Well, folks, on a contemplative Sunday evening, as my brain was winding down from the final proofing of the 2nd edition of TechnoTouch, and the visiting grandchildren are tucked away for the night, I pondered the connection between technology, brain cells, transference of talent, corporate winners, and teamwork. Sound puzzling? Let me try to show you the connection.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation just conducted a new study on US states entering the cyber age. The states were ranked compositely according to how well they are opening online doors to citizens in a number of areas, including: education, government affairs, access to health and legal resources. A brief Quiz for you. #1: Which US state did they find was "the most digital?" #2: Which state earned first place in "digital democracy?" #3: Although the Silicon revolution was born in California, what did CA rank overall? We'll come back to this in a bit.

As scientists gain insight into the complexities of the brain, the debate goes on as to whether talent is genetic or environmental. We know that the transmission of knowledge, skill and ability comes from children observing their parents' relationship to their own work. A new study by Danish researchers has found that men have an average of four billion more brain cells than women. Men had about 23 billion and women 19 billion. One of the Danish doctors involved commented, "maybe we'll find it's much more important how neurons are connected than how many there are." Translation? Maybe size doesn't matter as much as connection and use does.

Business Week's latest Corporate Scoreboard showed the winners in quarterly profits. Industry leaders were in construction/real estate, building materials, steel, trucking/shipping, petroleum services, publishing, semiconductors, computers/peripherals, and appliances. Ford Motor, General Electric, General Motors, Exxon, Philip Morris, Intel, and IBM made the most millions of dollars. Translation? A combination of cutting costs and continuing to grow the businesses pays off.

An unmanned cargo ship due to link up with the Mir space station was delayed because of a minor malfunction. Russian ground controllers apparently had trouble sending computer commands to the Progress cargo ship for automatic docking. In space age, MIR has gone above and beyond. Meanwhile, this weekend marked the passing of the Pathfinder rover's 1,000th hour on the surface of the planet Mars. The Pathfinder team continued to deal with the rover's aging problems. Sojourner has far outlived its anticipated seven-day life, but the Pathfinder team plans to keep it running it as long as they can. The Pathfinder continues to rely on solar power during the day, sleeps at night to save battery power and awakens each morning on a timer. Translation: ingenuity and teamwork make the complex appear simple and achievable.

Results of the study I opened with? Washington was deemed the 'Most Digital' State, Alaska was Number One in 'digital democracy', and California, where the silicon revolution was born, ranked only Number 16 overall. Translation: just because you were once head of the pack doesn't mean you'll get to stay there!

MarleneB.Brown,CEO:MarmeL Consulting Firm,POBox 83,ClarkMills,NY 13321 Speaker/Consultant Tel: 315/853-1318 Fax: 315/853-4636 Email: marlenebb7 Topics: Future Change& Technology, Leadership&Teamwork, Sales&Marketing Author: the book "TechnoTouch:Managing Change for 21st Century Leadership"© & "TechnoTouch Marketing Trends"© a bi-monthly newsletter. Visit our Web site at: http://www.technotouch.com/

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