Nations Need To Understand Their Own Strengths

Change Is Like Putting Lipstick On A Bulldog. The Bulldog's Appearance Hasn't Improved, But Now It's Really Angry.

John Akers Once Said That Changing Ibm's Culture Was More Difficult Than Getting Elephants To Dance. Of Course It's Really Difficult, As Lou Gerstner Also Found Out Years Later. The Title Of His Own Book Is Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? He And His Top Executives Were Change Masters At Ibm. All Organizations, Especially The Larger Ones, Will Always Need Change Masters. Dissatisfaction With The Status Quo And Efforts To Improve It Should Be Encouraged Rather Than Discouraged. Regrettably, That Is Often Not The Case.

Even The New Feminist Research On Sex-role Socialization And Sex Differences Has Sometimes Had The Unfortunate Consequence Of Creating A New Set Of Stereotypes About What Women Feel And How Women Behave. Despite The Large Amount Of Overlap Between The Sexes In Most Research, The Tendency To Label And Polarize And Thus To Exaggerate Differences Remains In Much Reporting Of Data, Which May, For Example, Report The Mean Scores Of Male And Female Populations But Not The Degree Of Overlap.

The Difference Between "winners" And "losers" Is Not Whether They Face Obstacles And Setbacks - We All Do, And It Is Inevitable That Plans Do Not Unfold Exactly As Imagined Or That Unexpected Events Surprise Us Or That A Few Mistakes Happen. The Real Difference Is That "winners" Bounce Back From A Fumble Or A Loss By Refusing To Panic, Analyzing The Situation And Looking For Positive Actions They Can Take To Correct The Problem, And Then Go On To Resume Winning.

Friendly People Are Caring People, Eager To Provide Encouragement And Support When Needed Most.