When Office Technology Overwhelms, Get Organized; New York Times, 3/17/12

David Allen, New York Times; When Office Technology Overwhelms, Get Organized:

"As Dr. Nicolas von Rosty, head of executive development at Siemens, once told me, “You must be able to be present, not distracted, to be able to trust your inner wisdom and make quick decisions without others’ input or waiting for perfection.”

How do you find the space needed to do that? By integrating all the chaos of the workplace and staying focused on the most important things, as they relate to your goals, direction, values and desired outcomes. You must constantly recalibrate your resources to generate the best results, and to say “not now” to what’s less important.

WE are not born doing this. It’s a focus that must be learned. And its results won’t show up by themselves. You can, however, use a sequence of five events to optimize your focus and resources, whether you’re trying to get it together in your kitchen, your conversation, your contract, your company or your country."

[Op-Ed] Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs; New York Times, 3/14/12

[Op-Ed] Greg Smith, New York Times; Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs:

"How did we get here? The firm changed the way it thought about leadership. Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence.

What are three quick ways to become a leader? a) Execute on the firm’s “axes,” which is Goldman-speak for persuading your clients to invest in the stocks or other products that we are trying to get rid of because they are not seen as having a lot of potential profit. b) “Hunt Elephants.” In English: get your clients — some of whom are sophisticated, and some of whom aren’t — to trade whatever will bring the biggest profit to Goldman. Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t like selling my clients a product that is wrong for them. c) Find yourself sitting in a seat where your job is to trade any illiquid, opaque product with a three-letter acronym."

Carnegie Library earns good rating in national study; Pittsburgh Post-Gaazette, 3/8/12

Sally Kalson, Pittsburgh Post-Gaazette; Carnegie Library earns good rating in national study:

"A weak economy has turned urban libraries such as Pittsburgh's into quasi-community centers, filling in as "default providers" of free computer access for job seekers, health information and government services.

That's according to a study released Wednesday by the Pew Charitable Trusts that looked at 15 metropolitan libraries across the country."

Carnegie Library in Braddock named historic landmark; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/12/12

Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Carnegie Library in Braddock named historic landmark:

"Being named to the National Register of Historic Places is an honor for more than 80,000 sites, but National Historic Landmarks are among the elite 2,500.

Braddock's Carnegie Library is now in that company. The U.S. Department of Interior last week conferred on Andrew Carnegie's first American library the status of national landmark."