Now, I fully realize that the world is divided among those who love Ken Rockwell and those who think  he’s simply over-the-top and downright crazy.  I’ve always found that, just like with any other writing, if you’re willing to make up your own mind on the subject, after weighing in all the info, you will find that Ken makes a lot of sense on the things he writes about. 

This recent post entitled ‘The Pen and the Signature‘ is just one example.  Plus, it concerns a subject that always comes up in conversation when a newbie photographer encounters a more experienced one : “So, what camera do you use?”

If I gave you my pen, would you have my signature? Of course not.  So if I gave you my camera, would you take pictures that look like mine? Of course not.  Why would anyone think otherwise?

Camera makers don’t want you to know is that it’s you that makes a picture, not the camera. A picture is as unique to the taker of that picture as is his signature…

All images are reflections of the photographer who created them. Good photographers are artists who have their own style. Crappy photographers are crappy precisely because they show no style of their own, or spend their time trying to copy the style of others, or simply shoot away without thinking…

Purchasing the world’s finest camera and carefully leveling it on the world’s most stable tripod and carefully color profiling everything and working everything over in raw in Photoshop for six hours afterwards is the best way to make completely forgettable images. Being yourself and showing us your own way of seeing things is the way to make remarkable images.

No one else sees with your eyes. Vision is not a team sport. You have to see for yourself, and show us yourself in your images.

Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?!

Beginning to think about design by exploring the tenets of the Zen aesthetic may not be an example of Lateral Thinking in the strict sense, but doing so is a good exercise in stretching ourselves and really beginning to think differently about visuals and design in our everyday professional lives…

Kanso – Simplicity or elimination of clutter
Fukinsei – Asymmetry or irregularity
Shibui/Shibumi – Beautiful by being understated
Shizen – Naturalness; Absence of pretense or artificiality
Yugen – Profundity or suggestion rather than revelation
Datsuzoku – Freedom from habit or formula
Seijaku – Tranquility or an energized calm (quite), stillness, solitude

As Reynolds explains, “The principles are interconnected and overlap; it’s not possible to simply put the ideas in separate boxes”.  But, his post does a fine job of making these timeless principles available to us, so that we can use them to change our thinking on a number of things, not just design-related challenges.  Read the entire post.

I had promised myself back then, that I would return to it, as and when time permitted.  But Life, as we all know, is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.  Priorities at work would take up most of my time in the years to come. And soon, I found myself at the other end of the decade, wondering what happened to my plans of going back to school and teaching?!

As a young student myself, I remember that a handful of teachers had left an impression on my mind, in a span of a few hours of their delivery, that would last me a lifetime!  I could not help but think, if I could give even a little of that to the next generation of students, it would be well worth the journey…

So, in that spirit, I have once again embarked on an effort to engage with the young leaders of tomorrow.  For the moment, it has taken the form of guest lectures in select business schools, since my schedule still limits the time available at my disposal.

A month ago, I addressed a batch of about 65 students in their final year in NMIMS’ dual-degree MBA (Tech) course on the topic of “Change Management & Business Process Reengineering“.  Last week, I had the opportunity to return to SIMSR as an alumnus and guest faculty, to speak on “Six Sigma & Process Excellence” with a class of more than 120 eager beavers. 

Both topics required a fair bit of work to create a presentation that is appealing and informative.  And, keeping the students engaged has been an interesting challenge too.  But, if the feedback I have received via feedback forms, on email and on LinkedIn is any thing to go back, I seem to be doing something right…

It was based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s study on the future of the automobile, and offered a groundbreaking analysis of the worldwide move from mass production to lean production.  The Toyota motor company and its Production System were the stars of this movement, and Toyota would be admired by practitioners of Quality and excellence in production & operations for decades to come…

Cut to January 2010.  MotorTrend writes:

It started with a single, horrifying car crash in southern California last August. And this week, after two separate recalls covering 7.5 million vehicles, Toyota was forced to announce it was suspending the sale of eight of its best-selling vehicles, a move that will cost the company and its dealers a minimum of $54 million a day in lost sales revenue.

According to a recent AFP article:

There is a saying in Toyota’s hometown that when the auto giant sneezes, the whole city falls ill. But the symptoms of its recall crisis look set to be felt far beyond “Japan’s Detroit”… the group’s influence extends well beyond the city limits, and concerns are mounting across Asia’s biggest economy that Toyota’s massive global safety recalls will tarnish the brand image of Japan Inc as a whole.

WSJ talks about what it means for Toyota, specifically:

This has been a public-relations nightmare for Toyota, as its brand name has been synonymous with quality and reliability. Crisis management does not get any more woeful than this and the cost of this bungling so far – the initial $2 billion recall and the loss of 17% of share value since Jan. 21, when the gas-pedal recall was announced – is only a down payment on the final tally. The recall will surely expand, including cars produced in Japan. Lawsuits are being filed and an expensive settlement looms. And then there are the idle factories and empty showrooms to account for.

Ironically, in such cases, the “recalling of a product” – a response mechanism created to help restore faith in a company – itself becomes a fuel for the fire… The more the recall, the worse the brand reputation suffers.

As an expert in Six Sigma and Business Process Reengineering, I don’t know how to react!  As a customer who’s admired Toyota and its products for as long as I can remember, there is even more confusion.  I’d hate to be in the shoes of anyone who needs to explain to a bunch of management students or quality professionals why they should not be discarding every thing they’ve come to learn about JIT and TQM and the Toyota Production System in response to this crisis.  And let’s not forget, Quality is the only position Toyota occupies in the minds of customers across the globe!

My best guess is that the Toyota organization was tempted by the numbers race.  In running that race, it forgot, like many of the best organizations do, that the cultural context in which its Quality movement thrives may not have been transferred across the shores to a US workforce that was raised differently.  Whether I’m right in my analysis or not, I only hope Toyota is able to recover from this soon.

Update : 24th Feb 2010

An HBR article offers some insights into the potential causes behind the crisis:

 Toyota, under President Okuda, in 1998 set and pushed hard toward the target of doubling its global market share to 15%. It was understood by those in the industry that this meant surpassing GM as the global volume leader. Toyota has been remarkably successful in that quest. Yet, it is difficult for any organization which elevates quantity to be a number one goal to simultaneously hold on to a focus of providing the highest quality. Organizational incentives, both formal and informal, have a way of skewing to the primary target. For example, in this environment, quality mantras like Toyota’s “Customer First,” have a way of morphing from institutionalized commitments to empty slogans.

It is a testimony to the strength of the Toyota production system (for example team-based design) that more problems did not occur earlier. Yet, there are limits to how much stress you can subject even an admittedly powerful production system, before it starts to buckle under those pressures. Even the exalted Toyota production system could not handle hyper growth in volume, under conditions of growing complexity.

Read the entire piece, here.

I resisted from posting on the blog earlier, simply because I wanted to experience it for a while and really see if it would be worth all the hype that surrounds it.  I have no regrets in reporting that it really is.

Apple’s website offers some interesting reasons for why you should get yourself a Mac:

• It’s gorgeous. Inside and out.
• Secure. Powerful. Compatible. Right out of the box.
• The world’s most advanced operating system. And then some.
• It’s a pleasure to buy and own.

Yes, it does offer a stable, virus-free operating system that’s easy to work with.  Yes, Apple’s products are designed with such attention to detail that even the packaging is an art form.  But for me personally, it’s that last factor – a pleasure to buy and own – that really sums it up.  (And yes, even the buying experience was unlike any thing I’d seen in the PC world!)

My choice was to go with a Mac mini and an original Apple keyboard, and hook it up to a standard mouse and a 20 inch Samsung widescreen LCD display.  I also choose to get the OS upgraded to Snow Leopard and have Office for Mac installed on it, before bringing the beauty home.  Oh yes, and I added Altec Lansing 2.1 sound, since the Mini’s built-in sound is quite limiting.

Google it and you’ll find tons of reviews on what it means to switch to a Mac.  Some may complain about the subtle differences (between PCs and Macs) that take some getting used to, while others may point out specialised needs in their line of work (e.g. Blackberry synchronization with Exchange servers) that prevent them from switching over completely.  There are a few things that work differently in a Mac, but the difference is akin to British English and American English, not Swahili.  There are a few “office-related” considerations like extensively sharing resources on a Windows network that will invite a few inconveniences, but that’s a non-issue for home users.  (Read this for an objective view of what it’s really like to move)

To be perfectly honest, when I first started researching it, I couldn’t easily get all the dope on the list of LCD displays that would be “compatible with Mac” (not an issue if you buy the MacBook or iMac) or whether or not my Reliance (India) broadband connection would work on it.  But, when it came down to it, every single piece of hardware just worked as soon as it was plugged in, and all the software I regularly used had Mac versions that were easily available. 

Now, having made the switch over a week ago, my main complaints are as follows:

1. I cannot believe how good the Apple keyboard feels!  Why can’t all keyboards be that nice?
2. How can “uninstall” just involve dragging the file to the Trash can?  Really?
3. Why can’t all image viewing / slideshow software on Earth work as well as iPhoto does?

You get the picture… The reality is that for over 90% of home users, there really is no reason why a Mac wouldn’t be a better choice.  In fact, almost all of those folks who once switched to a Mac, have never returned to their PCs.

As the old saying goes, “Once you go Mac, you never go back!”

Read More:
Switching 101 (Apple) | Mac User Types | How to Switch | My First Mac

All change has a cycle to it whatever it is, from drug addiction to learning to read. The model from Prochaska and DiClemente states there are 5 stages to change:

1. Pre-contemplative – You’re happy munching the cheeseburgers and don’t really care about your weight. and are not thinking about doing anything to change
2. Contemplative – You think maybe you are eating too many cheeseburgers and maybe need to do something about your weight.
3. Action – When you have actually managed to join the gym and start attending whilst cutting down on the cheeseburgers.
4. Maintenance – This is when you maintain your momentum and you keep going to the gym and are beginning to see change happening.
5. Relapse – The stage where you have not been to the gym for a few weeks and munch on a few more cheeseburgers than you did at the action/eminence stage.

All of the stages serve their purpose and all of the stages will happen throughout the cycle of any change. So just because you relapse doesn’t mean to say you are never going to change, it just means you need to learn some more and the relapse will help with this.

That’s pretty powerful, when you think about it.  Change Management, whether its directed at your self or at others, can be one of the most challenging tasks any of us will ever undertake in Life (or at Work!)  An understanding of the stages of “change” can only help you embrace it.  To help you along the journey, let me also add a link to one of the best online resources I have found on changing people’s minds.

And, last but not the least, remember Bruce Barton’s words… When you’re through changing, you’re through.

I’d say that 50 percent of my day is communication. As director of Firefox, my job involves coordinating the activities of a cast of thousands contributing to the software we produce. I help people understand the most important thing they could be working on today… (With) Mozilla’s weekly planning calls, I’m helping at moderating them and making sure everyone understands where to expend their efforts to get most value.

Another 25 percent of my day is spent gathering feedback about the product, and from that, figuring out what’s important, and figuring where to go. It’s asking ourselves, what are the most important things to be (scheduling) out for next version, so maybe I’d say “future planning” is really that 25 percent of my day.

The other 25 percent could be considered management, the traditional kind. The Firefox management team makes sure developers don’t have to worry about expenses, and helping those having troubles getting access to certain systems. All that doesn’t even count the little extra things I do. I’m a software designer at heart, so I still spend some time working on designs with the user team.

The challenges of coordinating open-source software development aside, how many of us in corporate roles can boast of a schedule so aligned with the way things ought to be? 

On any given day, so many of us end up doing so much firefighting that we’d qualify to be firemen!  Compare that with 25% of your day’s time being spent on gathering feedback from the customers of your product, and another 50% focused on helping the team understand what’s really important!

What’s true for Beltzner can be true for you and me.  If only we’d let it…

Here’s just a small sample…

Question: Why do companies with unlimited money continue to put out such crap?

Answer: I’m not sure anyone has unlimited money at the moment, but even those less worse off than others probably suffer from a dire lack of two things: discipline and descrimination. The enemies of elegance are (1) adding and (2) acting. The notion of subtraction goes against how we’re hardwired which is to push, collect, hoard, store, and consume. We’re natural-born adders which is partly why elegance is so elusive. Whether we’re talking about a product, a performance, a market, or an organization, our addiction to addition results in inconsistency, overload, or waste—and sometimes all three.

And here in the US we have a cowboy instinct, where the bias is for action. In other words, Don’t make me think, let me just do. Doing SOMETHING is deemed better than doing nothing. But that’s not always true. I spent some time with National Geographic adventure journalist Boyd Matson. He taught me how to stand still when the hippos charge. If you act, and run, you’re dead. Stand still, do nothing, they stop charging. But that is fiendishly difficult because it’s so unnatural and counterintuitive. But that’s what happens in business.

… When Fortune named Apple “America’s Most Admired Company” as well as “Most Admired for Innovation,” honors owing largely to the success of the iPhone, Steve Jobs revealed that a “stop-doing” strategy figured centrally into Apple’s approach. What he said was: “We tend to focus much more. People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of many of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done.”

Why should you know more about “elegance” in the corporate context?  In May’s own words:

Elegance cuts through the noise, captures our attention, and engages us. The point of elegance is to achieve the maximum impact with the minimum input. It’s a thoughtful, artful subtractive process focused on doing more and better with less. That’s especially important during this economic crisis when everyone is trying to move forward while consuming fewer resources.

Go through it in entirety.  It’s an excellent read.  Thanks for the pointer, Guy!

This year’s list of Webby award winners and nominees in the Mobile category is another such discovery.

Carving out a distinct impression in the ever-fragmented minds of consumers is such an uphill task.  But these contenders make it look easy, leveraging Technology in innovative ways and marrying it with relevant marketing messages, to create a unique experience. 

Go through the entire list, if you have the time.  Or, start with some of my favourites…

1. Virgin Atlantic : Love from Above
2. Distracted Drivers of NZ : Live Online Testing
3. Aka Aki : Taking your friends with you
4. Nokia viNe : GPS + Your Life

Also recommended is the list of award winning and nominated websites, especially…

1. Porsche – 911
2. Design and the Elastic Mind : MOMA
3. The Girl Effect : Nike Foundation

Keep in touch with good design.  It’s good for the soul…

P.S. I sent out an email to some of my friends with a link to ‘The Girl Effect’.  In response, Deepak sent me a link to a short film that was selected from among 3200 participants as the winning entry in the Berlin Short-Film Festival.  It’s called Chicken a la Carte, and it’s a “must-watch”.

(Approx. 6 min video.  Most likely to have a disturbing effect on you)

“Here’s a curious fact about human beings: we have a really hard time realizing that something isn’t there.”

As it turned out, the post entitled Absence Blindness has some great insights to offer, especially when it came to management at work:

Great management is boring – and often unrewarding. 

The hallmark of an effective manager is anticipating likely issues and barriers and resolving them in advance so the team can make progress as quickly as possible. Some of the best managers in the world look like they’re not doing much, but everything gets done on time and under budget. The problem is, no one sees all of the bad things that the great manager stopped from happening. Less skilled managers are actually more likely to be rewarded, since everyone can see them “making  things happen” and “moving heaven and earth” to resolve issues – even issues they themselves created via poor management.

It also offered an effective antidote to the problem – checklists!

Absence blindness is an example of a cognitive bias, and the only semi-reliable way I’ve found to overcome it is checklisting. By thinking in advance what you want something to look like and translating that into visible reminders you can refer to while making decisions, checklists can help you remember to look for the absence of qualities in the moment.

So make a note to remind yourself to handsomely reward the low-drama manager who quietly and effectively gets things done. It may not seem like their job is particularly difficult, but you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Posts like this make it well worth the effort to stay subscribed to blog feeds, don’t you think?