http://www.ted.com Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for practical wisdom as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives...
========== In his inaugural address,Barack Obama appealed to each of us to give our bestas we try to extricate ourselves from this current financial crisis.But what did he appeal to?He did not, happily, follow in the footsteps of his predecessor,and tell us to just go shopping.Nor did he tell us, "Trust us. Trust your country.Invest, invest, invest."Instead, what he told us was to put aside childish things.And he appealed to virtue.Virtue is an old-fashioned word.It seems a little out of place in a cutting-edge environment like this one.And besides, some of you might be wondering,what the hell does it mean?Let me begin with an example.This is the job description of a hospital janitorthat is scrolling up on the screen.And all of the items on it are unremarkable....
