"My aircraft," said Chesley Sullenberger at a crucial moment in the drama that was the emergency landing of U.S. Air Flight 1549 in January 2009. These two little words have more meaning than you might think. First of all, they were mandated. In an emergency situation aviation regulations and protocols require the pilot and co-pilot to announce this statement to each other. It's the captain's … [Read more...]
October 20, 2010 by
October 20, 2010 by
It's easy to overlook the profoundness of the Peyton Manning Question. You might think it's just a matter of knowing what you're good at doing. Or what you're talented at doing. Or what you're extremely, unbelievably, and incredibly great at doing (with Manning, I think this is a little closer to the target). Here's what I embed in the PMQ. I urge you to consider doing the same. Five things: 1. … [Read more...]
October 20, 2010 by
This is a two-part post. It's about finding your calling and building a business around it. If you like this post, look for the second one on Peyton Manning and me. Let's begin with the Peyton Manning question. Back around 2001, I was feeling uneasy about my work, my job. I earned a lot of money, worked with great and good people, and more often than not participated in projects that were unique … [Read more...]
October 18, 2010 by
Someone sent me an email about a request for proposal (RFP) that he thought would interest me. It was a kind gesture. I glanced at the rfp and decided not to pursue it. End of story. But not really. It now strikes me that this could be useful to you. Here's why. The rfp was for an organization seeking historical research. They wanted to contract with a vendor to provide this service. For a brief … [Read more...]
October 14, 2010 by
Here is a sign to look for in determining if you place too much emphasis on precedent in your understanding of history. The sign is about repetition, exactitude, and using history. Some people insist that history can only be useful in the present and future if the historical point in question is exactly replicated. They believe that if some details are different between then and now, it … [Read more...]
October 14, 2010 by
You know what a precedent is--it's a discrete event, action, or happening that has occurred before and which has occurred again in present time. You read a newspaper or hang out on a current-events website and you'll find a reference to precedents. They're not clearly or directly labeled as such but they're there. Whatever you can think of in today's world and your life right now, there's a … [Read more...]
October 11, 2010 by
Personally, I've had an effect from the development of my module on Abraham Lincoln and the One-Armed Man. It's fundamentally changed the way I perceive the Gettysburg Address. All the way up to the point of several weeks ago, I simply thought of the Gettysburg Address as a national historical moment. It was a point on the timeline of the nation's Civil War, albeit one of enormous significance and … [Read more...]
October 11, 2010 by
It was extraordinary, something I'll remember for quite a while. A couple of weeks ago I was sitting at home, on a weekend I think. I was reading (something historical would be a good guess). As I read, for some unknown reason, a memory of a smell flashed in my mind. At the very same instant--probably no more than a second in length--I had a clear recollection of a place and event long ago in my … [Read more...]
