Hints of insight

bricks (via mostexerent)

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:56:02 -0500

bricks (via mostexerent)

Slats (via Freshome)

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:54:52 -0500

Slats (via Freshome)

Beautiful - (via McLaren Production Center by Foster Partners...

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 12:06:27 -0500

Beautiful - (via McLaren Production Center by Foster Partners | lvlup)

Ice Cube Celebrates The Eames (by pacificstandardtime)

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 12:00:20 -0500

Ice Cube Celebrates The Eames (by pacificstandardtime)

"…great horizontal killer applications are actually just fancy data structures. Spreadsheets..."

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:34:44 -0500

“…great horizontal killer applications are actually just fancy data structures. Spreadsheets are not just tools for doing “what-if” analysis. They provide a specific data structure: a table. Most Excel users never enter a formula. They use Excel when they need a table. The gridlines are the most important feature of Excel, not recalc.”

- How Trello is different - Joel on Software

"Autonomy at work is strongly associated with lower stress and greater happiness, and, if nothing..."

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:03:54 -0500

“Autonomy at work is strongly associated with lower stress and greater happiness, and, if nothing else…means more of us making more choices for ourselves.”

- Time to grow up: The future of work is adult

Dieter Rams - SFMOMA (by Andrew Birchett)

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 09:14:22 -0500

Dieter Rams - SFMOMA (by Andrew Birchett)

"Google knows it. Viacom knows it. The Chamber of Commerce knows it. Internet democracy groups know..."

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:35:50 -0500

“Google knows it. Viacom knows it. The Chamber of Commerce knows it. Internet democracy groups know it. BoingBoing knows it. But, the Internet hasn’t been told yet — we’re going to get blown away by the end of the year. The worst bill in Internet history is about to become law.”

- STOP SOPA, SAVE THE INTERNET - Boing Boing (via fred-wilson)

"A tool addresses human needs by amplifying human capabilities."

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:44:08 -0500

“A tool addresses human needs by amplifying human capabilities.”

- A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design

What sits within the cross section of our talents?

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:22:52 -0400

While having dinner with a couple of friends the other night a discussion came up of where each of our businesses were going in respect to our city, state and region. Everyone at the table is either a new entrepreneur with a service based businesses model, or had been one at some point. The, enviable, topic of trying to move from a 100% service (billable hour) to purely a software as a service model (monthly reoccuring revenue) eventually reared it’s head.

I’m not going to go so far to say that I don’t like software as a service, I’m a huge fan. I’m not convinced that it’s the end-all-be-all-for model to build within our region. Yes, the SAS model does offer (currently) the best economics currently, but is it the right business to build here in respect to resources, talent and focus?

I drew the diagram above on a napkin. Grand Rapids, and West Michigan in general, have some very interesting companies moving from their historical center of expertise to one of the cross sections, but I’m not sure if anyone has figured out what lays in the middle. I’m not saying that every new successful business will hit dead center of this three way intersection, but to me it’s one that’s rather intriguing.

What problem space is waiting to be solved at this cross section? Do you think anyone is already doing, or well onto their way, all three of these equally well?

We don't hire commodity workers

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:03:00 -0400

Last night at the aimWest Innovation panel a great statement was mentioned by one of the panelists that stuck in my mind. “We don’t hire commodity workers.” That short, one sentence, line provides a great deal of insight into the culture, direction and fortitude of the company, department and team members. Not just top down, but even the expectation placed on fellow coworkers.

In today’s environment, especially within the tech arena, there’s a large demand for talented people. The gotcha is it’s not a demand for someone who can just take a spec and write some code, or someone who just pulls a cable from point A to B. For teams to be effective all members have to hold the skill set to communicate, think analytically, question and deliver.

The day of the one trick poney is done. Companies want collaboration, collaboration doesn’t work with commodity talent.

"…work has become something that we do rather than a place that we go."

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:42:35 -0400

“…work has become something that we do rather than a place that we go.”

- Cisco security GM: Consumerization drives everything — Tech News and Analysis

Don't tell me maybe

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:00:05 -0400

I’m tired of maybe. Maybe is where you waste mine and your time. Maybe doesn’t help either of us move foward. Maybe is where decisions go to die.

If you can’t commit right now, say no. This clears you from wasting your own time thinking about the proposition any longer and I don’t have to put other actions on hold.

Yes allow us to both move forward and figure our further details.

We’re all grown ups, you’re not going to hurt my feelings if you say no.

What a great West Michigan evening (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 20:34:15 -0400

What a great West Michigan evening (Taken with instagram)

Less is more, again

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:26:36 -0400

I was listening to a recent episode of Back to Work while mowing the lawn. Merlin and Dan we’re discussing commodities and constraints within life and work. The example of time was brought up as our major constraint and limited resource in life, projects and the pursuit of happiness. I think by now we all realize this, we all wish for more time in the day, more days in the week, etc.

I’m starting to look at this from another angle. I need less. I want less commitments, less priorities and less interruption. The result from a pursuit for less is conveniently more*.

More time to think, more attention to the little details that make things matter and more clarity.

Take a moment to understand and recognize your capacity. If you’re over it take quick decisive action and correct it, learn to say no, turn off or disconnect those that can’t possibly be amazing with everything else.

* This isn’t a new concept and it’s been stated on many a blog and book. I just need to remind myself of this every once in awhile, and writing a blog post helps.

"I love to work and do it far more than eight hours a day. Part of that love arises from the freedom..."

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:38:10 -0400

“I love to work and do it far more than eight hours a day. Part of that love arises from the freedom I have in doing it.”

- WORKTECH 11 West Coast: Where Will I Work?

"A new generation, one that grew up with a data surplus, is coming along. To this cohort, it’s no big..."

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:14:58 -0400

“

A new generation, one that grew up with a data surplus, is coming along. To this cohort, it’s no big deal to miss a tweet or ten, to delete a blog from your reader or to not return a text or even a voice mail. The new standard for a vacation email is, “When I get back, I’m going to delete all the email in my box, so if it’s important, please re-send it next week.”

This is what always happens when something goes from scarce to surplus. First we bathe in it, then we waste it.

”

- Seth’s Blog: The shower of data

"Fun projects like this are why a lot of us started programming in the first place, but with..."

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:50:26 -0400

“Fun projects like this are why a lot of us started programming in the first place, but with deadlines and customers and all the pressures of writing production code, it’s really easy to get all serious and forget about the sheer joy of programming.”

- SlideShare - The importance of silly projects

Review: Read This Before Our Next Meeting

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:50:00 -0400

Meetings meetings meetings, we all have them. Some of us more than others. They’ve grown to take over our calendars, some bore us to tears and little get’s done in them.

I recently finished Read This Before Our Next Meeting, a great short book explaining how to re-purpose our traditional meetings into those that are concise, thorough and purposeful.

The message of the books rings to many concepts we’ve heard around from the likes of Seth Godin and the 37 Signals crew. Have a purpose, do your homework and make decisive decisions and stop stalling/wasting time.

Al Pittampalli introduces his concept of the “modern meeting” with the basic premiss that a meeting has only two reasons for being, to resolve conflict or coordinate efforts. At the core of it any meetings purpose is to support a decision that has already been made.

I really liked Al’s point that today our use of “meeting” has really grown to encompass so many different activities, and thus everything is now regarded as a “meeting”. When in fact so many things fall into the other two categories he delves into of a conversation or a brainstorm.

Al explains the idea that the burden of the meeting preparation goes onto the shoulders of the organizer. Not that participants shouldn’t be prepared but its up to the organizer to do the leg work that will provide enough information and background to make a decision before the meeting begin. Then the actual meeting time can be used to communicate the reasoning for that decision and address any questions or concerns.

Overall the book can be boiled down to:

Have an agenda
Stick to your time limit
Only invite those that are absolutely needed
Do your homework

I enjoyed it and it’s worth the very quick read. All in all, stop stalling with meetings, take decisive action and move on, communicating as needed. If a decision hasn’t been made, don’t have the meeting, make up your mind, own it then let others know.

What other meeting strategies do you find useful?

Ella Riot rocking in a parking garage (Taken with Instagram at...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:29:33 -0400

Ella Riot rocking in a parking garage (Taken with Instagram at GreenGala - FriendsGRparks)