Practice This

My good friend and colleague, Jimmy May, shared with me his favorites quotes lately (Thanks, Jimmy!). This made me scratch my head and think about quotes I like the most. What I came up with is four quotes from Bruce Lee, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, and Thomas Edison.
I clearly realized these are not just a quotes, these are my guiding lights, my mentors.
Bruce Lee and Abraham Lincoln Help Me Focus
"Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own." -Bruce Lee

I adopted this Bruce Lee’s quote …

"Gemaba Kaizen" means "workplace productivity" in Japanese. Not just productivity but effective low cost no-friction productivity.
I have read a book Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management  by Masaaki Imai. I have no doubt it is highly relevant management book for our tough times. According to the author, Toyota Motors applies similar approach which only proves its effectiveness.
The author distills the approach into three keys: Housekeeping, Cutting Muda, and Standardization.
Key #1 – Housekeeping
According to Masaaki Imai Housekeeping is key to effective management and employee self-discipline. You can describe this …

I was reading Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic Problem-Solving Approach by Gerald M. Weinberg where he shares practical advices and lessons he learned for those who wants to lead.
I particularly loved the following lesson:
Lesson Number Ten: If you are a leader, the people are your work. There is no other work worth doing.

Leader, Practice This
If you are a leader these can help you do your work:

Ask your people "do you have a dream?".
The Carrot Is Mightier Than A Stick.
Let your team play, make it a game.
Build vulnerability based trust.
Emotional …