Category Archives: competence

51. Getting It Done, Or Your Gift For Mine? – An Echo from the Philippines

Posted on August 13, 2011 by thormay

On a stopover in Manila a while back, I wan­dered into a book­shop, look­ing for some­thing that could give me a fix on “the” cul­tural mind­set of the Philip­pines. This is a coun­try with which I have had only brief … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in competence, culture, management, reciprocation, Research & Study, teaching | Leave a comment

47. The Contest for Competence (updated August 2013)

Posted on January 15, 2009 by thormay

If some peo­ple don’t break the rules some­times, then a nor­mal soci­ety will cease to func­tion. Break­ing the wrong rules for the wrong rea­sons is like break­ing legs though. And if every­one breaks the rules, then a soci­ety will dis­in­te­grate. … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in competence, law | Leave a comment

28. The Case for Favoritism

Posted on July 12, 2003 by thormay

Imag­ine the per­fect mer­i­toc­racy. Now think again. In our per­fect mer­i­toc­racy prizes go to the most able, the most wor­thy, the best … But who is to decide the most able, wor­thy or best ? A fair sys­tem you say, … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in competence, law, merit, regulations, rules | Leave a comment

26. So You Wanna’ Write a Poem??

Posted on June 1, 2003 by thormay

In another life, before blogs took over the world, for a cou­ple of years Thor was the Writ­ings Edi­tor for an expa­tri­ate com­mu­nity web­site in South Korea. He there­fore saw a lot of awful writ­ing, and some that was pretty … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in competence, poetry, rules | Leave a comment

The paradox of scholarship: pissing on every lamp post

Posted on July 2, 2002 by thormay

If I have been able to see fur­ther, it was only because I stood on the shoul­ders of giants [Isaac New­ton, 1642 – 1727] Newton’s com­ment encap­su­lates the ideal of schol­ar­ship, though not its con­stant out­come. Schol­ar­ship is often con­fused with … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in competence, culture, evidence, intellectuals, management, merit, Research & Study, teaching | Leave a comment

14. Why Grasshoppers Don’t Have A Problem

Posted on January 29, 2001 by thormay

If you think of the human men­tal sys­tem in terms com­pa­ra­ble to the oper­at­ing sys­tem of a com­puter, then there is a curi­ous incom­plete­ness about it. Of course the house­keep­ing func­tions, the bits that tell your body to breath and … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in competence, culture, management, merit, motivation, proportion, truth | Leave a comment

11. The Conundrum of Men and Women: Innovators & Imitators

Posted on May 14, 2000 by thormay

[related sto­ries: Gen­der Puz­zle / The Inside Track on Hap­pi­ness / Foun­tain of Youth / Let­ter to an Imag­i­nary Lady .. ] Yin and yang, the war­rior and nur­turer, hard and soft, strong and weak, men and women. How hard we tried to … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in competence, gender, innovation | Leave a comment