WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson

Creativity &/or innovation is the bottom line, but how and what is the focus of this lecture, by the author of 'Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History Of Innovation,':

What they say about the book, WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM: "Another mind-opening work from the author of Mind Wide Open." (Publishers Weekly)

PS. Info courtesy: Khalid's Blog

Be so good they can’t ignore you, Steve Martin

Pearls Of Wisdom Quoted by Robin Sharma: India - DNA, Aug 2, 2010

"Here’s comedian Steve Martin’s advice to young comics: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” Life favours the devoted. The more you give to life, the more life sends back. It’s just not possible for you to be great at what you do, always reaching for your brilliance and standing for excellence, and not win in the end. (Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead once said, “You don’t merely want to be the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do.”)


Sometimes discouragement sets in. We try hard, stay true to our dreams and pursue our ideals. Yet nothing happens. Or so it seems. But every choice matters. And every step counts. Life runs according to its own agenda, not ours. Be patient. Trust. Be like the stonecutter, steadily chipping away, day after day. Eventually, a single blow will crack the stone and reveal the diamond. An enthusiastic, dedicated person who is ridiculously good at what they do just cannot be denied. Seriously.

Steve Martin’s insight speaks to me deeply. “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” (Management guru Peter Drucker made the point slightly differently when he observed: “Get good or get out.”) Apply that philosophy at work. Apply it at home. Apply it in your community. Apply it to your world. Having the courage to present your gifts and your highest capacities will yield magnificent rewards. Life is always fair in the end. Trust it.

Life is always fair in the end. Trust it." ©2010 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd.

On the same shelf:

• The Steve Martin Method: A Master Comedian’s Advice for Becoming Famous
• This quote is also at Favorite Quotations ~ Goodness ~ Ideas to motivate, educate, and inspire

Editor’s Column: Applying Machiavellian Ideas on Leadership to Libraries

Michael Lorenzen, Michigan Library Association's MLA Forum, Volume VI, 2008

In the early 16th Century, Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince. In this work, he gave advice to the rulers of Renaissance Italy on how to successfully use power to be great leaders. The book was well received and in the following five centuries it has been examined and analyzed by philosophers, military men, politicians, and businessmen. A recent interpretation of Machiavelli was written by Ledeen (1999) in which the author showed how Machiavelli is relevant in the modern world in a variety of settings.
Contents:

Does Machiavellian Theory Fit Library Leadership?

Basic Machiavellian Concepts

Entering into Evil

Conclusion

References:

Forsman, R. B. (2003). Machiavelli and me: Strategies for sidestepping the budget axe during tough times. Colorado libraries, 29(3), 9-11.

Kierkegaard, S. (1954). Fear and trembling. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.

Ledeen, M. A. (1999). Machiavelli on modern leadership. New York: St. Martin’s Press.


Lorenzen, M. (2003). Teaching and learning on the Web. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 7(1), 3.

Lorenzen, M. (2006). Strategic planning for academic library instructional programming. Illinois Libraries 86(2): 22-29.
Machiavelli, N. (1964). The Prince. New York: St. Martin Press.

Maxwell, J. (1992). Whether it is better to be loved or feared: Acquisitions librarianship as Machiavelli might have described it. Library acquisitions, 16(2), 113-17.

Energize on the job to reach full potential

By Fiona Anderson, Vancouver Sun, February 3, 2010
Extract: VANCOUVER — Work-life balance — the idea that work drains our energy and we recharge after hours — isn't true, a Vancouver Board of Trade breakfast gathering was told Wednesday.

What really happens is that some things drain us, whether at home or at work, and other things energize us, Johanne Lavoie, a senior expert at management consulting firm McKinsey & Company said at the event, organized by the board's Women's Leadership Circle.

...For example, Lavoie is good at preparing spread sheets, a skill she spent time learning and mastering. But when she completes one, she's exhausted. On the other hand, she never felt good at talking to crowds. Yet given the chance she found doing that pumped her up. So she has learned to shift her focus, handing off the spreadsheet work to a colleague and taking on the talking gigs. In the end she has more energy to devote to work.

The beauty is that while something may be draining on you, it may be energizing to someone else, Lavoie said. So there is room to trade a draining task for an energizing one.

... The research results have been published in a book, How Remarkable Women Lead, written by Susie Cranston, who also took part in the Vancouver Board of Trade event.
continue reading

Reading Now: Mentors, Muses & Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives

Reading now: Mentors, Muses & Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives ~ Elizabeth Benedict

• Publisher description
• Sample text

Contents:

Part I: people we encountered -- "Why not say what happened?": remembering Miss Hardwick / Elizabeth Benedict -- Imagining influence / Robert Boyers -- Fathers / Jay Cantor -- Mentors in general, Peter Taylor in particular / John Casey -- Life in books / Maud Casey -- Annie Dillard and the writing life / Alexander Chee -- Snow globe / Jonathan Safran Foer -- When Julie met Deb / Julia Glass -- Tiger and the pelican: mentors Elizabeth Hardwick and Janice Thaddeus / Mary Gordon -- Moment / Arnon Grunberg -- Only plump the pillows / Margot Livesey -- Sontag’s rules / Sigrid Nunez -- In the absence of mentors/monsters: notes on writerly influences / Joyce Carol Oates -- Scholars and the pornographer / Carolyn See -- "But what I really love about this is this amazing game that you’ve invented": an appreciation of John Hawkes / Jim Shepard -- Munro country / Cheryl Strayed -- Mother country / Evelyn Toynton -- Seducer / Lily Tuck -- Harold Brodkey / Edmund White.

Part II: books we read -- Company / Michael Cunningham -- Five million head of cattle / Samantha Hunt -- On fat city / Denis Johnson -- Mad hope and mavericks / ZZ Packer -- Getting it. Deeply immersed. In awe. Learning. Reading Ms. McDermott. Appreciating beginnings. Still appreciating beginnings. Nailing it. / Anita Shreve -- Paper mentors / Martha Southgate -- Part III: times of our lives -- Coming of age at bread loaf / Christopher Castellani -- Please don’t write / Neil Gordon -- Storying / Dinaw Mengestu -- Growing pains / Caryl Phillips -- Iowa City, 1974 / Jane Smiley.

What do the reviewers of this book say @ Amazon.com:

Editorial Reviews

"Even when writing teacher Benedict is writing fiction, she's writing about writing.... So the subject of this irresistible anthology was a natural for her. People become writers by virtue of literary inspiration, be it a book, a place, or a mentor, so why not invite writers to write essays about their literary influences? The response was overwhelming and avid.... these exceptionally animated essays feel as though the writers couldn't get the words down quickly enough. And what an array of experiences and voices."-- Booklist

"A mesmerizing book of essays by famous pens who themselves were once helped -- or hurt -- by established talents as they tried to climb their way up the literary ladder. [Mentors, Muses & Monsters] beautifully captures the experience of being a literary aspirant -- wide-eyed, enchanted by words, and eager for the tutelage of a mentor -- one who's already scaled the temple wall and emerged, shining, in a turret."-- The Christian Science Monitor

"Every one of the essays here -- from Benedict's own remembrance of Elizabeth Hardwick to Christopher Castellani's "Coming of Age at Breadloaf" is wise and full of heart."-- Chicago Tribune

"Michael Cunningham relates his discovery of Mrs. Dalloway, the happy result of failing to impress a girl during high school.... Joyce Carol Oates tells us that she had no mentor but books.... And in terrific essays on the New York Review of Books and the Iowa Writers Workshop, Neil Gordon and Jane Smiley give us a sense...of how institutions conspire to turn ordinary human beings into award-winning authors."-- Bookforum (Robert P. Baird Nov. 5)

"Enthralling.... [a] lovingly compiled collection of essays."-- The Errant Aesthete

"This anthology is that rare gem, a collection whose whole is greater, even, than the sum of its parts. Where else could you read musings-about-muses, accompanied by juicy tales from deep inside the writing life, by 30 of the best minds of our generation, all between the covers of one book?"-- The San Francisco Chronicle

"The essays are not simply worshipful tributes to literary lions. Each writer shades in the nuances of character and experience that make his subject come to life, and each reads like a short story.... For the reader aspiring to sharpen his own craft, gem after gem emerges from this book's pages.... I haven't finished reading all the essays. In truth, I am reluctant to complete it, so deliciously rich and illuminating have I found each offering. I suspect any writer or serious reader will feel the same way."-- MV Times

How to Succeed in the Age of Going Solo

By RICHARD GREENWALD,  Wall Street Journal, FEBRUARY 8, 2010

Anybody can become a consultant. But not everybody does it well. Here's what you need to know to thrive.

So, what do these thriving solo artists have in common? What is the recipe for their good fortune? My research points to five ingredients to keep in mind.

• Think Long Term
  
• Typically, consultants keep their edge by attending workshops or training courses. But the most successful often add another key element to their training: They teach...
  

  First, it provides some income, though admittedly not much. Second, it's a way to network, because sometimes students can become clients or lead to clients. Third, the teaching looks good on a résumé, giving consultants credibility in the marketplace and a way to stand out from the crowd. And fourth, if you're going to teach somebody the latest skills, you better have those skills yourself. So teaching forces consultants to stay current and sharp themselves.

• Join a Network
  
• Have Your Own Space
  
• Think Like an Entrepreneur
  

Quotations about Library by Eli Martin Oboler, 1915 - 1983

Who is Eli Martin Oboler? click here for a bio. See also ALA / IFRT Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award, "The Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award, which consists of $500 and a certificate, is presented for the best published work in the area of intellectual freedom."

"Much as some librarians would like it to be otherwise, the world views the library as a refuge from the world and librarians as unworldly refugees from the actions and passions of our time." in Ideas and the University Library: Essays of an Unorthodox Academic Librarian ~ Eli M. Oboler

    

"The sign SILENCE in any library is an admission that your library is poorly planned, your administration is a failure, and your clientele are captives in a dungeon--kept rather than participants in an educational and fundamentally entertaining enterprise." in Ideas and the University Library: Essays of an Unorthodox Academic Librarian ~ Eli M. Oboler

Quoted from Dictionary of Library and Information Science Quotations     Edited by Mohamed Taher & L S Ramaiah. ISBN: 8185689423 (New Delhi , Aditya, 1994) pp. 287, 290. Available @ Amazon.com