Mel Arat

City people generally do not think about death or remember much about it. They only remember death for a short time on the rare occasion when an acquaintance or neighbor dies, but people quickly forget during their daily lives. Only those who lost their loved ones have a little grasp of their mortality. The coronavirus created two major differences in our lives. Firstly, it has forced life to grind to a halt for city people. Secondly, the Corona Virus reminded people worldwide about their mortality and their fear of death. Read the rest of this post »

I recently celebrated another birthday. This one’s a little more special. I revised my life. Often from the daily hustle and bustle, we only live by thinking of current the period, recent times or near future. This short-term determines our happiness and unhappiness.
I have been thinking about what has happened since my birth on this birthday. Since it was my birthday, I focused on the positive things. I thanked God for all the good things that have happened in my life. It made me feel good. As I said, one forgets important things from the struggle for daily life.
Would recommend to all of you. Review things you should be thankful for in your own life since the day you were born.

Silicon Valley is an American comedy television series created by Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The series focuses on five young men who founded a startup company in Silicon Valley. This comedy illustrates the startup world much better than some graduate courses on venture capital.

Each episode of Silicon Valley could be used as a case study for different discussions from intellectual property to the stockholder, from the role of a CEO to money-making methods of a startup.

The characters in the show are not very well-developed, but business stories are very intimidating, and you never think you are missing something. I really want to watch whole four seasons to think about each episode to be able to use them in my classes.

The Star Wars Saga has been a rich source of inspiration to extract life lessons. J.J. Abrams’ The Power Awakens also contains some unique life lessons.

The first lesson: The life is a constant struggle, so be prepared for the next challenge.

The stage of success is temporary and the forerunner of a new challenge. At the end of the Star Wars VI, Luke Skywalker kills the emperor and a period of peace and tranquility begins in the galaxy.

Read the rest of this post »

Masayuki Suo’s film-Shall We Dance shows the importance of breaking the routines in business and life. The main character in the film-Sugiyama is an ordinary accountant who has a routine and boring life. Every day he goes to work from the same path by using the same train, same bike, and at the same time. The only glimpse of hope to break his routine is the mysterious, beautiful young lady standing at the window of the dance school. Read the rest of this post »

The Little Red Riding Hood is an interesting material to have some inspiration on various of aspects of management.

The wolf is the protagonist of the story and wolf resembles of an effective manager.

First, he has a clear vision: “Eat as much as you can and survive.”

He is excellent at intelligence management. While he is among the woods, he notices the woodcutters and accesses them as a potential threat, and tries to stay away from them. Read the rest of this post »

Death of a Salesman is an inspirational work that makes us think in several different ways; my personal preference is thinking about confronting reality and making adjustments. The members of the Loman family in the play, don’t accept the reality, and their life is like a fake film stage. What we see, hear, or read is beautiful, but when we check what is behind it, a disappointment waits for us. Read the rest of this post »

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar gives important clues about forecasting the future. Most of the classical works have a figure of soothsayer, and there are different signs that imply that the prophecy might be true. In Shakespeare’s play, in the first act a soothsayer warns Caesar about “the Ides of March”, and later Julius Caesar’s wife Calpurnia tells her worries about him because of her nightmare about his assassin. Read the rest of this post »

Sophocles’ Antigone is a quite interesting example of leadership. In books about leadership, the acts of leadership are generally described from the point of view of an assigned leader like a CEO, a general manager or a departmental manager. But in real life usually, leadership starts with a rebellion of a person who is not in the position of authority. The leader is a rising star who breaks the law or challenges the tradition or authority. Read the rest of this post »

Things Fall Apart is a novel that makes us think about the change and adaptive difficulties that comes with it.

The protagonist of the novel Okonkwo passes two different change phases. The first phase of change in Okonkwo’s life is his exile in his wife’s village for seven years. Read the rest of this post »