brewster Kahle, an archivist overseeing another scanning project, says that the universal library is now within reach. 'This is our chance to one-up the Greeks!' he shouts. 'It is really possible with the technology of today, not tomorrow. We can provide all the works of humankind to all the people of the world. It will be an achievement remembered for all time, like putting a man on the moon.' And unlike the libraries of old, which were restricted to the elite, this library would be truly democratic, offering every book to every person.

But the technology that will bring us a planetary source of all written material will also, in the same gesture, transform the nature of what we now call the book and the libraries that hold them. The universal library and its 'books' will be unlike any library or books we have known. Pushing us rapidly toward that Eden of everything, and away from the paradigm of the physical paper tome, is the hot technology of the search engine."

'Da Vinci Code' Now a Tool to Win Christian Converts

This article recounts some of the approaches Christian churches across the US are taking to dialogue and answer peoples' questions about the famous book and upcoming movie.

As I was listening to a good sermon about DaVinci Code last Sunday, I thought "Christians are going to learn more about the reliability of the Bible and early church history than ever before."

I also thought, this movie is going to separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff. No thinking person could be dissuaded from believing in Jesus because of the fabricated statements in the book - but it will give ammunition to people who are looking for an excuse not to believe.

"His sermon, like many on 'The Da Vinci Code,' was no fast-paced romp through the novel's intrigues. It presented historical, archeological and theological evidence about key elements of Brown's conspiracy theory: The Gnostic gospels, the Council of Nicea, the Roman Emperor Constantine, the Priory of Sion.

In recent years, evangelical pastors have shied away from such dense sermons, preferring to preach practical self-help messages instead. 'The Da Vinci Code' has prompted a renewed interest in basic theology — to many scholars' delight."

Let's Othercott Da Vinci

This writer makes a lot of sense to me.

While I applaud Christians' intent of engaging culture and using interest in DaVinci Code to talk with people about the historical facts about Jesus and the impact of his life, I don't want to contribute a cent to the success of the movie.

I threw the book in the rubbish bin and was sorry I had bought it.

"This film is based on a book that wears its heresy and blasphemy as a badge of honor, and I intend to stay far away from it."

UCLA Wins Another Title

"Steve Klosterman and Damien Scott helped UCLA win its NCAA-record 19th volleyball title Saturday, leading the Bruins to a 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 victory over Penn State. "

The Suspense is Over!

We can now get back to work for another five years, as Singapore's nine-day election distraction has come to a resounding close.

"Final results showed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's People's Action Party winning 82 of 84 seats in Parliament, including 37 seats it captured automatically before the election because the opposition did not contest them.

The breakdown of seats — with two for the opposition — is unchanged from the outgoing Parliament. The result was widely expected, but the percentage of votes won by the ruling party dropped to 66.6 percent from 75.3 percent in the last election in 2001, indicating that more Singaporeans want new voices in government."

Motivation of a Winner

Al Scates is the dominant presence in the US collegiate volleyball scene, having led his UCLA teams to NCAA championships 18 times in 43 years, named Coach of the Year 5 times, developed many of the greatest players in US volleyball, and won 1,100 matches.

What keeps him going after seemingly accomplishing everything there is to accomplish in his profession?

"'He takes pride in finding the perfect spot for each player so the players can have their optimum performance on the court, and makes sure the players are confident in their roles,' [UCLA assistant coach] Rofer said. 'He gets excited when the team starts to play well, and its great to see him do what he loves.' "

Now that's the definition of a great manager, and a great coach. He is motivated by bringing out the best in people, and creating the most effective team. What gets him excited is not the winning per se, but seeing the individuals and the team reach their greatest potential.

Singapore Record Falls

Which record, you ask? The World's Longest Chain of Bras!

Do you know how many records Singapore holds in the Guinness Book?

I'm not sure, either, but certainly more than our fair share. Last I checked, we still held those for largest Tea Party and Duck Race, and longest Line Dance.

But will this new development signal a downward trend? I'm sure the Government will think of something, so we can keep our place among the great countries of the world (at least among those following these kinds of records!)

"Their success will shove Singapore, which had held the record since 2003 with 79,000 bras, off the top spot in the Guinness Book of World Records."