Posts

Incentives Don’t Help People Change, but Peer Pressure Does

Image
What motivates people to change the way they work? When organizations introduce new processes or systems, or when they want to stimulate performance for certain business practices, they often assemble dedicated task forces, assign them specific goals, and identify deadlines and financial rewards. But once the initiative is completed and the bonus cashed, a question always arises: will behaviors and business practices stick around, or will people drift back to their old ways of working? In a recent study conducted in a California hospital, I found that that the type of incentive matters. In particular, peer pressure appears to go a longer way than money does.

When Your Happiness Stands In The Way...

Image
"Pursue your happiness, nothing matters more!" This is the most soul lifting - and selfish - sentence that has spread across the cyber space. Even motivational speakers have adopted this meme. They tell you that nothing else matters except your happiness. Well, being happy is a good thing. In fact, everyone owes themselves a duty to always live in this state. But pursuing happiness at all cost? Now, this is creepy. When you get to a stage in life where nothing matters to you; where you can do anything to satisfy yourself in order to be happy,  then I can tell you that you are a time bomb waiting to explode! And there is a name for it - SELFISHNESS!

Prolific Writer, John Grisham, Reveals Cover of New Thriller.

Image
Just last month, the insanely prolific John Grisham announced that he will publish a brand new thriller, Camino Island, this summer. Camino Island follows a young novelist in search of a story, a popular Florida bookseller who deals rare books (and occasionally dabbles in the literary black market), and a collection of rare F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts—insured for $25 million—stolen from Princeton University.

Combating Disease With Data Analytics

Image
South Africa has a high burden of Tuberculosis (TB). In addition, there is a rise of Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) that has mutated to survive the drugs typically used to treat regular TB. The cases of MDR-TB rose from 2,000 in 2005 to about 8,000 in 2014. And in South Africa, people with TB hide their disease to avoid social isolation, and therefore do not get proper treatment. One of the key challenges for public health officials is tracking the spread of the disease and controlling transmission. So, IBM is working with South African scientists to develop a system that could help determine how and where TB is spreading in communities. IBM is using wearable headbands and bracelets embedded with RFID tags connected to IBM Watson IOT.

AFRICA: First Black Female Neurosurgeon Resident in Johns Hopkins Hospital

Image
Nancy Abu-Bonsrah is making history by being placed at Johns Hopkins Hospital's neurology department. Johns Hopkins University is making history with the residency of Nancy Abu-Bonsrah, their first black female neurosurgeon at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. The news was announced on Friday, March 17, which is known nationwide as "Match Day." The day is significant in that it indicates the moment when medical students around the country find out at which hospitals they'll practice their residency.

Repetition: The Key To Persuasion (part 2)

Image
The only way to stamp information in the mind (which is where knowledge is imprinted), you need to be exposed to the same information - repeatedly. Information is better assimilated when it is perceived by all five (5) senses. Have you wondered why advertisers keep showing their adverts over and over? They want to imprint their adverts in your mind - through repetition. Your mind is the headquarter of your senses. Signals from your senses are channeled directly to your mind, which in turn decides on how to react.

Repetition: The Key To Persuasion (Part 1)

Image
It is the truth that you know that will make you free. Revelation is the cure for frustration. Knowledge of the truth is the light of your darkness and it is this light that makes you free. Not trying to preach here! Let's evaluate this fact. It has been agreed by some scholars (based on extensive research) that a person (or group of persons) is able to assimilate about 20% of revelation or information from every teaching or exposition (per sitting).