The Federal Reserve is remarkably expert in the science of explaining tomorrow why the predictions it made yesterday didn’t come true today. As recently released transcripts of its 2006 meetings reveal, it’s also a perfect example of how much easier it is for people to work together when they have no idea where they are going – or what they’re doing.
The Washington Post reviewed those transcripts and highlighted a few aspects that are a combination of interesting, disappointing, and disturbing. It’s a short article and I recommend reading the whole thing, but here are a few of my takeaways:
The Harvard Business Review recently posted their list of the most popular blog posts for 2011. The post topping their list was titled Nine Things Successful People Do Differently.
It’s a catchy title & I was intrigued. They added this little teaser: “Talent plays only a tiny role in your success; what really matters is what you do.”
Hmm, that sort of makes sense: If the most talented pitcher in the world never threw a pitch, he wouldn’t be successful. But when he does actually throw pitches, his talent certainly contributes more than a tiny amount to his success. On the other hand, a talentless pitcher could throw 10,000 pitches and still not succeed.
The Homogeneity of Diversity
When I was working on my undergraduate degree in California, identifying and rooting out sexism in our cultural institutions was all the rage. I was repeatedly taught that it was sexist to believe that women were significantly different than men in any way other than, what one of my professors liked to call, “the plumbing.”
I remember at least one heated classroom discussion about whether it was appropriate for men to engage in mundane chivalrous behavior like opening a door for a women, giving up their seat to a woman on a crowded bus, or allowing them to leave an elevator first.
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