Ms. Patti said Hello from FL

Patti/Thanksgiving in Florida at her church

Gratitude to Patti for this wonderful picture. It seems Ms Patti seamlessly blends in in the tropical state with joy and happiness. The WOW Reading Club is her group and we all missed Ms. Patti and her generosity.
Keep in touch, Ms. Patti.

November Read/2

Title: The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!
Author: Ries, Al; Trout, Jack
Call Number: 658.8 R559T 1993
Subjects: Marketing
Book Description from amazon:

There are laws of nature, so why shouldn't there be laws of marketing?

As Al Ries and Jack Trout—the world-renowned marketing consultants and bestselling authors ofPositioning—note, you can build an impressive airplane, but it will never leave the ground if you ignore the laws of physics, especially gravity. Why then, they ask, shouldn't there also be laws of marketing that must be followed to launch and maintain winning brands? In The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Ries and Trout offer a compendium of twenty-two innovative rules for understanding and succeeding in the international marketplace. From the Law of Leadership, to The Law of the Category, to The Law of the Mind, these valuable insights stand the test of time and present a clear path to successful products. Violate them at your own risk.

My Read:
The 22 laws are:
1. The law of leadership-It's better to be first than it is to be better
2. The law of the category-If you can't be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in
3. The law of the mind-It's better t be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace
4. The law of perception- Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perception
5. The law of focus-The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect's mind
6. The law of exclusivity- Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect's mind
7. The law of the ladder-The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder
8. The law of duality-In the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race
9. The law of the opposite-If you're shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the leader
10.-The law of division-Over time, a category will divide and become two or more categories
11. -The law of perspective-Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time
12. -The law of line extension-There's an irresistible pressure to extend the equity of the brand
13.-The law of sacrifice-You have to give up something in order to get something
14. -The law of attributes-For every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute
15. -The law of candor-When you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive
16.- The law of singularity-In each situation, only one move will produce substantial results
17. -The law of unpredictability-Unless you write your competitors' plans, you can't predict the future
18. -The law of success-Success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance to failure
19. -The law of failure-Failure is to be expected and accepted
20. -The law of hype-The situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press
21.-The law of acceleration-Successful programs are not built on fads, they're built on trends
22. -The law of resources-Without adequate funding an idea won't get off the ground

November Read

Title: The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the Third Millennium

Author: Csikszentamihalyi, Mihaly

Call Number: 155.7 C 958E 1993

Subjects: Genetic Psychology; Behavior Evolution

Book Description: From Publishers Weekly

In this wise, humane inquiry, Csikszentmihalyi ( Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience ) argues that genetically programmed behaviors that once helped humans adapt and multiply now threaten our survival. These traits include obsessions with food and sex, addiction to pleasure, excessive rationality and a tendency to focus on the negative. A University of Chicago psychology professor, the author also believes we must free our minds of cultural illusions such as ethnocentric superiority or identification with one's possessions. He urges readers to find ways to reduce the oppression, exploitation and inequality that are woven into the fabric of society. Further, he wants us to control the direction of human evolution by pursuing challenging activities that lead to greater complexity while opposting chaos and conformity. Each chapter concludes with self-help questions and mental exercises designed to help readers apply the insights of this literate manifesto to their daily lives.

My Read:

    The following is the one I found pretty interesting from page 292:

“Strange as it may seem, life becomes serene and enjoyable precisely when selfish pleasure and personal success are no longer the guiding goals. When the self loses in a transcendent purpose, it becomes largely invulnerable to the fears and setbacks of ordinary existence. Psychic energy becomes focused on goals that are meaningful, the advance order and complexity, that will continue to have an effect in the consciousness of new generations long after our departure from this world, even after we are long forgotten.”

The WOW Family Is Definitely GROWINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Chez Ms. Kayla/11-16-15

At Ms. Kayla's/11-16-15

I felt grateful and proud at the same time as I was watching the pictures and the faces of each member's. We were informed that 3 "new members" will join the family this coming year of 2016. Is it wonderful?
Thank you my dear family members for inviting me to have lunch with you all.

Next Stage/October 27, 2015 A Tuesday

October 25, 2015, a Sunday, is my last day at the branch in which I began my library career. The branch is my root where I discovered what I would like to do and do what I would like. It's the place I found my new self. Eight years, since January 17, 2007 I have spent my golden waking hours collecting, sorting, shelving, shelf-reading, weeding library materials. Then later years I served as an adult librarian; answering reference questions, giving information, running programs, etc. During those learning years, I have acquired friends whom, some, I call "mom." Patrons become my dear friends and one became my colleague. The place provided me a training and learning ground but it's the people who grew and nurtured me. Million of thank-you to my precious patrons.
The attached pictures came from my new branch.; I reported to the new branch October 27, 2015, a Tuesday. As you can see we are getting ready for the grand opening day. Everyday I walked in, I touched the books, and I felt I am filling in my energy and passion into the new branch. I am going to live in with my best friend in the library: the library collections. People come and go. Assignments changed. But Collections are always there. They may come in and get out with good reasons. But they will be there all the time as I get to work. My best friend will listen to me, talk to me, and give me comfort when I am in need of such.
Over the years, I have learned precious lessons from my mentor: to always serve the public, and be positive.
It's the latter one that changed me and gave me a new life. Instead of saying challenge I see opportunity.
Now I left my root, it means that I graduated from kindergarten and look forward to being a first grader.
It's a new page I am going to write as a librarian, a real one.
The following are my guidelines and motto:
五十知天命
修身養性
真善美
養氣
靜

October Read/8

Title: The Road to Character

Author: Brooks, David

Call Number: 170.44 B873R 2015

Subjects: Character; Virtues; Humility

Book Description from amazon:

            “I wrote this book not sure I could follow the road to character, but I wanted at least to know what the road looks like and how other people have trodden it.”—David Brooks
 
With the wisdom, humor, curiosity, and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous bestsellers, David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways. In The Social Animal, he explored the neuroscience of human connection and how we can flourish together. Now, in The Road to Character, he focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives. Responding to what he calls the culture of the Big Me, which emphasizes external success, Brooks challenges us, and himself, to rebalance the scales between our “résumé virtues”—achieving wealth, fame, and status—and our “eulogy virtues,” those that exist at the core of our being: kindness, bravery, honesty, or faithfulness, focusing on what kind of relationships we have formed.
 
Looking to some of the world’s greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, Brooks explores how, through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations, they have built a strong inner character. Labor activist Frances Perkins understood the need to suppress parts of herself so that she could be an instrument in a larger cause. Dwight Eisenhower organized his life not around impulsive self-expression but considered self-restraint. Dorothy Day, a devout Catholic convert and champion of the poor, learned as a young woman the vocabulary of simplicity and surrender. Civil rights pioneers A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin learned reticence and the logic of self-discipline, the need to distrust oneself even while waging a noble crusade.
 
Blending psychology, politics, spirituality, and confessional, The Road to Character provides an opportunity for us to rethink our priorities, and strive to build rich inner lives marked by humility and moral depth.
 
“Joy,” David Brooks writes, “is a byproduct experienced by people who are aiming for something else. But it comes.”

My Read:

            I didn’t have time to finish the whole book so I took the author’s advice to skip to the end and read the last chapter titled “The Big Me.” In the last chapter the author has a list of statements under the title “Humility Code.” I enjoyed reading the list. But the part I read more than once came from the introduction of the book. Here are the highlights:

            “Occasionally, even today, you come across certain people who seem to possess an impressive inner cohesion. They are not leading fragmented, scattershot lives. They have achieved inner integration. They are calm, settled, and rooted. They are not blown off course by storms. They don’t crumble in adversity. Their minds are consistent and their hearts are dependable. Their virtues are not the blooming virtues you see in smart college students; they are the ripening virtues you see in people who have lived a little and have learned from joy and pain (page xvi).

            Sometimes you don’t even notice these people, because while they seem kind and cheerful, they are also reserved. They possess the self-effacing virtues of people who are inclined to be useful but don’t need to prove anything to the world: humility, restraint, reticence, temperance, respect, and soft self-discipline.(page Xvi)

            They radiate a sort of moral joy. They answer softly when challenged harshly. They are silent when unfairly abused. They are dignified when others try to humiliate them, restrained when others try to provoke them. But they get things done. They perform acts of sacrificial service with the same modest everyday spirit they would display if they were just getting the groceries.  They are not thinking about what impressive work they are doing. They are not thinking about themselves at all. They just seem delighted by the flawed people around them. They just recognize what needs doing and they do it.(page Xvi)

            They make you feel funnier and smarter when you speak with them…

            These are the people who have built a strong inner character, who have achieved a certain depth. In these people, at the end of this struggle, the climb to success has surrendered to the struggle to deepen the soul. (page Xvii)”

            I found the “Humility Code” served well at self-reflection moment.

The elements listed in the list serve well as checkpoints. 

           There are very few people I consider "close best friends" own a strong inner character, the one the author points out in his book. It's a privilege to walk on this planet with them around me. It's almost like a live and living shield I wear to fight against adversity and negative forces. Millions of thanks I have owed to this finest group of people. Thank you all.

October Read/7

Title: Prediction Success
Author: Lahey, David
Call Number: 658.3 L183p 2014
Subjects: Personnel management; success in business; employee selection
Book Description from amazon:
     Make the right hires every time, with an analytical approach to talent

Predicting Success is a practical guide to finding the perfect member for your team. By applying the principles and tools of human analytics to the workplace, you'll avoid bad culture fits, mismatched skillsets, entitled workers, and other hiring missteps that drain the team of productivity and morale. This book provides guidance toward implementing tools like the Predictive Index®, behavior analytics, hiring assessments, and other practical resources to build your best team and achieve the best outcomes. Written by a human analytics specialist who applies these principles daily, this book is the manager's guide to aligning people with business strategy to find the exact person your team is missing.

An avalanche of research describes an evolving business landscape that will soon be populated by workers in jobs that don't fit. This is bad news for both the workers and the companies, as bad hires affect outcomes on the individual and organizational level, and can potentially hinder progress long after the situation has been rectified. Predicting Success is a guide to avoiding that by integrating analytical tools into the hiring process from the start.

• Hire without the worry of mismatched expectations
• Apply practical analytics tools to the hiring process
• Build the right team and avoid disconnected or dissatisfied workers
• Stop seeing candidates as "chances," and start seeing them as opportunities

Analytics has proved to be integral in the finance, tech, marketing, and banking industries, but when applied to talent acquisition, it can build the team that takes the company to the next level. If the future will be full of unhappy workers in underperforming companies, getting out from under that weight ahead of time would confer a major advantage. Predicting Success provides evidence-based strategies that help you find precisely the talent you need.