Imposing Limits

E-Books

2009-09-24T22:09:32Z

The other day I went to Border's and Barnes and Noble looking for a book in their computers and technology sections. I was blown away that both stores had dramatically reduced their selections.

The saleswoman at Border's gleefully told me they were scaling back on that department because so many people were switching to e-Books for this kind of material. Border's even promotes the Sony e-book in their stores which I find surprising because 1) these stores need people to come in the store to buy things if they want to continue to exist and 2) computer books cost more than most books, but most people expense them. Promoting e-books seems like a self-inflicted wound. It's their funeral I guess.

However, I can think of three great reasons why e-books don't make sense for me…

1. I can't loan them to others
2. I can't drop them
3. I can't spill coffee on them

Don't Panic

2009-09-17T04:23:25Z

This rule is really simple. Don't panic no matter what the situation. Most people make really awful decisions when they're panicking, then use that as an excuse for why they did what they did. Or worse, one bad decision leads to another and so on. Think of the movie "A Simple Plan" with Billy Bob Thorton and Bill Paxton¹.

You might be surprised how little time it actually takes to come up with a better solution if you're predetermined to not panic in the first place.

1) If you haven't seen this movie, you really should. It's a great example of what I'm talking about here.

Accept others will have the same idea as you

2009-09-15T18:13:52Z

It never fails. You come up with a completely and utterly innovative idea for a start-up or a product - something you know nobody has ever done before. You pitch it to a couple of folks you trust, and know will "get it." They love it. They encourage you to pursue it. Now you're really fired up.

You dig in and start doing some real work, the ideas are flowing. Then your buddy emails you some link about a thing that is just like the thing you're working on. Before you know it, similar things start coming out of the woodwork. Even you're mom's sending you stuff. Now, you're really depressed.

Quitting, and cutting your losses may seem like a good idea. Or you could suck it up, and accept that others will have the same idea as you did, no matter how novel you thought it was. In fact, it's better if your idea isn't so new that no one else is doing anything like it. Having someone go before you can make your job easier. Besides, most first-to-market players are better at creating demand than fulfilling it. Learn from their mistakes and missteps. Then differentiate yourself by going after other solutions, market segments or strategies they're neglecting.

If you worry too much about being first, you'll just get nowhere sooner.

Lotteries

2009-08-04T17:38:03Z

I don't know if it's statistically significant, or just anecdotal, but I'm sure we've all heard our share of lottery horror stories. It goes something like this, winner goes from rags to riches and back again, or at the very least is left miserable by it all.

State lotteries have been called a tax on the poor. I could add a few others like the gullible and naive, because I know plenty of people who play that aren't poor. Overall, I'm not convinced there are any social benefits to making a several people a year multi-millionaires over night.

Why not split the pot over several numbers? If the pot is $100 M, why not have 100 winners? A million bucks is a pretty good return on a buck or ten (even after taxes). In today's dollars, it's not life-changing, but it's not chump change.

I don't get why the lottery has to be such a winner-takes-all, in-your-face game. I'm no economist, but I'm sure 100 people with $1M each would be better for the economy.

Are you using "smart" technology to develop truly stupid solutions?

2009-07-29T22:27:56Z

There are a lot of examples of people working on stuff that is technically possible, but totally unnecessary. When I see this stuff and ask "why are you doing this?" I usually get an answer of the "because we can" or "because we're getting paid to" genre.

I have a really specific example, but I will omit some details out of courtesy. I was at some professional organization's junket and the presenter was demonstrating, quite proudly, a solution his firm developed for dispensing liquids. Let's say it was soda on a cruise ship.

The business case behind it was to reduce costs. Yeah, I know, big surprise.

The system was designed to control the number of refills people could get in their pre-paid cups. Each cup had an embedded chip (probably an RFID) inside that was tied to an account which tracked how many refills a person had coming to them. The self-serve soda fountain read the chips, and had a touchscreen interface so people could check their pop quotient and upgrade their accounts.

Don't get me wrong. I think the solution is kind of neat, in a Rube Goldberg sort of way. If it's goal was to reduce waste I might even applaud it. But I'm sure these "smarter" cups are being thrown out along with their embedded chips.

Ultimately, the presenter's firm developed what was asked of them. And that's the problem. Too often, the implementation people don't scrutinize the business cases for the things they make. When they don't, they really only have themselves to blame when things don't turn out as planned.

An absurd business case will most likely lead to an even more ridiculous solution. Just remember, it's much easier to change a business case than a solution that's already in development.

Don't believe your own hype

2009-07-29T21:11:45Z

The problem with people who buy into their own BS is that they think everyone else does too. You can't assume that because you have a great idea and a solid plan that everything else will fall into place. Things will go wrong.

When you believe your own hype, you're not just arrogant, you're lying to yourself and others. This leads to risky assumptions which will derail your efforts sooner or later. Don't think you'll just outsmart a problem by stating that it doesn't matter. Instead, maintain a healthy level of skepticism and cynicism in your own abilities, so you can be prepared when the unpredictable and unanticipated come up.

Unfortunately, it usually takes a seriously humbling experience to fix this behavior. The good news is if you're still standing when it's over, you'll probably be much better off in the long run.

Vacation hiatus

2009-07-29T19:55:48Z

Posting has been slow going lately because I've been on vacation for the past week or so. In the days leading up to the break I procrastinated and figured I actually have more time to write while I was away. Silly me.

Meantime, I'm catching up and writing some new posts to put up this week.

Draw Fire

2009-07-08T21:14:23Z

Who cares if everyone loves your idea if they hate the execution? You should be skeptical if all you get is positive feedback when pitching a concept. The words are still fluid and fuzzy, conforming to preconceptions people already have in their head. No matter how articulate you are, the only way to know if you're heading in the right direction is to uncover what people think of the implementation, not the idea.

Get your ideas out into the open where they can draw fire, i.e. criticism. Otherwise, they'll just sit in your head, perfect, but untested. Synthesize your idea, take it from the immaterial to the tangible. Provide something people can see, touch, and talk about. Go ugly early. Make rough sketches, draw on a white board, cobble together some screenshots in Photoshop. Do whatever you can, as quickly as you can. Don't wait for the perfect representation.

Count on missing the mark, but that's the point. You need to establish right away that constructive criticism isn't just welcome, it's expected.

Facebook apps I'd like to see

2009-07-02T20:59:11Z

There's no shortage of web 2.0 and social networking software out there. However most applications enable outbound communication and overlook the inbound, thus leaving little room for feedback. Following are just some ideas for applications that might help even the score.

New Quizzes

Tami took the What personality disorder do you exhibit? quiz, and the result is:

Histrionic Personality Disorder
You show a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention-seeking, including an excessive need for approval. You are inappropriately sexually provocative, express strong emotions with an impressionistic style, and can be easily influenced by others.

De-Friender

Facebook only shows when you make a friend. But when you severe that relationship no one has any way of knowing why. De-Friender displays when you've removed a connection and why.

Angela Dewey shouldn't have opened her mouth about Tami

Alphonso Doe just screwed the pooch with Tami

Betty Dice found Jesus, and told Tami

TMI

TMI prevents you from making a complete ass of yourself by proof-reading your status updates before you can post them. If you're post is inappropriate or extremely personal, a nasally voice will alert you with a long drawn out "Teeeeee Emmmmmmmm Eyeeeeeee".

Court Objections

2009-07-02T19:36:59Z

Uncovering the "why not" will reveal a lot of things you need to know when developing a new idea or concept. Innovators should seek, not avoid, criticism and opinions even when it's not what you want to hear. Encourage people to push back and challenge your assumptions. Otherwise you may find out later, you had a good idea, but you were working on the wrong problems.

Objections expose things like past experiences, attitudes, and perceptions. These can be challenges you've overlooked or didn't consider.

When you court objections, don't settle for generic excuses like "it'll never work", or "we've tried that before". Probe deeper, get more details, ask for anecdotes and examples. Challenge their assumptions too.

If you're dealing with a naysayer, just let them spew. Resist the urge to counter objections in real time. It'll only feel like an argument. Revisit your idea with them later, and show them how you would resolve their objections. Don't go looking for a fight. Just consider it research or a "reverse brainstorm".

Some people are just incessantly negative. They use outlier cases and fringe scenarios as an excuse to not do anything. Make them accountable by showing you're willing to address problems while they're just talking about them.

This approach takes some getting used to. After all, it can be demoralizing to hear people rattle off a litany of reasons why your idea won't work. But that's only if you let it. Keep in mind, objections are just problems that need to be solved.

Diki-Nomics revisited

2009-06-23T14:37:45Z

Last Friday night a very large section of a tree in our backyard went down in a storm. The tree hit a power pole that ripped all the services - electricity, phone, cable, broadband - off the house.

For the past five days we've been in the process of getting services restored experiencing first hand all kinds of great examples of diki-nomics in action.

The very large phone services company has made it impossible to find an 800 number on their web site. They've made it drop-dead easy to find the things buy. But when it comes to anything to do with support, it's self-diagnosing and trouble-shooting.

The cable company saw our support call as an opportunity to up sell us on other services before coordinating the repair.

What's the difference between diki-nomics and plain old rotten customer service? Diki-nomics are systemic. The policies in place are intended to thwart customers who might incur some cost.

Don't get me wrong, everyone (but the grouch at the village) has been really friendly. So these companies understand customer service reps need to be polite but what their doing is placing a higher priority on acquiring new customers at the cost of the existing ones.

Sloperation

2009-06-18T22:05:47Z

A form of out-out patient surgery performed by the patient on the patient. The process is intended to prevent the debilitating effects of incurring medical costs.

"In this economy, we're taking our Stay-cation at the Y. But first, I'll need to perform a sloperation on my hammer toe so I can wear flip flops."

Your wheelhouse

2009-06-18T21:04:12Z

Most people start companies to leverage their own expertise, even if they're charting new territory in some other area. For example, you might be developing a new technology for a market in which you currently serve. Maybe you're not familiar with technology, but you know what customers want and what gaps to fill. All you need is to do is build it, and they will come.

I've been involved in several start-ups, and have worked with many as clients. One common pitfall I see is companies that get caught up on stuff outside their domain while neglecting the things they do know. They're either technologists or marketeers. Usually, it skews heavily towards the latter.

When you're in a start-up you tend to take what you already know for granted, and get easily spooked or excited by all the new stuff you don't know. The unknown becomes your biggest challenge so you prioritize it, and now you're out of your wheelhouse. At this point you run the risk of falling into two problem-solving traps: trivialization or exaggeration.

Trivialization
At some point what you don't know, just becomes overwhelming so you punt and figure you'll just buy your way out of the mess later.

If you're a marketeer, you might think it's simply a matter of hiring some developers or buying some software. If you're technologists you might rely too much on industry research like Gartner and Forrester reports, or the wisdom of a few customers.

Exaggeration

Even though the challenge is outside your wheelhouse you still frame it and attack it with the same tools that worked in your old turf. You either spend time learning from square one, or you spend time worrying about all the wrong problems.

If you're a marketeer you might think technology is always hard to implement, or that you'll need everything all at once. If you're a technologist, you might over-engineer the customer experience by trying to come up with every use case and fringe scenario.

What can you do to avoid these traps? First, just be aware and recognize the symptoms. In the case of trivialization, do you find that you're deferring a lot of questions to some TBH. In the case of exaggeration, do you find your teams spends an inordinate amount of time wracking their brains coming up with plausible answers instead of just admitting you don't know?

No matter what the case, one of you're best options is to make sure you don't go it alone. Consider expanding your team early. And invest in a little of your own research. I'm not saying ignore the industry reports, but do keep in mind someone other than you paid to have it done.

If you're marketeers going into technology, don't even think about delivering a solution without having at least one technologist on your core team. I'm not talking about a techie, but rather someone who's sophisticated about software development and knows what's hard, and what's not.

If you're technologists, don't devalue the soft skills of sales and marketing people. Get someone who can see the forrest for the trees when it comes to customer needs. They should have a better understanding and synthesizing the customer challenges.

Twitter

2009-06-18T13:54:09Z

A friend mine who's not terribly into long technical explanations asked me what is this Twitter thing? The best answer I could give her was it's like having an extra asshole. Think of it like a spare. It can make extra noises like reading aloud every sign you pass as you drive down the street.

Don't use the word innovation in vain

2009-06-18T05:45:04Z

If you aren't suffering from innovation fatigue, you're either not paying attention, or you're one of those people who says things like, "adding numerals to our alphabet soup is just the kind of innovation our customers have come to expect from us."

Business Week's Bruce Nussbaum does a great job connecting the dots between design and innovation. But he's one of the worst perpetrators. Sometimes he's downright cartoonish with his "The answer is innovation! Now what was the question?" mantra.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining. I get exaggeration in marketing and why people do it. Maybe they're just polishing some turd by using the word. After all, it's so positive, almost unassailable. They hope people will think their idea is new, cutting edge, and fresh, even if it isn't?

Innovation is more than just doing something new for the sake of being new. You've got to provide or do something people actually care about. And that's a moving target. Value is always going to be relative to where the market is, where it's going, and where it has been.

What you claim to be an innovation, or innovative says a lot about you. So you're serious about being taken seriously as an innovator show some restraint. Eventually you'll encounter people you need to impress or persuade. It could be a potential investor, partner, or customer. And if they have a keen BS detector you'll look pretty foolish banging the drum for something trivial. Avoid the trap of lazy thinking, and don't overuse words devoid of context. Not everything has to be "innovative" to be an innovation.