Freefall into "Freakonomics" Thanks for the T-Shirt(s)!

Special qualityg says thanks to Lynn Grady and Michael Barrs (I promised Michael I would take a picture & post) for the Freaky Tees. They were kind enough to send qualityg TWO shirts, one that fits just over my head and the other that fits to my butt. I guess they thought I was a Twin!

qualityg will wear one of them proudly!

Lynn & Michael work at HarperCollinsPublishers and are associated with:

Stephen and Steven

FREAKONOMICS

No Conformist Knowledge Here, This Book is the “Real Thing”

qualityg reads a number of books at the same time, depends what chair I’m sitting in because I usually have a different book (i.e., His Excellency, Left Behind Series, Alexander Hamilton, Text Books and Freakonomics) by each of my favorite chairs (exception – Deming books which I carry in my brief bag).

The one that has exploded some new thoughts is “Freakonomics” by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. It’s one of those books that I read in two sittings. Having always been intrigued with economist and their ability to predict the stock market and economy like an average weatherman, this book and authors comes from a completely new angle and wit that captures your interest and clears your senses of all the muddle that is usually found in books about Economics. You know qualityg loves a creative rogue.

Don’t get me wrong about Economist, my son is studying to be one now and is making great strides in school and work because he has a passion for studying data and making sense of what it all that stuff means. I also bought a copy for him and he loves the book too! Imagine father and son liking the same kind of book.

On page 120 the authors give a number of explanations as to why crime has dropped. The reader is asked to pick the ones (I chose three) that have merit; only three are truly factors (qg got one). You will have to buy the book to understand the reasoning.

Important Note: I hope that every city official in the United States reads Chapter 4 “Where Have All the Criminals Gone?” Please do NOT cut any more police from your budget!

http://www.detnews.com/2005/metro/0504/14/A01-149192.htm

For more information about Freakonomics please visit the following site:

http://www.freakonomics.com/

More books by Stephen Dubner @

http://www.harpercollins.com/global_scripts/product_

catalog/author_xml.asp?authorid=16311#tracker

Also see qualityg's recommendation to read "Confessions of A Hero-Workshiper" posted on Sunday June 5th.

Education – McDonald’s “McDees deserves McAaas”

McDonald’s is truly an American Icon, while it somehow is able to stay status quo in it’s history, it continues to reinvent itself to keep up with Middle America expectations when it comes to food selections and what is needed in the community they serve.

The jobs at McDonald’s are mostly dead end and low paying for high school students. To seniors, its added income, a place to meet new friends and provide value to a generation that honors all work as golden if it’s done with pride and integrity.

McDonald’s does have a good career path for the young, but it comes with some sacrifice, some schooling and patience to learn all the facets of being a manager or a franchise owner.

Following is a story of what two McDonald’s storeowners are doing for their working students; other storeowners should replicate this process for success and retention of workers:

Working students punch in, do homework
Livingston County McDonald's owners will allow employees to start their shift with studies.
By Steve Pardo / The Detroit News

GENOA TOWNSHIP -- Students employed by McDonald's owners Kathy and Jerry Olinik will be able to tackle French before french fries or calculus before Chicken Selects. The husband and wife duo, who own two McDonald's restaurants in Livingston County, will pay their high school employees to do their homework starting this fall.

It's an idea the pair came up with in the 1990s when they still worked for McDonald's Corp., said Jerry Olinik, 49.

"During those years, a lot of parents didn't want their kids working," he said. "Economic times were very good and parents, rightly so, wanted their kid to concentrate on homework and school. We thought there might be a happy medium there someplace."

Now that they own restaurants, they thought it was time to rekindle the idea.

Students will be able to punch in and sit down with their studies for an hour either before or after their work shift. Jerry Olinik estimates the two restaurants employ 30 high school students, including Jennifer Johnson, 17, who will be a senior at Howell High School this fall.
"I have trouble right now trying to keep up with school and work a job," Johnson said. "This will be a really good opportunity to do schoolwork before work."

Misc - Providing Blog Comments

Many have sent me Emails stating you did not want to leave a comment because it looks like you have to register for a Blog.

You "can" leave comments without registering, just enter anonymous/name , comment, click preview comment and send comment.

qg

Leadership - Are You and Your Company Gym Fighters?

ARE YOU AND YOUR COMPANY GYM FIGHTERS?

Attended another local fight card Friday night with my son and brother. We had ringside seats compliments of one our local mayor’s.

Most of the fights were competitive but there was one that was just plain boring. I turned to my son and brother and told them “Gym Fighters.” Why are they labeled gym fighters, because of too much cooperation?

Gym Fighters are two boxers from the same club who "only" know each other’s style and don’t really want to show each other up so they go out and box without really trying to win. A “Solo Gym Fighter is one of the best boxer’s in your gym but can’t seem to win any fights outside of the home gym because he concentrates too much on internal competition.

Years ago I tried to explain the concept of “cooperation before competition” as it applies to the business world. Most things in life go wrong because the balance is off too much too one side. As they say “too much of good thing can be a bad thing.”

If your employees are concentrating on battling each other because of ratings and rankings you have destroyed cooperation. If your company functional department heads battle each other over year-end bonuses you have destroyed cooperation.

One VP responded to my comments by telling me that his troops need to be battle ready and if it takes beating the hell out of each other to get in shape, that is what needs to be done. Thanks for the feedback Comrade Stalin.

When you have too much internal competition everyone takes their eye off the target and is “beating the hell out of each other instead of the competition, your competitors. The company has implemented a system with no aim and it won’t allow the employees to compete because they don’t know how and they don’t know who the enemy is; the system has set up their co-workers as the enemy because of the numerical games and goals that are inherent in the system set up by management.

Cooperation is a pre-requisite before competition can take place. Do you want to win the fight or would you rather help your “Team” win the tournament? Chances of you winning your fight increases if you are a good teammate and help your team win the Trophy.

When too much internal competition is allowed to exist in your company or in the boxing ring you will only learn to beat the style of the person sitting next to you, and you will hurt the teams overall effort. By understanding your opponents weaknesses by getting out in the market or watching your competition fight you take that back and move your team in the direction to win, everyone needs to be on the same page striving for the same goals. If the leaders of the company or the gym have no aim or purpose then you might win a few fights, but you will never win the prize.

Team Trophy & Individual Trophy

Misc - Down on the CornerSITE - updated 06/18/05 - "Excellent Reference Site from RB!

qualityg says…
DOWN ON THE CORNERSITE

I am devoting this Misc section of my Blog to recommend some information sites that are considered classics by the “qualityg says …” readers, and some that I believe will help a wide range of folks.

1) http://www.zabasearch.com/ - may display your personal info!! – I put mine and my brother’s in (full name, middle initial and state) and behold it came back with our information. To drop your name from the list you must Email Zaba at info@zabasearch.com. Special Thanks to Mike Wendland (Detroit Free Press). Flash – while writing this blog I just received a “long” Email back from Zaba the Hut telling me what else I need to do to remove my info, I replied back not so nicely and the next Email is going to the Michigan State Attorney General – Mike Cox. Make sure you click on “terms” – before you send Email, this will tell you what to send them. It also supplies a link to other sites that may include your personal information.

2) http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ - It’s a search engine that combines a dictionary, encyclopedia and thesaurus in one.

3) http://mikesejournal.com/ - Since I promote much of Mike Wendland’s column I wanted to post it here for your PC and Tech information. This is one great site for help and getting the latest up to date information on new products. Mike tests many of the products before recommending. For those of you not in Michigan, and may not be familiar with Mike’s column in the Detroit Free Press, I urge to take a look and bookmark.

4) http://www.thevisionthing.com/ - Great site for interesting articles, debates between bloggers and links to other blog sites. If you're new to blogging there are a number of ideas and examples to help get you started.

5) http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?OfficeSpaceMovie - I would be remiss to not mention this movie since it is considered by qualityg’s PTM Gang to be the best movie about “Office Politics” and crazy employees (like us). Ten times better than the new show on NBC – “The Starter.” You will be surprised at some of the stars from other shows that are in this movie (i.e., Friends, Drew Carey, West Wing, etc). Often shown on the Bravo cable network.

5) http://deming.org/ - The ultimate site for the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming.

6) http://www.takemefishing.org/ - Great site for the experienced angler and those just starting out fishing. Put in your Zip Code and find the best places to fish in your area. Print free instructions on how to catch and clean fish, and sign up for a newsletter. Not sure the best place to go in another state? It's a click away that links you to rentals, boat ramps, marinas and more.

10 1/2 lb Walleye , caught by Mike P - April 2005, picture by Mike D.

7) http://www.toddparr.com/todd.html - This is a great site for creativity and illustration and art. It's also what I call a person who hates four letter words like "Can't and Quit." Here is a man that in high school received an "F" for a self-portrait. His art work was never displayed on the hallways like the other kids. Through discouragement by many, including his parents he still had the fortitude to live his dream and bring happiness to many others. He also has a show on the discovery channel.

8) www.mel.org - Great site (Michigan Elibrary) for everyone, especially those of us living in Michigan. Provides information and practice test for many state civil service jobs, professional exams (fire and police), School -- > GED, SAT, and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) prperation tests. You will need your Michigan Drivers License Number to Log In.

9) http://www.freakonomics.com/blog.php - Blog site for Steve Levitt and Stephen Dunbar co-authors of the best seller (highly recommended by qg) - "Freakonomics." No telling what subject will be covered (i.e., If you like baby names, you will love this, We'd like to put some Freak into the game of poker and Why the Black Sox? ).

10) http://phantomprof.blogspot.com/ - I frequent this site often to read tales about grades in school. The author being a writing professor adds to the posts with a unique and entertaining style. While you all know that qualityg does not like grades, this site helps with my assumptions. Read about ridiculous parents and non-supporting administrators (and you know how I feel about those SOBs).

11) http://refdesk.com/ - RB --> sent me this site, all the major search engines on one page, reference facts and sites, history, etc....