Johnny Harbieh

Many years of constant learning and not much has changed with the World

Many years of constant learning and not much has changed with the World.

King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”.

Here are few things that I have collected (quotes or sayings you may have heard) and a few more of my own.

  1. Most humans don’t learn from their previous mistakes.
  2. Pride gets in the way of success.
  3. To succeed with “quality”, you need to have the right people, with the right skills, around the right table, at the right time, saying the right things, with a clear vision in mind, and a heart for execution.
  4. One can say too much, but say nothing.
  5. It’s better to teach your children via a 3rd party interface or human than to say the same words yourself.
  6. Truth is one’s perspective.
  7. To discover what is real, is to be outside of oneself.
  8. Most work for money, however, those who do focus on incentives require those who don’t work for money or look for incentives in order to help them more money. The world of fake “performance” is real. 
  9. Birds of feather flock together
  10. We talk too much. Act too little
  11. Ideas are owned by not the man who envisioned them, but by the circle in which that same man lives.
  12. We all need air, food, and water to survive. These basic needs don’t change no matter who you are and where you are from. Security is then added on top because of those ill-gotten individuals who try to take from others what is not them to take in the first place. 
  13. The smart ones are rarely in power.
  14. Most people are swayed the wrong way.
  15. Iron sharpens iron, i.e. you must be from the same material to be able to sharpen the other. Everyone likes the first part, but no one thinks of the second.
  16. When we decide against the natural law, we will almost always lose.
  17. It’s easier to climb a tall ladder than to fall hard.
  18. Fear and Emotions are King. We make decisions based on those two. Don’t believe anyone that tells you otherwise
  19. We hide behind a curtain all the time.
  20. It’s all mostly Circular. Do Squares exist in nature?
  21. Books are written when the author has had the experience already to write about.
  22. All large and amazing things are created from the tiniest of things.
  23. Music is a set of notes played over time and distance. You first learn the notes, then the scales, then practice till it all becomes natural. Then forget about all what you just learned and create music.
  24. When you come to understanding and wisdom, it’s probably already late.
  25. Don’t change the direction of a flowing river.
  26. Whatever quantity you were given, make it greater.
  27. Quality is not an additive.
  28. Most companies send the wrong people to conferences.
  29. You can’t recognize greatness if you, as in yourself is not.
  30. One can only grow as big as his/her outer limits; outer limits are usually given and have set properties.
  31. Where there is an apple, you can certainly find an apple tree; don’t promote your apple tree if it can’t produce any apple.
  32. Can we blame Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok for most of our problems today?
  33. Most graves look great on the outside.
  34. Religion is not an issue, it’s the translation of said and written things by the wrong people that is.
  35. Resumes should be banned since most have been professionally modified.
  36. We’re mostly lost in our own translations.
  37. Having a management layer is alright. Having a manager that is not supposed to be there, is not.
  38. When you connect on the human level, you succeed on the technology level.
  39. Getting a license at 16 does not make you a driver.
  40. One of the side effects of technology is stupidity.
  41. The word Performance at the highest level in an organization doesn’t really mean “performance”; it means money! How much did the organization generate in money!
  42. Most of our problems can be solved when you quickly get to the following conclusions:
    • Define your Terms of Communication and Set a Common Language
    • Find Common Ground
    • Fire the prideful one in the circle
    • Forget about self
    • Serve
    • Take 3 hits before you strike
    • Focus on finding and solving for patterns
    • Analyze the problem like you analyze a puzzle, break it into the smallest pieces, organize them, put it back together
    • Fail forward, Fail fast, Iterate many
    • Focus on one path, look forward and drive till you reach the end
    • Don’t forget your history
    • Think of others as better than yourself; always a student, stay a student
    • Don’t believe in outer appearances, dig deeper

 

[12/29/2023] The above list is not all. I will update as I go along this journey of mine. Peace and harmony friends.