Norm Howe's blog

Recalling the Paperclips vignette allowed me to reflect upon a few other incidents from back in 1980, and the virtues of Japanese culture that enabled US and Japanese negotiators to artfully steer past an incident that might have seriously undermined sensitive negotiations.

Every day we hear a new cure-all for Covid-19.  Bleach, steroids, plasma, UV lights, Oleander; what’s next?  As we get into colder weather and people have to socialize indoors, Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning creep into the conversation.  Let’s talk about what it will take to design an HVAC system that will actually do some good.

Yesterday I watched another black life lost in a grisly video.  The police arrested an un-armed black man for a minor offense.  The police knew that they were being watched.  They had to know that their actions were being filmed.  Yet they did it anyway.  Why?

My colleague’s call created both pride and stress at the same moment.  Pride because he had asked me to take an assignment, but also stress because I was to work with him closely for the next few weeks and to coach him in his new role as a quality manager.

Managing people is like fishing, especially in a regulated environment.  A lot of ideas that should work, just don’t.  Like, for instance, telling people what to do.  You’d think that if you’re the boss, the employees would do what you tell them to do, right?  At least most of the time…