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- August 2, 2006
Hocus Focus, Part II
August 2, 2006Read moreI recently wrote that I seem to have a lot going on, and remembered that I had written about this before in my post Hocus Focus. At the time it seemed like a pretty insightful post, but looking back on it I’m seeing that it really seemed to deal with symptoms instead of causes.
My ability to focus comes in two sizes: SUPER ULTRA MEGA SIZE and TRIAL SIZE. When I’m on the hunt to discover some fact or root cause I focus very well, to the exclusion of all other stimuli. When I’m not on the hunt, I tend have to result to trickery like the Emergent Task Timer to keep my head in the game. One reason that I seem to keep making more Printable CEO™ forms is because I keep looking for new ways of keeping my mind engaged on the task I’m “supposed” to be doing; it occurs to me that while most people work now to retire later, I’d rather work so I don’t have to focus anymore in my old age, and can pursue my whims wherever they might take me. But I digress…I just had an epiphany about focus that is ludicriously simple:
Focus is Concentrating on One Thought at a Time
I got the idea from a friend of mine, who is writing a paper on the subject of Intuition and Sequential Thinking. One of the things she points out is that our minds seem to have many thoughts running in parallel, but in general only one of them is in the forefront of our conscious minds. My older post on focus was really about the external distractions; this post is about the realization that holding a single thread of thought and action is the internal discipline that I need to develop.
Before, I thought focus was all about character, perserverance, and true grit, and I apparently didn’t have any of the right stuff to pass muster. However, maybe it is just about being a good single-tasker; we already know that multitasking itself isn’t necessarily productive (skip to the section: But Isn’t that Multitasking?). Learning to single-task—FOCUS—naturally follows.
I like it when I can identify two push-pull forces working together:
- Eliminate external distractions within your immediate vicinity, so you don’t get off on a tangential task
Learn to maintain focus on a single thought or task at a time.
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p>Could it be this simple?
- August 2, 2006
Naturally Predatory Business Practices
August 2, 2006Read more
I was watering the basil plant on my deck when I noticed that an industrious spider had woven a web around the blossoming flowers. I could see the spider laying in wait, its webby business plan optimally deployed to start generating revenue in the form of hapless flower-loving insects.
I couldn’t help but think that this is a common business model:
- Find some popular content or a popular destination
- Insert yourself as a middleman or as a distraction
- Reap a percentage of the traffic that is flowing to the content
Nothing wrong with this, as this model is underlying premise behind television advertising, the businesses that line the roadways to Niagara Falls and Anaheim, billboards, bumper stickers, news agregators, for-profit trade shows, retail channels, Google AdSense, toll roads, taxes, financial services, and many forms of brokering. It’s profitable, and you don’t actually have to spend time creating anything other than the web. For people who don’t create content, managing content is a pretty good way to make a living, because content creators can often use the help; it’s a lot of work, and when the partnership is symbiotic, everyone wins: creators, managers, and customers.
In the case of this industrious spider, however, its business model is actually leveraging the creative energies of the flower to ensnare visitors that would otherwise assist its pollination effort. In other words, the spider’s interests are in conflict with the interests of the flower, and it grows fat at the expense of the community of flowers.
If this was a business instead of a spider and a flower, I would be absolutely disgusted. Ordinarily I would leave nature alone, but I’m going to go break up that web and encourage the spider build its snare somewhere else. Go ahead, call me a meddling human; I bet the FTC will be on my side :-)
- August 2, 2006
Question: Adapting the PCEO for IT Departments?
August 2, 2006Read moreMichael Ramm, of the great productivity blog Black Belt Productivity, tossed a question to me the other day about the challenge of creating an Information Technology Version of The Printable CEO. Right now, the standard “design business” version of The Printable CEO uses the following point list:
When Something Is Worth Doing (for my New Media Business)
10: It’s life-sustaining billable work! 10: It’s signing new business! 5: It’s publishable code! Ship it! 5: It’s sharp visual design! Show it! 5: It’s concrete planning or accounting! 2: It’s new self-promotion! 2: It’s a new article for the blog! 2: It’s social or business development! 1: It’s maintaining an old relationship! 1: It’s making a new relationship!
Now, this list was tailored specifically for my own design practice, and most importantly, for my philosophy of business. To adapt this for the IT Industry, we need to tailor a list that encourages best practices AND the philosophy behind the work itself. This is a pretty broad question, because it essentially asks the following:
- What is the Goal of Information Technology?
To Whom is the Goal of IT Important, Not Counting IT Professionals?
What are the tangible signs that tell us that IT is actually fulfilling its goals?
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p>The basic philosophy behind The Printable CEO, from the productivity perspective, has always been that (1) the things you do matter only if they can be expressed as a benefit to OTHER people and (2) You actually do those things and they are seen. That’s the motivation behind the three questions I’m posing.
Instead of making something up, I thought I’d pass along Michael’s question and see what people out there thought…an interesting discussion, I hope, will arise. IT is an interesting challenge because it is, oftentimes, invisible to the organization when it works.
I’ll have to do some research on current IT practices to get a feel for what it really is these days; the last time I looked at this was probably in 1994, when IT was a sort of “slush major” that combining core programming courses with an interactive design component.
UPDATE:
Michael’s made an announcement on his blog as well, so this should be a fun cooperative nut to crack!
» Read Part II of this series
- August 1, 2006
Iconfactory Website Version 6.0!
August 1, 2006Read more
In case you missed it, the guys and gals at The Iconfactory have launched their brand-spankin’ new website! For those of you unfamiliar with The Iconfactory, they’re a design firm that produces some of the most beautiful, cleanly-rendered icon art you’re likely to come across. Their work is just superbly executed; here’s a small sampling:
The Iconfactory story is really cool…they started doing free icons for fun 10 years ago, eventually expanding into the commercial design studio they are today, producing not only excellent stock icons for GUI designers, but also custom design for some of the most recognizeable brands on the planet. That they did this by being themselves—passionate, talented, and incredibly down-to-earth—makes their success story even more inspiring. Ged and Talos taught me how to use Photoshop back in 1993 when we were all graduate students in Computer Graphic Design, so I am admittedly biased favorably toward them personally. But just look at the work…I think you will find that it speaks for itself, loudly and clearly. It kicks ass!
Congratulations on the new site, guys! It’s great!
- August 1, 2006
So here I am at SIGGRAPH
August 1, 2006Read moreLots of cool stuff! I brought my camera, all charged up, but forgot to put the Compact Flash card in. CRAP!
