Try hard but not too hard-cutting yourself some slack improves health and concentration, the Andy Grove principle for slack in your work routine reinforces this

09/15/2023

People forget that this applies to sports athletes and high achieving people. Andy Grove, founder of Intel and of Silicon Valley, believed in keeping some slack in his work routine and schedule. He left Hungary in 1956 after the Hungarian revolution and Russian invasion as a refugee, and graduated first in his class in the City College of New York in chemical engineering 3 years later. In 3 more years he obtained a PhD from UC Berkeley. In his book Output Management he says productive arrangement is one that keeps slack in the way that highway planners know that having too many cars compared to capacity means everything comes to a halt. In his daily work he always believed in having some slack. Today people pile on work upon work forgetting these basic principles. The other principle is leveraging of activities which is where the output comes from. To leverage effectively concentration of mind is needed and a chance to reflect and think, which requires slack and slack that adds additional time for healthy living that aids mindfulness. This adds to Motivation and Training which Grove says affect Output. To do this requires some slack to think and reflect and healthy lifestyles that power this process. This is also why the competing styles today show contrasts between those of Boeing's top managers and Stellantis managers similar to Grove and Musk's style for Tesla also shown in WSJ in the last few months being just the opposite.

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Burnt-out from work? Try following Hugh Jackman’s 85% rule

The Guardian 09/15/2023

WSJ 09/11/2023

Rachel Feintzeig

The failure of the U.S., UK, Canada and Australia to take in refugees from war torn Syria and other parts of North Africa- 1500 for U.S. , 166 for UK, 800,000 for Germany

09/04/2015

Ignatieff of the Kennedy School and Kristof of the NYT say the inaction of Obama, Cameron, Harper and Abbott, is deplorable considering the gap between the 800,000 Merkel and the German people have openly welcomed and the 1500 the U.S. has accepted, and 166 the UK has taken in. There is hardly any mention of the issue by the leaders of the U.S. and Canada in September 2015, even as the global media has covered this daily. In Hungary the Orban government faile to remember the Hungarian uprising of 1956 and the violent crackdown by the Soviets, leading to a wave of refugees reaching other parts of Europe and the U.S.

Linked Articles

Refugees Who Could Be Us

New York Times 09/04/2015

Nicholas Kristof, Nicholas, Kristof

New York Times 09/05/2015

Michael Ignatieff, Michael, Ignatieff

Andy Grove of Intel and a reminder about Silicon Valley's role now missing role as a serious innovator and job creator at home

07/01/2010

Andy Grove reminded Silicon Valley about the dangers of forgetting manufacturing's important role in the U.S. in 2010. This is even more true today with the working class lagging behind in this recovery. He asked at the time what kind of society are we creating with professionally employed workers and lots of unemployed. It reminded him of 1932 with troops holding bayonets facing unemployed people outside the White House, and of his days in Hungary in the 1956 uprising. Grove also called for serious innovation which he did not see happening at the time in Silicon Valley.

Linked Articles

Andy Grove’s Warning to Silicon Valley

New York Times 03/25/2016

Teresa Tritch, Teresa, Tritch

BusinessWeek 07/01/2010

Andy Grove, Andy, Grove

Child hunger in India and India's Food Security legislation in August 2013

03/13/2009

Food expert Rieff cites figures showing child malnutrition at over 40% in India for children under the age of 5 in 2009. A World Food Program report says 230 million people in India are hungry each year. India's Food Security legilation has to be seen in this context. Rieff says India is in danger of losing its demographic dividend as a result of child malnutrition. All developing countries can learn from each other and their programs to reduce child malnutrition, improve health care and vaccinations, and introduce healthy food and sanitary practices. Programs are in place in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, India, and China.

Linked Articles

As Indian Growth Soars, Child Hunger Persists

New York Times 03/13/2009

Somini Sengupta, Somini, Sengupta

Wall Street Journal 08/26/2013

Biman Mukherji, Biman, Mukherji, Niharika Mandhana, Niharika, Mandhana