Bill and Mark Aren’t Weak…

What I Really Think

Part 3

These are my reactions to quotes, comments, or statements from things I’ve read in magazines, newspapers, books and on the internet, so don’t blame anyone else. I’m gathering these on a totally random basis so if you have any you want me to comment on feel free to submit them.

11. “Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase—just take the first step.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
...Actually most of the steps you take will be in faith because we don’t know the future. It’s rare that we can be sure that things are going to work out the way we want. If you wait to “see the whole staircase” you’ll never go anywhere. All new adventures are started with steps of faith, that’s really the only option you have.

12. “Grant people a lifetime of forgiveness before you even meet them.” —Thomas Leonard
...Wow! That’s an incredibly generous offer. I wish I could see how this statement contains great wisdom but I don’t see how it holds up. It’s interesting that whoever came up with this it already thinking about offenses they are going to get from people they haven’t even met yet. They have even come up with a game plan for dealing with them. Who does this? You haven’t even met them, you don’t even know who’ll they’ll be, yet you assuming that they’ll be so obnoxious that you are going to have to decide to be the bigger person and condescend to forgive them. I would be really upset to meet someone new and to find out they are already thinking about granting me a lifetime of forgiveness! They are already expecting me to torment them for the rest of my life…therefore needing their forgiveness. The Bible talks about “owe no one anything except a debt of love,” but that’s nothing like this. This is really up there on the dumb statement list. Incredible. 

13. “Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak. Sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go.” —Author Unknown
...Also means you have a brain. Shows you are staying in control of your actions and not getting overly caught up in the moment. It does take strength to change course when necessary. People may think you are “Giving up” but what you may be doing is realizing that the current project is no longer worth finishing compared to another much better opportunity that has come along. Both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg went to Harvard. But both also “gave up” and dropped out to pursue their new dreams that came up after they got to Harvard. One created Microsoft. One created Facebook. No one accuses either of being weak.

14. “There is no question of going anywhere, arriving anywhere, or doing anything; you are there already.” —Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
...This is where I part company with eastern philosophy. The idea of just laying around and doing nothing. Don’t fall for this. We are on earth for a short while. Why on earth would you lay around while you’re here doing nothing? The world is full of great places to go, things to do, people to meet. The world is full of need. There is so much opportunity for you to do good and to make a difference in people’s lives. Life without challenges is empty. If you sit around deluding yourself that “you are there already” you will be miserable because…guess what? You aren’t there already, that’s just a big nonsense lie that does untold damage to the poor unsuspecting souls that fall for it.

15. “The communication style of leaders helps us distinguish great leaders from the wannabes.  When facing a problem the great leader says, 'Let's find out,' while the wannabe says that 'nobody knows.' 

• Great leaders communicate commitment while wannabe leaders make promises. 
• Great leaders have the capacity to listen while wannabes can't wait for their turn to talk. 
• Great leaders say 'there is a better way to do this', while wannabes say 'this is the way we have always done things around here.' 
• Great leaders say 'I'm a good leader, but could do better" while the wannabe says 'I'm better than a lot of people.' 
• Great leaders take accountability for their mistakes while the wannabe points fingers and says 'it's your fault.' —Reed Markham, PhD, Georgia Leadership Series 

...Well said. Unusually good for a professor. Lots of solid points made here. He must have had another life before he became a professor or had one of his business buddies write this for him. Just kidding, Doc.

So now it’s your chance to tell me how I got it all wrong. That’s how I keep learning. Enjoy!

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See the following related posts:
5 Frogs Deciding—What I REALLY Think, Part 1
Effective Beats Efficient—What I REALLY Think, Part 2

The Little Things You Never Hear About...

When a wealthy person makes a big grant to a hospital, college or some other worthy cause it usually attracts a lot of attention.

For every huge public gift made there are hundreds of quiet acts of kindness that are never noticed.

Here’s an example: Many think Steve Jobs or Bill Gates invented the computer. They didn’t. The first commercially successful personal computer was the Altair 8800 and it was created by a man named H. Edward Roberts. The computer was built by his company, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) in Albuquerque, NM. I know because he was my cousin.

When the computer was built, it needed an operating system. This was resolved when Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard and moved to Albuquerque along with his friend and business partner Paul Allen. 

It was from this that Microsoft was born. Gates and Allen launched a revolution with Microsoft that is still underway today. They moved to Seattle to eventual fame and fortune and my cousin sold MITS and relocated to Georgia where he eventually reallzed his lifetime dream of becoming a country doctor.

Forty years passed and there was not much contact, as they were all consumed in their own lives and business. Yet things changed in late 2010 when Edward became seriously ill and was hospitalized.

Immediately Allen and Gates got involved. Even though Allen was recovering from his own battle with cancer, they made calls, they wrote letters and they kept up with his progress closely. They went out of their way to let Edward know how much they appreciated what he had done for them and the high opinion they had of him.

They made plans for a special addition to be made to his house with all the high tech medical equipment required to maintain his care and for it to be fully staffed. They determined to spare no expense so that he would be able to be moved back to his house and be as comfortable as possible.

Unfortunately, he was hit with pneumonia which did more damage to his lungs and the possibility of ever moving back home again evaporated.

So, in his final days, Bill Gates personally traveled across the country and visited him in his room for 2 hours to pay his last respects and to provide some last encouragement and support. It wasn’t long before Edward was gone.

Gates and Allen had reached out to an old friend in his time of need. They didn’t do it for publicity. They did it because they cared. 

After Edward’s death they wrote touching articles detailing who exactly Edward was, reconfirming his place in history as the father of the personal computer and his impact on their lives.

These are the kinds of things you never hear about, but things of powerful impact nonetheless, and more revealing than anything else about their true natures.