NUDGINGS: a journey into the unknown

As l sat down to lunch with my friend, she started the conversation by saying “I have an ethical dilemma and I need your advice!”  That set me back on my heels! ME give HER advice on an ethical dilemma!! After she had told me her story and I had responded, she said, ‘You were the best person I could think of to help me with this.’ While I have always considered myself a fairly ethical person, where in the world had this come come from?  It must have come as a result of all the conversations over lunches, the text messages, the phone calls, the emails, the recommending (or not) of TV shows, the lending of books, all the trivia of our relationship. It did not come from a long and intense discussion of ethics. In fact I can't recall that word ever being uttered during any of those times. To say that this was a sobering experience is putting it mildly! Then I came across this quote by Dorothy Day, an American journalist, social activist, and Catholic convert. ‘A pebble cast into

I was reading an online article from the Harvard Business Review, July 15, 2016 called ' Kodak’s Downfall Wasn’t About Technology' by  Scott Anthony. [https://hbr.org/2016/07/kodaks-downfall-wasnt-about-technology] In it, he talks about how Kodak missed the challenges that faced them and have virtually faded from the business scene, ending with these three questions, the importance of which, Kodak neglected. What business are we in today? ...define the problem you are solving for customers,...“the job you are doing for them.” (For Kodak, that’s the difference between framing itself as a chemical film company vs. an imaging company vs. a moment-sharing company.)  What new opportunities does the disruption open up? ...Perceived as a threat, disruption is actually a great growth opportunity...it also always transforms business models...(those) who perceive threats are rigid in response; those who see opportunities are expansive.   What capabilities do we need to realize

Miracles do happen! One just came into my life just this past week. We were in a local car dealership, looking into updating the car we had been leasing from them. When we found what we were looking for, a hybrid that was not too big and not to small for our driving taste, we entered into the final stage of looking at details like warranties, etc. And it was here that the miracle entered into my life! [No, they didn’t offer to give it to us for nothing!….lol…]  We could purchase undercoating for the new car,  at the same price as regular undercoating, that we could move to our next vehicle for continued protection!!!  It consists of a little black box that is attached to the underside of the vehicle and then protects the complete vehicle [not just the underside and door wells] against damage from rust. When you change vehicles, you can take it off the old one and install it on the new one!!!! Now the young lady talking to us was going on and on about nano technology, but to me,

“It’s not all about ME!” Every time I hear someone say this, it bothers me. And for long time I have wondered why. On the surface it sounds like a good thing. After all, aren’t we suppose to not put our selves first, to think of the other before ourselves?  Why do I find myself wanting to say, “But it should be about you!”?   Who should it really be all about? Each person’s life is intrinsically all about that person. There is really no other way for it to be. Everything that you see, say or do, is coloured by your past: your past learning, your belief system and your lived experience. You can only interpret and react to any experience through your own filters however much you would like to use the filters of someone else. So your reactions must be your own. They, of essence, must be all about you! What is it that is so ingrained in us that we feel unable to, or uncomfortable in, acknowledging that what we saying is how we feel, and that we have a right to feel that

Once upon a time, just a few years ago, I spent Sunday mornings leading a small group as they explored their understanding of the biblical passages that would be read later in church. I can vividly recalled the morning that the comment was made during this discussion, that Jesus was the only way to be saved, and those who didn’t believe in him [all non-Christians] were going to hell. I didn’t say anything even though I wanted to. I remember thinking that if our priest had been there, it would not have been let go. Only later did it occur to me that I should have spoken up.    ’It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.’  When I saw this quote by Madeleine Albright,  an American politician and diplomat who was the first woman to  become the United States Secretary of State in 1997,   a woman who had to find her own voice, it took me back to that day all those years ago and also to a day not all that long ago.  As ma