Frustrated by the media?  Disillusioned by our seeming inability to come to grips with difficult issues?  Us too.  We think improving the credibility of the information we encounter is key to solving this problem.  In fact, we think it’s humanity’s biggest challenge.

Hypothes.is will be a distributed, open-source platform for the collaborative evaluation of information. It will enable sentence-level critique of written words combined with a sophisticated yet easy-to-use model of community peer-review. It will work wherever you are – as an overlay on top of news, blogs, scientific articles, books, terms of service, ballot initiatives, legislation and regulations, software code and more – without requiring participation of the underlying site

Hypothes.is is a non-profit effort built on strong principles, and a clear vision of what it wants to achieve.  When I first discovered it via Twitter, I was stunned by its clarity on the subject, from the concept video by its founder – Dan Whaley – to the FAQs that ask hard-hitting questions and answer them.

The project has been self-funded till now, but to deliver a working prototype, Hypothes.is has joined hands with Kickstart to help raise $100,000 via crowdsourcing.  Your pledged amount will not be charged unless they hit the goal.

Every dollar counts, and all of us will benefit from it. I’ve pledged my support, and hope you do too.

Update:
As on 13 Nov, 2011, Hypothes.is has raised over $230k from donors across the world!

Steve was not a spiritual guru or a political leader, but a force to reckon with… someone with both the determination and the talent to change the world.  And, change the world he did. 

Tomes have been written already on the man and his legacy, and a lot more will be said in the years to come.  Sure, he gave the world the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad.  But he did much more than that.  Steve’s work touched millions of lives in more ways that even he could have imagined.  I just wanted to take this opportunity to pen down what he meant for me, and to thank him for the contribution he made to my life…

Thank you, Steve, for teaching us that “Design is how you Think!”

Thank you, Steve, for demonstrating that you can follow your dreams and change the world, without compromising on one or the other.

Thank you, Steve, for proving beyond a doubt that Less is More.

Thank you, Steve, for the learning that we don’t have to choose between Form and Function.

Thank you, Steve, for showing the world that it’s possible to raise the bar so high that you touch the sky.

Thank you, Steve, for having the courage and the conviction to go with your instincts and not ask us – the consumers – what we really wanted.

Thank you, Steve, for making a dent in the Universe…

You will be missed.

Quality – Who can argue with the need to have quality? Total Quality Management (TQM,) Continuous Improvement (CI,) and Six Sigma programs all have been glorified by companies hoping to improve product or service quality. If you’re trying to fix a broken product, or process, these work pretty well at helping everyone do their job better.

But these programs live with the mantra “if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. Measure everything that’s important.” If you’re innovating, what do you measure? If you’re in a new technology, or manufacturing process, how do you know what you really need to do right? If you’re in a new market, how do you know the key metric for sales success?

The key to success isn’t to have critical metrics and measure performance on a graph, but rather to learn from everything you do – and usually to change. Quality people hate this, and can only stand in the way of trying anything new because you don’t know what to measure, or what constitutes a “good” measure.

Now, I’ve spent a fair bit of my working life as a Six Sigma / Quality champion, and an even longer tenure developing cutting-edge Technology solutions for organizations.  Given my background, I always viewed Systems and Processes as two sides of the same coin.  In fact, I believed that real success in one depended on success in the other. 

But, Hartung has a point.

If you go by the classical approach, practitioners of Quality typically stick to the “what gets measured, gets improved” argument and, therefore, are unable to get a good grip around ideas that reek of blue-sky thinking and innovation.  How ironic that the champions of Change become obstacles to change itself!

On the other hand, innovators have to contend with uncharted territories and unknown experiences, often-times operating in an environment that does not understand their unique needs.  As Hartung elaborates:

… When you’re innovating, what you don’t know far exceeds what you know. You don’t know the market size, the price that people will pay, the first year’s volume (much less year 5,) the direct cost at various volumes, the indirect cost, the cost of marketing to obtain customer attention, the number of sales calls it will take to land a sale, how many solution revisions will be necessary to finally put out the “right” solution, or how sales will ramp up quarterly from nothing. So to create a business plan, you have to guess.

Everything done to efficiently run the old business is irrelevant when it comes to innovation.

When you think about it, for any organization to succeed, it must achieve a fine balance – between maintaining status quo and forging a new path, between encouraging new ideas and rewarding evolutionary growth, and ultimately, between Quality and Innovation.  Easier said than done, don’t you think?

So, you’ve bought a shiny new ultra-compact, or the latest DSLR you could afford.  And, you just can’t wait to start shooting every thing that comes your way, eager to show off your photography skills to your friends and family.  But…

When you start using that fancy new camera, you begin to wonder if it was all marketing hype.  Surely, modern technology can’t get that bad?!  Surely all those $$$ you spent on your latest toy couldn’t have been a waste?!

It happens to many of us.  Sometimes, it can get quite intimidating for newbies to get good results from their new tool.  Yes, modern cameras make it very easy to get “technically” good results – provided you let your camera do the thinking.  That means turning the dial to the Green / Auto / Idiot mode and getting predictable, boring results.  But, if you venture into the Program/Aperture/Shutter/Manual modes, or start fiddling around with the 257+ menu items built into your camera, you may soon discover that the results are far from ideal.

If you still want to get more juice out of your camera, and don’t mind learning just a couple of things to begin with, there is still hope.

Here’s a simple 4-Step guide to get you started:

Step 1: Turn the dial to P for Program mode (Use A for Aperture if you’re shooting portraits instead)

Step 2: Compose your frame, Shoot the pic, and review on your LCD screen

Step 3 a: If happy with the result, go to Step 2 to shoot some more!

Step 3 b: If unhappy, find the [+/-] button on your camera, and change the setting to brighter/darker, and then go to Step 2

If your camera offers the option, review the “Histogram” for the pic, and tweak the Exposure settings till you get a well-spaced graph; It is the simplest way to ensure that you have got the required details in the frame, irrespective of the quality/size of your LCD screen.

Step 4: Rinse and repeat from Step 2, for each new frame.

Bottom line : If there’s one thing you need to master to get better results from your camera, it would have to be the Exposure Compensation.  Remember, all cameras “meter” (read the light) differently, and the [+/-] compensation you will need for every frame will vary.  So, learn to use that feature well.  Happy clicking!

Bonus Tip: If you are aiming for “accurate color rendition” in your photos, you will need to get comfy with the White Balance setting on your digital camera.  Again, there is no such thing as the ‘right’ setting – it’s a matter of personal taste.  But, it helps to know what Shade / Tungsten / Flourescent can do for each shot that is not taken in direct sunlight…

See Also : It’s Not About The Gear! | Understanding Histograms

Here are some of my favourite ones from the list… 

- Who are you trying to please?
- Are you trying to make a living, make a difference, or leave a legacy?
- Is it more important to add new customers or (engage with) existing ones?
- Are you prepared to actively sell your stuff?
- Which: to invent a category or to be just like Bob/Sue, but better?
- Choose: teach and lead and challenge your customers, or do what they ask…
- Do you want your customers to know each other (a tribe)?
- What does busy look like?

 These questions may just mark the beginning of a journey for you.  And, an important one at that…

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