Today’s Peace of Wisdom Can Be Found by Remembering: The Strongest Person in the Room Is Often the One Who Knows When to Stay Quiet
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Betcha Didn't Know
The Secret History of the Electric Car
with David Rives
Discussion Questions
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QUESTION 1
The internal combustion engine wasn’t invented by one person — it was built on centuries of small breakthroughs by inventors most of us have never heard of. Who in your own life has played that kind of “relay race” role, handing off something important that shaped who you are today? -
QUESTION 2
Rudolf Diesel originally designed his engine to run on vegetable oil, and early electric cars were sidelined simply because the infrastructure wasn’t there to support them. Can you think of a good idea — in your own life or in the world — that got shelved too soon because the timing just wasn’t right? -
QUESTION 3
Henry Ford didn’t invent the automobile — he made it accessible. What’s the difference between being first and being the one who makes something available to everyone, and which do you think matters more?
From the Contributor's Dock
David Rives
WondersCenter.org
David Rives has spent years looking up — and what he’s found has taken him to the far corners of the earth. Whether he’s chasing solar eclipses in the Pacific Northwest, rappelling the cliffs of Qumran in Israel, or digging up dinosaur bones in the field, David approaches every adventure with the eyes of an explorer and the heart of a teacher.
Host of the daily TV program Wonders Without Number, David is also a weekly science columnist, author, and creator of more than 230 short video features. His award-winning documentaries and breathtaking astrophotography have been featured in textbooks and scientific literature around the world. His faith shapes his conviction that the universe — and every person in it — is here by design, not by accident.
David is also the founder of The Wonders Center & Science Museum in Dickson, Tennessee — the largest science museum in the state, just 35 minutes from Nashville. With over 100,000 square feet of exhibits, fossil displays, interactive learning zones, and planetarium shows, it’s a destination built around the idea that science and a sense of wonder belong together.
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Questions & Answers
Does Your City Have a Culture and Can It Be Changed if It’s Not Working?
with Andy Andrews
Listen Here
We’ve talked before about individual cultures…that every business has a culture, every family has a culture. And of course, every city has their culture too.
Does your city have a culture? Yes, it does.
But the second part of the question – can it be changed if that culture is not working? Absolutely.
Now, you’ve got to understand again, what creates culture? It’s the results that create a culture and other people get to kind of decide what your culture has become. You have control over what your culture is and whether your culture changes, but other people are going to decide what your culture has become – if your city has a culture of violence and that’s what people believe, your city is going to have fewer visitors. The tourist trade will be low. If your city has a culture of hospitality and fun, then that’s how people will decide how they deal with your city.
Can the culture be changed?
The leadership of a city has to be changed for the culture to change.
If the culture is destructive, if the culture is a culture of debt, if it’s a culture of violence, if it’s a culture of no responsibility, if it’s a culture of fear…yes, the culture can be changed, but the leadership has to change. You know, there’s a great example of this in my home area: Mobile, Alabama for years had a declining culture. In fact, the city of mobile had a culture that was beginning to balance on the edge of a cliff. And there was a guy who decided he would run for mayor. I actually know the guy – his name is Sandy Stimpson.
For years, people tried to get Sandy to run for governor. People tried to get him to run for senator. And then one day I was having lunch with him and he said, “well…I’m going to run for mayor.”
I was like, “mayor?? You don’t run for mayor! I mean, if people wanted you to be governor, why are you running for mayor?”
He said, “well, I don’t know that I can make a huge difference quickly as governor, but I know what to do in the city of Mobile. I know how to turn this around. I know how to change things. I know what to do.” And, and as he began this process of campaigning for mayor with an entrenched political machine he was going against, you know, quietly behind the scenes, people were thinking, this guy…he already has a great reputation, he already has money, he’s already made his fortune, so to speak…so why would he be running for mayor? And the only reason anybody could figure for why he would run for mayor is – he’s actually going to help! You know, unbelievably, he won! In a city that was racially divided and divided on many lines. He is now in his second term and has really changed the culture of the city of Mobile. One of the talking points in a city that was racially divided was Mobile – this is one place, this is one city – it’s the same city for all of us. And, it has been amazing.
Now, you know, I don’t even live in Mobile. We live an hour away, but we see Mobile news, we see the Mobile newspaper, we hear what’s happening over there. And to have watched the culture of a city be changed is stunning…it’s exciting.
And it can be done anywhere…but a change of culture is going to require a change of leadership.
From the Contributor's Dock
Andy Andrews
AndyAndrews.com
Hailed by a New York Times reporter as “someone who has quietly become one of the most influential people in America,” Andy Andrews is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers including The Traveler’s Gift and The Noticer. He is also an in-demand speaker, coach, and consultant for the world’s largest organizations.
Both The Noticer and The Traveler’s Gift were featured selections of ABC’s Good Morning America and continue to appear on bestseller lists around the world. His books have been translated into over 40 languages.
Andy has spoken at the request of four different United States presidents, worked extensively with the Department of Defense, regularly addresses the world’s largest corporations. Zig Ziglar once said, “Andy Andrews is the best speaker I have ever seen.”
In addition to his writing and speaking, Andy has established a personally delivered, cost effective, year-long curriculum for organizations, teams, and corporations. Using Creating Measurable Results™ as a platform, he teaches how “to compete in a way your competition doesn’t know a game is going on.” Creating Measurable Results™ has been documented to have helped some clients to double their results within a single year’s time.
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