Humans

  • If this was a strong idea in 1897, it’s 100x more true now… Henry Childs Merwin explores the concept of being “close to nature” and contrasts it with the effects of excessive civilization. He argues that being close to nature involves engaging directly with natural forces and maintaining primeval instincts such as pugnacity, pity, and…

  • Pulling out some highlights of the Household Financial Planning Survey: people who plan feel more confident about their financial decision‐making, manage to save more money, and feel better about their progress only about a third (31%) of decision‐makers today report having ever put together a comprehensive financial plan. And just 35 percent of decision‐makers report…

  • I frequently design financial services, and having just rolled off a project took some time to reflect on trends I’ve noticed. Here’s the first three that came to mind: Active participation by the affluent: Sometimes financial services companies assume the affluent don’t want to interact with computer services themselves. In reality, the affluent don’t want…

  • A benefit of being a speaker at Failcon was getting an invitation to a talk hosted by Anit Guha of Orrick Legal. Here’s some of his wisdom that I noted down: When choosing a name use the uspto site and a 3rd party search service Avoid incorporating in California; use Delaware C Corp. Not only…

  • Note: Over the next few weeks I’m blogging my notes on Amy Shuen’s book Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide: Business thinking and strategies behind successful Web 2.0 implementations. (O’Reilly Media). The book is both a good introduction and a synthesis of diverse theories that should offer something to even experienced strategists. Background: What is Web…

  • Designers often ask this question. Sometimes I think the question arises from a genuine desire to be doing something else which is more strategic in nature, and sometimes I think what is being asked is, how can I convince or influence others to do things my way? The answer might be the same or it…

  • The common way that financial people will judge the potential value of a project, or a design concept representing a potential future concept, is by building a model, usually a discounted cash flow model like Net Present Value (NPV). The calculation essentially asks, if we do this project and gain the profit we think we’ll…

  • Art Kleiner revised The Age of Heretics and the 2nd edition is on it’s way to my greedy little fingers. It explores heretical ideas in management starting in 1945 through several case studies to find that: People are basically good at heart; they are fundamentally trustworthy. Only workplaces that give their members the chance to…

  • Design London looks like a very cool, London version of a D School — mixing students from design, engineering, and business students — with an incubator thrown in for good measure.

  • Malcolm Gladwell is working on a book that argues there is a mismatch problem in the way we usually hire people, that we set up qualifications to try and judge how people might perform where what we should be doing is watching them actually perform. Here’s a recent video of him explaining the problem. The…

  • The Harvard Business Review continues to support Gary Hamel’s ideas on management innovation, most recently with a summary inviting readers to contribute their thoughts on the subject. I’m eager to see the response. I think Hamel has a strong argument, yet the topic doesn’t have a handle that’s easy to grasp. “Alright, it’s clear we…

  • Kevin Kelly established himself as an Internet pundit with true foresight with the 1998 New Rules for the New Economy which is still a classic, if showing a little age with its dot com bravura. Now he’s working on a new book piece by piece on his blog. The latest chapter examines the future of…

  • In my Internet Strategy Class I walk through the 2005 Internet Services Disruption memo from Ray Ozzie. The takeaway is that Microsoft realized services have become strategically crucial but that the company has significant organizational obstacles in the way of making the transition from installed software. So it’s not terribly surprising when they start buying…

  • As best as I’ve seen it summed up: “No one has yet figured out how to manage people effectively into battle — they must be led.”

  • From TechCrunch: Linden Lab has announced that virtual banking within Second Life is to be banned effective January 22 after receiving multiple complaints by Second Life residents scammed by bank operators. I have a very early memory of pulling up to the drive-through window of our local bank in our station wagon, my mother depositing…