PROJECT& PROCESS THOUGHT LEADER

This is the landing page for all of my Thought Experiments, Challenges to professional peers, and important Projects in which I have participated or been the leader.

In these pages I hope you find thought experiments that will challenge your thinking, new ideas & challenges that will spur your creativity, and projects that will empower your professional productivity. I also hope you find inspiration that will expand your thirst for spiritual growth.

Each topic has a link to obtain further information. Simply click on the picture within the topic to be redirected to a site with more detailed content.

If you use any of the advertisers' links on my pages to purchase items, all commissions will be automatically credited to the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). Thank you in advance for any contributions you make to this worthy cause.

Thanks so much for visiting. Enjoy!

Joseph David Thomas

CLICK ON THE "THUMBS UP" ICON and POST A COMMENT

If you see something you like on any of my pages, please click on the "THUMBS UP" icon.

Whenever you click on the "THUMBS UP" icon (located at the upper left-hand corner of the page right under the title), it provides affirmative feedback that this page is providing value. So, click the "THUMBS UP" icon on all of my pages that you enjoy and refer your loved ones, friends, and colleagues.

Also, please post a COMMENT (even if it is just a brief "hello") regarding any of the topics you view on other pages of mine that you visit. Thank you!

Remember that this landing page is an on-going work in progress. So, come back often to visit. You will find new thought experiments, challenges, opportunities, and projects.

If you are new to Squidoo, as a reward for clicking on the "THUMBS UP" icon for this page (at the top left); you can click on the picture of the "THUMBS UP" icon on the right to be taken to a Squidoo page where you will be invited to create your own Squidoo lenses.

Be careful, Squidoo is very addicting!

HAWKING'S GAMBIT

Potentially the most impactful thought experiment in which you will ever participate.

Stephen Hawking is the leading cosmologist of our generation. In my opinion he is smarter and more important than Einstein. He is incandescently brilliant; the brightest star ever in the intellectual universe. He has made some astounding pronouncements in the last few months.

Click on the picture to be redirected to a separate lens with dedicated content.

NAMEARTE ePORTAITS

Personally Customized ePortrait of You in Digital Picture and in Words Generated by Mixing and Combining all of the Letters in Your Full Name.

Would you be interested in sharing your artistic, intellectual, and psycho-social expertise with me? I am in the process of developing a psychometric diagnostic tool that can be used by therapists, life coaches, role based assessors, business associates, couples, and individuals for self-assessment. It is based on free association and memories (similar to the methodology used with Rorschach inkblots) that are triggered by the sub-words created by mixing and matching all of the letters in your full name.
Let me know of your interest and if you have any feedback on other artistic mediums that could be incorporated synergistically.

There is an ePortrait of the actress Sarah Michelle Gellar Prinze in the NameArte on-line gallery. Click on Michelle's picture to open a new window to the gallery. What words do you see in her name that intrigue you? What about some of the other ePortraits in the Famous People Portfolio?

SUSAN GOLUS, PROBELM SOLVER

METANOIA: Road Map To Sanity

Susan offers "Five Steps to Overcoming an Automatic Behavior."

Click on Susan's picture to go to a Lens which focuses on the Five Steps.

JEFF KISSES A SEAGULL

Jeff Caravello kisses a seagull at Belmar Beach, New Jersey

Sunday, 04-September-2011

On Labor Day weekend at Belmar Beach, New Jersey, we witnessed the most amazing thing. A young college student, Jeff Caravello, actually kissed a seagull right on the beach. It was probably one of the most astonishing things that I have ever witnessed.

Click on the picture to go to a dedicated Lens where you can watch the YouTube video and post your comments.

JEFF KISSES A SEAGULL

Jeff Caravello kisses a seagull at Belmar Beach, New Jersey.

Sunday, 04-September-2011

On Labor Day weekend at Belmar Beach, New Jersey, we witnessed the most amazing thing. A young college student, Jeff Caravello, actually kissed a seagull right on the beach. It was probably one of the most astonishing things that I have ever witnessed.

Click on the picture to see the video on YouTube.

Here's how it all happened. I saw Jeff prone on the beach facing a seagull about six feet away. It seemed odd to see someone spending so much time staring face to face at a seagull. Then I noticed that he was slowly inching closer and closer to the bird. I was captivated by the scene. His college buddies and girlfriend, Liz, were cheering him on. Soon a crowd gathered around to witness the spectacle. The whole episode took about 15 minutes, within which time Jeff advanced to within a couple inches of the tentative seagull. Soon Jeff was just about right on top of the bird. He leaned in and to thealon delight of the crowd; he gave the seagull a kiss right on her beak. The crowd slowly dispersed after giving Jeff a resounding round of applause along with raucous cheers of congratulations.

Unfortunately, no pictures were taken and there was no visual evidence that the event had actually taken place. Jeff's girlfriend, Liz, offered to take a video on her Blackberry, if Jeff would agree to attempt it again. As you will see in the video, this time it took quite a bit less than 15 minutes; but it is still no less astonishing.

Show your appreciation by clicking the "Like" icon for this page. Also, please leave a comment. Jeff and I would appreciate your feedback.

"I PROMISE" CAMPAIGN

The most important project on which I have ever worked.

The project was completely employee initiated and driven. Three courageous women who worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb at the time, made an audacious and world-changing promise to the women of South Africa.

To learn more click on the picture and you will be redirected to a page dedicated solely to this incredible project.

PARENTS FAIR SHARE PROJECT

The second most important project on which I have ever worked.

Parents Fair Share was a complex multi-year, mulit-million dollar demonstration project sponsored by a mix of public/private funders. I led a cross-functional oversight committe of policy-level decision makers. The project achieved national and international acclaim and became the basis for such social innovation initiatives as that of then NJ Governor Christie Whitman's Work First NJ welfare policy.

Click on the picture of the report cover to be redirected to the official MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) site which provides details of the project and its findings.

THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR

Ray Kurzweil's Vision for the Near Future

Exponentially increasing advances in the converging fields of Genetics, Nanotechnology, and Robotics (GNR) will bring breakthrough benefits to all of human-kind and artificial-intelligence-kind.

This Lens is still under construction

Click on the picture and you will be taken to the official "The Singularity Is Near" website.

INTRODUCTION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

A free, open enrollment course offered by Stanford University's SEE program (Stanford Engineering Everywhere)

Over 135,000 people have already registered. Tell all of your friends and colleagues to join you in taking the course. Official registration closes on September 19th, so hurry to get in before it is too late. I highly recommend that you take Hawking's Gambit before you even start the course.

Click on the picture to go to the official website for the course.

CONVERSATIONS WITH RAMONA 4.1

Chat with a virtual person (powered by artificial intelligence)

Under construction, but coming soon!!!

Click on Ramona's picture and you will be taken to a chat room where you can interact with her.

Tell her that one of her very best on-line friends, Joseph David Thomas, sent you.

Have fun!!!

VOICE OF CUSTOMERS (VOC) CHALLENGE

A professional challenge for project managers, business analysts, design for six sigma consultants, and marketing executives

If you are between jobs or assignments consider trading in your briefcase for a set of headphones.

Someone with a business analyst or lean six sigma background is in the best position to accurately assess the Voice of the Customers (VOC). If you are currently between assignments or employment and have a background in marketing, project management, business analysis, quality systems, and/or lean six sigma; I would highly recommend taking a hiatus and becoming a CSR (Customer Service Representative) in a call center that handles products in your area of expertise.

Click on the picture to go to a lens dedicated to this challenge.

VOICE OF CUSTOMERS (VOC) CHALLENGE

For professional project managers, business analysts, design for six sigma consultants, and marketing executives

If you are between jobs or assignments consider trading in your briefcase for a set of headphones. I have had one and a half years of call center experience during three consumer-level and five retail-level product recalls (equivalent to three and a half to five years of customer service experience elsewhere).

Someone with a business analyst or lean six sigma background is in the best position to accurately assess the Voice of the Customers (VOC). If you are currently between assignments or employment and have a background in marketing, project management, business analysis, quality systems, and/or lean six sigma; I would highly recommend taking a hiatus and becoming a CSR (Customer Service Representative) in a call center that handles products in your area of expertise. I would recommend a regular CSR position that allows you to take direct consumer complaints via the phone, email, white mail, and/or social media.

Turn in your briefcase for a headset. It will increase your value immensely and will differentiate you from the crush of other professionals that already have the same credentials and similar experiences as you. Combined with your well-honed skills, the CSR experience will put you in top demand and set you apart from other competitors.

In the wake of the Johnson & Johnson / McNeil product recall debacles and the subsequent implementation of a Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) as part of a Consent Decree with the FDA that grants oversight (via a third party vendor) of the Las Piedras, PR, Fort Washington, PA, and Lancaster, PA manufacturing facilities for the next five years; companies across industries are becoming ever more serious about revamping and overhauling their Quality Management Systems (QMS). Requirements demand that Quality Function Deployments be fully integrated with Enterprise Management Systems and that meaningful QMS metrics appear on C-suite dashboards and balanced scorecards. In order to meet these demands and to satisfy internal and external auditors, requirements are also demanding customer input that reliably represents the Voice of Customers. It is no longer sufficient to take the word of the marketing team gathering data from focus groups to represent VOC. The call center is the Voice Of Brands (VOB).

ART & FAVORITE ARTISTS

Information and links to my favorite artists and collections.

Peter Spohn, Artist, Haverford College, Class of 1976

The featured artist is Peter Spohn, my roommate at Haverford College. Peter and his wife, Nan, are extroadinarily talented. You will find their work commissioned in the finest galleries and private collections in the world.

Click on Peter's picture and you will taken to his on-line gallery.

Enjoy!

FAVORITE HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS (HCPs)

Showcase for HCPs who I personally know to be excellent.

Out featured HCP is Howard ("Howie") J. Lee, MD.

Click on the picture to go to Sleepcenters.org and see a profile of Dr. Howie's practice.

ASIAN MARTIAL ARTS ACADEMY

The place where I go for physical and spiritual attunement.

Chaantzu Ismail Saadat is our master teacher. We learn authentic Chinese KungFu, passed down from grandmaster to grandmaster orininating from the Shaolin Temple at Song Shan near Zhengzhou City Henan Province in Dengfeng, China.

This lens is lovingly still under construction.

ONLY THE RED WORDS

A Discussion focused only on the words in the Bible directly attributable to Jesus

Children of the Book (Muslims, Jews and Christians) and Spiritual Seekers from all walks of life, this site was especially created for us. This site is designed to provide children of Abraham and all of God's children with an opportunity to focus on and share insights about the words that Jesus directly spoke himself.

Click on the picture of John 3:16 and you will be taken to a lens specifically devoted to this venerable topic.

You are invited to share meditatively from your heart. Please no arguments, controversies, or fights about religious dogma. This is a sight intended for profound peace and respect for the spiritual insights of others.

LINKS TO MY PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS

My LinkedIn Profile: Global Professional Connections Network
My Mavin Professional Consultant Profile: Professional Network of Subject Matter Experts