HIGH FIVE’S OF THINKING

1. Find a Place to Think Your Thoughts

If you go to your designated place to think expecting to generate good thoughts, then eventually you will come up with some. Where is the best place to think? Everybody’s different. Some people think best in the shower. Others, like my friend Dick Biggs, like to go to a park. For me, the best places to think are in my car, on planes, and in the spa. Ideas come to me in other places as well, such as when I’m in bed. (I keep a special lighted writing pad on my nightstand for such times.) I believe I often get thoughts because I make it a habit to frequently go to my thinking places. If you want to consistently generate ideas, you need to do the same thing. Find a place where you can think, and plan to capture your thoughts on paper so that you don’t lose them. When

I found a place to think my thoughts, my thoughts found a place in me.

2. Find a Place to Shape Your Thoughts

Rarely do ideas come fully formed and completely worked out. Most of the time, they need to be shaped until they have substance. As my friend Dan Reiland says, they have to “stand the test of clarity and questioning.” During the shaping time, you want to hold an idea up to strong scrutiny. Many times a thought that seemed outstanding late at night looks pretty silly in the light of day. Ask questions about your ideas. Fine tune them. One of the best ways to do that is to put your thoughts in writing. Professor, college president, and U.S. senator S. I. Hayakawa wrote, “Learning to write is learning to think. You don’t know anything clearly unless you can state it in writing.”

As you shape your thoughts, you find out whether an idea has potential. You learn what you have. You also learn some things about yourself. The shaping time thrills me because it embodies:

Humor: The thoughts that don’t work often provide comic relief.

Humility: The moments when I connect with God awe me.

Excitement: I love to play out an idea mentally. (I call it “futuring” it.)

Creativity: In these moments I am unhampered by reality.

Fulfillment: God made me for this process; it uses my greatest gifts and gives me joy.

Honesty: As I turn over an idea in my mind, I discover my true motives.

Passion: When you shape a thought, you find out what you believe and what really counts.

Change: Most of the changes I have made in my life resulted from thorough thinking on a subject. You can shape your thoughts almost anywhere. Just find a place that works for you, where you will be able to write things down, focus your attention without interruptions, and ask questions about your ideas.

3. Find a Place to Stretch Your Thoughts

If you come upon great thoughts and spend time mentally shaping them, don’t think you’re done and can stop there. If you do, you will miss some of the most valuable aspects of the thinking process. You miss bringing others in and expanding ideas to their greatest potential. Earlier in my life, I have to admit, I was often guilty of this error. I wanted to take an idea from seed thought to solution before sharing it with anyone, even the people it would most impact. I did this both at work and at home. But over the years, I have learned that you can go much farther with a team than you can go alone. I’ve found a kind of formula that can help you stretch your thoughts. It says,The Right Thought plus the Right People in the Right Environment at the Right Time for the Right Reason = the Right Result

This combination is hard to beat. Like every person, every thought has the potential to become something great. When you find a place to stretch your thoughts, you find that potential.

4. Find a Place to Land Your Thoughts

Author C. D. Jackson observes that “great ideas need landing gear as well as wings.” Any idea that remains only an idea doesn’t make a great impact. The real power of an idea comes when it goes from abstraction to application. Think about Einstein’s theory of relativity. When he published his theories in 1905 and 1916, they were merely profound ideas. Their real power came with the development of the nuclear reactor in 1942 and the nuclear bomb in 1945. When scientists developed and implemented Einstein’s ideas, the whole world changed. Likewise, if you want your thoughts to make an impact, you need to land them with others so that they can someday be implemented. As you plan for the application phase of the thinking process, land your ideas first

with Yourself: Landing an idea with yourself will give you integrity. People will buy into an idea only after they buy into the leader who communicates it. Before teaching any lesson, I ask myself three questions: “Do I believe it? Do I live it? Do I believe others should live it?” If I can’t answer yes to all three questions, then I haven’t landed it.

Key Players: Let’s face it, no idea will fly if the influencers don’t embrace it. After all, they are the people who carry thoughts from idea to implementation.

Those Most Affected: Landing thoughts with the people on the firing line will give you great insight. Those closest to changes that occur as a result of a new idea can give you a “reality read.” And that’s important, because sometimes even when you’ve diligently completed the process of creating a thought, shaping it, and stretching it with other good thinkers, you can still miss the mark.

5. Find a Place to Fly Your Thoughts

French philosopher Henri-Louis Bergson, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1927, asserted that a person should “think like a man of action—act like a man of thought.” What good is thinking if it has no application in real life? Thinking divorced from actions cannot be productive. Learning how to master the process of thinking well leads you to productive thinking. If you can develop the discipline of good thinking and turn it into a lifetime habit, then you will be successful and productive all of your life. Once you’ve created, shaped, stretched, and landed your thoughts, then flying them can be fun and easy.

ELECTRON THEORY OF ELECTRICITY

Many different theories have been advanced regarding the nature of electricity but no one can just explain what electricity really is. Today is generally accepted the electron theory.

This theory proposes that all matter (earth, rocks, minerals, elements, etc.) consist of tiny particles called molecules. These molecules are made of two or smaller particles called atoms. The atoms are divided further into smaller particles called protons, neutrons and electrons. Protons, neutrons and electrons are the same in all matter like gases liquids or solids. The different properties or characteristics of all these matters are to see according to the arrangement and number of protons, neutrons and electrons to build in the end a specific atom.

The proton has a positive charge of electricity naturally

The electron has a negative charge of electricity naturally.

The neutron has no charge at all, but adds the weight to the matter.

Central core of an atom:

Protons and neutrons form the nucleus (central core) of the atoms. The electrons revolve around the Nucleus

The simplest atom is the hydrogen

atom (see above). It consists of one positive charged proton and one negative charged electron.

Other atoms are much more complicated. For example a copper atom has 29 electrons revolving around the nucleus in four different orbits.

Size of atoms

0,000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 911

To understand the size of an atom is really difficult.

And for an atom let’s use another example.

If we would think the size of a proton from a hydrogen atom could has the size like a football and could be located in Victoria Falls then its orbit would reach from the Atlantic coast of West Africa to the Pacific coast of East Africa. Now think about a piece of copper: 10 mm thick, 10 mm long and 10 mm wide. Such small pieces

mean, atoms and also electrons and protons are extremely small and relatively vast distances separate them. There should be a clear understanding when we speak about the flow of electrons! Insulators and Conductors Insulators

In most of the elements the nucleus is surrounded by closely held electrons that never leave the atom. These are called bound electrons.

If these bound electrons are in the majority in an element or compounded material then the material is called an insulator (non−conductor of electricity).

Conductors

In other types of material the nucleus is surrounded by electrons that can move freely from one atom to another one if they are forced by applied electricity.

These electrons are known as free electrons. Materials made with these atoms are called conductors of electricity.

MUSE ONE A MOONBEAM

Twinkle you don’t

but glow you do

not yellow not white

through my window.

Half the month I see you

riding above my maple

and I mostly ignore you

because you’re steady

and I’m busy with trivia.

I file you under L

for later.

Since muses unused dry up

in the dark of the moon

(or so some poets fear),

tonight I welcome your light

as a loving underflow

beneath my busy overflow.

Tuning into your glow

far beyond the maple

yet as near as here,

I let my writing listen.

UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN

Fighting among  young children

Constant fighting, put downs, and arguing among children cause

frustration and concern in most parents. Although sibling rivalry

can have several reasons, brothers and sisters often fight to get the

attention of parents or to show power or superiority over another child.

Some bickering is normal among brothers and sisters. Constant

arguing, fighting, and creating potentially dangerous situations,

however, are not normal. The following are some ideas to help

reduce your frustration over quarrelsome siblings and lessen the

fighting too?.

Let siblings express their feelings about each other

When children complain about each other, parents often try to talk

them out of their feelings. (“You shouldn’t be mad at your sister,” or

“Stop complaining. He’s the only brother you have.”)

Instead, acknowledge their anger or frustration. Let your children

know that you understand their anger. That can help them feel better

and even treat another child better. Use this as a tool to lessen sibling

rivalry in several ways. Identify the angry child’s feelings with words,

(“You sound furious! You wish he’d ask before using your things.”)

 and suggest symbolic or creative activity (“Would you like to draw

a picture of how mad you feel?”).

You may be surprised at how quickly the anger disappears when

you let your children know that you’re aware of, and understand

their frustration.?

DONT COMPARE YOUR CHILDREN

It’s natural for parents to notice that one child is more cooperative or

better behaved in some ways than another child in the same family.

Comparing siblings, however, does not encourage better behavior, but

intensifies jealousy and envy. It also is likely that the child you compare

unfavorably may want to get even with the child you praise.

Instead of comparing one child unfavorably to another, comment

only on the behavior that displeases you. (“I see a brand new jacket on

the floor. That bothers me. This?  jacket belongs in the closet.” instead

of “Why can’t you hang up your clothes like your brother?”)

Also, avoid praising one child at the other's expense. (“You’re sure

better at picking up your toys than your brother.”) The child you're

praising may feel sorry for the sibling you are criticizing or the

child may feel superior and look down on the other child.

Sherry and John have 3 children —

Mark, 6, Julie, 4, and Todd, 1. Sherry,in her concern for Julie as “the middle

child,” got in the habit of pointing out Julie’s good behavior to Mark. For

instance, she would say, “Mark, look how Julie is cleaning up her plate. See if you

can finish your dinner, too.” One day when Sherry asked the kids to pick up

toys, she heard Mark say to Julie, “I’m not going to pick up anything

.You’re  the one who does everything right.” ?  Sherry then made a commitment to

stop comparing Mark to Julie. The next day when she saw Julie hanging up her

jacket and Mark dropping his on the floor, she resisted the urge to compare

the children and said to Mark, “I see a coat on the floor that needs hanging up?.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Mergers and acquisitions are the most popular means of corporate 

restructuring or business combinations in comparison to amalgamation, 

takeovers, spin-offs, leverage buy-outs, buy-back of shares,

 capital reorganisation, sale of business units and assets etc. Corporate 

restructuring refers to the changes in ownership, business mix, assets 

mix and alliances with a motive to increase the value of shareholders. To 

achieve the objective of wealth maximisation, a company should ?

 continuously evaluate its portfolio of business, capital mix, ownership

and assets arrangements to find out opportunities for increasing the

wealth of shareholders. There is a great deal of confusion and

disagreement regarding the precise meaning of terms relating to the

business combinations, i.e. mergers, acquisition, take-over,

amalgamation and consolidation. Although the economic considerations

in terms of motives and effect of business combinations are similar but

the legal procedures involved are different. The mergers/amalgamations

of corporates constitute a subject-matter of the Companies Act and the

acquisition/takeover fall under the purview of the Security and Exchange

Board of India (SEBI) and the stock exchange listing agreements.

A merger/amalgamation refers to a combination of two or more

companies into one company. One or more companies may merge with

an existing company or they may merge to form a new company. Laws in

India use the term amalgamation for merger for example, Section 2 (IA) of

the Income Tax Act, 1961 defines amalgamation as the merger of one or

more companies (called amalgamating company or companies) with

another company (called amalgamated company) or the merger of two or

more companies to form a new company in such a way that all assets

and liabilities of the amalgamating company or companies become assets 

and liabilities of the amalgamated company and shareholders holding not

less than nine-tenths in value of the shares in the amalgamating

company or companies become shareholders of the amalgamated

company. After this, the term merger and acquisition will be used

interchangeably. Merger or amalgamation may take two forms: merger

through absorption, merger through consolidation. Absorption is a

combination of two or more companies into an existing company. All

companies except one lose their identity in a merger through absorption.

For example, absorption of Tata Fertilisers Ltd. (TFL) by Tata Chemical

Limited (TCL). Consolidation is a combination of two or more companies

Into a new company. In this form of merger, all companies are legally ?.

dissolved and new company is created for example Hindustan Computers

Ltd., Hindustan Instruments Limited, Indian Software Company Limited

and Indian Reprographics Ltd. Lost their existence and create a new

entity HCL Limited.

Types of Mergers

Mergers may be classified into the following three types- (i)

horizontal, (ii) vertical and (iii) conglomerate.

Horizontal Merger

Horizontal merger takes place when two or more corporate firms

dealing in similar lines of activities combine together. For example,

merger of two publishers or two luggage manufacturing companies.

Elimination or reduction in competition, putting an end to price cutting,

economies of scale in production, research and development, marketing

and management are the often cited motives underlying such mergers.

Vertical Merger

Vertical merger is a combination of two or more firms involved in 

different stages of production or distribution. For example, joining of a

spinning company and weaving company. Vertical merger may be

forward or backward merger. When a company combines with the

supplier of material, it is called backward merger and when it combines

with the customer, it is known as forward merger. The main advantages

of such mergers are lower buying cost of materials, lower distribution

costs, assured supplies and market, increasing or creating barriers to

entry for competitors etc.

Conglomerate merger :

Conglomerate merger is a combination in which a firm in one 

industry combines with a firm from an unrelated industry. A typical 

example is merging of different businesses like manufacturing of cement 

products, fertilisers products, electronic products, insurance investment 

and advertising agencies. Voltas Ltd. is an example of a conglomerate 

company. Diversification of risk constitutes the rationale for such 

mergers. 

MEASUREMENT SYSTEM ANALYSIS

Qualification of a measurement system for use by quantifying its accuracy, precision, and stability

–Understand the quality characteristics of measurement

–Understand the method for establishing measurement capability

–Define the requirements of the measurement system

The Qualities of Measurement

Resolution

•Accuracy (Bias)

•Linearity

•Repeatability

•Reproducibility

•Stability

Resolution is the incremental ability of a measurement system to discriminate between measurement values. The measurement system should have a minimum of 20 measurement increments within the product tolerance (e.g, for a full tolerance of 1, minimum resolution is .05)

Accuracy—or bias—is a measure of the distance between the average value of the measurement of a part and the True, certified, or assigned value of a part.

Linearity   is the consistency of accuracy (bias)over the range of measurement; a slope of one (unity) between measured and true value is perfect.

Repeatability   is the consistency of a single appraiser to measure the same part multiple times with the same measurement system; it is related to the standard deviation of the measured values.

Reproducibility is the consistency of different appraisers in measuring the same part with the same measurement system; it is related to standard deviation of the distribution of appraiser averages.Stability is the ability of a measurement system to produce the same values over time when measuring the same sample As with statistical process control charts, stability means the absence of “Special Cause Variation” which is indicated by an “in control” condition, leaving only "Common Cause” or random variation.

   Generally, precision is the principle concern; inaccuracy due to linearity or constant            bias can typically be corrected through calibration•

  Measurement Error is the statistical summing of the error generated by Repeatability(the     variation within an appraiser) and Reproducibility (the variation between appraisers)–            σerror= √(σ repeability)2+ (σ reproducibility)2

•Total Measurement Error spans the interval that contains 99% of probable  measurement values from a measurement system, using a single part–Total  Measurement Error = 5.15 * σerror• Measurement system precision is defined by  the Precision/Tolerance Ratio, the ratio between Total Measurement Error and    the part tolerance–P/T Ratio = 5.15 * σerror/ (Upper Spec Limit –Lower Spec Limit)

Error Independence is defined by the lack of a relationship between measurement error and the measurement value; error generated by the measurement process should be independent of the measured value

•Stability is defined by the randomness of the measurement error; purely random measurement error is evidence of good stability

•Linearity is defined by the slope of measured value vs. true value; a slope of 1 (a 1:1 relationship) is perfect

•Bias Offset is defined by the average difference between the measured value and the true value at the specification target; a value of zero is perfect

–The combination Bias Offset and Linearity define the amount of systematic measurement error across the entire measurement range; they are typically corrected through calibration