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- 11i to R12 Upgrade (15)
- BI Publisher (18)
- Book Reviews (5)
- Insight (6)
- Reporting (2)
- 01/12/2010: Converting Disco and FSG’s to BIP
- 25/11/2010: Seeded Presentation templates for FSG’s
- 02/11/2010: BI Publisher 11g and e-Business Suite
- 22/09/2010: Drill Down with BIP in EBS
- 07/08/2010: Passion
- 30/07/2010: It’s Not About the Bike
- 30/06/2010: Oracle Government User Group
- 09/06/2010: Fitness or futility?
- 07/06/2010: Converting FSG’s and Discoverer reports to run in BIP
- 28/05/2010: Sympathy and Hope
Author Archive
Passion
07/08/2010 by Simon Tomey.
| We’re not committed to your success… We’re passionate about it. |  |
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Years ago I challenged a board member of one of the world’s largest companies to give me one word to describe what his team should be. I suggested “passionate”. He countered with “committed”.
He recently left his wife and children for another woman.
I’d suggest that he found passion stronger than commitment.
We’re not committed to giving you great solutions, we’re passionate about it. In a climate of gloom, fear, uncertainty and cost cutting, we’re passionate giving you power to do more for less by transforming your Oracle reporting.
Posted in Insight | Print | No Comments »
It’s Not About the Bike
30/07/2010 by Simon Tomey.
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Since reading this I’ve started shaving my legs, eating poached eggs and powering up hills.The message of this book is that we could all have hope and determination. |  |
The message of this book is that we could all have hope and determination.
- Lance Armstrong had less than a 3% chance of surviving cancer but did and within sixteen months of being discharged from hospital won the Tour de France.
- He attributes his significance not to being a seven times winner of the Tour de France, but of being a cancer survivor.
- A fellow cancer patient had written “You don’t know it yet, but we’re the lucky ones”. I understand this to mean that we are designed to overcome apparently defeating setbacks and that great suffering can produce great character, but most of us never have this “opportunity”.
Certainly Lance attributes much of his maturity as a rider to the endurance he learnt as a cancer patient.
- Lance overcame great suffering and didn’t give into despair and fought like it was him against the world.
- It must have felt very black indeed as day after day under Chemotherapy he was overcome by nausea and had strength only to lie still. He had a clear vision and the determination to make it happen.
A quote I like is:
“I can deliver motivation, inspiration, hope courage and counsel, but I can’t answer the unknowable…In a way we are like the guy on the rooftop [who is in danger of drowning]…Things take place, there is a confluence of events and circumstances , and we can’t always know their purpose…but we can take responsibility for ourselves and be brave.
And remember…Pain is just a signal.
Posted in Book Reviews | Print | No Comments »
Fitness or futility?
09/06/2010 by Simon Tomey.
| There are at least two dominant world views we could subscribe to. One is that described by the myth of Sisyphus1 and the other is the story of Jacob as he wrestles with God. Both stories are of potentially futile activities – but the outcome is significantly different. |  |
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I originally wrote this post for my tri club magazine, but have recently been reminded of its significance. I hope you enjoy it.
Sisyphus is condemned for eternity to roll a stone to the top of a mountain, and each time he gets the stone almost to the top, it rolls all the way back down again. Is this your Monday experience? Do you know that desperate feeling of futility as everything you so carefully planned comes spectacularly unravelled and you fell like you never really make any progress at all?
Contrast this with the story of Jacob. He is about to meet his brother for the first time in many years and is terrified that his brother will destroy him and all he has (because he cheated him badly many years ago). In the evening he meets God and wrestles with him all night. Neither side seems to be winning, but Jacob refuses to let his adversary go until he blesses him. God does bless Jacob, affirms him for not giving up and Jacob goes on to be very prosperous.
Many times in my life it feels like I am engaged in a wrestle which lasts the night of many months, but I think that when I have not given up, things do work out, (often better than I would have imagined). An example of this at BeLife is our expertise in BI Publisher and our suite of pre-built reports which was borne from the determination to discover a better way of getting information from Oracle. In my triathlon training, I feel the pain of a hard ride disappears seconds after its conclusion and the next day my body is fitter.
Postscript. I recently returned from a training camp where I experienced more pain than ever in my determination to regain my fitness and to keep up with my team mates. I only recently discovered that my wheel bearings were seized, and a simple mechanical repair has gained me an easy extra 2mph speed. Sometimes it’s just as well to stop pushing and check out your kit too!
Notes:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus
Posted in Insight | Print | 1 Comment »