Every project consists of a sequence of actions in pursuit of a particular goal.

While the goal is the entire purpose for the project, progress is only made by completing the actions.

A primary challenge with respect to the actions is that the most important actions are not always the most pleasant.

Some actions are more influential than others; minimal advancement and magnificent completion are frequently only differentiated by slight alterations in actions performed.

Important actions are ones that propel the project toward the final goal. They are the only ones that matter.

The challenge, of course, is to avoid being distracted by intriguing possibilities long enough to complete significant tasks.

Google announced the Google Apps Marketplace today.

It offers web applications that integrate directly with Google Apps.

The new platform makes a number of new data integrations possible.

The Google blog has an official announcement and an introductory video:

For most people living in North America or Europe, almost all conceivable information is readily available.

The Internet, printed publications, and public libraries provide intellectual treasurers to all who are curious.

This is wonderful, but more information is not always better information. Availability of material can decrease competence when it is not actionable. Publication is infinite, but cognition is very limited.

Publishers (all communicators, and therefore all humans) must differentiate themselves from the mass of alternative material by providing a unique and appealing experience. What is your differentiating factor?

The book Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices by Thomas Brooks contains this word to the reader:

Dear Friend!

Solomon bids us buy the truth (Prov. 23:23), but doth not tell us what it must cost, because we must get it through it be never so dear. We must love it both shining and scorching. Every parcel of truth is precious as the fillings of gold; we must either live with it, or die for it. As Ruth said to Naomi, “Whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge, and nothing but death shall part thee and me” (Ruth 1:16,17); so must gracious spirits say, Where truth goes I will go, and were truth lodges I will lodge, and nothing but death shall part me and truth. A man may lawfully sell his house, land and jewels, but truth is a jewel that exceeds all price, and must not be sold; it is our heritage: “Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever” (Ps. 119:111). It is a legacy that our forefathers have bought us with their bloods, which should make us willing to lay down anything, and to lay out anything, that we may, with the wise merchant in the Gospel (Matt. 13:45), purchase this precious pearl, which is more worth than heaven and earth, and which will make a man live happily, die comfortably, and reign eternally.

And now, if thous pleasest, read the work, and receive this counsel from me.

First, Thou must know that every man cannot be excellent, that yet may be useful. An iron key may unlock the door of a golden treasure, yea, iron can do somethings that gold cannot.

Secondly, Remember, it is not hasty reading, but serious  meditating upon holy and heavenly truths, that make them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the bee’s touching of the flower that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time upon the flower that draws out the sweet. It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most, that will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian.

Thirdly, Know that it is not the doing, nor the talking, nor the reading man, but the doing man, that at last will be found the happiest man. “If you know these things, blessed and happy are you if you do them.” “Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father that is in heaven” (John 13:17, Matt. 7:21). Judas called Christ Lord, Lord, and yet betrayed him, and is gone to his place. Ah! how many Judases have we in these days, that kiss Christ, and yet betray Christ; that in their words profess him, but in their works deny him; that bow their knee to him, and yet in their hearts despise him; that call him Jesus, and yet will not obey him for their Lord.

Reader, If it be  not strong upon thy heart to practise what thou readest, to what end dost thou read? To increase thine own condemnation? If thy light and knowledge be not turned into practice, the more knowing thou art, the more miserable man thou wilt be in the day of recompense; thy light and knowledge will more torment thee than all the devils in hell. Thy knowledge will be that rod that will eternally lash thee, and that scorpion that will for ever bite thee, and that worm that will everlastingly gnaw thee; therefore read, and labour to know, that thou mayest do, or else thou art undone for ever. When Demosthenes was asked, what was the first part of an orator, what the second, what the third? he answered, Action; the same may I say. If any should ask me, what is the first, the second, the third part of a Christian? I must answer, Action; as that man that reads that he may know, and that labours to know that he may do, will have two heavens – a heaven of joy, peace and comfort on earth, and a heaven of glory and happiness after death.

Fourthly and lastly, If in thy reading thou wilt cast a serious eye upon the margent, thou wilt find many sweet and precious notes, that will oftentimes give light to the things thou readest, and pay thee for thy pains with much comfort and profit. So desiring that thou mayest find as much sweetness and advantage in reading this Treatise as I have found, by the overshadowings of heaven, in the studying and writing of it, I recommend thee “to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build thee up, and to give thee an inheritance among them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). And rest, reader,

Thy soul’s servant in every office of the gospel,

Thomas Brooks

The following footage comes from a BBC TV series called “Fun to Imagine.”

I found it through the TED website.

The material is fascinating and I highly recommend watching and learning:

I had a piano lesson with a visiting pianist who regularly returns to Tulsa, having formerly taught at the University of Tulsa.

I performed two Chopin etudes for him and was given constructive criticism, for which I am grateful.

The lesson took an unexpected turn when the instructor asked me to play another piece for him, so I used the opportunity to receive comments on a third Chopin etude.

Unanticipated opportunities to learn are always helpful.

Here are four performances of a violin composition I plan to perform again later this month:

Isaac Stern:

Itzhak Perlman:

Shlomo Mintz:

Zino Francescatti:

Academic Earth provides free online lectures from leading universities.

Courses are available from these universities:

• Berkeley
• Columbia
• Harvard
• Michigan
• MIT
• NYU
• Princeton
• Stanford
• UCLA
• Yale

I am particularly pleased to see Computer Science courses from Berkeley, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford.

The lectures are excellent (or, at least the ones I have seen). There is now no reason for anyone not to be exposed to material from top universities.

Knowledge is a wonderful thing. It permits increased insight. It fosters informed discussion and collaboration. It empowers tremendous advancements. It solves many problems.

For all of its excellence, however, knowledge can also be problematic. It can reveal dearly held notions to be incorrect. It can foster an unwholesome sense of pride and arrogance. It does not automatically lead to appropriate action.

Two Misconceptions of Knowledge

Because knowledge is such an important matter, we tend to have opinions on it. Alas, we can easily adopt one of two opposite and equally erroneous positions:

1. Knowledge is Everything

This is problematic because knowledge is not the same as action. Knowledge in itself does not cause a person to improve. Knowledge does provide the potential for improvement. The value of knowledge is based not so much on its intrinsic quality as it is on the discernment of the one who has it.

2. Knowledge is Irrelevant

Academic disciplines can seem to be abstract and obscure. Many concepts can seem arcane and therefore of limited utility. The problem with presuming knowledge to be useless unless proven otherwise is twofold. First, it fails to take into account that one’s competence is the result of the sum total of that person’s knowledge and experience. To limit either factor on the basis of present presumptions of future usefulness is highly unwise. Second, it treats knowledge as an undesirable thing. Natural ignorance can be remedied; willful ignorance is inexcusable.

I propose that the question “Will you use what you are learning?” be always replaced with “What are you learning, and how do you plan to enable yourself to use it?”

Two Propositions on Knowledge

The problems of perspectives considering knowledge to be of quintessential importance on the one hand or useless on the other hand must not lead to the abandonment of the topic. Rather, improved presuppositions on knowledge should be embraced:

1. Knowledge is Important, not Ultimate

The complete body of one’s knowledge and experience determines one’s productivity and accomplishment. To artificially limit one or the other is to suffocate achievement. The ideal end of knowledge is improvement, but some results of knowledge are difficult to ascertain. Scientific research, for example, regularly requires the pursuit of a tremendous amount of theoretical discipline before the realization of tangible results. Learners should not expect knowledge to be ultimate, for it is only a tool for realizing desirable ends.

2. Only Applied Knowledge is True Knowledge

It is easy to presume conceptual mastery of a topic, but one is only able to truly measure one’s knowledge of a topic when one is forced to draw upon that knowledge outside of the controlled environment of personal study. An ounce of experience may be worth a pound of theory, but the theory is still necessary. True learners do not limit themselves to a narrow range of topics they assume they will need in the future; they recognize deficiencies and vigorously attack them, perpetually decreasing the level of their monumental incompetence, so that they might be only marginally incompetent rather than grossly incompetent.

2010 is in its third month.

• What is your progress on your yearly goals?
• If you were setting new goals for this month (and you should), what would they be?
• Have meaningful contributions been added to your learning this year?
• How will the last month of the first quarter be different from the first two?
• Have you embraced risky new challenges, or are you too comfortable?
• What books have you read thus far?

While I have not read as much as I would like to read, I have enjoyed these books (among others) in 2010. They are listed in no particular order:

• Escape from Cubicle Nation
• The Checklist Manifesto
• Drive
• The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated
• Linchpin
• Switch
• Basic Economics