Working for my Uncle – lessons learned

1. Even a brilliant person can struggle with a great product by refusing to let go (management).  [My uncle] is obviously very bright.  He has skill in what he does.  He has vision that solves his customer’s problems.  But the work environment he creates suffocates because of his inability to manage and (more importantly) inability to let go of the management of the office
2. A product’s price can affect the perception of the customer, leading them to incorrectly determine that it’s a superior product
3. Even mediocre products can have success in a marketplace.  A product does not have to be first, or even be the best, in order to develop market share.

The Value of My Wasted Time

If God has been designing my life, which I know He has, then what, I wonder, was my EQ / WoW phase all about?  What does God mean to use all of that time for?  Was it wasted time?  Or was it time spent that has taught me something that will be used for His purpose?

The greatest takeaway / lesson from that experience was the model of using positive reinforcement feedback to strengthen the bond between the user and the system.  Can this be used by God?  What would a system look like that used this model to bring people closer to Him?

Lessons in Driving

Today as we were driving home from Palm Springs, I realized something that hadn’t really sunk in until today.  I realized that whenever someone bothers me on the road and I want to ‘pay them back’, the only people that are affected by those retaliatory actions are those in my car – myself, my wife, and my children (and other family).  If my wife is uncomfortable with my driving, she will be unhappy which will make me unhappy.  She made the comment "it’s over" and she was absolutely right, and I let it go.