The story of a toy, two teen geniuses, and a multi-trillion-dollar empire
It may seem ridiculous, but if it weren’t for Cap’n Crunch cereal adding a toy whistle as a prize for kids, the two trillion dollar tech company known as Apple probably wouldn’t exist.
Cereal, toys, and sugar
The sugar-laden cereals of my youth used to contain all kinds of wonderful plastic treasures. One such example is the Bo’sun whistle that used to be found in boxes of Cap’n Crunch.
Ship’s captains would traditionally use a Bo’sun whistle to signal various maritime commands and meal times.
The cereal company version was just a small plastic toy, but it helped change the world forever.
One curious…
Lessons learned from the World Marathon Challenge
Take a minute and think of all of the activities you have lined up for the upcoming week. Wake up early, take the kids to school, go to work, come home, make dinner for the family, work out, and so on and so on.
You’re going to be pretty busy, aren’t you?
Now imagine that in the next seven days your schedule is going to be made up of running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents (yes, even Antarctica). In a nutshell, that’s the World Marathon Challenge (WMC).
The thought of it exhausts me. One would have to…
Will fear ensure the spread of the disease?
My five-year-old self stepped on a rusty old nail as I was running around outside shoeless. Mom always insisted that I wear shoes outside. There was a good reason for that; this hurt like hell.
“Mom!”, I yelled from the yard, “I just stepped on an old nail!”
“Come here and let me see it,” she predictably replied.
She saw the blood oozing from the puncture wound on my tender foot.
“Show me what you stepped on.”, she said. I showed her.
That thing must have been in the ground for months; there was a coat of rust on it…
This simple technique could change your life
As a side gig, I used to do consulting and public speaking. Topics covered everything from leadership and motivation to infectious diseases. More often than not, someone would approach me privately after a talk to ask a few questions. That’s part of the job, and I was glad to oblige.
It seemed that everyone was seeking clarity. They wanted to know how to think clearly and rationally, especially when under stress; to make decisions free from bias. They wanted to be clear communicators.
As an introvert, I’ve pondered this topic in depth. …
Don’t be a victim
Most of the people you run into during an average day are good, decent folks that want to go about their business without any problems. They mind their own business and leave you alone.
Unfortunately, it’s likely that from time to time (hopefully rarely), you’ll run into someone who wants to give you a hard time. There is an element of society that get their kicks from being jerks or thugs.
I’ve never been accused of not being able to take care of myself. Looking at me, though, some people might think I’m an easy target. …
Here is how it could happen
From countless hours of bleary-eyed watching of election coverage from the last couple of days, a thought crossed my mind.
What if neither candidate obtain the required 270 Electoral College votes necessary to win the election?
Or what if they end up in a tie?
Anything is possible in 2020, so we might as well prepare mentally for the idea.
Americans are in luck. Our Founding Fathers, who seem to be a bit wiser than we are now, thought of this possibility and planned for it. They outlined their plan in the Constitution.
We would need to have what is…
Time to grab the remote and head back to the couch
Let’s suppose that in between obsessively checking your email and doing some online shopping, you happen across this cool site called Medium. There are all kinds of stories (they’re not articles, they’re stories) about everything under the sun. Looks good to you.
You spend a few minutes browsing about and see stories on making money. Lots of stories on making money. “Hey, I like to make money!” you think to yourself. Let’s dig a little deeper.
You see: How I Make $2,500 a Week on Medium and I Can’t Even Type Cool. There’s more: Five Easy Ways to Write for…
How to give it, take it, and profit from it.
Every person in an organization has a boss. Even the CEO has to report to a Board of Directors. There is no dodging scrutiny. Sooner or later, you are going to receive a performance evaluation. Chances are you are not going to be thrilled with every part of it.
Here is a short story about a guy named Ted. Ted is a middle manager at Acme Widgetworks and has ten widget designers working for him. As their manager, he is responsible for conducting annual performance evaluations.
The time has come to sit down with Brad for his yearly review. These…
The master explains how to keep it simple yet excellent
Ernest Hemingway was authentic. By that, I mean he never put on airs. He remained true to his thoughts, feelings, and beliefs and didn’t care if you agreed with him or not.
This behavior didn’t always serve him well. Papa was known to frequently alienate even his closest friends and family.
The man was extraordinarily gifted. Talent like his can’t be learned; one must be born with it. In Hemingway’s case, talent plus authenticity equaled genius and that combination produced some of the finest literature of the twentieth century.
As a writer, I’m not fit to shine his shoes. But…
Here is what kept America’s leading tough guy out of uniform
One might assume that the “Duke,” an American cinematic icon and star of numerous war movies spanning four decades, would have served in the armed forces. He did not.
At the time of Pearl Harbor, John Wayne was thirty-four years old and his career was beginning to take off. Wayne got his big break in the 1939 hit Stagecoach after toughing out ten years of bit parts.
Hollywood greats join the fight
In contrast, some of Hollywood’s biggest names put their careers on pause to join the war effort. Among them, giants like Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, and Clark Gable.
Gable was forty when he…
