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	<title>Alday Consulting Services &#187; Observations</title>
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		<title>How is the Quest for Safety Like the Task of Sisyphus?</title>
		<link>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/07/14/how-is-the-quest-for-safety-like-the-task-of-sisyphus/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/07/14/how-is-the-quest-for-safety-like-the-task-of-sisyphus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:01:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Operational Excellence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/?p=353</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do you know the myth of Sisyphus?  He was condemned to push a boulder up a hill. When he reached the top, the boulder would roll back down.  Then Sisyphus would run down the hill and push the boulder up again.This went on hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month, [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>To Call or Not to Call; To Facebook or Not &#8211; Part 1</title>
		<link>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/02/24/to-call-or-not-to-call-to-facebook-or-not-part-1/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/02/24/to-call-or-not-to-call-to-facebook-or-not-part-1/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:35:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Human Factors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[In the News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/?p=211</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I teach 11th graders in Sunday School and have been teaching youth for over 30 years.  in the early years of teaching, I contacted the youth by mail or on their home phone or even visited their homes.  Mail still works, even though it is a quaint practice.  When I want to [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Inukshuk: Substitute for a Person</title>
		<link>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/02/22/inukshuk-substitute-for-a-person/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/02/22/inukshuk-substitute-for-a-person/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:03:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Human Factors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[In the News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/?p=206</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Wall St. Journal has an article about the 2010 Olympic symbol and logo, the inukshuk. This stone sculpture(or pile of rocks) and its many derivations are present at all venues and scattered all around the country.
The original purpose of the inukshuk was to mark the location of food caches, the direction of an important [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Grumpy People, Good Performers?</title>
		<link>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/02/22/grumpy-people-good-performers/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/02/22/grumpy-people-good-performers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:14:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Human Factors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[In the News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/?p=202</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do grumpy people work with you?  Are you grumpy?  Through the years, I have worked with lots of grumpy construction workers, pipeline operators, controllers, technicians, engineers, managers, regulators, IT workers, executives.  Occasionally I have embarked on campaigns to reduce grumpiness at locations where I worked or managed.   I know of [...]]]></description>
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		<title>&#8220;Suffering from Vagueness&#8221; &#8211; A Problem?</title>
		<link>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/02/17/suffering-from-vagueness-a-problem/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/02/17/suffering-from-vagueness-a-problem/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:23:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Human Factors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[In the News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/?p=76</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A 59-year old woman said she was &#8220;suffering from vagueness&#8221; when it came to controlling her compulsive shopping and spending.  Her statement was in an Atlanta Journal &#8211; Constitution article.  From years of Latin study(really), I know the root word for vagueness is vagus.  The original meaning is &#8220;wander, move around, unsettled.&#8221;   People have a [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Crayola Colors: Sign of Complexity?</title>
		<link>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/01/27/crayola-colors-sign-of-complexity/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/01/27/crayola-colors-sign-of-complexity/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:46:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/?p=148</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of my Facebook friends posted a picture illustrating the evolution of Crayola crayons, from eight colors in 1903 to 120 colors now. I started thinking this is an excellent representation of today&#8217;s complexity.  Life was simpler when  I was a child 50 years ago.  I remember when Crayola introduced 64 colors. [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>China Trip in 2010</title>
		<link>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/01/27/china-trip-in-2010/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2010/01/27/china-trip-in-2010/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:13:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/?p=145</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Later this year, I will be speaking at the 2010 Interpipe Exhibition and Conference in Langfang, China.  The paper I present will be about the training we provided for pipeline controllers of PetroChina.  While in China, I am happy to be doing consulting work with PetroChina.  My professional mission is to use my knowledge and [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>100 Contacts = 1 Client (1/100 = 1%)</title>
		<link>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2009/12/16/115/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2009/12/16/115/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:23:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/?p=115</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I read somewhere that a sales person has to make 100 client contacts to get one sale. Therefore, a sales person should make 100 contacts as soon as possible. I don&#8217;t know if that applies to consulting or not.  Over the past couple of years, I have tracked how many contacts I make with clients [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Going in All Directions; Is That Possible?</title>
		<link>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2009/07/17/going-in-all-directions-is-that-possible/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2009/07/17/going-in-all-directions-is-that-possible/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:50:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Human Factors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2009/07/17/going-in-all-directions-is-that-possible/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The slip from the fortune cookie read, &#8220;One cannot go in all directions at once.&#8221;  That statement is literally true.  But we can change directions quickly and often, zigzagging from one step to the next one.  What can I learn from the fortune cookie?   Maybe I should do one task until I finish it, then [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Men in White Clothes May Not Be Painters</title>
		<link>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2009/06/27/men-in-white-clothes-may-not-be-painters/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2009/06/27/men-in-white-clothes-may-not-be-painters/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:06:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charlesalday.com/v1/2009/06/27/men-in-white-clothes-may-not-be-painters/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Jack Brooks of Pipeline Controls and Services told me a funny story.  A contractor needed some painters to paint the outside of a large building.   Men who wanted day work congregated in an area of town.  The contractor saw four or five Hispanic men dressed in white pants and shirts, and they wanted to work.  [...]]]></description>
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