Musings 7 May 2014

"Call it magic or call it true." This morning, my son, Nael, and I were watching the video for Coldplay's new single, Magic. Chris Martin's handwritten lyric sheets for their new album, Ghost Stories, can be found here. It's a funny thing with Coldplay. I don't consider myself a major fan but that hasn't stopped me from buying all their CDs. Oh, well... some sort of 'conscious uncoupling' here? Do you remember the movie Wicker Park when The Scientist played near the end. They couldn't have chosen a better song to fit the scene.
Interesting, the word Ghost. The Police's Ghost in the Machine (1981) was an excellent album and I like the Cure song, The Hungry Ghost (on 4:13 Dream, released in 2008. Looking forward to a new Cure album this year)

Al Gore's book, Earth in the Balance, remains a favourite of mine. Which is why I would like to get a hold of Our Choice. Looked at in the context of our planet's history, what we're doing to Earth appears dire indeed. If you are interested in climate change, you may want to see the National Geographic series Cosmos, which recently covered "the scientific issue of our time." And then, there's Bill Nye on CNN's Crossfire, here. 

Heather Huhman, Gen Y Career Expert | Content Marketing & Digital PR | Prolific Writer writes about the four reasons why your ideal career path is wrong. 

Do Not Take Daily Aspirin If You Haven’t Had a Heart Attack, says the FDA. That makes sense. Why do we seek easy miracles? Now more than ever, I feel that one can and should derive health benefits from natural sources rather than pills. Which is why I've started eating sardines more frequently than I ever did before. 

26 Real Places That Look Like They’ve Been Taken Out Of Fairy Tales is a link sent to me by a former student of mine. 

Graham Clulely warns "If you are using file-sharing systems like Dropbox and Box without proper care and attention, there is a risk that you could be unwittingly leaking your most private, personal information to others." I used Dropbox before I took advantage of an offer to sign up for a 50GB Box account but saving files in the cloud will always be risky. Bittorent sync, anyone?

Angela Ahrendts leaves the CEO role at Burberry's to join Apple and becoming the only female member of the company's 10-strong leadership team.. The timing is certainly important. The Guardian has a nice article on what she leaves behind at Burberry's here, which, in turn, reminded me  U2's lyric "all that you can't leave behind." There really is a soundtrack to life.

Don't be afraid to admit your professional fears, is the lesson I take from Jeff Haden's article, where he says "Business, to them, was all about leading, following, and working with people, something that is all too easy to forget."

Success in international business means you need to be flexible to adapt your style to your cultural context, says Erin Meyer, INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Organisational Behaviour. Also of note, her earlier article, When to Speak Up, When to Shut Up: "By recognising the cultural factors that shape human behaviour and analysing the reasons for that behaviour, we can improve our effectiveness at solving thorny cross-cultural misunderstandings or better yet, avoid them altogether."
In his latest online column for Time magazine, Drucker Institute Executive Director Rick Wartzman writes an open letter to his daughter, Emma, who will graduate from college next week. Equally applicable to sons as well.
Take a look at this infographic suggesting when not to post on social media.