Ravenweb Blog

Rework cuts through a number of accepted business practices and notions and, in their place, provides clear, untangled opinions about working better and faster. For example, in one passage, the authors contend that meetings and detailed procedures often waste time and don't yield that much value. You may not agree with everything in Rework and possibly find parts of it reductive or even discomforting. But it's worth reading and, at its best, inspiring. It's also hard not to appreciate the authors' openness and willingness to reveal what's worked for them, personally and in their business.

Checklists are at once so simple and utilitarian that it's hard to conceive of them as aids in the resolution of complex procedures and problems. Yet help they do, as author Atul Gawande contends, in complex and wide-ranging procedures, like flying a plane, performing surgery, and assessing an investment. There's more research to be done to show the utility and versatility of checklists, and to demonstrate what they can and can't do, but with this readable and accessible book, Gawande begins the discovery. For my part, this book intuitively felt right. I use checklists regularly, and I am a fan of simple project tracking software, like Basecamp , that orients toward simple tasks and checklists.

Malcolm Gladwell is like that brilliant, lively guy at the party who is able to articulate and make accessible a number of complicated ideas to a large group of people huddled around. In Outliers , Gladwell presents some interesting ideas, mostly concerned with notions of success. Gladwell examines both the traditional drivers of success, like hard-work and practice, as well as other contribuing factors, like luck and opportunity, to try and establish some conclusions about success and why some people achieve it and others don't. Outliers is thought-provoking and worth reading, but it's worth noting that the research is limited and Gladwell tends toward oversimplification. It's hard to fault him too much, though. His natural function and style seems to be to present ideas and problems, not do the research and solve them.

Kristin Cashore continues to soldify her reputation as a top fantasy novelist with Fire , an imaginative novel about "monsters" -- beautiful but mutated versions of various animal species. Fire is also the name of the main character, who is a human monster with the ability to manipulate minds. The book portrays Fire's struggle to accept herself and her extraordinary abilities while helping out a kingdom at war. I enjoyed the novel and recommend it, but I had a few nits. Specifically, I felt the explicit tie-in with the villain Leck from Cashore's previous novel, Graceling , was forced and unnecessary. It was enough to set the novel in the same world as Graceling without bringing back the character. Beyond that and a few other small things, though, the book was great, and I look forward to many more good things from this author.

As a follow up to my last post , I wanted to highlight a portion of a tribute delivered at William Greiner's memorial service. Judith E. Albino , one of the speakers and a President Emerita and Professor at the Colorado School of Public Health, gave a heartfelt and memorable speech in which she recalled ten life lessons she learned from William Greiner. I've reproduced her list below: Do the right thing, and if you do, you won’t need lawyers – at least not often. There are few real obstacles to reaching our goals, only different, sometimes circuitous – but often, far more interesting – routes for getting there. Ambiguity is good – it means that everything is still possible. Words are powerful – know what they mean; use them well, and use them precisely. The influence of history is real and undeniable; in other words, context is critical in every decision. There’s always another way to look at a problem, and the best solutions require multiple perspectives. Peop...

I attended the public memorial service for former UB President William Greiner this week, and it was a tribute and celebration I will not soon forget. The speakers ranged from former colleagues and associates of Greiner to close friends and family. All evoked the prodigious intelligence and big warmth of a man who left an indelible impression on all those who knew him and a lasting legacy on the university where he served as President. While I was an undergraduate at UB when Greiner became President, it wasn't until much later that I had a personal encounter with him. It was actually only a few years ago, at one of my wife's Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) events when many of the Kappa's brought their spouses. We were eating lunch, and I found myself sitting across from Carol Greiner (a Kappa like my wife) and her husband -- Bill Greiner. Conversation flowed as my wife and I began to pepper Bill with questions. He realized we were very interested in talking to him and spoke a...

UPDATE - 2/2/2010 After a trip to Florida to pick up Geoffrey, the Lancers returned to Buffalo with Geoffrey on Friday , January 29. We're so grateful for this happy outcome, and have even had the opportunity to meet Geoffrey. He's a remarkably well-adjusted, happy boy, and my daughter loved playing with him. UPDATE - 1/21/2010 Erin returned home last Friday on the 15th, but without Geoffrey . However, Erin and her husband Mike continue to work with the U.S. State Department to secure a visa to bring Geoffrey to the U.S. Things appear to be progressing well, and we hope to see Geoffrey on our street soon. ORIGINAL POST - 1/14/2010 My family and I are very fortunate to live in a friendly, welcoming neighborhood. We've especially enjoyed residing beside our next door neighbors, a couple named Mike and Erin and their two children. They welcomed us into the neighborhood from the start and have always been great. Lately, they've initiated an adoption for a beauti...

A pair of work colleagues and I were enjoying beers the other night when discussion briefly turned to The Clash and how 2010 is the 30th anniversary of London Calling . We then talked about favorite songs and realized that we all had our distinct, preferred Clash songs. I thought the selections were varied but excellent and wanted to list them here. Note that we did not intentionally all pick songs from London Calling. It just turned out that way, although it shows the depth of the album. The songs: Lost in the Supermarket Jimmy Jazz Rudie Can't Fail

When I conceived and started the 25 Days of Christmas blog series , I didn't know all the topics I would post about or the item I would feature on Christmas Day. I figured my bias would slant toward It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol , because of their strong, emotional stories and staying power. I knew I always liked A Christmas Story, but it wasn't until I started thinking about just how well the movie captured what it felt like to be nine years old during Christmas that I knew it would be my Day 25 choice. When you're nine, there's that one gift you want for Christmas above all else that interjects so much high drama and gravitas to the Christmas season. You're so excited for Christmas that the days leading up to the holiday seem to go on forever and you wonder if Christmas will ever arrive. Though there's some anxiety that accompanies the wait for Santa and the uncertainty that you'll get that one gift you want, the relative slow-moving ...

At some point in It's a Wonderful Life , George Bailey begins to resemble one of the many men Thoreau foresaw leading lives of "quiet desperation". There are so many reasons why this is a great Christmas movie, but what's always stood out for me is the honesty of George's desperation. Many of us know what it's like to pine for better opportunities and are one medical illness away from financial ruin. What the movie does so well is remind us to keep perspective, and remember our family and friends and all the things we have instead of what we don't. This is part of my 25 Days of Christmas blog series.

A Christmas Carol is of course one of the most celebrated and timeless Christmas stories of all time. The redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge -- in both the original text and movie sources -- is one of those moments that transcends its material and is truly timeless. Everybody has a favorite, of course, and I'm no different. I prefer reading the original Dickens novella and watching the 1984 George C. Scott film version . Every year I try and read the novella or watch the movie. I love the story. It's a tale of hope with a stirring message that it's never too late to change. Perhaps Scrooge's nephew, Fred, says it best: I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come around apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-...

Do They Know It's Christmas? is a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money for famine relief in Africa. Those of you who are my age surely remember this recording, when a young Bono and Sting sang side by side for a cause. Sadly, while it's now been 25 years since the original recording, we still have a long way to go to eradicate poverty, malnourishment, and disease. If it's been a while since you've heard this, or if the song is new to you, have a listen: Link to video on YouTube This is part of my  25 Days of Christmas  blog series.

Now we're talking. Bad Santa is crude, lewd, and utterly irreverent. But it's also hilarious and, in my opinion, the best Christmas comedy of them all. This movie works and is funny in so many ways that a lesser film like Scrooged is not because it starts with a bad, drunken Santa (played by Billie Bob Thornton) premise and carries it through for the whole movie. It doesn't compromise or cheat to a happy ending. Yes, there is a lonely uncool kid who attaches himself to Santa. But instead of the redemption arc, where the kid helps the bad Santa become a better person, it's Santa who helps the kid become a little bad and less of a loser. Of course this film isn't for everyone. My wife, for one, detests the movie, and refuses to watch it with me. But for people who know that sometimes a movie is very funny and "not about what it is about" [1] , Bad Santa is a holiday gem. [1] Roger Ebert, Review of "Bad Santa" This is part of my  25 Days...

Rob is a non-fiction column I wrote a few years ago in remembrance of my cousin. Though in the strictest terms it's not a Christmas piece, I am inclined to include it here, as I invariably think of Rob during the holidays. I've reproduced the piece in its entirety below and also linked to an audio clip that features me reading the column for a local radio station. ## Rob by Frank Gullo Our current mythology views ghosts as wayward, incomplete, or even destructive spirits. Films and horror fiction typically depict ghosts as vengeful entities, lingering to haunt or mete punishment for forgotten victims and wrongs that have not been brought to justice. Often, ghosts characterized in this fashion act as they do because they cannot pass on to a higher state until some unfinished matter on the earthly plane is resolved. Sometimes, though, ghosts are not apparitions that linger because they are trapped by their past earthly life. Instead, ghosts are more often memorials ...

Of all the Christmas specials for children, in my opinion, A Charlie Brown Christmas is the best. Funny and ultimately affirming for both kids and adults, A Charlie Brown Christmas achieves what few specials can match: it manages to keep a balanced perspective about Christmas, even admitting to the commercialism of the holiday with a healthy cynicism. But as it teeters toward becoming something more jaded, the story turns and we learn that one of the reasons Christmas is so special is that it's one of the few days when people really come together, when your nemesis doesn't pull the football away before you can kick it, and when a little love and caring go a long way, to dress up a scraggly looking tree and to comfort and cheer each other. Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown! This is part of my  25 Days of Christmas  blog series.

When Santa Turned Green is a timely and urgent holiday story for children that begins with a drop of water falling on Santa's head and him realizing that the North Pole is melting. The book goes on to explain about global warming and introduces the notion of environmental awareness and little things we all can do that make a big difference. My wife and I are committed to raising our daughter to respect and help preserve the planet, and though she's probably too young for this story this year, I thought it deserved a mention in this Christmas blog series. One comment for any climate change deniers who may be tempted to impugn the idea of this book and challenge me for including it. Before commenting, first read this post by Scientific American and return only when you've provided peer reviewed evidence that proves that human interference is not impacting the Earth's climate. This is part of my  25 Days of Christmas  blog series.

The film version of The Polar Express deftly combines traditional Christmas elements in a fun, adventure story. This comes together as a young boy boards a train on Christmas Eve headed for the North Pole. On the trip, he encounters other children and sees many fascinating things, and ultimately receives a "gift" of Christmas. This is part of my  25 Days of Christmas  blog series.

The original A Very Special Christmas album came out in 1989, when I was a senior in high school, and it always felt like my Christmas album. The interpretations were fresh, and the artists were varied and contemporary. Good stuff. This is part of my  25 Days of Christmas  blog series.

Set in Holland in the 1660s, Girl With a Pearl Earring is a novel about a young woman who inspired one of Vemeer's most famous paintings. The novel is sensational. The writing is simple and elegant, and the words and pages disappear as the plot and historical landscape come alive. Highly recommended.

You don't often think of Santa Claus as a defiant Robin Hood outlaw constantly on the run from a mean-spirited despot. Or as a young man who falls in love. In Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town , though, we get the origin story of Santa Claus and learn how he came of age as Kris Kringle and how several Christmas traditions came to be. I really enjoyed the special as a child, and always thought it felt unique as Santa-fare went. The Burgermeister and Sombertown, in particular, overlayed speculative and serious elements to traditional Christmas tropes that bolstered the story and Santa mythology. Santa as a merry toymaker who gives presents to boys and girls is one thing, but the legend looms even larger when we learn he grew into this role while resisting a dictator. This is part of my  25 Days of Christmas  blog series.