Roger Meyer

My father had a knack for fixing things. He was very mechanically inclined. On numerous occasions, I observed him fixing a broken, often poorly manufactured item and making it better than it was before. Sometimes he fixed what supposed “experts” could not. Broken things need fixing.

News articles discuss the deep divides in societies the world over. Whether the division occurs in politics, education, religion, or culture, every side has strong proponents and equally strong opponents. Why are people so deeply divided? And is there a solution?

Divisions are as old as mankind. Disagreements about who the leader should be, who has water and grazing rights, on whose property is the well, where the property boundary line is, and which god should be worshipped, all go back to antiquity.

Phrases like “going above and beyond,” “giving 110 percent,” and “exceeding expectations” express the idea of diligence—of doing more than is expected. Diligence and dedication are commendable character traits, and we usually applaud those who take initiative and “go above and beyond.” But sometimes “going beyond” is not a good idea.

Winning is achieving victory, but losing is failing to achieve victory. Sometimes, in order to win, we must first lose.

Herb Cohen, an internationally known negotiator, is generally credited for coining the term “win-win” in 1963. Since then, we've heard the “win-win” term applied to many things—always indicating that both parties will benefit from a proposed action.

The latest ransomware attack, called Wannacry, is said to be the largest in history. But every day, thousands of attempts are made to hack into government, business, and individual computer systems to spy and to steal data. Is nothing secure anymore?