Is there any education value of quotable quotes?

When I was growing up I really loved quotable quotes and always searched for good ones in books and newspapers. One day I came to know that compilations of really good quotes are also available in  book format. I was excited. I got one and eagerly started reading from page one. Past few pages, I stopped reading. I was disappointed. I was not getting the inspiration from reading high quality quotes in a book.

After some thought I realized that quotes were good for me when I read a single one once in a while and tried to internalize it by thinking long and hard about  it. This was obviously not happening when I was reading quotes in a book in alphabetical order.

Many years later when I studied Dr. Edward de Bono and learned that, what every type of training and education (as well as fights and wars) aimed for, was perception change. Now as we grow older and older it becomes harder for us to perceive things in a new way because we settle down each new thought into our established thoughts (patterns). So it becomes really hard for us to change our perception (and thus get any value) from reading a quotable quote casually and then moving to a next one.

Then there is a big question of context. Every quote makes sense in a particular context. For example Jinnah's popular quote 'work, work and work' can easily make you a heart patient without understanding it in a proper context.

In contrast to quotable quotes, thinking tools (as invented by Dr. Edward de Bono) take almost the same amount of time and effort as reading a great quote but can change your perception for your entire life. And fortunately these are just few.

My highly knowledgeable and intellectual friend Marryam Chaudhry posted her thoughts on facebook in these words:

Marryam Chaudhry has noticed that people luv to post quotes coz they sound nice.. How many of you actually read- retain- amend yourself accordingly??? I'm no angel n yes I have horns ;) but at least I try!!!

You are right Marryam. The educational value of quotable quotes is close to zero.

And, yes, facebook has turned into a giant quotable quotes book.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

The best ever computer software no one will try to sell you

Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 from Microsoft or Mac OS X from Apple are called "operating systems" software (OS for short) in computer jargon. Very few people know that there is an operating system called "Linux" which is free and can be installed on their computers and even fewer of these knowledgeable people use it.

You may ask why bother to even worry there is such thing called Linux. The biggest reason is that you will get rid of all computer viruses, spyware and other security issues as soon as you install Linux. This will make your day to day computer use enjoyable and worry free.

With Linux your existing computer will become much faster without spending a dime because you don't need to install (and keep updating forever) those so called "security suites". (anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware software etc)

Linux is available under many names like Redhat, Ubuntu, Suse, Debian etc. For desktop users Ubuntu is the easiest one. 10.04 is the latest Ubuntu release. I have been using this release for about a month and have helped install it on my clients, friends and family members' computers. All these users are, to say the least, quite happy and amazed.

Ubuntu 10.04 sets a new level of ease of use for installation and auto-configuration of your computer peripherals. It installed within 15 minutes and detected all devices (wireless network, bluetooth, wireless keyboard, mouse, memory cards etc.) on my laptop and home computers and got configured without asking a single thing.

You can install it on your existing Windows hard disk or in a separate partition without much fuss. You just need to follow these steps:

Installation

1. Download Ubuntu 10.04 CD in ISO format (700 MB) from http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download.
2. Create a CD from this ISO image, boot your computer from this CD and just follow instructions. (Make sure you first backup important work on your computer)

Once Ubuntu is running you can install additional software from a huge software repository by running the 'apt-get install software-package-name' in the command line. Believe me there is every thing you will ever need on Ubuntu Linux and that too absolutely free.

Welcome to free computing.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Making money with your blog

A friend of mine, with really good knowledge of real estate business in Lahore, writes a personal blog. His posts include personal experiences as well as reviews of various real estate ventures. Recently he mentioned that a large number of people were visiting his blog and said this traffic was beyond his expectations. He wanted to monetize this. He asked for ideas.

The easiest (and lazy man) solution is of course to put google ads. I, however, do not recommend this for three reasons:

1. If it works, it forces your visitors to leave your site.
2. If it does not, it clutters your blog and makes the reading experience unpleasant.
3. And if you can make $100/month or more, you are really lucky.
   

The other solution I always recommend is to sell your own product or service relevant to your blog. If you don't have one, make a simple one like a PDF booklet. Make two of these.

1. The smaller (5-10 pages) one which you offer as free download.
   
2. The bigger (5-25 pages) one which you sell for a price range of $2 to $6.

Initially simplicity and low price are essential for quick sales. You can always tune things later on.

Your PDF product should have information which helps your visitor to save time and should be formated pleasantly. I often refer to Shama Hyder Kabani's "free online marketing plan" from this link as an example of a really good "product".

This is just to begin with. There are many other and better ideas to make money online. I, for example, write a lot of technical documentation which I make available free. This has helped me get a good number of consulting assignments from all over the world without direct marketing.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Rephrase it

I struggled last couple of weeks trying to finish an assignment for a
client. It was not just getting done and frustrating me (and my client
too). Why? partly because of bit ambiguous specs sent by client and
partly because of hurriedness on my part to deliver quickly.

Yesterday I just took few minutes, re-wrote his request in my own
words and asked him to confirm. Lo and behold; it was not what he
wanted. And what ever he wanted was something really simple, a half an
hour job.

So whenever you are in doubt, rewrite your customer's request in your
own words and ask him to confirm. This advice is here for my own
reminder so that I don't waste two week again for a 30 minutes job.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Writing habit

For the past few months I have been busy with work and not able to concentrate and write down my thoughts on this blog.

The less I write the more difficult it looks to do it next time. So here I am again with a self promise that I am going write more and more to contribute something useful (thats first priority) and develop my writing habit.

It is also time to start looking for more simplification in my personal and business affairs. Simplification is not something you do can once and then forget. The evolutionary process seems to favor complexity. So we need to devote some dedicated time, daily or at least weekly, to our simplification drive.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Literacy verses Operacy

by Edward de Bono in New Zealand

22nd June 1998

The Millennium Conference is now under way. For details please see below. Some input will still be included in my weekly message but the bulk - including comments and contributions - will be published in the special conference area.

Last week I suggested beginning with a look at education since that is generally accepted as the basis of society.

I have not done a full survey or review of education systems around the world so the views I express are based on personal experience. I would say that all education systems I have had contact with are a disgrace and a disaster. How can that be? The reason is that education is a locked-in and self-complacent system. No matter how motivated and excellent individuals may be, and there are many such talented people in education, change is virtually impossible.

There are two important and apparently contradictory principles:

1. Everything now taught in education has a high value.
2. Most of what is taught in schools is of very little value to the students or to society.

In the European Union something like 25 per cent of schooling time is spent on mathematics. Yet 90 per cent of those leaving school probably use less than 3 per cent of what they have learned in the mathematics lessons. When did you last use algebra, trigonometry, set theory or calculus?

So why do we spend so much time teaching this amount of mathematics?

1. Because it trains the mind. There is no evidence for this at all. If we were really concerned with training the mind we could spend a fraction of this time directly teaching thinking - with far more relevance to the lives of ordinary people. For example, something like 90 per cent of mistakes in everyday thinking are mistakes of perception. Mathematics can do very little about this.
2. Because mathematics is required for many careers in science, engineering and technology. True, but do we need to train a hundred people so that four can undertake such careers? Surely, it would make more sense to teach the relevant skills as part of such professional training.
3. Because mathematics was there before. This is the real reason. Everyone knows the value of mathematics so no one dare attack the huge amount of time spent on mathematics.
4. Because teachers, examinations and the curriculum lock us into the matematics requirements.

The last two reasons are the real reasons.

1. Mathematics has a high value. So does every other subject taught in education. But time is limited in education. There may be subjects that have an even higher value. Let me mention just three.
2. Basic constructive thinking skills. This is the most important subject of all - virtually never taught. This subject helps youngsters get on with their own lives and also to contribute to society. Is that not a disgrace?
3. Understanding "Value creation in society". This again is a key subject. Is it not a disgrace that youngsters leave school knowing about the War of the Roses but have no idea as to how business works?
4. "Operacy" and the skills of doing. The notion that it is enough to "know" is both absurd and dangerous. Research has shown that youngsters who pursued hobbies did much better in life - because they has some experience of operacy. I believe that half the time devoted to sports should be devoted to hobbies and "operacy" projects.

Communication, interpersonal and group skills. Also very important.

All these things are so very obvious. Why are they not happening?

1. Because there are no exams in such subjects and the subjects are not on any curriculum.
2. Because there are no teachers to teach such subjects.
3. Because universities set school leaving examinations and universities are out of touch with the real needs of society.
4. Because change attracts criticism.

When Charlemagne was the greatest leader in Europe, he could not read or write. It was the role of scribes and notaries to look after the reading and writing activity. Education developed around teaching such necessary skills to scribes and notaries. That is the direct heritage of education. Education has expanded in two ways. It expanded to mass education for all. Education also sought to make available all human knowledge.

Add to this a fatal dominance by (and obsession with) the Greek Gang of Three and we have our current education system.

At the top end we have indeed made some progress - mainly in science and technology. But at lower levels we have made virtually no progress at all. That is why I used the rather strong terms of disgrace and disaster.

If teaching basic thinking skills to illiterate workers (platinum miners in South Africa*) can reduce grievances from 210 a month to 4 a month - then the ideas I suggest above are not only possible but they are incredibly powerful.

© McQuaig Group 1998

The above piece may be re-published in any magazine, newspaper or journal provided that it is not altered and the copyright line is given.

What the best talkers have in common

Here is a excerpt from the book "How to talk to anyone, anytime, anywhere" by Larry King.

1. They look at things from a new angle, taking unexpected points of view on familiar subjects.
2. They have broad horizons. They think about, and talk about, a wide range of issues and experiences beyond their own daily lives.
3. They are enthusiastic, displaying a passion for what they're doing with their lives and an interest in what you're saying to them at that moment.
4. They don't talk about themselves all the time.
5. They are curious. They ask "Why?" They want to know more about what you're telling them.
6. They empathize. They try to put themselves in your place, to relate to what you're saying.
7. They have a sense of humor. And they don't mind using it on themselves. Infact, the best conversationalists frequently tell stories on themselves.
8. They have their own style of talking.

Keep talking.