Michael Oren offered a concise and lucid background of Ariel Sharon in his WSJ piece called The End of the Beginning last Friday. This single sentence of his captures the essence of the article:
The blond and handsome commando and severely overweight politico, the "bulldozer" who pushed thousands of Israelis in and out of settlements, the lover of Hebrew culture whose first language was Russian, the secularist who revered Jewish faith, the fighter of many wars and the champion, ultimately, of peace--Ariel Sharon has had multiple identities.
I love "...the secularist who revered Jewish faith", doesn't that describe a man of wisdom and respect? Great men throughout history have displayed such respect especially when dealing with something as personal as faith and religion.
On other fronts:
Yossi Sheffi discussed Enterprise Resilience on BookTV where among other corporate disasters he reveals how Cantor Fitzgerald survived the September 11 attacks. Whereas Tom Barnett focused on their losses and how the technology helped Cantor Fitzgerald, Sheffi highlights how it was their customers that kept them from going under because their customers valued (among other things) the relationships that had developed and wanted to resurrect those relationships.
Sheffi is profound is his statements about the businesses that don't fail require leaders that come up through the business. Real leaders know their business and inspire their people - notice that he recognizes leaders that focus on the staff and not the customers.
Alan Sears gave a clear background of the ACLU in his book discussion on The ACLU vs America on BookTV. He documents the campaign against democracy the ACLU has waged since its foundation and reveals the thin veneer of duplicity behind which they stand. I have long ago noticed their selective causes (supporting NAMBLA while attacking the Boy Scouts) but this book or DVD presents solid evidence for those seeking detail.
On the other hand not everything on BookTV is credible. On our vacation last week in Florida, I couldn't resist watching BookTV (they normally run the shows on the weekends and over holidays) where I stumbled upon Richard Florida's talk about his book called The Flight of the Creative Class: The New Global Competition for Talent. Now I figured he would offer another perspective upon Globalization which for the most part is in agreement with my own. Florida has plenty of statistical data about the impact of designers upon economies as well as successful geographic areas. I agree with him about the importance of creativity, but he loses me in some of his definitions (such as where he can't see creativity within the manufacturing industry). He also launches into a weird Red State/Blue State thesis that basically sees creativity as being the solely centered in large urban centers. I would argue that technology allows creative individuals and youth to be able to tap into the collective creativity in remote locations where quality of life can be balanced by a vibrant social interaction. I suppose he simply is a victim of an elitist attitude that views most parts of the country as filled with dullards although I shall buy his book to get a clearer understanding of his views and research.
I also received some very nice books from the family getting me started on Gladwell's Tipping Point. So far the characterization some people as connectors, mavens and salesmen is brilliant.
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