Jubilee Celebration

The United Kingdom is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Here are the scheduled ceremonies. John O'Sullivan writes about her success in The Wall Street Journal.

Words, Actions, and the Land of In-Between

Flirtation lives in the land of the in-between. Sarcasm can also dwell there, but not always. Our most eloquent comments may possess a hint and only that.

Actions, however, are better when they are clearly focused. [What is the Yoda line about do or don't do, there is no try?] If you work while tired, you are likely to do justice neither to work nor rest. The person who stares at a computer screen and pretends to be productive would be better off taking a 20 minute nap.

Supervisors who recognize that are not in the land of in-between. They are wise.

Quote of the Day

Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure.

- Earl Wilson

Friday Music: The Beatles

It's Friday. Catch The Beatles with "Rock and Roll Music" and "Money Can't Buy Me Love."

Favorite Books of Famous People

This list made me wonder whether I have a favorite book. If pressed, I'd have to say the entire Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. That collection can be considered a single huge novel and it is truly marvelous. I used to re-read The Wind in the Willows every year and am going to revive that tradition. I'm going to do the same with the O'Brian series.

Do you have a favorite book?

Miscellaneous and Fast

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee: 60 years in 60 photographs.
Folk music break: Peter, Paul and Mary
WSJ Law Blog: The most cited law review articles of all time.
John Podhoretz on "Bernie."
Der Spiegel: Old and new China along the Yellow River.
Prospect: Playboy leaves Chicago. [HT: Arts and Letters Daily]
Matt Rosoff is not wild about Windows 8.

Lessons from a Yoga Workshop

Tanmay Vora has compiled a list of life lessons. Here's one:

Eat. Pray. Work. Love. In one of the sessions, our teacher asked us to recite the following words: “Eat half, Double the intake of water, exercise three times more, laugh four times more (remain happy), work five times more and pray ten times more”. It is a simple, yet very powerful advice for health and happiness.

Early Birds

Very early this morning, I e-mailed some training information to a client. Within 15 minutes, a reply arrived. We are worlds away from the leisurely pace of the past. One challenge: How to craft a form of responsiveness that is fast but not driven and which gives time to think.

Sudden Interest

Have you ever attended an awards ceremony and have this children's story come to mind?

Quote of the Day

Only three things happen naturally in organizations: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership.

- Peter Drucker