Gabe Mounce

The Kahn Academy

2011-10-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

For anyone who has a student in school or knows a student in school, I've discovered an AWESOME, FREE resource that you might want to investigate: The Khan Academy.

I recently read about it in this WIRED article and was PUMPED by the potential this resource has in helping students (of all ages - including me) better learn math, science and other difficult subjects. My enthusiasm stems partly from the simplicity of the resource and partly from the truly selflessness this guy, Sal Khan, exhibits in helping kids (people) learn. I can't recommend the site enough. Read the article (because it's fantastic) and then visit the Khan Academy site for yourself to see it in action.

Rogue University

2010-12-08T21:46:00.000-08:00

My buddy, Dan Ward, came up with an idea a while back for a "Rogue University Curriculum", which is outlined below. He actually included it as part of a larger "Sexy Rogue Guide" that I think went unpublished. However, I've shared this particular curriculum with some folks and have received some positive feedback. People really seem to like having a reading list for Rogues. So, here it is.

The Rogue University Curriculum

The Course Of Study to receive the title Rogue Master is largely self determined, in accordance with the fundamental principles of Roguedom. The general approach goes something like this: Read a bunch of the books on this list. Underline the good parts. Think about what you read. Digest it. Re-read some of it. Write something, preferably for publication in a magazine, professional journal and/or Rogue Project Leader, that

demonstrates your understanding of some Rogue principles. Full-length books are good too. Do something that demonstrates your ability to translate all this reading into meaningful action. Tell the story of what you did, preferably in a professional or other type trade journal. Complete a selection of the book list, write some articles and then give yourself a Rogue Master certificate, suitable for framing and signed by the Deans of Rogue University.

Focus Areas

There are three Focus Areas in the Rogue Master curriculum: Military Studies, Industry and Technology, and Poetry and Literature. A Focus area is not required, and students are encouraged to create their own focus areas. Prior approval by the Rogue University deans is not required. In addition to the six items in the Core Reading list, students are encouraged to select 12-15 additional books. Those students who opt for a Focus Area will typically read 7-10 from the Free Elective list in addition to their Focus Area books, while those pursuing the General Course will usually select their 12-15 books from the entire list. Students are not limited to the books on this list, and are encouraged to pursue books that interest them. We do like to see a wide variety of genres, to include both fiction and non-fiction. We also offer these two guiding principles as you continue down this path:

1) If it's interesting, it's relevant.

2) Read constantly, but if you can put the book down, do.

Timeframe

The Rogue University study program does not have a strict timeline. However, we do recommend students establish a reading plan of their own, to make sure you keep moving forward. Some of the entries can be read in a single sitting, and with discipline and creativity, this course of study can be accomplished in a year.

Core Reading (Recommend Reading All 7 items)

Orbiting The Giant Hairball, Gordon MacKenzie

Six Degrees, Duncan Watts

Re-Imagine, Tom Peters

Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson

The Golden Key, George MacDonald

Declaration of Independence

US Constitution

Free Electives (Recommend Reading 12-15 for General Course, 7- 10 for Focus Areas)

The Seven Day Weekend, Ricardo Semler

Faster, James Gleick

The Abilene Paradox, Jerry Harvey

How Come Every Time I Get Stabbed In The Back, My Fingerprints Are On The Knife, Jerry Harvey

The Starfish and the Spider, Brafman and Beckstrom

Gesundheit, Patch Adams

Walden, Henry David Thoreau

The Pleasure Of Finding Things Out, Richard Feynman

Love, Leo Buscaglia

The Medici Effect, Frans Johansson

The Wisdom of Crowds, James Suroweicki

Learned Optimism, Martin Seligman

Painting As A Pastime, Winston Churchill

The Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman

The Radical Elements of Radical Success, Dan Ward

Love and Profit, James Autry

Up The Organization, by Robert Townsend

The Wonderful Flight To The Mushroom Planet, Eleanor Cameron

The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell

Losing My Virginity, Richard Branson

Certain To Win, Chet Richards

The War Between The Pitiful Teachers And The Splendid Kids, Stanley Kiesel

The Rise Of Theodore Roosevelt, Edmund Morris

Manalive, G.K. Chesterton

The Napoleon of Notting Hill, G.K. Chesterton

The 95 Theses, Martin Luther (online)

Wikinomics, Tapscott and Williams

The Rise Of Theodore Roosevelt, Edmund Morris

How To Draw What You See, Rudy De Reyna

How To Win Friends And Influence People, Dale Carnegie

A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink

The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran

Radical Careering, Sally Hogshead

Enders Game, Orson Scott Card

Recommended Periodicals

TomPeters.com

Space.com

WIRED.com

ChangeThis.com

Defense AT&L

Military Focus Area (Recommend Reading All)

Boyd, Robert Coram

Pentagon Wars, James Burton

Certain To Win, Chet Richards

American Caesar, William Manchester

Skunk Works, by Ben R. Rich & Leo Janos

Wild Blue Yonder: Money, Politics and the B-1 Bomber, by Nick Kotz

Industry & Technology Focus Area (Recommend Reading 4-6)

The Cluetrain Manifesto (online)

The Cathedral And The Bazaar, by Eric Raymond (online)

Maverick, Ricardo Semler

The Dilbert Principle, Scott Adams

As The Future Catches You, Juan Enriquez

The Hacker Ethic, Pekka Himanen

The Unfinished Revolution, Michael Dertouzos

Just For Fun, Linus Torvalds

The Case For Mars, Robert Zubrin

Literature & Poetry Focus Area (Recommend Reading All)

Crossing The Unknown Sea, David Whyte

AnOther, ee cummings

Leaves Of Grass, Walt Whitman

Where The Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein

The Hobbit / Lord Of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkein

Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

Movies (optional)

Pentagon Wars Pump Up The Volume

Patch Adams Life Is Beautiful

Dead Poet's Society Matrix

Spirited Away

ESPN Socials

2010-11-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

Wow! Looks like the new social media has made it harder for me to keep up blogging. With twitter as the new medium of choice, it seems to be making blogs like mine completely pointless. Never-the-less, I'm not a big Twitter user simply because I'd rather use the Facebook news feed, which this blog feeds into. I also intend to use blogger as my forum to sharpen my writing skills, what little they are.

With that, to kick things off again, an issue I noticed recently was that the ESPN college football commentators and crew are WAY superior to the ESPN NFL commentators. It seems the NFL ESPN commentators are just old NFL players trying to maintain what little celebrity they have. The college guys, on the other hand, are much more enjoyable to watch, more articulate and succinct, and they seem to have more fun. The NFL guys take the game much too serious and they seem to take themselves too seriously. This is part of the reason I rarely watch the NFL anymore.

Sparky Baird Award!

2010-08-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post this news, but obviously I keep forgetting. An article I helped to write, Twitter is Mission Critical, won an award! Unbeknownst to me, the article won the Sparky Baird Award for "the best article published in SIGNAL magazine during 2009." My fellow co-authors and I didn't even know there was such an award, but we're excited to be so honored!

SIGNAL magazine is published by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA). On this same subject, I just uploaded a post at Rogue Project Leader (where I sometimes moonlight as a guest blogger) more thoughts on social media and decentralization.

Buddy Holly's Galaxy

2010-04-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

I had a random thought tonight while eating dinner at the Galaxy Diner in Flagstaff. The diner, located along the old Route 66, is a really fantastic rendition of the "classic 50s" style diner with all the minutiae that entails. While gazing at the picture below, hung with the Marilyn shrine, I noticed that "Peggy Sue" was playing over the house radio. It was then that I thought, why isn't Buddy Holly or Ritchie Valens ever included in these old tribute montages of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, or Elvis? Buddy and Ritchie died as tragically as any of these guys and their futures were just a promising?

My siblings and I are well versed in Buddy Holly because of the long road trips we used to take as kids. My dad listened to cassettes of all the oldies on these trips: The Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys. But most of all he listened to Buddy Holly. My dad grew up in Buddy's hometown of Lubbock, Texas, so he is naturally a big fan. Around west Texas, Buddy is the progenitor of Rock-n-Roll. So it's always been an enigma to me why someone of such great influence on music, who died so tragically, is never included in these kitschy pantheons of 50s inconography. Maybe that's just it. He wasn't kitschy.

Again, Social Media

2010-03-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

I heard this really good story on Market Place today about how corporate America is scrambling to understand how to harness Facebook and Twitter to communicate with potential customers. It was reminiscent to ideas of yore from the likes of Seth Godin and the Cluetrain Manifesto.

Yes, in days of old (around 2004-2005), these oracles enlightened would be social medialites about how Blogs were changing the landscape of corporate communications. Namely, that the freedom to publish your thoughts and opinions for the world to see made it impossible for companies to continue their one-way dialogue with customers and control their public perception. How crazy it is that blogs have so quickly been usurped by "micro-blogs" like Twitter (I mean, seriously, I'm just hitting my stride with this thing). Even more crazy is that corporations are slow as ever realizing this phenomenon. Is there a visionary left among the crowd?

Stacey's Public Enemy

2010-02-22T22:35:00.000-08:00

Living in Vegas is pretty surreal sometimes. My wife told me a great story on Saturday. This isn't verbatim, but it's pretty close:

I was at Sam's getting some things this morning when I noticed this guy walking through the store very loudly greeting people he passed with, "God bless you, and God bless your family...God bless you ma'am....and God bless you sir" and so on. He wasn't dressed particularly outlandish or anything, relative to Vegas standards, except that he had on some bright orange sneakers, a jacket with some rap group on it....I can't remember who but it had a big target symbol on it, like when you look through the scope of a gun....and a flat brimmed ball cap tilted sideways like the kids wear now. He did appear to be wearing some heavy necklaces that went under his jacket, but I only remember that after the fact. I got behind him in the checkout line and because he was so enthusiastically greeting everyone around him, I kept thinking, "who is this guy and why is he being so loud?"

Most people smiled really big back at him and one lady even came up and asked him if she could take his picture. I kept
thinking, "Is this somebody I'm supposed to know?" He had a cart piled so high with stuff that, as I followed him out of Sam's, he almost tipped it over in the parking lot. I started to reach out to help him, but he regained control and thanked me for even considering to help him and then asked God to bless me. Right then another lady passed by and said, "Flav where's your big clock?"
Gabe, I think that was Flavor Flav

"Really? Shopping at Sam's?" I said. "Yeah right, and I've chatted with Alice Cooper." Oh, wait........

Tea and Crumpets

2010-01-18T21:56:00.000-08:00

One of my new all time favorite experiences is.....high tea! "Really", you ask.

Really.

I've had "high" tea three different times and every time I'm like, "Wow! Why did America ever stop doing this?" And why is it called "high"? Because of this:

A three tiered tray of heaven. It's like, some of the best food I've ever had! The dessert is worth the price of admission by itself. This version is at the Ritz Carlton at Lake Las Vegas and it is, hands down, the best spread I've ever had.

Oh, and the tea's good too.

Bathroom Graffiti

2009-12-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

Forgive my sense of humor, but due to the context of this tag, I laughed at this for days. It was boldly penned on the inside of a stall door in a Dulles airport bathroom.

Gabe's Axiom

2009-11-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

I devised a new platitude that I’ve dubbed Gabe’s Axiom:

Engineers make stuff work. Designers make stuff useful.

I did so in response to my overall experience as an engineer to date. This thought coalesced recently while reading the book The Design of Everyday Things. Engineers love making and using gizmos and gadgetry and they love figuring out how to use a new widget. Therefore they find it frustrating when Joe user isn’t as passionate about learning all 15 ways to shut down a Windows based computer. I’ve often seen this frustration manifest as rebuke when a layman has trouble using equipment in the shared workspace (office copier, coffee pot). I’m guilty of it myself. I’d posit that a great many engineers don’t design with elegance or ease of use in mind. Making stuff work is their MO. However, the gizmos that are most useful are ones that are intuitive. It’s not the users fault if a gadgets operation isn’t readily apparent. True engineering involves synthesis and distillation with an eye toward elegance, not tech savvy alone. It’s the simplicity on the other side of complexity. It’s more challenging, but definitely more fun. After all, if it isn’t useful then what’s the point?

Calculators can do Magic Things!

2009-11-16T22:53:00.000-08:00

"It's called evil kid." - MST3000, Trumpy episode.

I've always admired the Hacker ethos as proposed by Pekka Himanen because of the passion and creative spirit it evokes. For this reason, I love this article in the current IEEE Spectrum online: Calculator Hackers Don’t Add Up. The comments are particularly insightful. In your face TI!

Understand that I use hacker in the original sense here, not in the malefic form known as “cracker” (don’t get me started on malware).

Alice Cooper, Me, and shoes

2009-10-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

I had a short conversation with Alice Cooper two Friday’s ago in the Vegas airport. I was funneled (for some random reason) to the business class security lane in Vegas and I guess Alice got in line just behind me. I didn’t know this of course. After I went through the metal detector I proceeded to gather my shoes from the X-Ray machine when the TSA rep grabbed them telling me he needed to test them. He then placed my shoes in some kind of weird microwave. Once the microwave went “ding”, he handed the shoes back to me while telling me he discovered evidence that I had some wear along the outside of the shoes. I must use them a lot he posited and then told me to be careful. I looked at this guy dumb founded thinking, “What the heck is he talking about.” I quickly realized he was messing with me.

As I squatted down by the X-ray machine to put my shoes on, the guy that had followed me through the X-Ray machine proceeded to tell me, “Man, that’s why I always carry these slip on jobs”, as he showed me his White Adidas super slip-on shoes (or whatever the heck they are) while pulling them onto his feet. "They make this whole thing go so much faster" he added. Since I was kneeling still tying my shoes, and this guy was standing, I only got a vague idea that he was a bit unusual with his crazy, black hair and perhaps slightly eccentric dress. “You ain’t joking around, man”, I retorted. Shortly thereafter, some random other guy came up to the conveyor belt and goes, “Hey Alice Cooper, that’s you. Man, my dad loves your stuff”. This prompted Alice to reply, “I’m sure I turned him into a juvenile delinquent”. Or at least that’s what I thought he said.

I guess Alice is my mentor now when it comes to shoes. I ought to ring him up and ask what I should wear tomorrow since my black ones are apparently wearing out. He might know.

Airplane Cake

2009-09-22T22:29:00.001-07:00

My wife volunteered to make a cake for a baby shower recently, so she enlisted my help in "realizing" the design. She was asked to do an "airplane" themed cake and this is what we came up with. To get this form, she came up with the ingenious idea of using a "football" molded cake pan. I then carved it until I arrived at a somewhat fuselage shape. We then added the wings and a tail and viola - an airplane cake. We had a blast making it!

Drawing Disney

2009-09-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about Disney is their creativity and innovation. My recent trip to Disneyland was no exception. At Disney's California Adventure, my wife and I were pleased to find elements from their more popular attractions at Disney World including one we normally would have passed up called the Animation Pavilion. Of all the things to do at the park, we had the most fun here, learning to draw a Disney character. It reminded me how much I really enjoy drawing. Can you guess who this is?

It never ceases to amaze me how seemingly boring, mundane, or out of the way things turn out to be the most fun.

The Team Rogue Approach

2009-08-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

My presentation with Team Rogue was just picked up in a story on WIRED's Danger Room blog. They linked our FIST concept to the Air Force's decision to look into Light Attack Aircraft. AWESOME!

The Thing About Texting

2009-08-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

So here's the thing about texting - Why would I pay my provider extra to communicate on a device that I've already paid them to communicate on?

Thus spake Zarathustra.

Courage + Integrity = Radical

2009-08-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

Cool! Team Rogue got another plug over on the PaperTrail blog at the Center for Public Integrity. The author, Nick Schwellenbach, attended our presentation and keyed onto our discussion about courage. Courage indeed...thanks Nick! Check out his post.

Infinite Hope

2009-08-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

I came across this quote last night which stopped me in my tracks:

We know finite disappointment but we know infinite hope. We have a sense that what we do, with God's help, makes a difference.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Google vs Facebook anyone?

2009-08-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

Why can't Google and Facebook just b friends? WIRED noted recently that all roads lead to a conflict between the two giants which I loathe to think about. I really like both of them and would hate to see all of us lose out as a result of a fight. It seems that Facebook's intent is to make their site a safe haven for it's members such that they'll quit using the "regular" internet and start surfing exclusively through their site. Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg believes members are more likely to use their network of friends to find the stuff they want online than to use Google's faceless engine. Google would love to have more info about users, like Facebook does, to help tailor the ads they include with searches.

To me there is a fundamental difference between the two. Google's whole existence is making money off a clever advertising scheme that doesn't kill the user's experience. I love this because it allows Google the freedom to provide users with awesome tools to enhance their internet experience, all for free! On the other hand Facebook is about connecting. It's a big hit because it's fun and easy and non-intrusive (now). I'm afraid Mark Zuckerberg will kill Facebook if he tries too hard to make money (thanks to stupid Microsoft) with intrusive marketing. It'll go down the tube just like MySpace. If I had to choose between them, I'd pick Google. In fact, without Google's Blogger, you wouldn't be reading this note at all. In your face Facebook.

Air Force Magazine's Daily Report

2009-07-31T21:58:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

The Air Force magazine recently commented about a presentation fellow Rogue Project Leader Dan Ward and I gave to the Defense Acquisition University in DC. We were there to advocate our FIST concept. Read the blurb in Air Force Magazine's Daily Report under the heading:

Say Hello to FIST

Transparent Shoes

2009-07-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

I love transparent shoes. Well actually, that's not what I mean. I love transparent companies like the Zappos shoe company. What kind of transparency am I talking about? The type that does this:

...transparency reduces barriers to communication, builds trust, and accelerates consensus building and decision making.
- The Standish Group

If you want to see what Zappos transparency is all about, click here.

Search This!

2009-07-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

Why would anybody use Bing (I'm purposely not hyperlinking to them here)? I mean, have you ever used the "Help" search engine in Microsoft Office? It's terrible! If they can't search within their own product well, why the heck do they think they can make a search engine to compete with Google. Retarded.

This is another lame-o attempt by Microsoft to try and kill Google. Yeah, good luck with that.

Notice how I linked to Google twice (oops three times). That's how much MS.................well you know.

National Healthcare Anyone

2009-07-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

I'm not fond of the entangled mess (Giant Hairball) that healthcare has become. Neither is Wendell Potter. Bill Moyers of PBS interviewed the former Cigna senior executive after he recently testified before congress. His testimony in this interview is fascinating, upsetting, and makes me down right mad. The embedded video is only part of the full interview. To view the whole thing (and believe me, you WILL NOT regret it), follow this link to the PBS website: Bill Moyers Journal or download the transcript. In any case, Mr. Potter's first hand accounts leave me speechless.

Rogue Project Leader

2009-07-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

The Rogues have resurrected the slightly subversive Rogue Project Leader magazine in the form of a blog. It's for punks, radicals, and pirates - and maybe a few thought leaders with attitude. If you like sacred cows, or you're a process monkey, or if you simply like checking boxes.....this probably isn't for you.

Rogue Project Leader

The Window Shade

2009-07-01T23:02:00.000-07:00

So if your sitting next to the window on an airplane, what's the etiquette for the window shade? Are you the master of the window? What if you're in the aisle seat and feel the need to look out (say because you claustrophobic or something and the open window is better than a closed one), but the window shade is down and the person in the window seat is asleep? Is it okay to reach over and open the shade? Does the shade belong to the row and a vote must be taken amongst the passengers in the row about the shade position?

Just wondering.

The Cones of Vegas

2009-06-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

I think the stimulus package must be working. Every single street I drive on is now under construction. I'm not joking. One day it was just a the usual handful of streets that have been under construction. The next, every side and through street I use to get to the major thorough-fares had cones and street signs with arrows warning you that the street narrows or that you have to merge to a new lane, or whatever. Every single one. Really. And it's like this all over town. Some of the cones were out weeks before any workers were ever seen.

I guess Vegas decided to start every construction project it ever conceived to make sure that it got every cent of the stimulus before it ran out. Even if a particular street doesn't need construction. Hmm........ Maybe I should move some of them to see if anybody notices.

More Bad Business?

2009-06-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

I saw the movie UP this weekend (great movie!) in 3-D and am still wowed by the technology. Speaking of which, how much of the extra price for a 3-D ticket actually goes toward the 3-D setup? I called two of my nearby theaters before seeing the show to find out if I could get the extra fee waived since we already had 3-D glasses from a previous show. I figured the extra fee was for the glasses. I already had a pair, so why pay for an additional set? The lady who responded sounded like Roz from Monsters, Inc.

"Oh no sir, you're not paying for the glaasses, your paying for the tech-naaaw-lowwww-gyyyyy."

Really? The extra 3 bucks goes for the technology? So why charge a separate fee? Why not just advertise a 3-D movie as being three bucks more expensive than a regular movie? I'd probably buy that. But having it broken out into a separate fee makes me suspicious. I have a feeling it's just a ploy to rip you off. The theaters I frequent are already "all digital". So the technology is already installed for all the movies. I can't imagine that a 3-D movie requires anymore special handling than simply loading the 3-D version of the movie into the digital projector. And that's like a mouse clock or something. So I'm paying $.50 for the mouse click and $2.50 to line the pockets of the theater and the movie industry. Niiiiccccce....

Too Much Detail!

2009-06-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

Attention to detail is overrated! I'm reading Seth Godin's book Small is the New Big and came across the Clean Fire Trucks post.

When it comes to work, if you're following all the processes and procedures and rules to get stuff done, then you're probably not getting anything done. Attention to detail is good if your flying airplanes or operating machinery, but it stinks when your trying to invent, lead, or improve. Trying to fit these things to a process is what bureaucracy is all about.

A Riff on Bad Business

2009-06-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

Riffing in the form of Seth Godin, high-end hotels stink! Throughout my travels I’ve noticed that high end hotels want to charge you for everything! Yet so called business class hotels are cheaper and offer way more amenities. Which leads me to this question: why are high end hotels supposedly so much better?

My recent trip to San Diego serves as a most egregious case in point. My wife and I stayed in the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina while in town for the San Diego Marathon. It supposedly was a higher class hotel. Down the street, not two miles away, was a Courtyard Marriott, one of those business class hotels. I made this little slide show to sum up the differences between the two.

Sheraton Hotels Suck

View more OpenOffice presentations from Gabe Mounce.

How does the Sheraton get away with this crap? I’ll take the Marriott any day!

All around change

2009-05-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

Congratulations IEEE! You did it! That's right. You CHANGED! Can you believe it!?!?!

A while back I complained how their Spectrum magazine had real potential at delivering the latest on technology and tech development but how it's stuffy layout and sterile broadcast made it readable (enjoyable, interesting) by only the most antiquated of engineering nerds.

In Early 2008 they completely changed their format and the way they tell the story about what's happening in the tech community. I would say it's on par with WIRED magazine only perhaps slightly more authoritative. Congratulations IEEE Spectrum!

Consider these provocative articles:

What's Wrong with Weapons Acquisitions
The Million Dollar Programming Prize (more on Wisdom of Crowds!)
The Hunt for the Kill Switch

YAHHHH IEEE!!!

Failure is Inevitable

2009-05-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

One of the topics I like to discuss in this blog is failure. I do so because I oppose the enormous effort in trying to avoid failure, or the appearance of failure, by people and organizations. To battle the fear of failure (as we often do), my buddies Chris Quaid, Dan Ward and I have released a sort of manifesto:

On Failure

Feel free to pass it around the office, send it to a friend or post on your Facebook blog about twitter. We'd be glad you did!

Black, White and Color

2009-05-04T23:12:00.000-07:00

Do you remember a while back – like the early to mid 80s or something – when TV stations were broadcasting B&W movies in color? I seem to remember there being this big push for a short period where the entertainment industry was offering B&W movies in color. Then sometime thereafter, there was a lot of clamoring by opponents that this was ruining the true nature of the films and the industry quickly backed off.

Does anyone else remember this? I ask because I watched an old movie the other day that must have been one of the first to come out after color movies were invented. I was struck by how much more I seemed to notice the environment and how interesting all the old cars, clothes, and period “stuff” was. It was fantastic! They should colorize all old movies! Color was such a phenomenal breakthrough that I suspect most filmmakers would have made movies in color had they had the option. So I don’t understand why purists insist on keeping B&W movies B&W?

I have a theory that preference for B&W completely hinges upon being born before color or after. Most people who grew up watching contemporary black and white movies new what the color of the items in the movie were supposed to be. In their minds eye they knew that Cagney was wearing a navy blue suit with pin stripes – because it was contemporary. Whereas a young pup like me who didn’t live back then can only identify Cagney’s suit as some weird shade of blackish gray. I have nothing to relate it to. So I take it for face value. And that’s how I watch B&W movies. I definitely appreciate them, and love a great many of them, but I always feel like I’m seeing them as if they were out of focus; lacking something. And I am. COLOR.

Trash Bins Do Talk

2009-04-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

I was reminded today of a crazy experience I had on my trip to Disney World this past Jan. I can't believe I forgot about it.

One afternoon we were touring Animal Kingdom and had traveled by train to this learning center/petting zoos of sorts. I don't remember the name, but that's not important. It was that part of the afternoon were your lunch has begun to settle and you get very sleepy. I remember finding a nice comfortable sunny spot on a bench outside the learning center building (remember, I said it was Jan). My party had mostly dispersed to the petting zoo or wherever, so I was left alone to enjoy a light snooze. Just as I was dozing off, right at that state between consciousness and dreamland, I saw a trash bin exit through the door immediately on my left.

As it came into view, I thought someone was pushing it, assuming a cast member was taking it to be emptied. But as the entirety of it came into view, I realized it was moving on its own. It proceeded to a nearby child and started to hold a conversation. As I tried to wake up and determine if I was actually dreaming, I became aware that this thing was indeed the real deal. And oddly, surreally at first, no one else seemed to recognize what was going on. It seemed to slowly dawn on everybody that this was an autonomous "recycling bin", charming and wholly unexpected. I noticed that as people realized what they were seeing, like me, they immediately smiled. And this is the magic that is Disney! Regardless of what you might think of them as a company, they sure have a knack for disarming even the most cynical of park goers.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of this crazy 'bot, but luckily, thanks to Google, I found somebody else who did. Follow this link to see a photo.

Pirates Ahoy!

2009-04-21T22:38:00.001-07:00

A rather good discussion going on over at my friend Dan's blog. I sent him a link to a contrarian article on the Somali Pirates. If you want the low down from me, check out the comments section of the post and my contribution thereof.

You University 5.7

2009-04-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

So I had a crazy idea today. I was listening to something on the news about how small businesses are having to lower the prices for their products and services to accommodate a decrease in business. Obvious, right? But wait - get a load of this.

Why don't colleges and universities lower their prices? I mean, if you go strictly by the products and service these institutions provide, they are no different than any other business. In fact, why don't colleges and universities offer a-la-carte degrees. Or better yet, maybe they should simply offer instruction only without offering degrees at all. Seriously, in today's day and age, does that little piece of paper really mean anything? Does it really help you do your job? Isn't your ability to actually do the job more important? That little piece of paper does nothing for you but give you some sense of credibility based on reputation. And this only to get you a job in the first place. Once employed, it doesn't matter what your GPA is or whose name is on your piece of paper; it only matters what you can do.

The one thing a formal college experience gives you is connections based on status (reputation). Again, the more reputable the school, the more probable you'll have connections that get high-end jobs, the more your connections are valued, etc. But once you get a job via your connections, it still falls back to what you do.

So I see the recession as a perfect opportunity for a start-up university. One built around what you think is important. And it really is as easy as offering a potential client a suggested curriculum based on what you think is important based on your own experience. One simple price and you get a suggested reading list (books, articles, blog posts, Wikipedia entries, movies, whatever you think is necessary to convey the knowledge and experience) and maybe even some one-on-one instruction.

Think about this - if enough upsart Web 2.0 universities popped up, a person could easily tailor their learning experience and get right to the point of what they need to learn when they need to learn it. Who cares about slogging through grad school. Let the formal universities stick to research and leave the real business of teaching to You University 5.7.

Think about the upside to this - this would solve the problem of skyrocketing higher ed costs (which is as unaffordable as ever), more people could be educated, and thus more innovation would occur and jobs created. I really think this might be the ticket to blasting out of the recession. And I'm not the first to suggest this.

I first picked up this idea from my friend Dan who often advocates reading what you want and often states that a person can better educate themselves by simply reading a lot. He developed a concept for a university similar to what I describe (and we're working on actually implementing it....shhh...don't tell anyone). I then read a post by Seth Godin with a similar approach for business school. Both these guys are innovators extraordinaire, so they must be right. And I know I'm some kind of crazy genius, so this idea must be awesome. If you happen to take me up on this crazy idea, let me know?

3-D Movie Micro-Spacing

2009-04-06T23:13:00.001-07:00

I just saw the 3-D movie "Monsters vs. Aliens" the other night.

Are you kidding me?!?!?! I had no idea that 3-D technology had gotten that good! Oh, I had heard rumors that it was the biz-omb; in fact I heard a news story that certain movie makers had decided to shoot virtually every new movie in this 3-D format. But I wasn't expecting what I saw. It was magnificent! It was the best 3-D experience I've ever had. In fact, I found myself micro-spacing .... losing track of the story for microscopic bits of time as I marveled at the 3-D-essness of the movie. I mean it was that good!

An Open Model (The Starfish Approach)

2009-04-05T22:36:00.001-07:00

A while back I developed a presentation connecting the ideas of The Starfish and The Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom with fourth generation warfare concepts as presented by Dr. Chet Richards, chief strategist for Defense and the National Interest. The intent of the brief was to inform a small group of military colleagues about the merits of decentralization.

I had mostly forgotten about it when, for several untold reasons, I decided to send it off to Chet to get his take. His response - he liked it well enough to post it on his blog. Cool!

I've embedded it in this post, but if your browser doesn't load it, get is at my SlideShare page here (or go to Chet's site above). SlideShare will also show you the notes for each slide which make the presentation more understandable as I wasn't able to include the notes in this post.

Open Model (The Starfish Approach)

View more presentations from Gabe Mounce.

Failure IS and Option

2009-03-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.

- Thomas Watson, Founder IBM

Unstandard standard

2009-03-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

Are standardized tests a good indicator of future academic performance? If so, can writing ability be tested on such tests? I discovered a paradox recently while preparing for the Graduate Record Exam. If you don't know, the GRE is a standard(ized) test many universities use in the evaluation of potential for graduate school.

On this test there is an evaluation of your verbal and writing skills. The verbal part consists of multiple choice questions pertaining to vocabulary, sentence completions, and reading comprehension. The writing part asks you to write two short essays.

The material I used to prep for the GRE states that ETS, the company that produces the GRE, attempts to find the most boring, difficult passages of real academic literature for use in the reading comprehension questions. They do so because they've determined that graduate students are often expected to draw upon such writing while doing their coursework.

And yet, in the writing portion of the test, they give higher scores to essays that are concise, articulate, logical, and that flow well from one idea to the next. What? I'm struck with sort of a "do as I say, not as I do" essence.

Is it useful to test the ability to comprehend that which is an example of uselessness - bad writing? Shouldn't examples of good writing actually be the point? I figure writing that is good will be read and writing that isn't will be relegated to obscurity. In fact, I've adopted the following proverb by my friend Dan:

If you can put a book down, do.

So why bother testing the ability to understand that which is archaic when you probably won't bother with it anyway? To create a hedge around the irrelevant business of "Standardized Testing", that's why.

Fail Safe

2009-03-02T22:28:00.000-08:00

This is hilarious! It's from a strange but hilarious blog called Failblog. Although it's labeled as a failure I think it's poignant.

see more Failblog

Have you ever thought that people go way overboard with the whole "Safety First" thing? Sometimes I wonder if slogans like this make us, as a society, risk adverse? What if we had a slogan like this:

Risk Taking First, Safety Second!

Presidential address to Congress

2009-02-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to quickly post a note regarding tonight's address to congress by President Obama. I don't normally wade into my political views here, but the small portion of the speech I heard while driving home from work (the economic portion), pertains directly to the creativity and innovation stuff that I like to talk about in this blog.

Specifically, I really liked how he articulated the need to get credit flowing again as this is the key to getting the economy running. I don't have the specific quote, but he talked about how small business benefits from flowing credit and how small businesses, those intrepid entrepreneurs, are the backbone of the economy. I couldn't agree with him more. Starting a small business is almost impossible without some kind of credit line. Therefore the quickest way to stifle entrepreneurship, and thus innovation, is to cut off credit. I applaud him for calling on the banks loosen-up credit.

I realize his plan exacts a high price tag, but consider this question. Is the economy of this country as important as it's defense? I believe the economy and the nation's defense are two pillars that support the democracy we enjoy. Therefore, if we can spend some-odd trillion dollars for it's defense we certainly can afford some-odd billion dollars to bolster it economically. In fact, as a defense insider, I posit that we can slash defense spending, with no degradation in capability for defense, and inject the savings into the aid used to recover the economy.

But that's a whole other story........

Shameless Plug for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

2009-02-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to announce that my wife is running her 5th marathon in May in San Diego. This will be her 4th with Team In Training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Checkout her page and if your feeling generous, she'd more than appreciate your support: Stacey's Marathon Page.

Orbiting the Giant Hairball redux

2009-02-10T23:25:00.000-08:00

Forgive me for my lapse in original content, but I feel compelled to re-broadcast this very important public service announcement: Innovation and the smack down thereof. To do so I'm completely scalping my buddy Dan Ward's latest blog entry on the subject. His post divulges most of the similarity between what the NASA wunderkinds present in the video and what employees of the DoD experience. I wanted to add my own commentary.

This was made by an awesome group of NASA folks who are pushing the envelope in trying to turn a huge behemoth of bureaucracy into a more transparent, open, innovative agency. My buddies and I tip our hats to them. We are attempting the same within our own arm of the government....the DoD.

The very essence of the narrative is that the need for control, fear of failure, and rigid conformance to process do nothing but inhibit progress and stifle innovation. Us Rogues have our own little tale to spin about orbiting such giant hairballs which can be found in the many articles we write. In particular are the FIST series, Diversity and Freaks, and others.

I especially like the bit at the end where the Google executive says, "the way I see it, my responsibility is to work for you." YEEEHAAAWW! The Plum Tree strikes again!

Wired Night Owls

2009-02-01T21:51:00.000-08:00

I've discovered that being an early bird isn't what it's cracked up to be. I realize they usually get the worm and all, but I think the whole idea of getting a head start on the day is a little over-rated.

That's because I have a really hard time getting up early. Don't get me wrong, there are times when I enjoy seeing sunrises and watching the world come alive in the morning, but I find it challenging to do this on a daily basis. I attribute this to my unique circadian rhythm - I'm a night owl! To get up early I have to go to bed early which I find almost impossible. My brain seems to function best late at night and I have great difficulty switching it off. On the flip side I find I'm in deep sleep right about the time my alarm goes off in the morning which makes it really difficult to wake up. My late night study sessions in college may have had something to do with this, but I think overall, I'm just wired this way.

Turns out, however, that for a creative genius like me (I'm just saying), this is absolutely normal. This little piece in last months WIRED Magazine proves it.

Women's Work

2009-01-22T11:06:00.001-08:00

I read this outstanding article in the Delta Sky Magazine on a recent trip: Crossing the (Gender) Divide by Sophia Dembling. The article investigates the changing role that women are starting to play in the video game industry.

As you might expect, most games are played and developed by males. Dembling cites a 2005 stat from the International Game Developers association - less than 12 percent of game developers are women. Due to a weird kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, developers make games that appeal to men because they figure women don't like video games. It turns out that women don't generally like the types of video games that were being made (which were geared more to a male style of play). From the article:

research conducted about gaming with boys and girls ages 6-12 found that even when they played games intended for boys, girls played differently. For example, "Boys would blow through setup in about two minutes"; girls, however were painstaking in creating their characters.....girls like to play cooperatively with each other rather than competitively, and they like games with applications to real life.

But Dembling notes there is a shift taking place largely because game developers have finally realized that there is money to be made. Hmmmm........I wonder where I've heard this before?

Ah yes, Tom Peters. He's been preaching for a long while that women are no longer a niche market, no longer the token manager, but the main act. From his book Re-Imagine: "Women want to connect, are other-oriented, responsibilty oriented, have a group perspective, take pride in team accomplishment." Tom feels that women are far better managers than men especially in business because they have a penchant for getting a group of people to work together to get stuff done.

Wow...how much more evidence does industry need? Forget about surviving, if industry wants to thrive it should look toward women.

Walt Disney World Marathon Part 1

2009-01-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

My wife finished the WDW marathon last weekend which she says was a rock-n-roll blast of a good time. In fact she completed it with a personal record (PR) of 4:06:25 (and she was worried she wouldn't even come close to her old time...crazy). She did a fantastic job, and from everything she told me, it was an awesome experience. Disney did a spectacular job with the race...it was so awesome that I plan to do it myself. The course winds around and through all the parks, and from the limited exposure I got of the course, it looked super-fun.

*Spectator Side Note: Disney let spectators into the Magic Kingdom cordoned off on Main Street USA. This was way cool as you don't normally get to view the park so early in the morning!

Anyway, music was blasting everywhere, there were TONS of participants and spectators, and they had all the cast and characters out along the whole course....it was like a gigantic high-energy party. And it was like this the whole length of the course from the reports I got. I've not seen many races with this much energy or people, which Stacey said definitely helped her keep a faster pace. We really enjoyed the race and the WDW trip over all. If you've ever thought about running a marathon, this one should definitely be at the top of your list!

Walt Disney World Marathon Part 2

2009-01-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

Even though the Walt Disney World marathon is a fantastic experience from the runners perspective, it's terrible from a spectators perspective. It's almost impossible to get around the property during the race and you really have to hoof it to get from one viewing spot to the next to see your runner. It seems the best way to tackle the marathon as a spectator is to have a team of people permanently stationed at a each viewing point. This would allow more glimpses (and photos) of your runner without all the hassle. Also, the info given to spectators on where to see their runner and how to get from, say, your resort to the starting line was really terrible. I found this strange because Disney usually does a good job with traffic flow and information. But not this time.

Creative Intersections

2008-12-29T21:17:00.000-08:00

It never ceases to amaze me how super-creative my military comrades can be. I recently discovered that a colleague, Michael Chapman, authored a children's book, George the Giraffe: Thinks he has no Neck, which is being published nationally. "Chappy" has never struck me as a writer, yet here he is with a nationally released book. How crazy is that!

To top it off, his collaborator is artist Jennifer Main, from here in Las Vegas (check out her work)! Again, it always amazes me how the worlds of very talented people I know intersect with other creative types.

It just goes to show (me) how you never can tell what creative talents the people you work with might have.

Radicals and Scallywags

2008-12-26T09:22:00.000-08:00

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they should grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.

- Abraham Lincoln

These are words from one of this country’s most beloved, revered and respected presidents, ever*!

Yet today, if you revolt - and I’m not even talking about revolting against the government - if you revolt against a system of any sort - corporate hierarchy, church leadership, or the management of your small fries parking lot enforcement division - you get grouped with a shameful lot: terrorists, communists, anarchists, heretics …. rascals and scallywags.

As should be expected. Once radicals become the status quo, they are vested in maintaining control and keeping things the same (or so they think). Change disrupts this. It’s weird how the former revolutionary becomes the current dictator. Those revolutionary’s who maintain the wisdom to allow flexibility to change; who are open to what new knowledge and wit may be discovered; who relinquish the need for control; these are the ones who fend off the status quo. These are the ones that triumph and positively impact the lives of men.

Are you a radical?

Should you be?

*I mean, seriously, look at all the monuments and tribute given to him…as well it should be considering what he brought the country through during his time in history.

The Big Las Vegas Snow

2008-12-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

It may not seem real but it is. About 8 inches of SNOW so far and growing.....in LAS VEGAS!!! What?!?!?

It started about noon and has been going ever since (9 hours so far). And its not that dry powdery stuff....its the thick, wet stuff. It's like being in upstate NY all over again.

What America Needs

2008-12-14T22:25:00.000-08:00

To the creative class*:

Consider this thought: The real threat to American security is not terrorism, it’s that creative and talented people may stop wanting to come here.

Creativity is not a tangible asset like mineral deposits that can be hoarded or fought over or even bought and sold. We must begin to think of creativity as a common good, like liberty, or security. It is something essential that belongs to all of us, and that must always be fed, renewed, and maintained – or else it will slip away.

- Richard Florida

Indeed, the creative class is what this country needs – now more than ever.

*Scientists, engineers, architects, designers, writers, artists, musicians, or if creativity is a key factor in your practice of business, law, education, medicine, or any other profession.

Metaphors and More

2008-11-11T12:31:00.000-08:00

If it's not one thing, it's two things.

- Wacky Teez

Metaphors are kind of weird don't you think? I found the mixed metaphor above quite funny. Seriously, have you ever thought about them?

If you've watched the Matrix, you probably have and didn't even know it (whoa..that's heavy). Metaphors are used more frequently than we thought. Here's our latest Defense AT&L article: Metaphors are Mindfunnels.

Oh, and for those six sigmafied, lean and well-done, total quality maverick project ninjas, this bud's for you: Theta 13.

Money Grubbin'

2008-10-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

So I picked up some folks from the Las Vegas airport the other day and discovered this:

If you can't tell, the meter in this spot, and several others, was broken (notice the yellow bag over the meter). So, to make sure no one parks in the spot, a cone was placed in the middle of it to prevent people from parking there. Obviously, they don't want people parking for free because then they would lose money, right?

Yet, there was only a handful of cars parking on this level of the garage anyway (and it's like this every time I go there). I didn't get a picture, but the rest of this level is totally empty. I mean, seriously, how much money are they really losing to go to the trouble of putting an orange cone in the spot.

Ridiculous!

Falling Out of Creativity

2008-10-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

I found a new herald for my views on creativity - this TED video:

Sir Robinson's talk elegantly conveys everything I've tried to present in this blog on creativity and innovation. He connects, in excellent fashion, all the concepts I've been reading about but could never tie together and explain. I was getting there, but just have never quite made it.

All Hail Sooner Nation!

2008-10-10T22:29:00.001-07:00

To all my friends in Sooner Nation:

Go Sooners, Beat Texas!!!!

BOOMER SOONER!!!

The Secret of Success

2008-10-08T22:37:00.001-07:00

I've recently stumbled onto a rather perplexing concept: successfully working through a challenge. Ever thought about this?

Here's what I mean - you often read stories, see movies, hear sermons, or even witness conversations where the idea is presented that there are two types of characters (moral essence) when it comes to facing a challenge. One type looks at a challenge as an opportunity. The other looks at a challenge as a difficulty to bear. But what's never articulated in these "narratives" is how the challenge itself is really the basis for how a person faces a challenge.

Let me articulate if I can:

Many narratives that discuss facing a challenge describe it in a frame of reference that says the only way to successfully conquer a challenge is to be persistent, faithful in pursuit, and to never give up. This narrative often comes off, at least to me, with the negative connotation that if you do give up, you're more of a failure than if you didn't but fail to overcome the challenge.

Here's my problem with this reasoning. It assumes that the challenge undertaken is uniquely and appropriately worthy to pursue; that it's the only game in town; that once you take it on, regardless of how little you may initially know about it, you're duty bound to continue pursuing it, regardless of how much your interest might wane.

This assumption is wrong. My experience is that challenges often fall into two categories (three really - I discuss the third later): those that you whole heartily desire to pursue, and those that you do not, both having the characteristic of being optional (meaning you don't have to pursue it). I stumbled onto this concept after considering why many of the physical challenges I undertake, regardless of how difficult they are, I doggedly attack, but how other types (political ones - navigating bureaucracy by persuading or assuaging people - for instance) I just seem to fizzle out with.

Considering physical challenges I realized that a pet peeve of mine when struggling with a difficult, non-athletic challenge is how people, especially superiors, often equate it to a physical/athletic pursuit. Yet they're not the same at all to me. First, I enjoy physical challenges, mainly because I know I'm competing and relying on my own abilities. And because I just thoroughly enjoy them, no matter how difficult. This in turn causes me to passionately pursue it even if I end up failing. On the other hand, I don't at all enjoy political type challenges, especially those that I have very little power to influence. So anytime I have the option to pursue a political challenge, I don't. It frustrates me when I'm put in a situation, mainly by superiors, where I have to face up to this challenge, knowing that I'm doing so simply at the discretion or whim of the superior; that in fact I really don't have to face this challenge to get the job done, they just believe I do. In this situation, for me, a sporting metaphor is simply counter-productive. "Hey buddy, I know what a sporting challenge feels like, and this isn't it."

These challenges I don't believe deserve the pursuit (for me), and if given an out, I'll take it. So this reasoning leads me to think that when undertaking something of desire, you inherently keep going when it gets tough. But when you undertake something you only think you desire, and later find out that you don't desire at all, you never internalize the passion to persist. In those situations, I say it's okay to quit. In fact it's in your best interest. Why waste time trying to prevail when you could easily move on to something else your more adamant about. Sometimes, you really do need to know when to fold them.

Does this damage your moral fiber? Absolutely not. See this is where the third type of challenge comes in, the one you have no choice but to face. In these circumstances, life or death situations, survival or destruction conditions, morality or evil....well....you really have no choice. You have to face them, as challenging as they may be. You may not win, but in fighting, you ever increase your chance of success. But, you see, I think you know when these challenges occur. And they aren't the same as those described above.

So latch on like a pit-bull if you must, but remember, its okay to let go.

Your Very Own Steve and Barry's

2008-10-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

Just a note here about a store I'm starting to become fond of: Steve and Barry's. This apparel store has similarities to Old Navy, but it seems their niche is high quality, trendy name brand stuff at extremely low prices. However, this isn't the main reason I'm starting to like them; it's the so called rumor surrounding why they exist. It seems one of their goals is to provide high quality apparel on par with higher style clothiers, but at a markedly discounted price, such that a larger share of the population, especially those with limited income, don't have to sacrifice the "trendy factor" for affordability.

On this note, they take a rather radical approach to marketing - It's all done by word of mouth! This for the sake of keeping prices as low as reasonably possible. I couldn't tell you for sure how good their quality is except for their t-shirts; that's the only thing I've bought. But I can tell you that they have one of the largest selections of themed T-shirts, including superhero and college athletics, that I've ever seen. I couldn't substantiate the rumor above, but from the company's website,

Throughout the company’s growth from a campus-based chain to one of the nation’s leading casual apparel retailers, Steve & Barry’s has remained committed to its founding principle – to offer shoppers the highest quality merchandise at astonishing low prices. It does so by eliminating costs wherever it can without compromising production quality - utilizing word-of-mouth marketing rather than expensive ad campaigns, reducing labor costs through innovative in-store merchandising and operations techniques, and pricing its merchandise on a cost basis instead of a market basis.

Does keeping costs low also mean making stuff in sweatshops in east Asia? Well, I don't know, but I definitely find their marketing approach unusual. But, hey, don't take my word for it, check 'em out for yourself.

The Big Slack

2008-09-16T21:47:00.001-07:00

It seems that no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to convince people that less is sometimes more; that often times playtime, downtime, or off-time is WAY more important that nose to the grindstone on-time. In fact, in my work environment it's all about "getting the mission done - whatever it takes." There's no time for slack time, think time, or fun time cause it just has to be done...now!

What a load of bull. Here's a passage I just came across in 14 Ways to Breakthrough Ideas by Mitch Ditkoff, his ChangeThis manifesto:

#8 Take a Break

If you want a breakthrough, you will need to take a break. True innovators rarely follow the straight and narrow path. Not only do they march to a different drummer, they’re often not even on the same playing field as most people.

Take Seymour Cray, for example, the legendary designer of high-speed computers.

He used to divide his time between building the next generation super computer and digging an underground tunnel below his Chippewa Falls house. Cray’s explanation of his tunnel digging behavior is consistent with the stories of many other creatives—inner-directed, boundary-pushing people who understand
the need to go off-line whenever they get stuck.

Bottom line, whenever they find themselves struggling with a thorny problem, they walk away from it for a while. They know, from years of experience, that more (i.e. obsession, analysis, effort) is often less (i.e. ideas, solutions, results).

Explained Cray, “I work for three hours and then get stumped. So I quit and go to work in the tunnel. It takes me an hour or so to dig four inches and put in the boards. You see, I’m up in the Wisconsin woods, and there are elves in the woods. So when they see me leave, they come back into my office and solve
all the problems I’m having. Then I go up (to my lab) and work some more."

The Plum Tree

2008-09-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

One of the best analogies for the role true leaders should play is found in Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie - The Pyramid and the Plum Tree (click on the picture to see full size):

(photo of pages from chapter 18 of his book)

I think this concept pokes American culture in the eye. We've all grown up under the left model. This says the the leader is in charge, makes all the decisions, flows those decisions down the pyramid and you as the worker must carry out her orders or die. Those at the bottom have no choice, no freedom, restricted intellect and mustn't think for themselves. The thinking has already been done for you. So we still believe and act within most every organization.

The right model says that leaders are there to remove the road blocks so that the very smart, intelligent people doing the work can get it done. They act as a conduit to nourish the people producing the fruit and filter the stuff that might stop them from such. Hardly any organization today acts like this. Why not?

Lack of trust and the need for control are why not. I think the left model is bogus, and should be thrown out. If you want to be a good leader, be a servant first and facilitate getting the work done by getting out of the way and removing the roadblocks that prohibit people from doing their job.

Cartoons-o-fun!

2008-09-10T23:08:00.000-07:00

I don't have much time to post, but I did want to point you to something I find incredibly creative.

It's the cartoons of Amy Winfrey! http://www.amywinfrey.com/

I'm pretty sure if you check them out, you're gonna laugh. I love how simple they are while being chock full of funny. Reminds me of Homestar Runner (thanks Laura for reminding me about StrongBad). I want a job like Amy's!?!?

The Amateur Professionals Association

2008-09-08T22:59:00.000-07:00

I've been surrounded lately by the concept of Professionalism and being a Professional. I wonder, what does it really mean?

What do you say? What, really, does Professional mean? And what about amateur?

Rogue Poetry

2008-09-07T22:36:00.000-07:00

Hurray! Hurrah!

This article is AWE (some!)

Or so we think, give it a drink

Hurray! Hurroh! Hurrah!

- The Brothers Rogue

And look at this neat cartoon down here!

Flipping, Playing and Fun!

2008-09-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

To further expound on the the importance of play and experimentation, I'd like to relay a little story. Thanks to my AWESOME wife, I've been given the opportunity to do the most AWESOME, fun thing ever! Cirque style Gymnastics! I'll try to summarize how this came about:

A friend of my wife, Mariana, recently opened her own gymnastics studio of which my wife and I attended the grand opening. She is a gymnast from Romania and works with one of the Cirque style shows in town, Le Reve, at the Wynn Las Vegas. I'm not exactly sure what position she holds at the show but I believe she is a coach to several of the cast members. Anyway, at the grand opening, several of these cast members performed a crazy acrobatic routine which had me mesmerized. I later told my wife that it would be neat to learn to do something like that.

So as a surprise birthday present, my wife signed me up for sessions. How crazy is that! And if that wasn't cool enough, because I'm one of the first adult customers, I get personal training by two of the Le Reve cast members, Sebastian and Gregory. These guys are fantastically AWESOME and are teaching me stuff I never imagined doing before!

I've had 5 sessions so far, all of which have been some of the most FUN experiences I've ever had. The training is very physical, each session being the most grueling and exhausting workout I've ever done. But it is exhilarating and just CRAZY, AWESOME, FUN!

The thing I come away with after every session is that no matter how old you get, you're never too old for play. "Tumbling" may be for kids, but kids are creative and sure know how to have fun. If playing is what it takes to be creative like them, then I'm all about tumbling like a kid again!

(Plug: find out more about Mariana's club at Flip For Me Gymnastics.)

Watching the Wind

2008-08-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

"If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done."

- My wife's interpretation of Ecclesiastes 11:4

I love her!

The Velodrome

2008-08-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

So you wonder what there is in the Olympics besides swimming, gymnastics and track and field? How about indoor cycling at the Velodrome. I've always liked the different cycling events held on this weird type of track, but I just now discovered the weirdest and coolest of these cycling events. Check out the Madison.

Winging It

2008-08-23T12:32:00.000-07:00

So here's my proof that you don't need a "well thought", written plan, proven by a committee, to do something excellent.

I built this kitchen island in my previous house with little more than a notional idea. When we bought the house, it didn't have a dishwasher, and there wasn't enough cabinet space to insert one. So my wife and I decided to install one within an island, as shown here. Since we'd never done this before, we had no idea that dishwashers aren't typically installed in islands due to the separation from the sink. But really, that's why we were able to do it...because we didn't know it "couldn't be done."

I sketched a few basic ideas on paper - mainly about how to install the base of the island and then just winged it. I do have a lot of woodworking experience, no doubt, but I didn't have a lot of electrical, plumbing or tiling experience. Instead, I figured it out as I went, and in the end, it turned out AWESOME!

The moral of this story is that you only really need a desire to experiment and to give something a try, even if it fails miserably. That's how to achieve something excellent. You don't need a formal plan, with calculated predictions and formal reports. All that stuff is just straight bureaucracy and most people know, bureaucracy doesn't accomplish anything.

Playing and Experimenting

2008-08-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

Is a well thought plan necessary to achieving a goal?

Does writing a plan for action, on paper, prove that the plan is well thought and the writer proficient to perform the action?

Aren't credentials enough to qualify for "well thinking"?

Does "well thinking" really matter?

Can a great solution ever be achieved simply by playing, exploring, or experimenting with no inclination toward what the solution might be?

Before an action is taken, must a prediction be made to compare against the results of the action?

If an action is taken without a prediction, are the results still valid?

If so, how do you know?

Are written plans necessary for trust?

These are things I ponder.

Creative Horizons Redux

2008-08-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

Regarding my last post:

Thanks Paul and Rob for commenting! I started to respond to the comments, but decided it was just too long winded. I also thought others might want to join the discussion, so I'm adding my response here in the main blog.

Indeed, quantifying creativeness is next to impossible. But maybe that's the root issue here...the need to quantify. At the highest level I'm implicating the paradigm currently used by America to teach: to accurately determine how much a student has learned, you somehow have to measure.

Quantification is important for subjects like reading, writing, math, and science. But the curriculum shouldn’t focus solely on these subjects. There should be separate but equal attention given to teaching subjective subjects like art, music, creative writing, and even the subject of playing. These subjective activities do nothing but enable the learning and usage of the measurable subjects and lead to a more important skill for creative types called intersectional thinking. As Richard Florida and Frans Johansson assert, “Creativity involves the ability to synthesize.” The beauty of subjective training is that you needn’t measure progress at all. Just create an environment were the activity can be pursued regardless of how well it’s performed. This simple act pays huge dividends.

As an engineering student, I was taught very well the hard and fast rules that govern my discipline and how, possibly, to use these tools in finding solutions to problems. But I was given very little opportunity to simply experiment and play to get an intuitive feel for how to wield these tools of my trade. Because of the necessity to “quantify” my progress in most hands-on portions of the curriculum, we were never given full reign just to explore. So I exited school with much knowledge, but very little creative capacity (at least not from the formal instruction by the school). Therefore I posit: if creativity is the important capital of the new age, shouldn't America place a high value on teaching both the objective and the subjective?

Creative Horizons

2008-08-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

Scientists and Engineers are often grouped as part of the emergent creative class, but their roles in such a class, in my opinion, should actually be quite different than those currently practiced.

The IEEE-USA has been lobbying congress over the last several years to beef up the science and math curriculum in the US education system in order to allow America to better compete in the world market place. Though math and science skills form an important basis, I don't think this is the solution to allow America's scientist and engineers to compete across the globe.

What these professions really need is more instruction in design and creative thinking. The current education system, at all levels, over emphasizes math and science and under values the freedom to explore one's creative potential. Witness the removal of music and art programs from schools.

As Dan Pink, Richard Florida, Frans Johansson, and others advocate, to be creators (and not simply knowledge workers), scientist and engineers have to nourish divergent thinking patterns to take advantage of the intersection of ideas - this is where creation occurs.

Once we do, our profession can further spur the rise of the creative class.

Commentary on Realism

2008-08-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist adding this passage to the discussion of my last post:

A realist in ordinary terms is someone who doesn't let his personal opinions and wishes get in the way of his judgement ......he uses knowledge, more a matter of attitude than of content, to shut everyone else up. He now controls the conversation. What's more, he implies that everyone else lacks the guts to face facts. Optimism in this environment is made to feel like a refuge for dreamers and girly-mean.

In a peculiar way, realism buys us the illusion that we can master a world that is not of our making; we just have to be hardheaded enough. Realism is denial......

The realist often takes tough-mindedness as a virtue. Those he silences are made to feel that they lack the moral fiber to look reality in the eye. Thus the realist lords it over others, not just because of his firmer grasp of the facts, but also because of his moral superiority. But although there are certainly times when hardheaded realism is called for, it limits the focus to achieve a
pragmatic goal.

Realism is strong medicine that must be used cautiously because it suspends ways of thinking that are essential components of human existence such as dreaming, imagining, supposing, wishing, and hoping.

From Small Pieces Loosely Joined by David Weinberger. I love this passage!

Small Imperfect Pieces

2008-08-02T22:03:00.000-07:00

I love the idea of imperfection though I consider myself a recovering perfectionist. I still have trouble letting go, sometimes, and just allowing something to be good enough. and I often find it hard to get started on something because of that awful spectre "the fear of failure." So I admire imperfectionist and am always delighted when I run across something that reminds me to be one.

I'm reading a book that implicates "perfect" as the opposite of good. It's about the web and it explains that "The Web works because it's broken." In fact "It's broken on purpose," say David Weinberger the author.

The designers weighed perfection against growth and creativity, and perfection lost....The Internet [was designed] to route around disruption. This feels chaotic and messy.....Yet the Web works.

In fact it works in spite of its imperfection! Yet out in the real world, it is believed that nothing can be done without perfection or dictate. He layers into this story the relation between perfection and professional. If you look at much of modern business:

Business is anal-perfective. Business's trafficking in the images of perfection works its way down to the individual in the adherence to the theology of professionalism.

So it's okay to be a Pin-head (as my friend Dan likes to say) as long as you're a professional. And its okay to be wrong as long as you're perfectly wrong. Right? I love this last line in the "Perfection" chapter:

The Web is where we can air our viewpoints, experiment, play, fail, and then get right back on our feet and try again.

The book is Small Pieces Loosely Joined. I also highly recommend Weinberg's other work The Cluetrain Manifesto (it's free to read online!)

Not Scrabble

2008-07-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

My friend Dan made this for me (out of my blog) using a cool little word application - It's Wordle! I think it's pretty neat. Click the picture to see the bigger version.

Plane Crazy

2008-07-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

Airplane Makes Emergency Landing in Las Vegas Neighborhood!

Breaking News! A single engine plane appears to have made an emergency landing right in my neighborhood (okay, adjacent to it on Cactus Ave here in Las Vegas, NV). My neighborhood (The Seasons) has always been interesting, but this is the craziest thing I've seen so far. Here are some of the photos I snapped of the event.

Not sure what type of aircraft it is other than a Beechcraft. My wife alerted me to it on her way home from a run this morning. We live very close to the Henderson Executive Airport, so we see the planes flying overhead all the time. In fact, our neighborhood sits right underneath the flight pattern for takeoff and landing at this airport. I always wondered if this might ever happen. To give you an idea where this is exactly, in relationship to the airport and the rest of Las Vegas, click here.

Your Momma's Post-Modern Combat Boots

2008-06-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

It seems that over the last several years I've been confronted by a certain type of teaching that says post-modern thought and relativism are one in the same, especially as it applies to moral relativism. It may be true that the idea of relativism corresponds to certain post-modern understanding, but I think its quite a leap to say they are one in the same. Post-modern thought actually encompasses a much larger set of ideas and philosophies than just "relativism". This is an important distinction to me, because many circles treat "post-modernism" with contempt and use the term as a bad word to scare folks into accepting..........well, whatever it is they're advocating.

At the heart of this conflict is the idea that "post-modernism" denies the existence of absolute truth. Oddly enough, this is far from the truth. Post-modern thought doesn't deny absolute truth or the ability to know absolute truth. What it does acknowledge is that the truth we believe may be wrong, incomplete or even that we haven't yet discovered certain truths, not because we're incapable, but because we're just too blind to see them, for whatever reason.

Obviously there is truth...we operate by it every day. But there are also ideals and ways of thinking/believing that change as you mature and gain understanding and experience. What post-modernism, perhaps, implies is that the understanding of modernism is incomplete and doesn't account for all situations; the idea that everything can be known and predicted and deduced simply by using logic and science and whatever. Post-modern thought actually encompasses modern thought but extends out further from it.

For me, this issue is important because it defines much of how organizations have operated over the last half century to do things. We're finding that the way in which stuff gets done by groups of people is completely changing (for the better) due to the enormous connecting potential of the Internet and other web based technologies. This seemingly chaotic interaction couldn't have been predicted in years past under modernism so people are trying to find better ways to describe it. Enter in post-modernism. Believe me, this stuff isn't the big bad wolf that some make it out to be. It's just the progression in the way of thinking that has happened since the beginning of human history and in true post-modern style, it's incomplete. My buddies and I wrote Postmodern Program Management a couple of months ago to address this very subject. We think it's entertaining, maybe even enlightening, but certainly not boring. We think you should check it out.

Bottled Water Sway

2008-06-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

I learned from NPR today that author Elizabeth Royte recently published a book about America's love affair with bottle water. Bottle Mania, it appears, is her expansion on other investigation she's done on the bottled water craze. From the Marketplace interview:

Ryssdal (program host): So let's get the first question out of the way right up front: Is bottled water necessarily better for us?

Royte: I wish I had a really straight simple answer for you...

Ryssdal: I was hoping you would.

Royte: Water is a really local and individual issue and in general, I will say that bottled water is no better or worse for you than tap water. Bottled water has basically the same level of contaminants -- things in it -- that tap water does and that the government allows to be in it. Bottled water is much less inspected than tap water, so that is one big difference.

This is EXACTLY the same thing I was taught in an Environmental Engineering class in college. Our professor was an expert on water treatment (he was a designer or inspector of water treatment plants). He often told us that tap water was much "cleaner" than bottled water because of the strict regulation in its treatment and subsequent testing to ensure it was safe for drinking "at the tap".

He often said the difference between the two was aesthetics; bottled water was primarily treated for aesthetics which meant "good tasting" with cleanness as a secondary objective. It was the other way around for tap water. So bottle water may taste good, but be full of contaminants, whereas the tap water may not taste the greatest (depending on where your from) but it was definitely clean. Thus the virtues of tap. Dare I say it....if you buy bottled water for its cleanliness....you've just been swayed.

You can listen to the interview here.

Ebb and Sway

2008-06-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

Decision making is often a tricky process. In fact, as Blink showed, we aren't always conscious of the methods our mind uses, or the influences that drive how we arrive at decisions.

I'm exploring this concept further in the new book Sway by Ori and Rom Brafman (Ori is the coauthor to The Starfish and the Spider). So far, I'm intrigued and a little frightened:

It turns out that, when it comes to price increases, egg buyers are a sensitive bunch. If you reduce the price of eggs, consumers buy a little more. But when the price of eggs rises, they cut back their consumption by two and a half times......

Putler's research illuminates a mystery that economists have been grappling with for years. For no apparent logical reason, we overreact to perceived losses.

Though a seemingly innocuous example, they later show how this "loss aversion" applied to LBJs decision to stay in Vietnam, even though he saw it was a lost cause. This and other details discussed in the book might explain why government and industry often have a hard time pulling the plug on expensive programs that go way over budget and schedule. The subtitle: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior. Hmmmm....

As an intersectional thinker, this book is another node in the "loose confederation of skunk works" that will define how we live in the Conceptual Age.

Learn more here.

Fantasta-google!

2008-05-22T23:04:00.001-07:00

Don't you love Google? I like a lot of things about them, but one of my favorites is how they periodically modify their logo. I especially like this latest round of "Doodle 4 Google", where school kids designed their own logos around the theme "What if..."

This is the National winner by Grace Moon of Castro Valley, CA. Isn't it AWESOME! And if you click on their logo, you'll find the regional winners too. These kids are o-mazing! I forget, sometimes, just how creative and articulate young people can be. Their "doodles" have inspired me to re-connect with my own youthful imagination. Well done young peoples! Well done Google!

Pandering to Americas Heartbeat

2008-05-07T22:33:00.001-07:00

Speaking of commercials...

By now it should be apparent that Ford is in trouble and I have no sympathy! They've been told for many decades that their old command and control style organizational management was dying and their cars stunk. But they simply stuck their heads in the sand. Only after the company starts accelerating south do they FINALLY realize they should do something. But it seems that instead of changing how they manage and do business, designing cars that people actually want to buy, and tapping efficient technology, they decided to try and save themselves with a product placement blitzkrieg. Am I the only one to find it irritating that they insert a car in every TV show and movie under the sun? "Ooh, look at our new hybrid car." Yeah, uh 10 years too late!

Product placement's one thing, but sticking a Ford in every media outlet on the globe? It's no wonder......they have their heads in the sand. They apparently think one-way mass advertising is still the way to attract buyers. As opposed to making great cars. I'm sure many people will fall for this mumbo jumbo, but in the end, unless Ford realizes its' no longer 1952, it will die. Make good cars (and efficient ones too). Is that so hard? Pandering to America's Heartbeat to save your company, a situation you yourself caused, is (quite frankly) unscrupulous.

Oh, and those Boeing commercials.....trying to generate sympathy for "American Made"....don't get me started. The U.S Government finally abides by its own policy to actually compete a contract (thanks to the US Air Force), and they scream "bloody unpatriotic murder!" Seems like an excuse for building overly expensive products that don't work well....which is why so many (commercial) orders for new Boeing Jets pour through the doors, right?

"I'm Not Dead Yet!"

2008-05-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

I almost choked on my dinner the other night because of this commercial!

Now that's what I call Pow! Right Between The Eyes! I think Andy Nulman would approve.

Service Plus +

2008-05-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

"It's hard to be service plus (+) when you have to follow the letter of the law!"

From a conversation with my dad last night. He works in a service oriented field as a sort of gate keeper, denying some people access and granting it to others. His management had recently instituted a stricter adherence to rules. I thought it was quite profound and sums up a good deal of my philosophy on work.

Amazon Sucks!

2008-05-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

Posting live here.....just tried to order a book through Borders website (which is really Amazon) using a Borders gift card that I had.

Error....error...error.

The order won't go through....I'm stuck wondering if it did or didn't. Did I actually just order three books?

Stupid Amazon!

The Error says to check my order status from my account......Nope....it shows no orders. No e-mail alert at all from Amazon. Must not have gone through. Decide to try via phone...

....waiting.....waiting....waiting

...............and......finally, a guy in India with an obvious latency problem. He talks (seems to be having trouble reading his script). I respond....a second delay...then he answers. I tell him my problem.

"Yes this is a problem we seem to be having. Please wait a little while and then try the order again. By then (whenever then is) it should be fixed."

You can't mistake that Indian accent. No offer to place my order right then and there over the phone.

That's it.....okay thanks (FOR NOTHING!)

I wish I hadn't received this gift card, because then I could just go elsewhere. I'm not using it at the store because the book I WANT TO BUY, is out of stock.

Stupid Borders.

STUPID AMAZON! YOU SUCK! YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS! YOUR WEBSITE SUCKS!

Why is your website so hard to navigate anyway?

Why do you make it so hard to to go backwards in the process during an order so you can change your order or just to check on something?

Why is it so hard to use anything other than a credit card for payment?

Why is your website (and your company) such a Big Chinese Finger Trap?

You guys are unscrupulous and you SUCK!

Jerk Bites Apple

2008-04-22T21:21:00.000-07:00

I love Apple! I Hate Apple!

Know what I'm saying? For a long while now I've puzzled over this company. They seem to make some of the most amazing products around. It's no question that the iPod and the iPhone are some of the most innovative pieces of technology out there. Apple's products are quite simply elegant. I've been so impressed with the iPod I received as a gift, that I've told no less than everybody I know that my next computer will be a Mac. The ease of use and intuitive human interface is the epitome of what good design should be. This and the fact that graphics artists/designers/photographers (that's me) and the like swear by Macs have fueled my decision to want to switch.

But there's one small glitch...Steve Jobs. By all accounts he's a Big Fat Jerk! And what's bewildering to me is that he gets away with it AND he runs his company in the very opposite fashion that I've advocated here on many occasions. Namely, that he has strict command and control over his company and defies all the rules that most technology companies seem to be moving toward: open organizations, flat or non-existent hierarchies, innovation via the wisdom of crowds, etc. WIRED published a great article about the company which has spurred this post. My dilemma is that I can't possibly buy from a company ruled by a Big Fat Jerk like Steve Jobs...can I? It's not fair he gets away with this stuff and still, seemingly succeeds.

Ah, but I think I've discovered the Achilles heel of Apple and why Steve himself is ultimately the company's downfall. In the book Disney War, James B. Stewart describes the life of Disney after Walt. It basically describes Michael Eisner as the same sort of scoundrel as Jobs. For all intents and purposes, he thought of himself as the heir apparent to Walt and the brain trust from which all Disney innovation flowed. He immediately retaliated against any employee who thought up better ideas than himself and often took credit for those ideas that somehow did pass through to be successful. And, not surprisingly he hates Steve Jobs (it only makes sense seeing as they're just like each other). The problem is that Michael's ideas really weren't that successful, he just thought they were and that he was some kind of gift to the company. The true source of Disney innovation, Walt himself, had died. Like Walt, Steve's ideas seem to be successful. Unlike Walt, Steve rules through fear and loathing.

So here's the deal. If Steve is Apple's brain trust, its single point of innovation, what happens when he dies? What happens when he retires? Where will that leave Apple? I predict it leaves them up a creek without a paddle (they've been in that boat before). And that's the ultimate problem with running a company by strict command and control and management by fear. Doing so prevents you from growing future innovators and extinguishes any desire for employees who want to be. In the end, as much as I like the products, Apple still loses.

I've lately been reading The No Asshole Rule by Dr. Robert Sutton. If I may paraphrase:

"Being a superstar does not excuse a person to be an asshole! Assholes lose in the end."

Amen to that....amen to that.

3 Post Modern Freaks

2008-04-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

WOW again!!!

Just two days ago (previous post) I pointed you to the citation of our article in WIRED.com. I was just alerted that the latest edition of Defense AT&L has been released! It is with great pleasure that I present to you not one, but THREE new thought provoking pieces by the rogue thinkers, Dan Ward, Chris Quaid, and myself:

Diversity and Freaks

Post Modern Program Management

13 Theta

Though I'm partial to the first article, I'd like to bring special attention to item number 3 (though they're all really good to me).

Much thanks to the folks at Defense AT&L. Special thanks to Mr. Jim Elmore, who illustrated, and has illustrated, several of our articles.

Dangerous Rogues

2008-04-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

Whoa Nelly!

My friends Dan Ward, Chris Quaid and I were just mentioned in WIRED.com's Danger Room blog for our article Krog's New Weapon. I'm not so sure it's a positive review exactly, but it's a thrill to have our work noticed. My only question is - what say I to words I do not express as to if it is good.

Did you get that?

If not read the comments left at the Danger Room blog.

Stacking Wood

2008-03-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

I love being surrounded, connected, and influenced by truly clever people. Case in point: my friend Trevor Gay. He recently added more firewood to the argument that flat organizations (dare I say non-hierarchical), made up of "people-with-power", will rule the future in his latest article Simplicity: Survival tips for managers. An excerpt:

I believe we are moving rapidly to a time when there will be less differential between what managers deliver and what the employees in his/her team can achieve. In fact I've always believed that. In 2008, with masses of information
at everyone's fingertips through Information Technology, all managers have to illustrate what is different and special about them. If they wish to be called managers and justify higher rates of pay and status than that of front line staff there simply has to be a unique selling point.

Control is the anti-thesis of good business these days. People are just too smart to be turned into Pinheads. It could all be more simpler....throw out your processes and your regs and your procedures and let the people who know what they're doing do the work. What's so hard about that?

The Truth is Out There

2008-03-23T22:14:00.001-07:00

I'd like to pass on a very thought provoking article I came across in this month's edition of WIRED magazine. You may recall that I've begun promoting Autism awareness on behalf of a nephew. This article sheds a different perspective than what you (or I) may have thought.

The Truth About Autism: Everything You Know is Wrong

Warning: Reading is all Words

2008-03-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I came across Why Reading is Dangerous in Southwest Airline's Spirit Magazine (I have to say, for an airline magazine, this one's actually getting pretty good). The author reminisces about being engrossed in a good book:

Here’s what I mean by the miracle of language: When you’re falling into a good book, exactly as you might fall into a dream, a little conduit opens, a passageway between a reader’s heart and a writer’s, a connection that transcends the barriers of continents and generations and even death. When you’re engrossed in a book, you can shed the material complications of your body in a sentence and become the opposite sex; you can become 6 years old or 76; you can be a Japanese sailor or an Indian surgeon or a Martian explorer; you can be Ishmael, or a giant, perplexed cockroach.

You read for a half hour, or until a nurse calls your name. Then you look up. You realize your hand is cramped, your leg is asleep, the salesman is gone. Time has mysteriously compressed.

And here’s the magic. You’re different. You can never go back to being exactly the same person you were before you disappeared into that book.

She talks about how simple words can transport you, then later discusses how dangerous reading really is, if a child or a grownup is only allowed to pursue their curiosity rather than being forced fed "good reads."

I love her descriptions because they express exactly why I fell in love with reading. Along with the auxiliary sense of smell to enhance a book, I love the way authors weave your imagination and make you forget where you are. I love finding that my own, very ideas have been expressed by another more gifted with words - and pointing back to them whenever I attempt to express those ideas to others. I love reading!

And that's why I write, or at least attempt to, in this here blog.

It's All About Openness

2008-03-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

I'm in the middle of reading Wikinomics, by Tapscott and Williams, and as you might guess, its all about openness and collaboration. Openness as in not hiding behind proprietary walls or walling oneself off behind copyrights and other protections. It goes to great lengths to prove that it's actually harmful for businesses, organizations, or individuals who make a living off of creative ideas, to keep their "intellectual property" close hold.

The reason: in the modern age of extreme innovation, quickness rules; collaboration rules. If you keep stuff close held, you lose the edge. So it's interesting to see more examples of how far this has been pushed forward. Wired (even now) is at the forefront reporting on this trend. In 16.01, David Byrne of Radio Head talked about their studio-free release and the windfall from giving the album away. In that same issue, you read about Nine Inch Nails use of "Hidden Advertising" (is it a game, is it and ad?) to generate buzz for their latest album.

If that wasn't enough, I just discovered a channel on my DirectTV lineup - Current TV. It's a channel devoted to user created content, one of the central themes in Wikinomics. In the short time I watched, a segment aired (below) detailing Nine Inch Nails plans to both give away and sell the album. The most expensive option was a $300, autographed version that included the vinyl and digital versions including all the digital metadata for digital DJs, all produced studio-free. They've already sold out of this option at an estimated cost of three-quarters of a million dollars. So much for needing a studio to sell albums.

First Flight

2008-03-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I got a chance to try something I've always wanted to do.....

Indoor Skydiving

That's me in the blue helmet......no really, right there. Look, can't you see it's blue. The helmet.......oh never mind.

Only In Vegas

2008-03-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

I saw this driving around yesterday and immediately had to flip around and take a picture.

Are you kidding me.......

Good Clean Fun

2008-02-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

This is probably one of the greatest commercials I've ever seen. Stinking Hilarious!

How's your cotton-headed-ninny-muggin vocabulary?

I Crack Myself Up

2008-02-16T01:13:00.001-08:00

I was walking down the street one day when a man passed by, at which point I said,

"Peanutbutter!?!"

"Peanutbutter and Jelly?" he replied.

"No," I said, "Just Peanubutter and bread."

My Friend Krog

2008-02-15T23:14:00.000-08:00

My latest collaboration has been posted on-line (in Defense AT&L of course). I think you'll like this article. Find it here:

Krog's New Weapon

Also, in this edition of Defense AT&L, we Rogues received some interesting feedback for our Danger of Caution comic. Read the feedback below:

http://www.dau.mil/pubs/dam/2008_03_04/read_ma08.pdf

The Original Maverick - Ricardo Semler

2008-02-05T22:36:00.000-08:00

Anybody who knows me knows that I'm a huge fan of Ricardo Semler, the CEO and original Maverick of the world's best place to work: SEMCO (hey, I'm voting for it as that).

To refresh your memory about who he is and what makes him and his company so awesome, read this article Set Them Free.

Additionally, the MIT Sloan School of Business hosted him as a guest lecturer back in 2005. You can find the presentation in full here. It is....wait for it...AWESOME!

Autism Awareness

2008-02-02T00:51:00.000-08:00

I've recently become a supporter for Autism awareness and an advocate for increasing the access to the needed therapy so many parents need but can't obtain.

My nephew, Andrew, was diagnosed and I've seen first hand how it impacts a family.

As with the Luekemia and Lymphoma Society, Autism Awareness ranks as our number one passionate cause. With that, please watch the video below. With each view, the band Five for Fighting will donate $0.40 to Autism Speaks.

http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/408214

Baking Cookies

2008-01-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

Item number three on Tom Peter's Baking Cookies list:

3. Art. The plan is an outline—not Holy Writ. Plans, including recipes, are made to be tinkered with—and eventually torn up. Cookie making, software design, and real-estate lending are art. And it’s the artists, not the slavish followers of others’ recipes, who land in the world’s halls of fame.

Lesson: Blind devotion to any plan is downright dumb!

- Tom Peters

100 Blog Hits

2008-01-21T23:15:00.000-08:00

YEEEAAAHHHH! I finally passed the 100 posts mark. It's time to celebrate (cause I thought I would never get to that mark).

Fact: If my blog were a TV show, I could go into syndication.

Management and Bosses

2008-01-17T22:21:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody. Just want to let you know that my friend Trevor Gay recently had a mention in the New York Times regarding his work on managment and bosses. Read the article here.

Life's Happiness

2008-01-11T23:09:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching a fascinating episode of 20/20. It was all about happiness. I'd love to show the actual episode to you, but the above link will have to do. My favorite parts were the research showing that what I learned in Sunday School :

Count your blessings
Be grateful
Show compassion
Forgive
Take time for quiet

may actually have scientific merit in making a person "happy". The other was the bit about the cork boat, oh, and the bit about the Danes being a post-consumerist society. I like the ring of that. Hopefully, ABC will release the full up video online or offer it for purchase. It really was fantastic.

Letter to David Byrne....

2008-01-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

...... regarding you article

The Fall and Rise of Music

in this months WIRED magazine

What a great article on the current state of the Music industry. It was great to read an articulate breakdown of what the options are for music distribution and creation. As a music lover (and often ignorant customer), it was great to pull back the curtain to see how the music industry is morphing. We all know it’s changing, but it’s been hard to tell exactly how. I was especially surprised to find that iTunes doesn’t really provide the artist any more revenue than a CD sale.

I initially wanted to become a music pirate myself when digital copies first came out, only because there wasn’t an “iTunes” option to buy individual songs (I’d always think, “Hey, I would gladly pay for the music, if only I could buy the individual songs I like.”) But once individual song sales became reality, I quickly joined the digital downloading ranks. Your article now causes me pause…how to buy directly from the artist?

I’ve long been an advocate of the Bazaar (from The Cathedral and Bazaar), believing the web store fronts like “iTunes” were providing me that transaction. As a budding photographer, I’ve always wondered how I would fair if I had to rely on a livelihood selling my artistic creations? The returning answer usually causes pangs of great fear so I quickly brush the foolish notion aside.

Yet, according to the likes of Dan Pink and Tom Peters, isn’t that what our 21st century society is coming to? Aren’t we all soon to rely on our own intellectual capital to make a living? If so, it scares the hell out of me. If so, we might all pay more attention to your article and thank you for it dearly.

Gabe Mounce
Rogue Leader
General Practitioner of “What’s going on?”