Since SXSW my first reaction when I see something worth sharing is to meercast it. I love Meerkat’s ease of use, immediacy, and visual feedback of seeing who’s watching and reading their comments. The gratification of meercasting is amazingly high. I have a couple of concerns about Meerkat. First, for the widespread adoption of Meerkat [...]
There is a myth that successful companies begin with grandiose ambitions. The implication is that entrepreneurs should start with megalomaniac goals in order to succeed. To the contrary, my observation is that great companies began by wondering about simple things, and this leads to asking simple questions that beget companies: […]
Over at the American Express Open Forum, I posted an article called “Customer-Centric Design: Got Empathy?” by Matthew E. May (@matthewemay). This articles explains why walking a few miles in the shoes of your customers is important when designing products and services for them. Check it out by clicking here.
Over at the American Express Open Forum, I posted an article called “Design’s Deadly Duo” by Matthew E. May (@matthewemay). This articles how companies mistake invention for innovation by making two big mistakes: confusing an unarticulated need with a non-existent one and confusing long lead times with future needs.
I interviewed Matt May, author of In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing, about the topic of elegance. He says that the four qualities of elegance are: symmetry, seduction, subtraction, and sustainability. If you’re interested in creating elegant products and services, you’ll find it very interesting. Check out the interview here. [...]
On January 24, 1984 Apple introduced Macintosh. Many of us who worked in the Macintosh division are now asking, “Where did the time go?” The Division had a reunion at the home of Alain Rossman (software evangelist) and Joanna Hoffman (the division’s conscience and first marketing person) to celebrate this occasion, and these are pictures [...]
"If You're Open to Growth, You Tend to Grow" should be required reading for managers and parents. It summarizes the work of Carol Dweck from Stanford. Key passage: Those who believe they were born with all the smarts and gifts they’re ever going to have approach life with what she calls a “fixed mind-set.” Those [...]
A buddy of mine found three cool inventions to share with readers of my blog. These inventions can change the world and illustrate how much can be done with innovative thinking. Pot-in-pot. This is the invention of Mohammed Bah Abba of Nigeria. He is from a family of pot makers and discovered a way to [...]
Over at the Sun Microsystems blog I published an interview about the art of change. It features Ariane de Bonvoisin, the founder and CEO of The First Thirty Days, Inc. She recently published a book called The First 30 Days: Your Guide to Any Change (and Loving Your Life More). Learn about the crucial first [...]
Launch: Silicon Valley is coming up in less than a week. The regular price is $199, but you can get a discount by clicking here. The event is on June 10th at the Microsoft campus in Mountain View, California. Thirty companies will be launching their products and services to an audience of venture capitalists, press, [...]
Roger von Oech is the author a classic book about innovation called A Whack on the Side of the Head. Believe it or not, this is the twenty-fifth anniversay of the book. When I was young(er), this book was the rage for the personal-computer generation in Silicon Valley. Join me on Sun's site for an [...]
PARC was the center of the universe for the development of many personal computer and Internet technologies. For example: Ethernet, laser printing, personal computer (Alto), graphical user interface, and object-oriented programming. Maybe “center of the universe” is an exageration, but at the very least, it’s one of the main trees as you can see by [...]
Now that you’re a nanotechnology expert, here’s the next trend to study: Free. This is a video of Chris Anderson discussing his next book. Chris is the editor of Wired and author of The Long Tail. Kudos to whoever at Nokia decided to put this keynote online for the rest of us. And kudos to [...]
Batelle Memorial Institute recently completed a report called "Productive Nanosystems: A Technology Roadmap." It's a complete analysis of this world-changing technology.
I introduced you to Matt May in January. He’s the author of The Elegant Solution and the ChangeThis manifesto called Elegant Solutions: Breakthrough Thinking the Toyota Way. He added a new manifesto called Mind of the Innovator: Taming the Traps of Traditional Thinking. Here’s an excerpt for you: Shortcutting. Leaping to solutions in an instinctive [...]
Scott Berkun worked on the Internet explorer team at Microsoft from 1994-1999. He is the author of a recently released book called The Myths of Innovation. He also wrote the 2005 bestseller, The Art of Project Management. He teaches a graduate course in creative thinking at the University of Washington, runs the sacred places architecture [...]
I’ll be speaking at the Salesforce Developer Conference on Monday. This is a free event. I learned something recently: Salesforce.com is really a software-as-service “platform” that has applicability beyond “salesforce automation.” Ergo, this conference is also for software entrepreneurs. Hope to see you there.
Check out a blog called Trendsspotting. It’s written by Taly Weiss, a social psychologist who runs a market research firm in Israel. She’s recently wrote about a bunch of interesting topics including: Self testing the degree of hardcore Web 2.0 usage. Crocs. (There are two pairs of Crocs in the Kawasaki family!) Influence of MySpace [...]
I love the Internet because I wake up every day and discover something cool. Today’s discovery is TrendHunter, a site that recruits people around the world to spot trends. Here are some examples: Condom testers needed in the UK—mum’s the word or shaken, not stirred? Portraits made of chewing gum—giving a whole new meaning to [...]
This is a follow-up to the posting of March 14th based on a new book called Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. It is a video of Professor Carol Dweck explaining fixed and growth mindsets. Also, this diagram explains the differences between the two mindsets. It’s great—but that’s not surprising because Nigel Holmes created it. [...]