Globe: Feel Good Bits & Pieces
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July 3, Globe, Napoleon's six dynamite rules for managing an empire, (Source).
July 3, Globe, How to be happy. Really, (Source).
July 3, Globe, Napoleon's six dynamite rules for managing an empire, Harvey Schachter, (Back).
Without e-mail, telephone or computers, Napoleon Bonaparte managed an empire. Jerry Manas, author of Napoleon on Project Management, suggests in Executive Excellence you follow the emperor's six managerial principles:
1 Exactitude
He sought pinpoint precision through extensive research, continuous planning and constant awareness of the situation he faced, which included meditating on what might occur.
2 Speed
He recognized that momentum -- mass times velocity -- applied to achieving goals with people as well. "He knew that resistance causes momentum to fade. Increasing speed is about reducing resistance, increasing urgency, and providing focus by employing concentration of force and economy of force,"Mr. Manas says.
3 Flexibility
Napoleon ensured that his armies could react quickly to situations, yet still operate according to a strategic plan. He organized his troops into mobile units; empowered them by providing knowledge of the mission and structuring them to operate independently; yet he also made sure they were operating under a unified doctrine and serving one ultimate leader.
4 Simplicity
He ensured his objectives were simple, his messages were simple, and his processes simple, reducing confusion. "The art of war does not require complicated manoeuvre. The simplest are the best," he declared.
5 Character
Mr. Manas said that, while driven by his ambition, Napoleon always maintained honour and integrity, encouraging respect of other cultures.
6 Boosting Morale
"In war, everything depends upon morale," Napoleon said. People do their best work when they have self-confidence, feel what they are doing is worthwhile, and are recognized for their effort.
July 3, Globe, How to be happy. Really, Editorial, (Back).
Are you happy? Happiness, of course, is a state of mind, and thus notoriously hard to measure. If someone tells a researcher he or she is happy, what does that mean? Two Princeton researchers, economist Alan Krueger and psychologist Daniel Kahneman, decided that science needed a new way to determine happiness, because what people told researchers were almost always "vast exaggerations."
They used the "Day Reconstruction Method" to find out how people experienced episodes in their daily lives and created an enjoyment scale to measure how much pleasure they got from, say, a dinner with friends or a walk in the park. They found out all sorts of interesting things -- like the power of socializing to deliver happiness -- but the most important was also the most banal: Money doesn't buy happiness. Higher incomes and greater wealth simply don't make people happier. In fact, they can reduce happiness, because the struggle to make money and acquire things can lead people to spend time away from the activities that truly make them happy.
Okay, not exactly a news flash. Study after study has shown that though extreme poverty can make people unhappy, once they reach a rather basic level of material well-being, increases in their prosperity make no difference. Yet that hasn't stopped us from striving for more wealth. Americans are twice as likely to own cars and air conditioners as they were in 1960, yet levels of depression and teen suicide have soared. The material temptations of the modern world are so great -- flat-screen TVs, iPods, cellphones -- that people are almost compelled to want them.
This is not a plea to chuck it all and head for an ashram, or even to boycott Wal-Mart. People like getting things, and materialism, in moderation, helps make the world go around. Our natural acquisitiveness has helped make our society rich. But what science is telling us about happiness and wealth is worth listening to. Fortunately, while surveys are showing us what doesn't make us happy (money), they are also pointing the way to what does. These are, once again, shockingly unsurprising. In fact, what scientists are reporting just happens to reflect generations of common wisdom and religious teaching.
One secret to happiness is to be grateful for what you have. People who focus on what they have -- loving family, satisfying work, whatever -- rather than what they could have, score high on happiness tests. Some psychologists even suggest keeping a gratitude journal to record and remember all the things we have. Others suggest simply putting aside a little time every day to remember those things. Corny, right? But it seems to work like a charm.
Another obvious road to happiness is to give to others. Again, corny as heck, but people who volunteer their time, or write thoughtful notes to others, or donate money or things to charity report immense satisfaction -- in other words happiness. It is not only better to give than to receive, it's a lot better for you.
Yet another way to be happy is to maintain relationships with friends and family. Call your sister once a week. Write that long-lost friend. Join a bowling league. Humans are social animals and we need human contact. Yet, as the extended family melts and people have fewer children, more and more people live on their own.
Science is finding that while many lottery winners are no happier than the average person, people who lose limbs or become paraplegics can be as happy, or happier, than average. The point is happiness doesn't spring from our physical or material condition. It springs, at least in part, from how we conduct ourselves. Yes, some people are naturally sunny and some habitually gloomy. But most of us have the capacity for happiness if we learn to be grateful for what we have, to give of our time and our wealth, and to maintain ties to those we love.
Wise men have said so for years. Now science does, too.
(Back)
July 3, Globe, How to be happy. Really, (Source).
July 3, Globe, Napoleon's six dynamite rules for managing an empire, Harvey Schachter, (Back).
Without e-mail, telephone or computers, Napoleon Bonaparte managed an empire. Jerry Manas, author of Napoleon on Project Management, suggests in Executive Excellence you follow the emperor's six managerial principles:
1 Exactitude
He sought pinpoint precision through extensive research, continuous planning and constant awareness of the situation he faced, which included meditating on what might occur.
2 Speed
He recognized that momentum -- mass times velocity -- applied to achieving goals with people as well. "He knew that resistance causes momentum to fade. Increasing speed is about reducing resistance, increasing urgency, and providing focus by employing concentration of force and economy of force,"Mr. Manas says.
3 Flexibility
Napoleon ensured that his armies could react quickly to situations, yet still operate according to a strategic plan. He organized his troops into mobile units; empowered them by providing knowledge of the mission and structuring them to operate independently; yet he also made sure they were operating under a unified doctrine and serving one ultimate leader.
4 Simplicity
He ensured his objectives were simple, his messages were simple, and his processes simple, reducing confusion. "The art of war does not require complicated manoeuvre. The simplest are the best," he declared.
5 Character
Mr. Manas said that, while driven by his ambition, Napoleon always maintained honour and integrity, encouraging respect of other cultures.
6 Boosting Morale
"In war, everything depends upon morale," Napoleon said. People do their best work when they have self-confidence, feel what they are doing is worthwhile, and are recognized for their effort.
July 3, Globe, How to be happy. Really, Editorial, (Back).
Are you happy? Happiness, of course, is a state of mind, and thus notoriously hard to measure. If someone tells a researcher he or she is happy, what does that mean? Two Princeton researchers, economist Alan Krueger and psychologist Daniel Kahneman, decided that science needed a new way to determine happiness, because what people told researchers were almost always "vast exaggerations."
They used the "Day Reconstruction Method" to find out how people experienced episodes in their daily lives and created an enjoyment scale to measure how much pleasure they got from, say, a dinner with friends or a walk in the park. They found out all sorts of interesting things -- like the power of socializing to deliver happiness -- but the most important was also the most banal: Money doesn't buy happiness. Higher incomes and greater wealth simply don't make people happier. In fact, they can reduce happiness, because the struggle to make money and acquire things can lead people to spend time away from the activities that truly make them happy.
Okay, not exactly a news flash. Study after study has shown that though extreme poverty can make people unhappy, once they reach a rather basic level of material well-being, increases in their prosperity make no difference. Yet that hasn't stopped us from striving for more wealth. Americans are twice as likely to own cars and air conditioners as they were in 1960, yet levels of depression and teen suicide have soared. The material temptations of the modern world are so great -- flat-screen TVs, iPods, cellphones -- that people are almost compelled to want them.
This is not a plea to chuck it all and head for an ashram, or even to boycott Wal-Mart. People like getting things, and materialism, in moderation, helps make the world go around. Our natural acquisitiveness has helped make our society rich. But what science is telling us about happiness and wealth is worth listening to. Fortunately, while surveys are showing us what doesn't make us happy (money), they are also pointing the way to what does. These are, once again, shockingly unsurprising. In fact, what scientists are reporting just happens to reflect generations of common wisdom and religious teaching.
One secret to happiness is to be grateful for what you have. People who focus on what they have -- loving family, satisfying work, whatever -- rather than what they could have, score high on happiness tests. Some psychologists even suggest keeping a gratitude journal to record and remember all the things we have. Others suggest simply putting aside a little time every day to remember those things. Corny, right? But it seems to work like a charm.
Another obvious road to happiness is to give to others. Again, corny as heck, but people who volunteer their time, or write thoughtful notes to others, or donate money or things to charity report immense satisfaction -- in other words happiness. It is not only better to give than to receive, it's a lot better for you.
Yet another way to be happy is to maintain relationships with friends and family. Call your sister once a week. Write that long-lost friend. Join a bowling league. Humans are social animals and we need human contact. Yet, as the extended family melts and people have fewer children, more and more people live on their own.
Science is finding that while many lottery winners are no happier than the average person, people who lose limbs or become paraplegics can be as happy, or happier, than average. The point is happiness doesn't spring from our physical or material condition. It springs, at least in part, from how we conduct ourselves. Yes, some people are naturally sunny and some habitually gloomy. But most of us have the capacity for happiness if we learn to be grateful for what we have, to give of our time and our wealth, and to maintain ties to those we love.
Wise men have said so for years. Now science does, too.
(Back)
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