Case 1

When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity (ink won't flow down to the writing surface).

To solve this problem, it took them one decade and $12 million. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range
from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.

And what did the Russians do...?? They used a pencil.

Case 2

There is a curve called failure, a loop called confusion, speed bumps called friends and caution lights called family.
But, if you have a spare called "determination", an engine called "perseverance", insurance called "faith", and a driver called "God", you will make it to a place called success!

A leader is an agent of change, and progress is about change. In the words of Robert F Kennedy, 'Progress is a nice word; but change is its motivator.'
Leadership is about raising the aspirations of followers and enthusing people with a desire to reach for the stars. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi created a vision for independence in India and raised the aspirations of our people.
Leadership is about making people say, 'I will walk on water for you.' It is about creating a worthy dream and helping people achieve it.

Alone we are weak; together we are strong.
We shall work together, as a family,
in mutual trust, and responsibility.

Progress can be achieved, only if,
we are ever ready, to change ourselves.
As the world moves forward, we must keep in step.

My opinion, is of no importance.
The only important thing,
is the daily reality in the Gemba.
We shall change it, with teamwork.

PS: Gemba: Means Facts and Figure in Japanese

• Be thankful...
• For the wife who says it's hot dogs tonight because she is home with you, not with someone else.
• For the husband who is on the sofa and being a couch potato because he is home with you and not out at the bars.
• For the teenager who is complaining about doing the housework, because it means he is at home, not out on the streets.
• For the taxes that you pay, because it means that you are employed.
• For the mess to clean after a party, because it means that you are surrounded by friends.

When Thomas Edison failed a thousand times while inventing electricity, one of his colleagues asked him,
“What are we going to do after failing a thousand times? Let’s STOP the project”.
Edison replied with a smile, “We may have failed a thousand times, but we now know a thousand ways by which electricity cannot be generated.”
If everybody starts thinking with this attitude, there will be no presence of FAILURE in the world.

Charles Plumb was a navy jet pilot. On his seventy-sixth combat mission, he was shot down and parachuted into enemy territory. He was captured and spent six years in prison. He survived and now lectures on the lessons he learned from his experiences.
One day, a man in approached Plumb and his wife in a restaurant, and said, "Are you Plumb the navy pilot?"
"Yes, how did you know?" asked Plumb.
"I packed your parachute," the man replied.
Plumb was amazed - and grateful: "If the chute you packed hadn't worked I wouldn't be here today..."

This tale is about Gautama Buddha (563-483BC), the Indian prince and spiritual leader whose teachings founded Buddhism. On an occasion when Buddha was teaching a group of people, he found himself on the receiving end of a fierce outburst of abuse from a bystander, who was for some reason very angry.
Buddha listened patiently while the stranger vented his rage, and then he said to the group and to the stranger, "If someone gives a gift to another person, who then chooses to decline it, tell me, who would then own the gift? The giver or the person who refuses to accept the gift?"

One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on
the door on which it was written:

"Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company
passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been
prepared in the gym".

In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues,
but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that man who
hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company itself.

The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to

It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when an elderly gentleman, in his 80's, went to a clinic to have stitches removed from his thumb.

He said that he was in a hurry. The nurse took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him.
She saw him looking at his watch again and again and decided that since she was not busy with another patient, she would evaluate his wound. On exam it was well healed, so she talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his stitches and redress his wound.