What do Americans look for in a car? I've heard many answers when I've asked this question. The answers include excellent safety ratings, great gas mileage, handling, and cornering ability, among others. I don't believe any of these. That's because the first principle of the Culture Code is that the only effective way to understand what people truly mean is to ignore what they say. This is not to suggest that people intentionally lie or misrepresent themselves. What it means is that, when asked direct questions about their interests and preferences, people tend to give answers they believe the questioner wants to hear. Again, this is not because they intend to mislead. It is because people respond to these questions with their cortexes, the parts of their brains that control intelligence rather than emotion or instinct. They ponder a question, they process a question, and when they deliver an answer, it is the product of deliberation. They believe they are telling the truth. A lie detector would confirm this. In most cases, however, they aren't saying what they mean. -- The culture code.

Why teach drawing to accountants? Because drawing class doesn't just teach people to draw. It teaches them to be more observant. There's no company on earth that wouldn't benefit from having people become more observant. -- Randy S. Nelson (dean of Pixar University)

A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing. -- Alan Perlis

Before software can be reusable it first has to be usable. -- Ralph Johnson

Don't have good ideas if you aren't willing to be responsible for them. -- Alan Perlis

Don't worry about what anybody else is going to do. The best way to predict the future is to invent it. -- Alan Kay

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. ~Mark Twain

It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live. –Mae Jemison

First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end. –Aristotle

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. –Booker T. Washington