Thought of the Day

Why we say “bite the bullet”. Caught between a rock and hard place with no good way out, you may decide to “bite the bullet” and push ahead. Many a Civil War casualty carried from the field with mangled limbs faced drastic surgery without the aid of even whisky to help subdue the pain. In that case, the best medics could do for a fellow soldier was to offer a soft-lead bullet. Placed between the teeth, it was better than nothing.

Employers will jump on programs as they review promising results. At PepsiCo, smokers who won’t join health programs pay $600 more a year and have raised smoking cessation rates 14%. Boeing targets employees with complex medical problems for a program in which specialized teams of nurses and doctors monitor care. Average absence rates have fallen from 7.8 days per six months to 3.4 days, with health care savings of 20%.

Leo Tolstoy thought Shakespeare was crude, vulgar and senseless. Charles Darwin said, “I have tried lately to read Shakespeare and found it so intolerably dull that it nauseated me.” George Bernard Shaw said, “What the single exception of Homer, there is no eminent writer, not even Sir Walter Scott, whom I despise so entirely as I despise Shakespeare when I measure my mind against his.” So was this jealousy? Or, does it prove once again that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder?

One in six baby boomer women (16%) have a Kindle or other e-reader, and 67% of those who do not who do not, would like one. I love mine. In minutes you can download a favorite book while you wait for a delayed flight, or on vacation; read your favorite newspaper; adjust the font; and yes, sometimes you miss holding that hardback or smelling the newspaper ink, but the trade out is worth it.

Eight in ten Catholic Millennials ages 18 to 29 (80%) say religion is an important part of their lives, and 82% believe that commitment and marriage are undervalued in society. Let’s hear it for this generation! It speaks well for ethics, standards and general well being for the future.

The Guinness Book of World Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from public libraries. Do you have a copy? Where did you get it? When is the last time you were even in the public library?

When selling a business, one must put all terms and conditions in the contract. If you want the employees to remain with the sale, add a clause protecting their jobs for the first six months of ownership. Some states honor verbal promises as contracts, but the legal fees would not be worth the battle. This is a reminder for any type of contract. Verbal may be legal, but not necessarily enforceable.

Studies indicate that women rate slightly more trustworthy than men, at 79.7 versus 79.0. However, women and men score equally on credibility, and women have a slight edge in reliability, 20.6 versus 20.4. The big difference comes in the factor of intimacy, where women are ,5 points higher. One of the strongest correlations is the linking of trust quotient and age. The older we get, the more trustworthy we are.

Incentives that work. 1) Share the wealth. About 80% – 90% of employees should get some reward every year. 2) Small bucks beat big ones. The average prize should be just $110. Smaller prizes can seem insignificant, but large ones don’t motivate any better. 3) Weekly, not quarterly, every week, 5% of employees should get an award. “Salary increases are one-time events,” Eric Mosley, Globeforce’s CEO said, “Small awards all the time are a way to constantly touch people.”

The glue on Isreali postage stamps is certified kosher. Isn’t the detail of that amazing? Does anyone know what the stamps in the U.S. are glued with? The thought of that makes me happy that we have automatic sticking stamps and we no longer have to lick them. Thank you, U.S. Postal Service!