The Big Idea Blog - Productivity

Nook Update 1.4 : Go to Page Finally fixed plus a cheaper WiFi Only Verison

nospam@example.com (David Duccini) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:16:02 -0500

Quick entry to say that the 1.4 version of the Nook FINALLY supports a "go to page"

Also announced today are a cheaper "WiFi only version" , and a deal with AT&T to get access to their wifi networks for extended coverage.

Update and info can be found here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/support/?cds2Pid=8510&linkid=1578843

Amazon immediately announced a price cut on their Kindle.

Why I make my big purchases on the 12th

nospam@example.com (David Duccini) — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 17:00:00 -0500

There are three numbers that have more control and influence over our lives than most people would want to admit -- and they all have names; Equifax, Experian, and Transunion (remember change agents, to name a thing is to control it)

These services are in the business of trying to figure out how much of a credit risk you represent -- and subsequently make money by selling that information to anyone who can claim a legitimate interest in having the information -- including you. If you don't know what's in your credit history files, you absolutely deserve to pay whatever rate your next creditor wants to offer you. Sound harsh? Read on.

The credit bureaus (don't you love the word 'bureau' ? it has that vaguely official sounding quality to it, somewhere between like a finely crafted mahogany desk and a government agency -- as in the 'B' in FBI) -- hoover up as much information about you as possible -- from as many sources, public and private.

In 2003 I took an active interest in my files when I bought my first house -- I always thought I had pretty good credit -- but my loan officer (officer, another dubious title) mentioned that I had a few dings that were impacting my overall score that meant I was going to have to pay a higher interest rate. I felt a little helpless. It turns out that there was a cell phone I'd never owned in a part of the country I'd never lived in on MY record and was evidently past due! When I got a copy of my report I was floored to see that Equifax had 3 different SSN's attached to my account, and Experian thought my middle initial (V) meant that I was David Duccini the 5th (can you imagine a megalomanic family producing a long line of sons with the same name? -- if you're the III son, stop the madness -- name your son Dweezil, or just call him Revision D), and TransUnion had addresses and also-known as (AKA) names for me that were wholly wrong.

The point is, that while the credit agencies are required by law to maintain lawful and accurate information about you, that implies that someone would know which bits were true or not. Turns out that someone is YOU. You are responsible for reviewing your credit files and absolutely have the ability to challenge, remove, or make personal statements in your file.

Getting stuff off your file takes no more effort than either filing online with each bureau (most of them now offer online dispute management) -- or writing letters to their designated support address. They have about 30 days to investigate the dispute -- and if the company in question doesn't respond, it automatically has to get purged. Which if you think about the state of most companies accounting systems, its likely they won't even find a record on you.

In some cases you need to escalate -- writing a letter of complaint to the Attorney Generals office in each state where there is a reasonable evidence that the company in question was doing business is the 'nuclear option' -- first off, few businesses like to get under the attention of the AG. Second, all AG's want to be governor someday, and they want to be perceived as champions of the people. Plus if there are enough complaints about a company, they have the ability to levy fines, and sanctions, including shutting down the offending company. Or, what you REALLY want is to have whatever bogus information purged from your credit file. Case in point: MCI long distance.

I had MCI LD on a home phone that I tried to cancel, but for whatever reason I could not get it removed -- I needed PINS to be sent by snail mail that would be magically expired by the time the letter arrived etc. Even QWEST couldn't switch me to their plan. So, I ended up disconnecting the phone line and paying the last bill. No active phone line, no way LD should even be an issue. MCI sent the account to collections, I got a ping on my credit report, called the collections company, sent them faxes showing the cancelled check -- the collections company didn't care, they wanted me to pay again. So I called MCI, they said they couldn't do anything. In the end I sent "nasty-grams" to the AG's in Iowa (collection agency) -- Texas (the MCI call center), and California (where the payment had been mailed) -- I got a VERY APOLOGETIC phone call from MCI, California -- and a nice letter from the CA AG's office. -- Texas and Iowa were absolutely useless.

Why did I work so hard to have this information purged? First of all, on principle alone, the information was wrong. But the real motivation was that my credit score on Equifax took a 100 point nose dive because of this bogus 'collection' record in my credit file! Once fixed, it mostly recovered.

The other area in your files that are ripe for correction are old accounts that are showing that they are still open. The number of open accounts is a key factor in your score and an easy one to clean up. "Paid, Closed at Consumers Request" is a happy status.

Creditworthiness in general is a means by which we can determine levels of fiscal responsibility in the absence of any other information -- it's one of the reasons I highly advocate joining a credit union to establish a long-term relationship with your bankers. They tend to be long-lived in the smaller banks.

Since taking an active interest in monitoring my credit reports (and following some of Suze Orman's advice) -- I've learned to buy what I can afford to pay off when the bill comes due -- and anything else goes on a zero percent account and paid down during whatever grace period is offered. The whole thing has taught me discipline.

So why do I make my big purchases on the 12th of every month?

Thats the day after my statement closes, which starts the next months billing cycle. Purchases made on the 12th (in my case) mean I get nearly 60-days of interest free use of whatever it is I'm purchasing, and nearly 60 days until that payment is due -- 30 days until the next bill, and then about 30 days until the payment is due. Credit card companies hate me -- but since the feeling is usually mutual I thought it equitable - lol.

So, Today's Big Idea is this: Take an active interest in your credit. Control your score -- don't let it control you.

Over the long run, those higher percentages you pay (even 1/2 percent) really take a bite out of your long term wealth potential. When it comes to battle with the credit card companies, practice the "Ancient Art of More-Fair"

One last thing: Just pay the one time fee for getting your scores. The freecreditscore.com people, while they have catchy jingles, are trying to get you on for a monthly fee based service. You can obtain your report without your score for free once per year from each bureau. After all, you can't control the score they give you, but you can control what information they base their score on.

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The Nook Rebooted - Games, WiFi, Audio, and Web in Beta

nospam@example.com (David Duccini) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:30:00 -0500

I found my Nook needed a reboot this morning. My first thought of course, was "what now?" -- I was pleasantly surprised to find the latest update now includes a Game tab -- with Sudoku and Chess. "Audio" prompts you to load music in via the USB port, and the "Web in Beta" is a minimally usable web-browser (requires wifi)

Overall, given that that the Nook is running Android underneath, its nice to see them flex a little. The touch control could be a little more reactive -- I have to admit that Apple has the "responsiveness" thing down -- second in line is the Palm Pre's WebOS. I suspect it comes down to either processor power (trading off battery life of course) -- or prioritization -- Apple knows the Human comes first.

I'll have to look around, find, build or buy the talent to produce an app along the lines of an RSS reader -- like bloglines -- or have The Big Idea webserver recognize its a Nook browser, and reformat the content so that its visually more appealing. Right now too much screen real estate is taken up by the feeds menu on the right.

Rebooting is a great metaphor and can apply to more than just the technology we're increasingly becoming reliant on.

It seems to be the last line of defense when it comes to technical support -- "have you power-cycled X? have you rebooted the computer?"

So Today's Big Idea is this: Rebooting isn't just about fixing problems. You are frequently better off than where you were before. In other words, an upgrade.

Not only true with technology, but also careers and life in general. The best way to reboot? Take some classes, get a certification or degree. Invest in yourself. And when all else fails, reboot

Who are you guys and what are you doing here distracting me? The Big Idea Blog is written by David Duccini & David Walbridge

Knowing when to jump...

nospam@example.com (David Walbridge) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 10:29:48 -0500

Taking action on a project.

I'm involved in lots of projects; business personal, life lists, non-profit planning, books, scripts, seminars...Lots. Each requires me doing something - Taking action. The hard part is often the timing. When is the time to move on this? Are we ready? How soon will we know?

What I have learned: You (and I) will never be 100% ready. There is always one more thing to do, check or buy....
Yet, we have to move forward.

Sometimes you can consider, think, plan and then jump. Sometimes you just jump and hope for the best. Me? I've worked both ways...for good and bad. But I still jump.

Today's big idea: Jump.

Outsource Your Weaknesses

nospam@example.com (David Duccini) — Sat, 15 May 2010 14:19:36 -0500

I'm a big fan of the StrengthsFinder approach to self-actualization. I'm kind of a self-assessment test junky -- Myers-Brigg, StrengthsFinder, Insights Discovery -- if I actually believed in astrology I'm sure I could find something interesting in the fact that I'm a O-Positive-Fish-Monkey (combine Japanese blood types with Pisces with the Chinese Zodiac as presented in most noodle shop paper place-mats -- I'm sure there's a new self-help book in there somewhere).

Here's the run-down so far:

My top five strengths? Ideation, Activator, Strategic, Intellection, Learner.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) ? A solid "ENTP"

Insights Discovery? 23: Motivating Director (Classic) -- Red, Yellow, Blue, Green

So what are my weaknesses? Chief among them....Hollandaise sauce*.

There's a fun quote I like to use when it comes to abilities:

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should"

For example, I could create a line of The Big Idea clothing, t-shirts, coffee mugs, wall-clocks and bumper stickers.

But its not my strength. Not even close. Instead, I outsourced it!

Introducing The Big Idea Shop, compliments of CafePress! With a few clicks and a couple of minutes of messing around with the font, voila! Instant online shop with ready made products. Who couldn't use another coffee mug? And with every purchase you'll be helping to stimulate the economy!

We're going to be announcing a new logo design contest in a few days.

Today's Big Idea: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Outsource your weaknesses.

You may find that someone can do it much better, faster, and cheaper than you could ever hope to achieve on your own. Leverage your network and you may find that when the tide comes in, all boats will rise!

* My current favorite hollandaise sauce is the stuff they smother the eggs benedict with at Salut on Grand Ave in St. Paul

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Knol: A Unit of Knowledge

nospam@example.com (David Duccini) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:30:00 -0600

I've been on a tear lately hoovering up books and articles on Knowledge Management & Knowledge Transfer (KM/KT) -- having been involved in a number of Knowledge Driven Product Development (KDPD) projects at my current day job. I've written a number of articles in the past on using wiki's to capture tribal knowledge and as Personal Information Managers.

I've been reading through a collection of works edited by Kazuo Ichijo & Ikujiro Nonaka titled "Knowledge Creation and Management : New Challenges for Managers" and today's article is a mini review of the "knols" I've highlighted so far.

First things first. What's a 'knol' ?

Knol: a unit of knowledge

A 'knol' is a Google concept and implementation that is sort of intended to be a lighter-weight WikiPedia killer. As a generalist I like to find the abstract concept or pattern in order to leverage it. In this case, the word perfectly describes the sorts of things I'm apt to highlight in books and articles.

Here are a few knols I've gleaned from what I've read In "Knowledge Creation and Management" to date:

p.26 - ...innovations are brought about by entrepreneurial leaders...(and that) leadership in a knowledge-creating firm is based on more flexible distributed leadership, rather than on leadership as a fixed control mechanism.

p. 37 - "Looking at emerging trends from a knowledge worker's perspective, we see two main themes. First, greater emphasis on the importance of social networks, new search technologies, and improved approaches to expertise location are making it easier for knowledge workers to find what and whom they need and to establish relationships. Second, increased attention to the importance of adding context to content and the role of group (as opposed to individual) knowledge are making it easier to knowledge workers to apply knowledge more effectively. These forces are leading to greater knowledge worker productivity and better outcomes for organizations"

p. 39 - "A recent research report by IDC estimated that an organization employing one thousand knowledge workers might easily waste over $6 million per year because users fail to find existing knowledge they need, waste time searching for nonexistent knowledge, and re-create knowledge that is available but could not be located."

p. 59 - "Managers considering the transfer of knowledge will find themselves dealing with facts (know-what), cause-and-effect relationships (know-why), skill-based processes (know-how), and interpersonal networks (know-who)."

p. 64 - "..stories have come back into vogue as a way of conveying especially context-rich knowledge (as they) have an inherent advantage over other kinds of verbal and text communication because of the love of narrative is built into human DNA"

p. 64 - "Stories are powerful conveyors of knowledge because they are vivid, engaging, entertaining, and easily related to personal experience. Research shows that they are more memorable than lectures or presentations, are given more weight, and are more likely to guide behavior. In addition, because of the rich contextual details encoded in stories, they are ideal carriers of tacit dimensions of knowledge"

p. 65 - "The Socratic method engages the mind of the recipient of the knowledge in an extremely rapid process of sorting through possible responses to the open-ended question."

p. 70 - "..important knowledge travels best through personal relationships"

p. 71 - "Why are personal relationships so important for knowledge management? Because who you know has an important influence on what you know, for three important reasons: First, relationships allow us to know where a source of external knowledge may lie. Second, relationships are the most important conduit for tacit knowledge. Third, relationships can provide access to explicit knowledge that is important but not public"

More to come!

Today's Big Idea: What have you highlighted in the books and articles you've read? More importantly, why?

It was important at the time and were likely "a-ha" moments for you. Go find them and revisit them and see how relevant they are today as there were when you first made the marks to remember. A lot of this stuff ends up on bumper-stickers!.

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NOOK UPDATE 2 : POWER DOWN, PAGE OUT

nospam@example.com (David Duccini) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:17:57 -0600

Here's a quick update for all of our Nook reader fans out there (and based on the statistics we're seeing, you know who you are!)

If you let your Nook's battery drain down to the point where it prompts you to plug it in, when it comes back up, it loses your place in the book you're reading....

Which means you can't hit "Go to" -> "Furthest read point" !

Instead it dumps you right back at the start of the book. How annoying is that? (okay, in the real world of the ink stained dead tree analogs we're used to holding on to, of course we're always staring down the covers....but that's what the bookmark solves for us)

I just spent about 10 minutes bouncing around trying to jump to chapter heads in Snow Crash to figure out where I was.

The best way around it is to periodically go back to the main menu and then forward again with the "reading now" button. Or use the "Bookmarks" -> "Add Bookmark" (assuming it doesn't lose those as well?!? I'll try that next, let the power drain down again and see if it holds the bookmarks, unless someone else already knows and can post an update in the comments for us)

Overall I'm still pretty happy with the device. What do you think of it so far?

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NOOK UPDATE : PAGE SKIPPING, NO GOTO...FONT SIZE 'FIX'

nospam@example.com (David Duccini) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:30:00 -0600

So I thought it would be fitting to download and read William Gibson's Neuromancer on my new Barnes & Noble "Nook" e-book reader.

The purchase process was easy, the download instantaneous.

But the Nook has Issues.

When I hit page 33 and try and go to the next page, it pauses, and jumps to page 55 (start of chapter 2) -- if I hit the back button, nothing happens, so I hit a second time and it now randomly sends me back to page 12 or page 18.

A quick Google search, tells me that B&N Message Board and a blog post here says I'm not the only one. As this blogger points out, there is no "go to page" option -- just cover, and chapters.

Also for additional content, I found FictionWise a Barnes & Noble company! But not all the content available is compatible with the Nook, nor is it integrated into B&N's main site. Seems like it would be trivial for them to make a link -- like with its used books.

I totally get that this is a "version one" release -- I'm a little stunned that this kind of problem exists -- you'd think QA/QC would have caught something like this. You would think that actually turning the pages in order would be, I dunno, a basic Tier 1 test?

Stay tuned.....

*UPDATED* Evidently changing the font will allow you to read the content, but the page numbers disappear -- which really, when you think about it, the page numbers are coincidental anyway...important in some contexts...but largely concidental....especially in an e-book reader. Noodle on that over coffee this morning....

Rules for school

nospam@example.com (David Walbridge) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:29:55 -0600

I'm interested in rules, implicit and explicit and how they apply to thinking and creativity. Per our counter-points last week, I've been thinking about college, learning and what 'rules' helped me be successful in school.

1. Go to every class.
2. Read the materials. Books, handouts, web sites, etc.
3. Participate in the discussions.
(These three might be grouped as one under : "Pay attention!")
4. Stay committed. (I never allowed myself to quit in the middle of a semester.)
5. School, for those years, IS your job. Its your main commitment.
6. Take hard, challenging & interesting classes. (I took 1 year of dance training, poetry, art, public speaking, astronomy, choir, acted a little Shakespeare, and graduate level philosophy.)
7. Have a little fun and meet people. On campus activities and clubs are great for meeting people, having fun and maybe...learning something.
8. Feel free to drop a class, change majors or schools and change your mind.
9. School is busy and very detailed. Everything (everything!) goes in the planner. Every test, quiz, paper, deadline, appointment and sometimes even when classes meet get written in the planner. When it gets announced in class, on the syllabus or you agree to it -- Write it down. Check the planner everyday.
10. Ask for help. There are lots and lots of people who are there and ready to help you in your education; homework help, financial aid, housing, life skills, transportation, etc. Find these resources and use them.

These ten rules helped me immensely to get through college and even enjoy it.

Today's big idea: What 'rules' helped you approach your higher education? Did you know they were rules at the time?

Note: This is out first interactive topic. Please post your rules for school in the comments area. Thanks.

NEW: College will also teach you about money. Finances. Credit. One way or the other, you will learn these things.

Newer: And parking rules and regulations - and how they change; are in no way logical nor easy to understand and completely arbitrary.

Idea Capture tools

nospam@example.com (David Walbridge) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:36:00 -0600

Following up on Dave's entry on finding the right notebook to use, I'm going to expand on some more Idea Capture tools that I like.

(Idea Capture is a useful way to clear the mind before starting a project and to collect thing before or during a mind- map event. It is explained here} {Also here.}

In addition to 2 main notebooks, I also use a variety of other tools to collect and record ideas. These four are my favorites after the notebook:

1. Digital voice recorder (Or the same recording fuction on your phone). Great way to take notes while driving, or when the ideas are flowing too fast to write down.

2. Digital camera. My current phone has a built-in camera, which I use to snap pics of things I want to remember; book titles at the store, a particular color combination on a shoe, etc. Essentially functioning as a nemonic for ideas.

3. Post-its. Several computer versions are also available

4. Planner/ Date book/ day timer/ day runner/calendar. Good to keep track of events, but also for recording and planning ahead.

Today's big idea: Get the right tools and grab those ideas!

{* also explained here, using Harry Potter.}

Strengths or Weaknesses: You are defined by both.

nospam@example.com (David Duccini) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:30:00 -0600

Fridays "point-counterpoint" is taking up the debate between whether you should work to improve strengths or weaknesses.

The Clifton StrengthsFinder folks famed for their "Now, go discover your strengths" and corresponding assessment test would have you believe that you should forget your weaknesses and focus exclusively on your strengths.

(For the record, I've taken the assessment and my top five are: Ideation, Activator, Strategic, Intellection, Learner)

My biggest complaint is that it doesn't also show you your bottom five, which, presumably would be your five greatest weaknesses.

Now, while I think the idea that you should forget about focusing on developing your weaknesses may not be a productive use of your time and energy, I think having an acute awareness of them would be instructive. In other words, knowing what your blind spots are.

So I'm going to argue on the side of weaknesses -- not in the sense of 'mastery' as the StrengthsFinder team wants you to think of them. Refining things you're already good at is helpful in terms of becoming an expert, but think of it this way: Let's say for arguments sake that someone referred to harassment or sensitivity training got a free pass because quote "you know that just isn't one of my strengths."

Focusing solely on leveraging and exercising only your strengths is a somewhat mechanistic approach to life. I may totally suck at the game of golf, but because its not a strength of mine doesn't mean that I can't simply enjoy the game and experience for the skill level I have and practice can make pretty good.

It's been said that the measure of a great society is how well it treats its weakest members.

So today's big idea is this: Treat your weaknesses kindly. You are defined both by what you can and what you cannot do well.

Whatever success you find in improving your weaknesses will be markedly better than the time spent refining already held strengths. It will make you a more well-rounded (balanced) individual.

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Your IT department probably isn't a competitive advantage

nospam@example.com (David Duccini) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:30:00 -0600

Long ago, in a computer center far far away.....

Once upon a time, your company might have had a computer...

IT was large.

IT was complicated.

IT was VERY expensive.

IT frequently didn't do what you wanted/needed IT to do.

Worst of all....

IT required appeasing a priesthood that spoke in cryptic language that was supposedly too hard for mere mortals to interpret.

Sound familiar?

Of course now that the computer is on your desktop and the "big computer" is just the network that ties them all together, very little else has changed -- internally that is.

"IT" is no longer a thing....but a THEY!

IT (Information Technology or IS Information Services) is probably not a competitive advantage of your company. But like a zombie, IT doesn't realize it. IT thinks that IT is the reason you're in business. That the world revolves around IT.

I would venture to guess that NO WHERE in your company's mission statement does it say anything like:

Our goal is to be a world-class IT/IS company providing timely valued services to our customers...

In fact I highly doubt that they even think that way in terms of their own charter. As I blogged before all businesses run like a supply-chain -- IT just hasn't figured out that YOU are their customer.

To put it bluntly: IT is rarely a profit center for the company. And if they are not generating money they are spending it. And don't be fooled by the siren song that they sing about "saving money" -- you're paying them -- directly as a cost-center -- or indirectly as a shareholder.

I would argue that for the amount of money that companies spend on their own internal resources that you'd think they would demand a higher level of service in return. If they were paying an outside vendor you can be sure that they would hold them to a higher standard. But somehow the internal IT department has convinced you that you report to them. Or at a minimum they control the resources. Who died and made them king?

This is provocative -- change agent material:

IT is a service to the organization (a vendor) -- if IT/IS unwilling or unable to provide the service you need, you should be free to source it from someone who will.

They obviously did not get the memo. Remind them of that the next time you have a trouble ticket they don't want fix for you, or block access to social network sites. Or my favorite, the arbitrary and capricious blocking of various WikiPedia entries all under the guise of protecting you from yourself -- or "its policy". Ask them, "...so how much money did you make for the business last year?"

You won't win any friends, but since they probably already hold you in contempt, it's only fitting to return the favor! After all they are just not-so-subtly treating you the way they obviously want to be treated....

And since there is already a high-turnover-rate, the problem is largely self-correcting. But just in case it's not correcting fast enough, consider outsourcing your next project to someone that actually wants your business.

As my former business partner Jon used to say, "It's really no coincidence that half of SHIT is IT!"

So, today's big idea is this: Ask your IT department for a copy of its mission statement.

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No Really...It's You Not Me: Firing a Customer

nospam@example.com (David Duccini) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:30:00 -0500

Think the Customer is Always Right? Think again.

It seems strange, especially in a largely consumer/customer-service based economy such as ours that the idea of firing a customer is largely taboo -- virtually unheard of!

Jeff Bezo's, CEO of Amazon drove the point home early in Amazon's debut about the importance of delivering quality services in the internet age when he said:

"You know, if you make a customer unhappy they won't tell five friends, they'll tell 5,000 friends."

(You would have thought that someone at United Airlines would have taken his advice -- now more than 5 Million people have heard that United Breaks Guitars...)

For the record, ever since Amazon became more interested in suing other booksellers, and cosmetic companies, I lost a lot of respect for them. But when then sued Barnes & Noble over their ridiculous patent on web-browser cookies known as "one-click" -- I cancelled my account and now I give all my business to local used book stores when I can, and support B&N on all new purchases -- thats 10 years of not buying from Amazon! I can't wait to get "the nook" e-book reader I pre-ordered!

Which really brings me to my point here: I'm probably not the right customer for Amazon in the same way Dave Carroll is no longer the right customer for United. In our cases, we self-selected out.

But what about those times when your obnoxious, irate, "I'm the always right customer" doesn't have the good sense to find another vendor? Or another job?

The tack I've taken is that I agree openly with them with a twist of lemon:

While the customer may always be right they are NOT always right for us.

Supporting an abusive customer can demoralize your workforce, undermines your credibility with your employees which can ultimately erode trust from the people that make your business go. When done in front of other customers legitimizes bad behavior which can spread like wildfire, and only perpetuates the myth that how they are treating people is somehow acceptable on their home planet.

Thankfully most of these temper-tantrums can be avoided by setting and managing expectations as early as possible.

Now, what happens when you start to think of your boss as your customer? Or your boss's boss? Or that egomaniac VP in the corner office? Or that insufferable paper-only lawyer in legal that thinks because she has a law degree that somehow makes her smarter than everyone else on the planet?? For a REALLY good read on coping with these kind of "bad customers", I highly recommend The No Asshole Rule : Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't , by Robert I Sutton.

And since it's Friday, for some additional amusing reading, check out the website Not Always Right dot com | Funny & Stupid Customer Quotes

So today's Big Idea is this: "The customer might always be right -- but that doesn't mean they are always right for you!"

What do you think? How are you handling bad customers?

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Creative Partnerships

nospam@example.com (David Walbridge) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:30:00 -0500

collaboration is the secret to breakthrough creativity. -Keith Sawyer

Creative Partnerships

I have been involved in a dozen partnerships over the past year- Projects ranging from producing theater shows, helping a bit with a book, marketing consulting, writing, being the 'talent' in a TV commercial, writing a play for a high school competition, doing voice-overs for internet ads, and even one conversation on what trick a sideshow geek should use -- {I suggested 'sword through the neck,' they went with a knitting needle through the neck...}

In each of these cases I was brought on board, (Or brought a partner on board for one of my projects) for one specific reason – To contribute something to the project that the other person did not have.

Today's blog is about creative partnerships; how they are created, how they work and how they don't. This is part one.

In the business world, I’d seen many innovations emerge from a group’s genius. _Keith Sawyer

One complaint I heard recently from an advertising guy at a networking get-together -- that the client brings him on for a very specific skill set, proven talent, clear focus and ability to execute great ideas... He presents them with one of his signature, killer, brilliant concepts. Its perfect. All the client wants is to change the headline, and the color and some of the copy; in short, mess with the idea.

Why? If their ideas are better than his, Don't hire him.
If they are not...Let him do his work

Every partnership - every - exists because one partner bring something to the table, project, team, exhibit, process, show, quilt, puppet show, book, ...that the other partner cannot.

Today's big idea: Bring in partners that have skills/ background/ ideas -- something that you do not. And then let them contribute.

* All these quotes from this page Group genius Keith has also written a book "Group Genius"

Creative Partnerships or Just Another Job ?

nospam@example.com (David Duccini) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:30:00 -0500

We had so much fun (and good feedback) from last weeks "point - counterpoint" article that we've decided that we'd give it another try this week -- DaveW picked the topic on Creative Partnerships and we're writing from our perspectives.

I've also been involved in a number of business partnerships over the years - as well as interpersonal relationships. They both have a fair number of core things in common. The need for open, honest communication, the need for setting and managing expectations for example. I agree with the other Dave that each party is likely bringing something to the partnership that helps the whole group in some way -- in the classic sense of the term, synergy:

Simply defined, synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

The kind of illustrative partnerships Dave uses in his article, I would argue aren't actually partnerships -- they are business relationships -- consumer and producers agreeing to a quantity of work output. A person is hired for a specific job -- likely because the party extending the offer of employment already recognizes a gap in their skillset -- ergo, the offer to an outside party for output.

Now, don't get me wrong, most people, especially creative individuals, like to contribute and have their contributions valued. But not everyone values things the same way, and not every contributor has the same stake in the final outcome -- and therein lies the rub as it were.

I see this same kind of tension develop over and over again inside large companies, where lots of different stakeholders come to the table and argue passionately for their understanding of the true customer valued solution: Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Engineering, Compliance -- they all have a voice -- but ultimately the final decision is made by the customer who has the largest stake in the outcome. In other words the loudest voice at the table may not have the largest stake in the outcome. Groups figure that out pretty quickly and people get marginalized. Don't be that guy/gal.

Which brings me to my point for today.

Not all partnerships (stakeholders) are equal. If you're getting paid by one of the "partners", chances are you're probably not a partner, but likely a vendor.

I think of 'vendor' generically in the sense of every business operates like a supply chain! The output of one group supplies another -- think about who your customer is. Are you keeping them happy? Do all of the stakeholders know what standing they have in the project or the final product?

Today's "yes and" Big Idea is this: Figure out who your customer is.

Manage everyone's expectations upfront and make sure everyone understands what level of contribution (stake) they have. It will help all the "partners" focus their time and energy, producing a better ROI for everyone involved!

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