Longest Hair

This woman had the longest hair I have ever seen. 

No, not to the shoulders, not to the mid-back, not even to the tush. 

This went almost all the way to the floor. 

It reminded me more of a maim on a horse than of the typical hairdo of a person. 

Anyway, this must be nasty to take care and keep clean. 

Also, can’t imagine having that much hair pulling on my head all the time.  

In Judaism, we say that hair is the crown of a person and it is something that especially women keep modestly when married.

So while hair is nice and beautiful, you can definitely have too much of even a good thing.  😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Calories Extreme!

Someone mentioned that they went to the Cheesecake Factory the other day.

They said they bought a slice of cheesecake. 

I asked: “Was it the Oreo Cheesecake?”

They said, “yeah!”

But they went on, “It was too much for one person to eat.”

Uh, you think?  

Check out how many calories are in one piece of this “Oreo Dream Extreme Cheesecake” –>>1,630!

Yes, that’s one slice, not the whole cake!!!

And over 50% is from fat!

Take all this in context: The calories for an average female and male is just 1,900 and 2,500, respectively, if your moderately active. 

So one slice of cheesecake like this Oreo flavor is around 86% or 65% of the total recommended calorie intake for a women or man for the entire day!

What the heck do they put into this cheesecake–butter, cream cheese, sugar by the truckload!

I know it must be good, but does it also have to be this deadly! 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Measured {Leadership + Management} + Staff = Success!

So I heard from a colleague this week an argument about:

Too much leadership dilutes good management. 

AND [similarly]

Too much management dilutes good leadership.

What is this a tug of war (without the showy skirts please!)?

Or 

Can you ever have too much of a good thing? 

Typically, leaders provide the vision and managers the execution.

I don’t see how it is really possible to have one without the other and have anything useful at the end of the day.

A vision without delivered execution is just another big idea.

And

Execution without a meaningful vision is just chasing your tail.

Too much leadership with grandiose vision after vision overwhelms the ability to manage a successful execution.

Too much management of the devils-in-the-details and even the best leadership vision isn’t going to see the light of day.

So the conclusion:

Great leaders need to set the goal posts high but doable and then get out of the way so that talented managers can make sure to get the job done and done right.

And don’t forget that it’s a diverse and skilled staff that actually does the heavy lifting and need to be respected and appreciated.

Tug of war over! 😉

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Jamie McCaffrey)

A 2-Year Campaign Cycle

So campaigning for the Presidential election, still some time off in November 2016, has already begun in earnest in Washington, D.C.

With roughly 600 days to the election, we are going to be spending a lot of time and money leading-up to this thing. 

Are you excited about all the lead up and electioneering?

The Chicago Tribune did an interesting comparison of the U.S. and U.K. in this regard.

In 2008, the U.S. spent $1.7 billion on the campaign (and you can be sure this number is continuing to go up, up, and away) versus roughly $33 million imposed on each major party in the U.K. and an election announced in April for May–one month! 

While you can argue that one month is too short for such a major decision for a country…do we really need 20+ months and billions in media advertising to communicate the candidates’ points of view and to coalesce around our next President?

Perhaps spending more time actually accomplishing things for the country and it’s people during a President’s tenure would be a far better focus of our national attention and efforts than an near endless cheer of ra ra ra sis boom ba yay candidate!  😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

OJ x 6

Okay, I like orange juice like everyone else, but this is ridiculous.

At least 6 types of Tropicana OJ in the refrigerated section of this small neighborhood deli.

Get this:

• No Pulp
• Some Pulp
• Lots of Pulp
• Calcium (Enriched)
• Orange Peach Mango 
• Orange Strawberry Banana

Good thing is the juice cartons are color-coded or you might just pick up the wrong one–and then what?

Ah, I’ll just take the one made from oranges–the fresh ones from Florida!

Choice is a good thing, but consumers must be getting more picky.

Then again, maybe I am getting old, because I still remember when I only had to select between Tropicana and Minute Maid. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)