My perspective of humanity is influenced by the admonition of an African novelist named, Chinua Achebe. “Our humanity,” he once said, “is contingent on the humanity of our fellows. No person or groups can be human alone. We rise above the animal together, or not at all.” It is from this basic standpoint that I glance at life.

I am guided by Rank Xerox advert that challenged us to “keep the discussion going – share the knowledge.” I aspire to keep the discussion going and share the knowledge. And sometimes my ignorance, too.

In October of 2006, in a speech at the University of Michigan Business School, Ralph W. Shrader, the CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton, outlined the three principles of life of no excuses and no regrets. The first is that all work is honorable. The second is that wisdom knows no rank. The third is that time should be precious, but not anxious. To achieve the first, he urged that we make the best of our efforts. To benefit from the second, he asked that we make the best of our relationships. And to attain the third, he charged us to make the best of our time.

Shrader also talked about his friend, Paul Anderson, who has a theory about how to respond to imperfections in any organization. Anderson, acknowledging that even the best company in the world is not perfect, reasoned that a worker could respond in one of four ways, three of which are acceptable and one is not.

According to Paul Anderson, one way is for a worker to choose to focus on the positive and overlook the “bad things”. The second way is for a worker to try and change things for better. The third way is for a worker to decide that the shortcomings really bother him or her and leave. The fourth way, which Anderson described as invalid is for a worker to dwell on and complain about things that trouble him or her and yet fail to move on or take positive action.

As the world becomes more diverse and more integrated, the challenges become more intense and more interesting. Recently, the managers of Pepsi found that out when they went to China to promote their signature soft drink with the unique slogan – Pepsi, the choice of a new generation. Upon translation into Chinese, the slogan read; Pepsi, the drink that will awake your ancestors from dead. To the Chinese, the translation was anything but refreshing.

Life is propelled by ideals. Most often, the ideals of life are not being tried and found wanting. Rather, the ideals of life are being found difficult and left untried. But to achieve a life of no excuses and no regrets, these ideals of life must be tried in spite of the difficulties.