Dennis's Principles of Management by Crisis
1. To get action out of management, it is necessary to create the illusion of a crisis in the hope it will be acted upon.
2. Management will select actions or events and convert them to crises. It will then over-react.
3. Management is incapable of recognizing a true crisis.
4. The squeaky hinge gets the oil.

This is quite a long post. And wait for the pictures to load.

North-East USA Trip - III
Washington DC - The American Experience

Washington D.C. - The capital of the country that is the US of A. The capital that triggers the memories of the great events that shaped this country. the capital that triggers the great Smithsonian. The capital of the American Experience.

If there is one thing that is prominent in this city apart from the fact that it is the administrative capital, it is the Smithsonian. In its own words :

  Welcome to the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex and research organization. Composed of 16 museums and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and 2 museums in New York City, the Smithsonian's exhibitions offer visitors a glimpse into its vast collection numbering over 142 million objects.

  Visit the Smithsonian and you will see why it represents for so many the treasured icons of our past, the vibrant art of the present, and the scientific promise of the future.

- Quoted from the Website : http://www.smithsonian.org

It's not the 13 museums and galleries on a range of subjects such as natural history, african art, contemporary design, or the aircrafts of past and the future, that dot the National Mall or the huge number of articles on display or the fact that it is the most important institution that devotes itself to history, geography and all other subjects possible - its because its the Smithsonian that I spent more than 5 days on visiting the museums, albeit only 3 of them.

What I am going to give below is but a small window into the past, present and future that is the Smithsonian. Pictorially. Granted, it does not do enough justice to its magnificence (one should see it to get enveloped in awe), but atleast I hope it will open eyes of some of you to this great wonder.

Here is my take on the Museum of Natural History and the National Air and Space museum, which I spent over four days just seeing all the exhibits

The Museum of Natural History

The view at the entrance of the museum, i.e. the rotunda

The museum of natural history encompasses, to put it simply, all that is natural, and all that is history. From the evolution of life, through the history of dinosaurs and the development of mankind, from the rise of earth to the growth of mammalian kingdom, from the life of insects to the mysteries behind gems and jewels, from contemporary culture of Asia to the rise of America, from earthquakes to volcanoes, from rocks to minerals... You get what I mean. IT has everything. Three floors of history, geography, ecology, culture, science, all entangled in a deep web of synergism. And special exhibits that are set up during specific seasons, like the innovative Orchid Express and an overview of development of Sikhism - all make you wonder whether there can be anything more.

Brite white orchids, just one of the hundreds of orchids that make their appearance at the Orchid Express.


The Hope Diamond - one of the many famous diamonds that will make a lady swoon at the site of one - at the gems and minerals exhibit