michael mccomb

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27 Mar 2011

Branded Data: Visualizing the Internet's Future
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With the increasing amount of data being generated on the Internet, and the mind-boggling ways data is being visualized and presented, there's also the increasing risk that the data is being carefully "managed". We've all seen Hans Rosling's staggering data visualizations that make you see history and development in entertaining and informative new ways. In a recent post by Dominic Basulto, there's a warning that the way data is being stored and shaped by organizations and companies may lead to wonderfully engaging visualizations that have a distinctly slanted perspective. He writes, "Data, in other words, can be "branded": This latest data visualization on global warming has been brought to you by..."
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13 Nov 2010

Are you working the workarounds or working the system?
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Although I am very much not a software developer, I am familiar with the ideas of code patches and workarounds that just get things done. Of course these shortcuts are inevitable as time, resources and complexity force developers to do what they need to do to hit deadlines and ship, with the idea they they will go back and sort things out in interim releases. Too often, however, they don't go back and fix the system. Some software remains full of these workarounds and jerry-rigs, so much so that they come to define it. Over time the system itself becomes a patchwork of shortcuts and temporary fixes and therefore demands more costly space, processing and back-end service. The ability to connect with other programs, hardware and functionality becomes constrained and difficult. Developers then begin to see their job as "working the workarounds" rather than spending their valuable time creating more customer-centric features and other innovations that sit on top of properly built code. Naturally this becomes cultural and over time you have policies and systems that form around these workarounds, further reinforcing them. Then, attracting talented developers will be tough as they will sniff out quickly what their opportunity (or lack thereof) will be. Customers soon catch on as well, thus completing the cycle. The challenge for any developer (or manager) is to step back and look at what you are spending your time and effort working on. Are you working the workarounds or are you working the system?
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3 May 2010

It’s Better To Fix Problems Than To Prevent Them
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I was discussing a particularly vexing circumstance with a friend recently. He was describing his attempt to gain consensus from different divisions within his client’s company to agree on a plan of action that he had proposed. The trouble was that there were divisions who appeared very insistent that nothing be done for fear of making mistakes. Without strong leadership in the situation, the process remained somewhat convoluted and ultimately un-ambitious. It made me think about the role of leadership and management as either (1) promoting getting something done, moving things forward, producing…or (2) considering, minimizing risk and preventing errors. So I Googled. I found a quote by Ed Catmull of Pixar, a rather productive and creative company, who has a certain point of view that’s a bit different. “The notion that you’re trying to control the process and prevent error screws things up. We all know the saying 'it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission'. And everyone knows that, but I think there is a corollary: "If everyone is trying to prevent error, it screws things up. It’s better to fix problems than to prevent them'. And the natural tendency for managers is to try and prevent error and over plan things.” And speaking of over-planning, it’s often called “Decisioneering” which is the over-engineering of a simple decision because you can. In fact by using Decisioneering often the event that drove the decision point is over, closed out and has expired by the time the Decisioneered solution has been finalized. (from Urban Dictionary) For example:

“A committee of analysts commenced a Decisioneering process on how to best go about killing a fly. They considered using a flyswatter, as well as researching, proposing, socializing, re-researching, re-proposing, many other ideas. In the end they decisioneered an elaborate, well researched, and effective Rube Goldberg device. Only then did they notice that the fly had left the room.”
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22 Mar 2010

Giving Attention Away For Free Leads To Media Dumbing Down
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In light of recent commentaries on the "dumbing down" of audiences and culture - for both entertainment as well as higher forms of information such as *newspapers* and literature - another perspective on what seems to be the diminishing ingredient, attention. There are of course books on the attention economy. Other writers have asserted that content is now so widely available that the creators are scrambling to find their role and value, else they be fodder in an era of "career collapse". More have looked at the issue of media use and the link to attention problems in kids. But Mr. Michael Erard gives us a thought or two on how he conceives the future when we may, in fact, need to monetise our attention quite directly and specifically. And he ultimately concludes that gifting is what is leaving so much rot in the system.
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9 Dec 2009

Capturing the Asian (Innovation) Opportunity
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From s+b See Strategy+Business article "One thing Asian companies are not reducing is their interest in innovation. (See “Profits Down, Spending Steady: The Global Innovation 1000,” by Barry Jaruzelski and Kevin Dehoff, s+b, Winter 2009.) Asia’s emerging economies, particularly India and China, are following the pattern originally set by Japan and Korea. They, too, were once known for low-cost manufacturing and mimicry of Western design. Over the years, Japanese and Korean executives deliberately built up their companies’ design and manufacturing skills and became global innovation leaders in everything from cars to mobile phones to plasma televisions. Now, the Chinese government’s five-year plan includes a similarly deliberate emphasis on creating an innovation-oriented economy. India’s innovators, although they have less government support, are active in such fields as health care, finance, agriculture, and public–private partnerships. (See “The Innovation Sandbox,” by C.K. Prahalad, s+b, Autumn 2006, and “Not Just for Profit,” by Marjorie Kelly, s+b, Spring 2009.) Innovation is usually born of need and opportunity. And Asia has some of the greatest unmet customer markets and societal challenges in the world, with its vast rural areas, huge demands for natural resources, significant environmental problems, and aging populations. Many Asian governments will rely on private-sector innovation to help meet these challenges. For example, after paying little attention to air quality during its initial burst of industrial development, China has announced a plan to become the leading producer of hybrid and all-electric vehicles by 2012. Companies whose capabilities dovetail with this green strategy could find a lucrative welcome. Meanwhile, Toyota is developing personal-care robots that can perform housekeeping and nursing chores, which it intends to target to Japan’s growing senior citizen population. For the same reason, the Japanese pharmaceutical firm Kowa has set up a joint venture with Teva, an innovative Israeli drugmaker, to bring 200 new drugs to market by 2015. If such innovations succeed, other companies may follow."
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7 Dec 2009

10 Steps To Getting What You Want
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From Tara Stiles 1. Be YOU. There is only one YOU on this planet. Take advantage of that. You are inspiring, creative, intelligent and capable. Spending any energy trying to be like someone else is foolish. 2. Do What You Love. When doing something you love, no matter what you'd be getting paid, or think the outcome might be, not only will you enjoy yourself more, but you have a better chance of actually creating a sustainable life. Happiness is contagious. "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." Milton Berle 3. Trust your instincts. "I feel there are two people inside of me -- me and my intuition. If I go against her, she'll screw me every time, and if I follow her, we get along quite nicely." Kim Basinger 4. Work hard. No one is going to do the work for you. "Hard work has made it easy. That is my secret. That is why I win. If it were easy everyone would be a champion." Nadia Comaneci 5. Be nice to people. "Your Karma is a continuum, part of the process that is happening to you now, not something far away in future life." - OSHO 6. Don't listen to your critics. "If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business." Abraham Lincoln's words: via Ed and Deb (love this one!) 7. Be Patient. Things might not (and usually don't) happen in the timing that you want. Patience can be your biggest asset. Cultivate it. "If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention, than to any other talent." Isaac Newton 8. Take Care of Yourself. Your health is a responsibility that is completely in your control. "Every human being is the author of his own health or disease." Buddha 9. Stop Complaining. If you don't like how something is, change it. We can't change everything, but we can do quite a bit about our circumstances when we drop the complaints. "Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses." Proverb 10. Have Fun. If you're not having fun then what's the point? "If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun." Katharine Hepburn
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