9 out of 10 monkeys believe they are not behind glass

When it comes down to who actually does the work, it is about 2 people for a moderate sized IT project.

When it comes down to who talks about what work needs to be done by the group, it amounts to about 8 people.

So for every 4 people talking, only 1 actually has any ability to accomplish work. And that person has the least to contribute.

And guaranteed, that 1 person that has the ability to do the work is actually playing video games right now.

In some mild relationship, ran across this today.

OMFG, Hilarious.

I was raised a Christian. Don’t shirk or apologize. I have come to terms with my faith as most adults do… and have reconciled the gray parts as best I can. But as a child, without a doubt, I knew how the Earth had been created.

It involved an old looking dude with a huge beard saying “let there be light”. And he rocked out a bit, and then said, “yeah, yeah, yeah that is good!” … and continue the book of Genesis.

So when I got to Junior High, my earth science teacher rolled his eyes at the upshot of hands when he started talking abiogenesis one day. We all knew it was coming, and the devout Jesus freaks always have to make a stink. We were raised that way, after all. See a Mormon, slap ‘em around a bit with Bible verses. See a scientist, slap ‘em around a bit with some common sense straight out of the Bible. So when my science teacher, Mr. Takanawa, saw the raised hands in the room, he knew exactly what was coming.

… A bunch of upstart Bible thumping teenage plebes were about to try to convince him that there was more than one theory. There had to be other theories he had to teach to be truly impartial.

And as the dutiful and respectful teacher that he was, he did indeed debate with us. He also put us in our place without making us feel like total ignorant fools (a tribute to his ability and success as a teacher).

And now as an adult, I have to agree with him. Creationism just does not belong in our schools.

Our schools’ ultimate goal in any teaching method should be to focus on critical thought and rational logic. By extension, religion just does not belong in the public school system. No matter how it is dressed up. You can call creationism “intelligent design”, but that does not make it any less religious in nature. It is dressing up faith as a rational idea, a critical hypothesis. It cannot be either.

I think the duty of teaching the alternate mindset is up to the parents and by extension, the church. That is why they are there. To help the kids understand that there is more to this life than rational thought and critical thinking. Faith is important, religion has its place. And our ultimate job as parents is to really let it be known that we don’t know. We don’t know the ultimate truth. That is why we have faith. We won’t know for sure until a) Jesus comes tromping back (or some other religious variant), or b) we die. Until then, it is up to each of us to find our own truth. And there are plenty of religions on this earth to help anyone do that as they see fit.

However, science has the scientific method. Abiogenesis is the most popular theory of how life started on this Earth. And to be fair, scientists don’t know for sure either. They won’t know for sure until a) the hypothesis is proved in a lab environment, or b) observed in a natural instance or c) other life is found to exist in the universe. Until then is is up to each of us to find our own facts using rigorous scientific principles. And to all realize that c does not necessarily end the argument.

Facts versus truth. They are not the same thing. And as a Christian father, I will impart that on to my kids.

So hopefully, when the time comes, my kids can roll their eyes at the same time their science teacher does when the class starts talking origin of life and all those upstart ignorant plebes who don’t know better start raising their hands.

Sitting in meetings, I seem to be relegated to a singular train of thought.

1. This meeting is about “x”
2. “x” is important, hence the meeting
3. We need to make a decision about “x”
4. Talk generates action items about “x”
5. Meeting ends with schedule for meeting about action items in regard to “x”
6. “x” is still ultimately unresolved

The ideal meeting should be two people. The stakeholder and the control. The stakeholder is the one with the problem, the control is the one that can approve action on the problem, thereby allowing the stakeholder to solve the problem.

None of my meetings are like that.

They all involve at least 5 people. Five opinions. Five viewpoints. Five brains to misconstrue information and introduce error into the communication process. And generally one of those five is not acting in the role of a control.

Leaving it all to consensus.

Consensus inevitably leads to more meetings… about consensus.

Why is it so damn hard to get decisions made?

Seriously.

From here:

General Motors finally gets it.

The company’s announcement that it is embracing compact cars, shutting down four truck plants and possibly even dumping Hummer shows GM — and, by extension, Detroit — realizes fuel prices aren’t coming down and SUVs are a dead-end. It’s a fundamental change of direction for the world’s largest automaker, which has for more than 10 years counted on pickups and SUVs to provide the bulk of its sales — and profits — while all but ceding the passenger car market to Japan and Europe.

But with gas poised to top $4 a gallon any day now, auto sales tumbling and the economy tanking, company CEO Rick Wagoner — like his peers at Ford and Chrysler — is scrambling to keep up with seismic changes that are coming far faster than anyone expected.

“These moves are all in response to the rapid rise in oil prices and the resulting changes in the U.S., changes that we believe are more structural than cyclical,” Wagoner said before making his announcement at GM’s shareholder meeting in Delaware. “While some of the actions … are very difficult, they are necessary to adjust to changing market and economic conditions.”

Translation — we grew fat and lazy cranking out SUVs that ran on cheap gas, but it ain’t working anymore.

But better yet:

But wait. There’s more. Wagoner said 18 of the next 19 GM product launches in the U.S. will be cars or crossover utility vehicles. It makes sense, as small cars are the one thing keeping the industry afloat right now. Sales of the Ford Focus were up 53 percent last month, and sales of the Smart microcar were up 63 percent.

We’re going to see a lot more small cars coming to market. General Motors is, as one pundit noted, the injured giant, but it’s still got the heft to change the market. If GM cranks out small cars with the enthusiasm it gave SUVs, it will start making money again and other automakers will want a piece of the action.