Lots of people want to join a Think Tank and many look for them online and yet many are afraid of not qualifying. This fear is justified, as it takes a special person and specific qualities to be a worthy think tank participant, but one must remember that getting accepted into an online think tank is the easy part.
The hardest part of being in a Think Tank, whether online or offline, is the rigorous flow of information and the ability to separate the bullshit from the rough diamonds. The online Think Tank studied various concepts this week and combed through newspapers, ezines, trade magazines, books, and relevant discussions, all to find parts or clues needed to solve problems.
Each Think Tank tries to provide solutions to the challenges facing humanity at the local level,
At the regional, national or international level, many work hard to prevent difficulties long before the actual events that spell real trouble occur. For example, listed below are just a few of the things we consider during a 7-day period;
Issues:
Sociology: Do you need a sociology degree to understand a society? If you are immersed in a society as a citizen and you live in that society, would you not know that society? Sociologists will tell you that simply living in a society is not the same as being a sociologist. Sociologists use data, collect research, and statistically test their theories. This, of course, can be done by a citizen through observation, however, experience and observation contain two main problems, one is perspective, and the other is limited observation, which excuses the results.
The Shoe Shaft – Since Americans wear shoes, which have been made in China at extremely low cost, Americans hurt their feet; For example, a shoe, which is made for a total of two dollars, does not have the same craftsmanship or special design as, say, New Balance shoes with width size options. The shoes you buy for $15 at Wal-Mart are not the same as the sneakers you pay almost $100 for made by New Balance. Your feet are a very important part of your body, with each part of your foot corresponding to a different part of your upper body, and the wrong shoes can cause back problems.
Avatar Date Rape – These problems are no longer fun and things are happening in Second Life, the virtual reality online game that displays some of humanity’s worst behavior and is out in the open. Now there are terrorists in Second Life, hate crimes, and even no-smoking laws. It seems that things in the second life must be studied to show humanity’s innate characteristics, both good and bad.
PAVs or Personal Air Vehicles – The military is spending money on personal air vehicles and sending these technologies to the private sector. New materials are making PAVs possible. A new company, Terrafugia, Inc., has a rollable plane, which can fly under its own power, and yet if they continue to develop these new technologies, will FAA or DOT regulations stop people from realizing the Flying car?
New Ways of Thinking: Futurist Michael Michalko looks at a different way of looking at things and gives us a new strategy of thinking, and yet he tells us that it’s not a strategy at all, but a free-flowing kind of thinking. He tells us not to look for that needle in a haystack, but to look for all the needles, as Einstein once said or use the Sapre Vedere, which Leonardo da Vinci recommended: let’s approach different things from different perspectives and directions. Of course, if we’re going to train people to do this. We need to change the way we teach people to think.
Richard Faynman discussed productive versus reproductive thinking. One of the tests that new engineering students are given when they arrive at MIT is that they are asked, how many things can you do with a lead pencil? and you have to answer this in 10 minutes, any reasonable use of a lead pencil is except that it doesn’t matter the cost. Another pitch might be to think about how many ways you can skin a cat in the same 10 minutes. When this test is done, they found that early ideas have less value than later ones. Maybe we should rethink random thought waves and apply them to a new kind of thinking?
RFID – RTLS — Real time location systems. Stephen Halliday of High Tech Aid, Inc. has discussed beacon tags that can transmit via triangulation between other tags and interrogators in a network-centric positioning system. Will this be the next thing in RFID tags? It makes sense to use such a system for cargo containers that are all in the same boat, to protect ourselves from a nuclear device being imported into our country, it also makes a lot of sense to locate items that are lost in a large warehouse because they are not in the right place. From over $1 trillion worth of products, which are believed to be lost in the distribution system. RTLS RFID could be the answer.
Books reviewed:
“Team performance management: evaluation, management, a reward”. By Saratoga Institute. This book described creating structures and delegating and creating special teams for a corporation or organization. He was talking about providing training, support, decision making, and pay for performance, and although this book was written in 1997, it supports all the latest findings on intellectual capital and organizational capital in a corporation, nonprofit group, government agency, or team. military. Just because you put together a team doesn’t mean it will be efficient; it could easily become a bureaucratic process, like a committee, where you don’t do much more than create a mission statement. For those who wish to ride special equipment. This information is as good today as it was in 1977.
“Illustrated Basic Masonry” by Sunset Magazine Books. This book repels block, brick, and concrete design and construction to create the right aesthetic in gardens, patios, fireplaces, interior features, retaining walls, and walkways. It seems that certain brick and block patterns are stronger in certain types of situations and maybe we should think here about gaining plugins or additions so they can withstand Mother Nature for example; Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Tsunani, Floods or forest fires. If everything is made to be decorative, without considering the various forces that will or might be placed upon it in the future, then all we have done is build a beautiful wall on a terrible foundation, and it will crumble in the fall.
“Interviewing more than just a gut feeling.” By Richard S. Deems, Ph.D. In the past, HR professionals have focused primarily on intuition to hire the best potential candidates, unfortunately, this will no longer work with all the rules and regulations and laws or threats of lawsuits. to the modern corporation. There are certain things a potential employee is not allowed to ask and it takes some art, some skill and careful practice to use the right words to do the right job. Think Tank Online asks; Are we throwing common sense out the window to use political correctness, which is often too difficult to help find the perfect candidate for the job, and in doing so, are we damaging the future of the company, the nonprofit or the government agency that is? doing hiring, and if so, shouldn’t we be removing some of these laws that are creating efficient termination and dire consequences down the road?
“Managing the Absurd: Paradoxes in Leadership”. By Richard Farson. This book was excellent and should be read by everyone in any leadership position, if only to help you get a sense of humor and come back down to earth to do your job more efficiently. Some of the more interesting quotes from the book include;
“The better things are, the worse they feel.”
“Once you find the technical direction that works, leave it.”
“Big changes are often easier to make than small ones.”
“The more we communicate, the less we communicate.”
“Nothing is as invisible as the obvious”
“Effective managers are not in control.”
“The organizations that need help the most will benefit the least from that help.”
“People don’t learn from their mistakes, only from their successes.”
“Groups learn from success, individuals learn from failure.”
Reading this book, it seems that Richard Farson seems to indicate that thinking or reasoning, or even common sense, often loses out; “how formulas”. If he leaves his organization, you can see the same thing, and it seems that he is right.
We hear a lot about quality control, six sigma, zero defects, ISO 9000, TQM, quality circles, paradigm shift, and corporate reengineering, but these are just buzzwords; After all, you can call anything you have whatever you want, you can even put lipstick on a pay if that’s your wish; it’s still a pig. Think about it. A couple of other good quotes that I’d like to leave you with that we also find in the book;
“Son, I already know how to be twice as good a farmer as I am.”
“The reason decisions take so long is because they don’t matter.”
Of course, these quotes open up a whole new discussion and kept our online Think Tank busy for hours. Maybe Richard Farson should be accepted into our online Think Tank; seems to get the idea. What do you think? Let us know.