Gratitude
I am most thankful to Almighty Providence for mercies received, and determined still to press the case into public notice as a token of gratitude. — William Banting
Enjoyment
He enjoys much who is thankful for little. — Thomas Secker
Deep Abiding Devotion
© 2011 The Aevia Charitable Trust — Robert H. Kalk – Lead Trustee
Abiding Devotion
God has two dwellings; one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart. — Izaak Walton
Deep Abiding Devotion
© 2011 The Aevia Charitable Trust — Robert H. Kalk – Lead Trustee
Abundance
Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough. — Oprah Winfrey
Deep Abiding Devotion
© 2011 The Aevia Charitable Trust — Robert H. Kalk – Lead Trustee
Problems
Be thankful for problems. If they were less difficult, someone with less ability might have your job. — James A. Lovell
Deep Abiding Devotion
© 2011 The Aevia Charitable Trust — Robert H. Kalk – Lead Trustee
Appreciation
Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts. — Alan Cohen
Deep Abiding Devotion
© 2011 The Aevia Charitable Trust — Robert H. Kalk – Lead Trustee
Where the Customer Base is Our Most Important Asset
“Hi Scott, this is Steve.” Scott Steckley asked: “Steve Jobs?”
“Yeah,” Jobs said. “I just wanted to apologize for your incredibly long wait. It’s really nobody’s fault. It’s just one of those things.”
“Yeah, I understand.”
Then Jobs explained that he expedited the repair of Steckley’s computer. “I also wanted to thank you for your support of Apple,” Jobs said. “I see how much equipment you own. It really makes my day to see someone who enjoys our products so much and who supports us in the good times and bad.”
Jobs got directly involved in customer service, which was a part of Apple’s business for which he exercised a great deal of attention and patience. He fielded e-mails about broken laptops and intervened on support calls. CEOs of public companies are generally hands-on, but Jobs was involved in practically every detail.
When a customer asked Jobs via e-mail in 2008 why BlackBerry owners could tether their phones to their computers for wireless Internet access but the same could not be done with an iPhone, Jobs wrote, “We agree, and are discussing it with ATT.” The feature eventually came.
The value of using front line customer support to inform product development is unique in a marketplace characterized by surveys that yield a filtered view of customer relationships. The Jobs approach is truly refreshing in a world that often outsources relationship management.
Aevia — Consider the Source
Three Types of People to Fire Immediately
When confronted with any of the following three people—and you have found it impossible to change their ways, say goodbye. These people passive-aggressively block innovation from happening and will suck the energy out of any organization.
1. The Victims
“I wanted a happy culture. So I fired all the unhappy people.” — A Successful CEO
Victims are people who see problems as occasions for persecution rather than challenges to overcome. Just when you think everything is humming along perfectly, they find something, anything, to complain about. So if you want an innovative team, you simply can’t include victims.
2. The Nonbelievers
“If you think you can or think you cannot, you are correct.” — Henry Ford
The link between believing and succeeding is incredibly powerful and real. Great leaders understand this. They find and promote believers within their organizations. They also understand the cancerous effect that nonbelievers have on a team and will cut them out of the organization quickly and without regret.
3. The Know-It-Alls
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” — Western Union internal memo, 1876.
The best innovators are learners, not knowers. The same can be said about innovative cultures; they are learning cultures. The leaders who have built these cultures, either through intuition or experience, know that in order to discover, they must eagerly seek out things they don’t understand and jump right into the deep end of the pool. They must fail fearlessly and quickly and then learn and share their lessons with the team. When they behave this way, they empower others around them to follow suit—and presto, a culture of discovery is born and nurtured.
Aevia — Consider the Source
The Lightest Material on Earth
The material has been dubbed “ultralight metallic microlattice,” and according to a news release sent out by UC Irvine, it consists of 99.99% air thanks to its “microlattice” cellular architecture.
It is so lightweight that the research team consisting of scientists at UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and Caltech say in the peer-reviewed Nov. 18 issue of Science that it is the lightest material on Earth. As yet, no one has asked them to run a correction.
“The trick is to fabricate a lattice of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair,” lead author Tobias Shandler of HRL said in the release.
To understand the structure of the material, think of the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge — which are both light and weight efficient — but on a nano-scale.
The material in the picture above is made out of 90% nickel, but Bill Carter, manager of the architected materials group at HRL, said it can be made out of other materials as well — the nickel version was just the easiest to make.
As for the uses of such a material? That’s still to be determined. Lorenzo Valdevit, UCI’s principal investigator on the project, brought up impact protection, uses in the aerospace industry, acoustic dampening and maybe some battery applications.
Aevia — Consider the Source
Humor in Religion
To false religion, humor remains one of the most dreaded adversaries. Humor punctures the pomposities of theological arrogance with an efficacy wondrous to behold. — Vern Bennom Grimsley (1964)