The following is copied-and-pasted from Hugh McLeod's Gaping Void blog, who apparently got it from James O'Neill, who was quoting Microsoft's Ray Ozzie. I don't have anything particularly to add, other than to say YesYesYes (particularly on #1)!
Microsoft's Ray Ozzie made a recent keynote: Here are his salient thoughts:
1. Constraints are empowering
2. Accept threats as resignations
3. Never follow; either leapfrog or stop
4. Diversity means survival
5. Don’t tolerate intolerance
6. Strategy and architecture are inseparable
7. Short and direct earns respect
8. Delaying the inevitable inevitably backfires
9. A re-org will never cure what ails you
10. You needn’t be an #%@hole to get things done
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
DaNoWriTi Update
So, DaNoWriMo (Dan's Novel Writing Month) has morphed into DaNoWriTi - Dan's Novel Writing Time... 'cause there's no way I'm going to finish this puppy in a month.
I've got 6 chapters complete, and it'll probably have about 15. I can do a chapter a day at the most, and am hoping to have some serious writing time this week while the family is in NY... but even then, I'll only hit 12 chapters total by Aug 2nd.
But no fear - the book will be finished (someday). It's very fun, lots of peril and excitement. In fact, I'm going to go off and write some more of it right this minute!
I've got 6 chapters complete, and it'll probably have about 15. I can do a chapter a day at the most, and am hoping to have some serious writing time this week while the family is in NY... but even then, I'll only hit 12 chapters total by Aug 2nd.
But no fear - the book will be finished (someday). It's very fun, lots of peril and excitement. In fact, I'm going to go off and write some more of it right this minute!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Give It Away...
People sometimes ask me why I give away the PDF of The Simplicity Cycle for free. Well, there are several reasons, many of which I've previously mentioned. And as I was reading the latest issue of Wired, the following quote from George Church jumped out at me. I think it explains it quite well:"... your biggest problem in life not going to be hiding your stuff so nobody steals it. It's going to be getting anybody to ever use it. Start hiding it and that decreases the probability to almost zero."
I don't expect to make a million bucks with the book. I just wanted to understand something about design, and I hope my little diagram helps other people too. I just want to see people use it.
(and it's been downloaded 800 times now - whoo hoo!)
Friday, July 25, 2008
Faster Better Cheaper
My thesis research has begun in earnest, and I'm having a blast with it. It's a beautiful thing to study something you enjoy and are passionate about. I highly recommend it.
The thesis will basically take some of my AT&L articles from past years and give them a more rigorous academic treatment. Specifically, I'm examining my FIST: Fast, Inexpensive, Simple, Tiny model for innovative technology development. The basic idea is that FIST fosters innovation.
One of the cool things about this topic is NASA basically ran an 8 year, 16 mission experiment on the FIST model in the 90's, only they called it Faster, Better, Cheaper. Note the absence of "simpler" from that title - it's a key omission. As part of my research, I'm currently reading a book by professor Howard McCurdy, titled Faster, Better, Cheaper, and I'm excited to see that Prof. McCurdy's conclusions support my FIST model very nicely! Check out what he has to say:
“Engineers and other experts can reduce the cost of spaceflight and the time necessary to prepare missions for flight. Moreover, they can do so without significant loss of reliability. They can also do so with only modest reductions in spacecraft capability.”
“Reduced capability does not mean the mission is automatically worse. A mission with one-half the capability will be ‘better’ if it performs that mission at one-tenth the price.”
“Additional spending does not always purchase added reliability. It buys complexity. Added complexity creates a point of diminishing returns, which eventually reduced reliability.”
“Proponents of the [Faster, Better, Cheaper] approach created failure when they reduced cost and schedule faster than they lessened complexity.”
Naturally, that is where my Simplicity Cycle comes in... It just might be the missing piece of the Faster, Better, Cheaper equation. I should probably get in touch with this Dr. McCurdy, eh?
The thesis will basically take some of my AT&L articles from past years and give them a more rigorous academic treatment. Specifically, I'm examining my FIST: Fast, Inexpensive, Simple, Tiny model for innovative technology development. The basic idea is that FIST fosters innovation.
One of the cool things about this topic is NASA basically ran an 8 year, 16 mission experiment on the FIST model in the 90's, only they called it Faster, Better, Cheaper. Note the absence of "simpler" from that title - it's a key omission. As part of my research, I'm currently reading a book by professor Howard McCurdy, titled Faster, Better, Cheaper, and I'm excited to see that Prof. McCurdy's conclusions support my FIST model very nicely! Check out what he has to say:
“Engineers and other experts can reduce the cost of spaceflight and the time necessary to prepare missions for flight. Moreover, they can do so without significant loss of reliability. They can also do so with only modest reductions in spacecraft capability.”
“Reduced capability does not mean the mission is automatically worse. A mission with one-half the capability will be ‘better’ if it performs that mission at one-tenth the price.”
“Additional spending does not always purchase added reliability. It buys complexity. Added complexity creates a point of diminishing returns, which eventually reduced reliability.”
“Proponents of the [Faster, Better, Cheaper] approach created failure when they reduced cost and schedule faster than they lessened complexity.”
Naturally, that is where my Simplicity Cycle comes in... It just might be the missing piece of the Faster, Better, Cheaper equation. I should probably get in touch with this Dr. McCurdy, eh?
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Be Kind, Rewind
Kim and I watched Be Kind, Rewind a few nights ago, and I've been meaning to post something about it ever since. What a great movie!
Now, I really dig Jack Black's stuff to begin with. I laughed my head off at Nacho Libre, and (more recently) got a big kick out of Kung Fu Panda (possibly Jack Black's best movie ever). I even enjoyed School of Rock and King Kong (mostly). So naturally, I expected to enjoy Be Kind, Rewind.
What I didn't realize was how much I would identify with it. Not that I have anything at all in common with any of the down-and-out urban characters in the movie, nor am I an aspiring film maker. What I identified with was their desire to create something and share it with the world - flaws and all.
The movie wonderfully represents the concept of imperfectionism, which I have blogged about several times. The 20-minute films Jerry and Mike create in the movie are choppy, silly, imperfect retellings of popular movies. But they each have a certain genuineness, because of the imperfections, not in spite of them.
Somehow, this all ties in with my Simplicity Cycle book, both thematically and logistically. Perfectionism, in life or in art, tends to over-complicate things, while actually reducing the "goodness" or value of the thing. Imperfectionism, in contrast, involves a certain degree of simplification, even to the point of providing less function, less capability.
The Simplicity Cycle book itself, while not a "Sweded" project, is certainly a home-grown little book, full of its own little quirks and imperfections. That's one of the things I love most about it.
Now, I really dig Jack Black's stuff to begin with. I laughed my head off at Nacho Libre, and (more recently) got a big kick out of Kung Fu Panda (possibly Jack Black's best movie ever). I even enjoyed School of Rock and King Kong (mostly). So naturally, I expected to enjoy Be Kind, Rewind.
What I didn't realize was how much I would identify with it. Not that I have anything at all in common with any of the down-and-out urban characters in the movie, nor am I an aspiring film maker. What I identified with was their desire to create something and share it with the world - flaws and all.
The movie wonderfully represents the concept of imperfectionism, which I have blogged about several times. The 20-minute films Jerry and Mike create in the movie are choppy, silly, imperfect retellings of popular movies. But they each have a certain genuineness, because of the imperfections, not in spite of them.
Somehow, this all ties in with my Simplicity Cycle book, both thematically and logistically. Perfectionism, in life or in art, tends to over-complicate things, while actually reducing the "goodness" or value of the thing. Imperfectionism, in contrast, involves a certain degree of simplification, even to the point of providing less function, less capability.
The Simplicity Cycle book itself, while not a "Sweded" project, is certainly a home-grown little book, full of its own little quirks and imperfections. That's one of the things I love most about it.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
McDiamonds, perhaps??
Does anyone have any idea why a diamond store would have a pair of "10 minute parking only" spots, right by the front door?
I can only assume they don't want you to take too much time when picking out that perfect stone.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Green Pens
Every once in a while, I buy a green pen and use it for everything.
It's not because I particularly like the way the green ink looks (I actually prefer black). But I like the differentness of writing in green. It stands out, it reminds me that there are options beyond the standard black-or-blue. Green doesn't have the jarring, corrective feel of red, and it's much easier to read than yellow (and doesn't have the girly feel of purple - no offense to the artist once again known as Prince).
So, I've got a green pen now. I'm using it to take notes in class, to sign official documents, to make lists, and to otherwise fulfill my writing needs. I'll go back to black in a few weeks, no doubt, but for now, my writing is all green...
It's not because I particularly like the way the green ink looks (I actually prefer black). But I like the differentness of writing in green. It stands out, it reminds me that there are options beyond the standard black-or-blue. Green doesn't have the jarring, corrective feel of red, and it's much easier to read than yellow (and doesn't have the girly feel of purple - no offense to the artist once again known as Prince).
So, I've got a green pen now. I'm using it to take notes in class, to sign official documents, to make lists, and to otherwise fulfill my writing needs. I'll go back to black in a few weeks, no doubt, but for now, my writing is all green...
Monday, July 21, 2008
Movie Suggestions Please!
It's that time of year again - Kim and the girls are going to be out of town for a little while next week, so I get to watch whatever crazy movies I want to. As I've mentioned before, when she's out of town I tend to go for a combination of reasonably intelligent action (i.e. The Matrix, V For Vendetta) and completely stupid humor (i.e. Mr. Bean's Holiday - which I LOVED!).
So... any suggestions on films I should check out? I've already got 10,000 BC and Semi-Pro on the list. Maybe Transformers too.
So... any suggestions on films I should check out? I've already got 10,000 BC and Semi-Pro on the list. Maybe Transformers too.
Minimalism
As regular readers know, I have a deep interest in simplicity and complexity. I even wrote a book about it. And being a writer, I'm also very interested in words and phrases. Every once in a while, a particular phrase catches my eye, and I just came across one I had to comment on. [note: pardon me for using a preposition to end a sentence with].
Anyway, it happened while I was listening to Pandora the other day. In the "about the music" pane, one of the musicians was praised for their "understated minimalism."
Understated minimalism? Really?
As opposed to overstated minimalism, I suppose? What would that look like? ("Boy, he really overdid that minimalism, didn't he?") Maybe the reviewer was being ironic, by redundantly describing a minimalist approach... or maybe they were just being pretentious. Anyway, I googled "understated minimalism" and doggone if that phrase isn't used quite a lot on the ole interweb.
Huh...
Anyway, it happened while I was listening to Pandora the other day. In the "about the music" pane, one of the musicians was praised for their "understated minimalism."
Understated minimalism? Really?
As opposed to overstated minimalism, I suppose? What would that look like? ("Boy, he really overdid that minimalism, didn't he?") Maybe the reviewer was being ironic, by redundantly describing a minimalist approach... or maybe they were just being pretentious. Anyway, I googled "understated minimalism" and doggone if that phrase isn't used quite a lot on the ole interweb.
Huh...
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