Tom Peters uses his PowerPoint software
as a running notebook.
It's a smart move, especially for an accomplished public speaker
like him.
He also makes a big part of his living, and the better part of his reputation,
by oral presentation, supported by PowerPoint slides.
Apparently as soon as he gets an idea,
his first computer-version of it
is to commit it to PowerPoint.
From those draft slides,
he assembles his presentations.
Here is Tom Peters's great blog post from today,
12 October 2006--
both the link and the entry reproduced below:
Words to SavorHere are five great (per me) quotes I've recently come across and committed to PowerPoint. FYI:
"Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart."—Henry Clay
"The first 90% of a project takes 90% of the time. The last 10% takes the other 90% of the time."—Richard Templar, The Rules of Management
"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go."—William Feather, author ("Eighty percent of success is showing up."—Woody Allen)
"If it feels painful and scary—that's real delegation."—Caspian Woods, small biz owner"Seek honest, minimalist management. Look for companies run by a team that explains things clearly and briefly. ... You can tell a lot about the firm by reading an annual report or two. If management can't explain the business in plain English, move on to another firm. If you see phrases like 'creating knowledge-based value in emerging markets' ... someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes, you lazy Fool. Run."—Seth Jayson, "Stocks for the Lazy Investor," The Motley Fool
I wrote that quote in my pocket notebook on 31 August 2006:
"You must produce a compelling narrative."
It's a writer's note to himself.
Yet as readers of this weblog may see, narrative as a concept
has been much on my thoughts in this time.
This is an internal note for my Information Renaissance project,
and I followed it with an example for myself, from the history of our
information and communication industry.
My example for myself is this, from my notebook:
Think of the impact of the Hush-a-Phone decision on AT&T.How the decision was a wedge into the corporation's powers.
And how did the arrogance & hubris of the organization leaders
lead to the breakup and humiliation
of the corporation.
So there's a peek into the writer's workshop.
I blog it today to show the writer at work,
and to remind me of my intention on that day
at the end of August 2006.
Washington Post writer Chris Cillizza has a politics blog call "The Fix."
For an entry posted at 02:41 PM ET, 10/ 4/2006
Cillizza wrote an interesting observation on storytelling as a means
toward achieving your goals.
In a routine review of a new book
The Way to Win
by John F. Harris and Mark Halperin,
which outlines strategies for USA's 2008 presidential election,
Cillizza says:
Harris and Halperin write: "Presidential campaigns are about storytelling. A winning presidential campaign presents the candidate's life story to voters. A losing campaign allows someone else to frame that story."Wise words for any candidate considering the 2008 race. Make a reasoned assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in your life story and your policy positions early on and work to highlight the strengths and minimize the weaknesses.
With the necessary changes made,
a professional's career is similar.
When you look for a job, or work to convince
customers (and colleagues) of your competence,
similar storytelling strategies come to bear.
Cillizza's got it right:
Make a reasoned assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in your life story and your [professional] positions early on and work to highlight the strengths and minimize the weaknesses.
Happy tales to you . . .
USA enters another genuine democracy election finale
in this time.
A good political polling website is pollster.com
Created by practioner Mark Blumenthal and
theorist Charles Franklin,
the site has good data and good theoretical discussion.
Nota bene: these political scientists
are democratic partisans. Their opposition also have
polls and pollsters.
Yet if a political polling organization is overtly biased
so that its science is compromised,
it is useless.
Another example of
the power of science in social life,
in daily life.