Wandering Into Wisdom

This blog chronicles the knowledge, insight and wisdom I encounter every day as a leadership consultant, executive coach, educator, father, friend and citizen. This site is dedicated to my father, Louis (Jack) Laughlin, who passed on to me an appreciation for wisdom. A special thanks to my friend Isaac Cheifetz, a businessman and journalist, who helped me understand the value of blogs and encouraged me to write one.

Illegal Carpooling*

A French bus company sued a group of janitorial workers for organizing carpools instead of taking their busses on the grounds that it is "an act of unfair and parasitical competition". You simply can’t make this stuff up. Guardian Article

Good News for Some*

The U.S. government’s H-1B program provides visas to skilled workers and university students. Last year’s allocation was dispensed in one day but six months into this year there are still visa’s available. This is bad news for the economy but good news for those who want visas. Wall Street Journal Article

Wikipedia Accuracy*

A study done in 2005 by the world renowned scientific journal Nature found Wikipedia’s accuracy to be comparable to Encyclopedia Britannica. A surprising outcome given that Wikipedia articles are written by volunteers. Wired Article

Like Video Games*

I have been trying to help my son understand that learning math takes practice and repetition. One doesn’t simply learn the concept and then apply it. One has to practice. After numerous attempts to explain the concept I finally asked him what it’s been like watching me learn to play video games. He paused, grinned and said, “OK, now I get it.”

Science*

“Science is what we do when we don’t know what we’re doing.”
Professor Alvaro de Rujula of CERN

Sick Irony*

An outbreak of swine flu occurred simultaneously in pigs at the Minnesota State Fair and a group of children housed in a dormitory on the fairgrounds. Officials wonder if the pigs infected the kids or visa versa. It seems that globetrotting humans spread illnesses much more quickly than penned up livestock and that our taste for pork may not be our only threat to pigs. New York Times Article

Reload*

"More amazing than the frequency with which we shoot ourselves in the foot is the speed at which we reload."
An observation made to a friend of mine by his boss.