Blog Post #89 - “I know two great men,one is you and the other is this young man.” - Do you know these 2 men?

Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine.

- N.T. (the whole blog is about this man.. so I wont write his name.)

I have your attention now.


“I know two great men,one is you and the other is this young man.” - Do you know these 2 men?


So who are these 2 people.

 This man came to US with the introductory letter given to him - a A light bulb should go off when I say something like. .light bulb.

The first man made the bulb.

 The second man powered the world and the bulb through ac electricity.Most of us know ac current . Few understand how it works and few know who created it.

He was born in Austro-Hungarian empire in 1856.

You can name the first man in your sleep,dream and in your waking hours. Did you know Thomas Alva Edison created experiments with the help of his company to bringdown the reputation of the invention ac current and second man in the letter .

When you become a full-fledged American you will appreciate an American joke," Edison said and didnt pay the 50,000 he promised.

Edison wanted to promote his DC current which was powering wall street at that time!

Please don't watch the video in the link below if you have a faint heart(like me!)

Edison made the following experiment where he showed how animals like elephant die/get electrocuted and tried to prove a point that human will also die like this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkBU3aYsf0Q 

He died at a very poor man with no recognition.

Do you know his name? He played an important part in creating Wireless,X-ray and even remote control. He even created an early prototype of smart phone... (of course his name is not Steve Jobs!)

He sold 40 patents to Westinghouse who became a millionaire using this and he died penniless. 

He made Niagara generate electricity.. he worked with westinghouse and installed the hydro electric plant.

He crossed path with all powerful people in US at that time from Graham Bell to JP Morgan.Edison and he didn't get along. He worked for Edison and quit the job. Both were not sworn enemies according to PBS.

“When there were fires at his laboratory, Edison provided him a lab, so clearly there was some mutual respect,”  from pbs website.

"The United States Supreme Court, in 1943 held Marconi's most important patent invalid, recognizing ... more significant contribution as the inventor of radio technology"Click on this link to learn more 

There is a car company in his name now.

Did you find it? If so write in the comment section.

Keep learning

Sivakumar Manikanteswaran

Blog Post #88 - How many emails are in your inbox?

Emails are a necessary evil - you have heard that before.

With Messaging and Missed calls ,Tweets and News feeds , face book status and blogs - information, data, knights, meeting notes, action items, reorganization information, Nigerian prince property that belongs to you,groupon deals many more things  come to you.

You find them.

The only one most folks are scared off and mention a lot in their conversation - emails.

Most folks are afraid to go back to office or come back from vacation (if there is such a concept called vacation) for fear of meeting their Inbox which looks like it ate 5 Cheeseburgers everyday for 30day and became big,fat and ugly!

Technique 1  - GTD - Getting This Done book has a great concept which I implement partially and I strongly recommend you implement fully. I preach what I don't practice.

Look at your emails - one at a time.

Understand if you need to act on them.

If you need to act on it - check if you can do it under 2 minutes. (start a timer on your smart phone or chrome extension) . If not there is a followup folder,drag into calendar and setup a meeting in your calendar and other useful technique.

Technique 2 Never reply to more than 3 emails a day

Emails - if you ration your reply to 3 emails per day it benefits you a lot and the other person also stops. Every action has an equal and reply all email.

Technique 3  Move all emails to another folder and wait!
Yes. Once you move them to another folder people who need stuff from you will ping you ,call you , ask for a meeting or come in person and do everything to reach you. Then you know the priority of things to be done.

Technique 4 from 4 hour work week
Check and respond to email twice a day. Yes. at 11 and 4 pm and inform people that you will following this technique. Provide a phone number and be available to be reached on call in case they want you to reach you.

Being available doesn't have to be through email.

Close your outlook and ask your manager what is expected from you
This technique forces you to ask what you are paid to deliver than to respond to emails.

In any case, every day before you open your email box you must have a plan on what you want to do that day otherwise responding to emails will become your unofficial plan.

Stop checking emails in mobile phones,browsers and in all times. It is not worth it. Email is rude and is a one way communication. An email with more than 10 lines and 1 attachment is a crime against humanity and I do it often!

Keep emailing
Sivakumar Manikanteswaran