The Second Bounce Of The Ball

Some say the world will end in fire

Prayers for Arsenal

Like any self-respecting -- and these days, it has to be said, long-suffering -- Arsenal fan, I've read (and re-read) Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby's funny and beautiful homage to football and Arsenal Football Club. Indeed, I own a copy, which I happen to be looking at right now. It's one of my most prized possessions. How could it not be? The first line alone is priceless: "I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it." (He was 11 at the time.) Fever Pitch was published exactly 20 years ago (in 1992) and was this year elevated to the rarefied ranks of the Penguin Modern Classics. Hmph. Took them long enough. Mr. Hornby recently revisited his old hunting ground in Pray: Notes on the 2011/2012 Football Season, a much shorter work (50 pages, as opposed to 239). He's lost none of his touch: "Arsenal's catastrophe at Old Trafford [an 8-2 drubbing at the hands of our arch-rivals, Manchester United], however, the worst defeat of my lifetime -- the worst defeat in the lifetimes of any Arsenal fan under the age of 115 -- could only partly be explained by money..."

Ba Captain

Ba Captain ("Ba" with a soft B is the Bemba honorific) aka Christopher Katongo, captain of Zambia's national football team, was voted the 2012 BBC African Footballer of the Year this week.

What is Potential?

Potential is:

• Dormant ability.
• Reserved power.
• Untapped strength.
• Unused success.
• Hidden talents.
• Capped capability.
• All you can be but have not yet become.
• All you can do but have not yet done.
• How far you can reach but have not yet reached.
• What you can accomplish but have not yet accomplished. 

Potential is unexposed ability and latent power.

-- Dr. Myles Munroe

Who's The Master?

2013 will see a battle royal for supremacy of the global smartphone and tablet markets. Should be interesting.

The Bible On Management: An Excellent Spirit

"Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm." - Daniel 6:3 (KJV)

A Day with Drucker

In December of 1994, Jim Collins pulled up to Peter Drucker's house ...

The Tapster

Recently reviewed by Bill Gates:

 

Noblest Nobel

My favourite Nobel prize this year was in the category of economics. It was awarded, in part, for empirical work on market design by Alvin E. Roth, an engineer turned economist (fittingly enough).

The tide of leadership

"Everything rises and falls on leadership" - John C. Maxwell

The Bible On Management: Recruiting A Players

"These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: ..." - 2 Samuel 23:8a (KJV)

2 Samuel 23:8-39 lists 37 "mighty men" who helped King David achieve great success. To achieve great success, you have to recruit A players to your cause.

Design Lessons

Steve Jobs and Philippe Starck collaborated on the design of the recently launched superyacht Venus.

Apple 4.0

Just published: Bloomberg BusinessWeek interview with Tim Cook, Apple's CEO in the fourth major phase of Apple's life.

It's a tech thing

From Bonkers World by Manu Cornet:

The wealthiest spot on earth

"The wealthiest spot on this planet is not the oil fields of Kuwait, Iraq, or Saudi Arabia. Neither is it the gold nor diamond mines of South Africa, the uranium mines of the Soviet Union or the silver mines of Africa. Though it may surprise you, the richest deposits on our planet lie just a few blocks from your house. They rest in your local cemetery or graveyard. Buried beneath the soil within the walls of those sacred grounds are dreams that never came to pass, songs that were never sung, books that were never written, paintings that never filled a canvas, ideas that were never shared, visions that never became reality, inventions that were never designed, plans that never went beyond the drawing board of the mind and purposes that were never fulfilled. Our graveyards are filled with potential that remained potential." -- Dr. Myles Munroe

The Bible On Management: Succession Planning

"And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." - 2 Timothy 2:2 (KJV)