The smallest voice is the loudest voice.

The US leads the world in the proportion of 35- to 64-year-olds with college degrees, but it now ranks seventh among developed nations for 25- to 34-year-olds (NY Times).

The younger generation is lagging educationally compared to the baby boom generation. Tuition costs are going up faster than income and inflation. It's not a good trend. What's happening to the competitive advantage of the US? It's not just that other nations are catching up, the US is losing ground.

With the exception of Harry Potter, management books, self-help books and biographies of the rich and powerful are the best-selling books in China. Just an indicator of how pragmatic people are this side of the world (I'm in Hong Kong now). If I lived in Asia I think the side of me that does things for intrinsic rewards would be stifled.

When a teabag of green tea turns water brown, has the tea gone bad? The leaves are green, the water unmistakably brown. The drink tastes like wood. It's not unpleasant.

On a recent conference call, while I was explaining something I noticed I was gesturing with my free hand. I was amused after I noticed this. When communicating in person, gestures, expressions and body language help us to understand each other. Most of communication is non-verbal. But over the phone was my hand-waving helping? Do people gesture as much in person as when on the phone?

Sometimes I imagine (hallucinate?) that my phone is ringing when I'm in another room. I think I can hear it faintly, but it's just my imagination. Maybe I have psychic powers - and I'm sensing that people want to call me. Or maybe, more likely, I'm too used to answering calls and just have expectations that my phone should be ringing.

Successive approximation

Nothing is ever going to be perfect - so it's better to get something together and running quickly and make improvements as you go along than to keep wondering if it's right/perfect before you begin/launch. Reflection is seductive and can hinder or trap us, while action takes courage.

This is related to the 80:20 rule. The last 20% of a project takes 80% of the time/effort. One can make huge strides quickly.