Kristin Savage

For fear of hypocrisy regarding a previous post on productivity, i’ve caught wind of a funky initiative developed by the New Zealand Book Council to help people read at work, discreetly. ReadatWork.co.nz. A collection of literature is embedded into a windows style interface which looks like work (to your boss).

Take a look at Read at Work.

As I write this i’m torn. Pretending you’re working so you don’t get reprimanded by the boss is not something i support, however I enjoy the cheekiness of the concept.

Notice the cheap shots at MS programs names e.g. Powerpont.

Some thoughts on ideas:

“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats” Howard Aiken

“Good ideas are not scarce - they’re a dime a dozen.” Rob Adams

“… In love with your idea? Get over it. Ideas are commodities.” Rob Adams from his book: a good hard kick in the ass

Here’s an interesting initiative for those wanting to have their idea stolen exposed.

Being someone who constantly has ideas entering my mind, I need a filter.

A close friend of mine quoted a fellow start-up founder he’d been speaking with:

“I like to succeed quickly, and fail quickly, because it’s cheaper either way.”

With this in mind, I’m in the process of developing a semi-formal idea filter ready for when inspiration comes. It’ll help remove unnecessary head noise. I’m talking early idea conception, not so much the business planning stage, of which there are already helpful tools.

The filter currently includes:

1. Is it an idea that will need to rely on a heavy sales pitch? If so it probably already has competition.
2. Does it have a viable market? Unless it’s art or a hobby, it’ll need to be financially viable.
3. Will new technology deem it obsolete when the sun sets? (sunset tech-industries have a closer horizon)
4. Do I care enough about the space I’ll be getting into to get through the hard times?
5. Will anyone join me? What resources will i need other than my own?
6. Is the problem i’m solving real or just my obscure problem?

Of course there are hundreds more, this is a nice brief start.

I’ll be continually adding to the filter. On that note this helpful post just came along.

Please feel free to add suggestions yourself.

All ideas about ideas and idea filters aside, even if one gets through the filter, it’s a hard road executing.

I went to a gig at Sandwiches last night and there was a super talented guy playing. Between songs he was talking about album sales or something similar and stated, somewhat jokingly; “it’s all about the marketing”.

This implied that the product is irrelevant, it’s just the hype generated that will sell something. I disagree! I reckon consumers are more intelligent than that. I reckon they’ll buy his album anyway, it’s that good!

Blake Ross of (Firefox) said in the book Founders at Work;

“I thought marketing was something that required a degree and formal
experience. It turns out that marketing is just making the product good enough
that people spread it on their own, and giving them ways to do that. It’s a lot
easier and more natural than I thought it would be. Now I can’t stand meeting
with professional marketers who try to “craft” the “message” and all that junk.”

(Livingston, J. 2007, chpt 29, p. 401)

Here are some quotes from day 3 and 4 at the TED conference in the US.

TED are all about ideas. Their website homepage states…

” TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.”

Some Kiwis went this year!

Choice.

Some interesting thoughts from Aaron Patzer, founder of Mint.com about taking time out in his interview with workhappy.net.

“What’s your secret to time management? Any methods/tools/approaches you can share?

Really I just work flat out as long and as hard as I can. I don’t have any rules like “only answer emails twice a day” or anything. The most important thing I can tell you is to set aside an hour or two each week to sit alone in a room with no distractions and just think. Think about your business and your product. Hard thinking is something most people avoid, and it’s actually very easy to avoid – there are always other things to do (like press, answering emails, communicating to your team, etc.). Sit alone in a room and just think.”

The full interview is here.

Mint.com is possibly where WhoStoleMyMoney got their idea.

Hugh MacLeod (gapingvoid) writes an interesting essay on ‘how to be creative’. I love some of his points… especially 1 and 27.

I feel the term ‘creativity’ is often misunderstood in much the same way that the term ‘culture’ is. Culture often conjures up the thought of people dancing in grass skirts around a fire, but really it’s just the way ‘we’ live.

Creativity is just as able to be applied commercially as it is in the ‘fringe’ setting.

The Lemming Conspiracy is a great read. It helps you realise what makes you tick, and therefore what you might do best. Basically it takes you through a number of thought experiments to help you determine what you’ll be most effective doing and why.

You’ll be given the tools to develop a personal vision which will help you know what to say yes to, and what to say no to, when confronted with the need to make a decision about the use of your time, which leads to balance. I find it can be easy to say yes to everything, but when I employ the filter i’ve developed, it helps me to make the right choice.

The definition of a Lemming puts in perspective how we often live our lives when out of balance.

I’d recommend the Lemming Conspiracy. It was a great read!

Ignore the competition. Find a USP and you’re different already.

To quote Alan Kay - “Don’t worry about what anybody else is going to do. The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

Ideas are commodities. “Don’t worry about the competition”.