The new 20-million-dollar question is:
“Do you eat foie gras?”
If the person does not answer with a clear NO, you may be dealing with someone with no conscience whatsoever. A very useful diagnostic in business dealings.
Alternatively, the person is uninformed about the nature of what he or she is eating.
Carrot-and-stick approach not only often does not work, it often does harm when it comes to 21st-century tasks. This has been known – and been ignored – for many years.
21st-century tasks require creative thinking. Cognitive skills. The carrot-and-stick approach is more suitable for mechanical skills.
Mastery, autonomy and purpose. THAT is the real secret of the gaming approach. It is NOT in the “rewards” themselves, it is in the mastery they stand for.
Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3oIiH7BLmg. It’s a presentation by Professor Philip Zimbardo.
And this one – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc – on motivation, by Dan Pink.
Latex… Some people think of trees and sap when they hear the word, others of condoms or lab gloves – though hopefully not in relation to allergies – and yet others of elastomer technology and membrane materials or rubber boots. A few of you may conjure up images of whips, high heels and other accessories, and the Dutch will think of wall paint.
Well, there are already plenty of other web sites that go there. This is not one of them. Sorry to disappoint you if that was what you were looking for.
But did you know that there are also people who think of mathematical equations when they SEE the word latex, but not when they HEAR it?
(Equations? You gotta be kidding me, right?)
Presentation at AAAS 2010 meeting by Dennis Meredith explaining the importance of visuals in your communications. One image says more than a thousand words, but not only that. Information acquired via the combination of words and visuals is much better retained, for example.
His presentation also addresses matters like blogging, Twitter, and getting involved in science centers.
I haven’t had a response yet from BT (”of course”, I almost automatically want to add). Today’s METRO reported that only 46% of broadband users complaining to their ISPs feel that their complaints were properly resolved.
There is a formal code of practice, as it turns out, but it is not working. “More needs to be done to empower consumers,” said a guy from the site behind the report: http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk.
I’m afraid that would have to include severe sanctions against ISPs. (Consumer rights are a fairly new development in the UK, is my impression.)
Welcome to England. Welcome to the dark ages. 
News on the radio today: a total ban on alcohol advertising is proposed as a solution to the UK’s alcohol problem. It won’t work. It is not the solution. (more…)
As many of you likely know, I am – and so are many others – in a fierce battle with BT Business (or BT).
Three invitations accepted in the meantime and then I found another great guy, another colleague from way back.