A recent post on the Signal vs. Noise blog talked about how when Batist Leman was dissatissfied with the options available to him when it came to buying a notebook, he used a bit of creativity to solve his problem.
Instead of complaining that there were not any notebooks available that met his specifications, he simply thought about what he wanted in a notebook, and then made it himself.
Some of the most successful and interesting companies today were born from someone scratching an itch they had. Instead of complaining that there was not a product that met their need, they built something remarkable, realizing there was a niche in the marketplace that was not being served.
The next time you are buying a product to meet a need you have, take a few extra seconds to think through why you need the product in the first place, and ask yourself if the item you are about to buy is really going to help you achieve the goals you need to accomplish. If it isn't, what would it take to make it yourself?
You may find that you discover something the rest of us have been looking for as well.
As a side note, if you do build something of your own and decide to put it into the marketplace for others, you will be faced with the temptation to make it appeal to the masses. However, I think you will find by just keeping the product simple and easy to use, focused on meeting the needs you originally sought to address, you will attract more customers than if you try to appeal to the masses.
More features don't always equate to greater revenue, and rough edges make a product remarkable too.
July 13, 2011
July 06, 2011
Nothing less than all of you
Think for a moment of the most powerful speeches that have ever been delivered. Think about the art that has changed conversations, or of the music that has evoked some call to action deep within. Think for a second about the poetry that stirred your soul, or about the words etched into existence that will never leave you feeling quite the same again.
Chances are there is a common theme in all of these. An artist physically throwing themselves fully into the work they are doing. Not out of obligation, but in response to a call from deep within. They have to, because it is where they feel most alive and full of life.
Powerful, game changing art requires everything. This kind of work requires heart, soul, and passion. It requires physically throwing yourself behind the work, because it is that important.
Real art requires everything you have to give.
Nothing less.
Chances are there is a common theme in all of these. An artist physically throwing themselves fully into the work they are doing. Not out of obligation, but in response to a call from deep within. They have to, because it is where they feel most alive and full of life.
Powerful, game changing art requires everything. This kind of work requires heart, soul, and passion. It requires physically throwing yourself behind the work, because it is that important.
Real art requires everything you have to give.
Nothing less.
June 30, 2011
A watered down Americano
One of my favorite drinks is a café Americano. This is basically one or two shots of espresso combined with boiling water.
When I went to the coffee shop down the street from my office, I ordered the drink. The guy behind the counter was new (this was his second day) and obviously nervous. And, he was left alone with no additional support!
He prepared the drink, handed it over, and mentioned that he tried to make the drink the best that he could, but wasn’t sure if he got it right. He assured me that if the drink wasn’t to my satisfaction, he would give it another try.
I sipped the hot beverage, and immediately knew that it was no good. There was clearly too much water and not enough espresso. However, instead of taking the opportunity of a teachable moment, of giving him the opportunity to learn, I politely and kindly stated that it was just fine and wished him the best.
Now, I may have thought that I was simply being a nice guy. I didn’t want to stress him out or leave him feeling like he messed up.
In reality, I hurt him, the product, and the brand. From this point forward, he is going to believe that this is how an Americano is made. Instead of being a little bit uncomfortable and providing honest and open feedback with understanding, feedback that could make the product better for everyone and could have helped him to grow and learn, I backed off.
When you are given the opportunity to voice your opinion on a product or service, it is your responsibility to speak up. If you don’t, you may come to find that the product that you have come to enjoy the most has lost its flavor, that it is boring, and simply watered down.
When I went to the coffee shop down the street from my office, I ordered the drink. The guy behind the counter was new (this was his second day) and obviously nervous. And, he was left alone with no additional support!
He prepared the drink, handed it over, and mentioned that he tried to make the drink the best that he could, but wasn’t sure if he got it right. He assured me that if the drink wasn’t to my satisfaction, he would give it another try.
I sipped the hot beverage, and immediately knew that it was no good. There was clearly too much water and not enough espresso. However, instead of taking the opportunity of a teachable moment, of giving him the opportunity to learn, I politely and kindly stated that it was just fine and wished him the best.
Now, I may have thought that I was simply being a nice guy. I didn’t want to stress him out or leave him feeling like he messed up.
In reality, I hurt him, the product, and the brand. From this point forward, he is going to believe that this is how an Americano is made. Instead of being a little bit uncomfortable and providing honest and open feedback with understanding, feedback that could make the product better for everyone and could have helped him to grow and learn, I backed off.
When you are given the opportunity to voice your opinion on a product or service, it is your responsibility to speak up. If you don’t, you may come to find that the product that you have come to enjoy the most has lost its flavor, that it is boring, and simply watered down.
June 28, 2011
Messy life and messy notes
A friend and I were talking some time ago about how valuable handwritten notes truly are. There is something special about creating a handwritten note, and there is something even more special in receiving one.
If you think about it, a handwritten note is a lot like life.
Handwritten notes are sometimes messy. That's absolutely okay, because life gets messy sometimes too.
Handwritten notes are full of character, just as our lives should be.
There is no delete key in life, there is not a spell check option, and you certainly cannot change the entire story by simply highlighting some text on a screen and changing what was there.
Sometimes depending on the person writing the note, the handwriting can be hard to read and the message difficult to understand. That's a lot like life too.
When creating a handwritten note, a lot of thought can go into finding the perfect combination of words to express exactly what you are trying to say. When the writing is done, we look back and see scratched out words, places where we have tried to squeeze in another word, or even arrows that fly off onto some other tangent. Life also contains places we have tried to scratch out and start again, tweaking and noodling and iterating, as we work to find our way.
Sometimes, in a handwritten note, you can see when the ink begins to run dry, or when tears have been shed by the writer. You can sense the emotion of the writer as she or he commits his or her heart to paper. Passion is transformed from heart to hand, and energy flows to the medium that the writer is working in.
Sometimes, notes are happy, sometimes they are sad, but they are always unique. You are unique too. There is not another soul or life that has been created that is just like you.
You have to live life passionately without fear of being too messy, be true to the story that you are writing, and hope that the ending is one that you, the writer, can be proud of, no matter how misunderstood it might be.
If you think about it, a handwritten note is a lot like life.
Handwritten notes are sometimes messy. That's absolutely okay, because life gets messy sometimes too.
Handwritten notes are full of character, just as our lives should be.
There is no delete key in life, there is not a spell check option, and you certainly cannot change the entire story by simply highlighting some text on a screen and changing what was there.
Sometimes depending on the person writing the note, the handwriting can be hard to read and the message difficult to understand. That's a lot like life too.
When creating a handwritten note, a lot of thought can go into finding the perfect combination of words to express exactly what you are trying to say. When the writing is done, we look back and see scratched out words, places where we have tried to squeeze in another word, or even arrows that fly off onto some other tangent. Life also contains places we have tried to scratch out and start again, tweaking and noodling and iterating, as we work to find our way.
Sometimes, in a handwritten note, you can see when the ink begins to run dry, or when tears have been shed by the writer. You can sense the emotion of the writer as she or he commits his or her heart to paper. Passion is transformed from heart to hand, and energy flows to the medium that the writer is working in.
Sometimes, notes are happy, sometimes they are sad, but they are always unique. You are unique too. There is not another soul or life that has been created that is just like you.
You have to live life passionately without fear of being too messy, be true to the story that you are writing, and hope that the ending is one that you, the writer, can be proud of, no matter how misunderstood it might be.
March 06, 2011
Dancing hamsters are important...
Back when the internet was just getting off the ground, Deidre LaCarte created a page that contained a screen full of animated hamsters that danced to a really annoying song when the page was opened. The dancing would continue endlessly until you either left the page, or in a moment of insanity, threw your computer out of a window.
While dancing hamsters seem trivial, dated, and of little value, creating dancing hamsters is extremely important for any artist. In order to become great at anything, you have to be willing to create stuff that is sometimes trivial and fun for the sake of learning.
Creating all of those animated gifs was something relatively cutting edge at the time. Figuring out how to loop something endlessly probably required some learning too. Registering domain names, playing a song on a browser, dealing with server load due to unexpected growth; All of these things were lessons that had to be learned, but could only be learned in creating something, even if it was just a bunch of hamsters on a single web page.
Sculptors grab huge handfuls of clay and form beautiful works of art, but I am sure at some point they just created something that seemed silly in order to learn. Programmers write "Hello World" programs when learning a new language and create goofy little applications that may seem trivial, but actually teach a great deal about the technology that they are using. Each of these lessons that are learned are seeds to greatness.
If you are going to be an artist, you have to understand the tools, and the feel of the materials in your hands. You have to be willing to create stuff that others may looks at as being trivial. You become okay by reading and working through small controlled examples, but you become great by building stuff and playing.
That being said, learn to play, play to learn, and make some hamsters dance!
While dancing hamsters seem trivial, dated, and of little value, creating dancing hamsters is extremely important for any artist. In order to become great at anything, you have to be willing to create stuff that is sometimes trivial and fun for the sake of learning.
Creating all of those animated gifs was something relatively cutting edge at the time. Figuring out how to loop something endlessly probably required some learning too. Registering domain names, playing a song on a browser, dealing with server load due to unexpected growth; All of these things were lessons that had to be learned, but could only be learned in creating something, even if it was just a bunch of hamsters on a single web page.
Sculptors grab huge handfuls of clay and form beautiful works of art, but I am sure at some point they just created something that seemed silly in order to learn. Programmers write "Hello World" programs when learning a new language and create goofy little applications that may seem trivial, but actually teach a great deal about the technology that they are using. Each of these lessons that are learned are seeds to greatness.
If you are going to be an artist, you have to understand the tools, and the feel of the materials in your hands. You have to be willing to create stuff that others may looks at as being trivial. You become okay by reading and working through small controlled examples, but you become great by building stuff and playing.
That being said, learn to play, play to learn, and make some hamsters dance!
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