I know the value of good processes to reduce the chaos and avoid repeated mistakes. Many smaller business could benefit from some level of processification. Large corporations could, on the other hand, benefit from a reduction or loosening up of their processes.

Good processes by their nature seek to retard thinking – especially holistic thinking that accounts for matters outside those processes.

Good processes make organisations stupid!

Together with a …

Even as we move more and more into a virtual world, where everything is “soft” and infinitely malleable, we increasingly crave the reassurance of the real.

Worried about someone remotely using your webcam to spy on you? There’s always been a software switch to disable a webcam in your OS. But this physical switch/cover is far more reassuring. It provides a real sense of control unmatched by the soft …

It is interesting how Apple’s brand has become synonymous with the personality of Steve Jobs. Like it or hate it, this makes Apple as a brand very rich and real.

It is also interesting how it is often in times of difficulty that the true beliefs and values of a person/brand are revealed. And without a doubt Apple is in some difficulties at the moment around the iPhone …

The following is a collection of somewhat related thoughts I found on my Blackberry:

Empathy requires active involvement and constant flow of information. So as to help us stay in character. Trying to stay in someone else’s shoes without this stream of input (the active and present engagement with someone) is hard!

Second-guessing is working from a position of minimal info. It is making assumptions about what someone …

This is a quick snip snip of the choicest bits, the bits that stood out for me as I was reading this article, “Nice and nasty does it: Shirky the ‘net guru’ on what the future holds” by Decca Aitkenhead in the Sydney Morning Herald:

“And to put it in one bleak sentence, no medium has ever survived the indifference of 25-year-olds.”

The business model of the traditional …

No, not the Japanese condiment you put on sushi. But rather “the Japanese principle of wabi-sabi … [which] values character and uniqueness over a shiny facade. Rare down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry.”From Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.

From Wikipedia: Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. … The aesthetic is sometimes described …

Service design has two aspects: technical execution and relationship building.

Technical execution is about making the mechanical bits work. For example: the aircraft takes off and lands without unnecessarily killing anyone on board.

Relationship building is making people feel good about the process. For example: hot pre-flight towels, good in-flight movies and service with a smile.

Technical execution is easier to plan, implement, and measure. In many cases, good execution is …

“Small thoughts subversively strip away the fire of imagination, the generosity of the collaborative spirit, and that the halo of every dream.”

Small thoughts is publishers who try and grab more and more and give less and less. Always citing how costly and risky their business is, how it is such an honour they chose my work, and how hard it is. So I should take less of a …

Reframing is a useful technique to deliberately derail our entrenched thinking patterns and flows, so as to enable us to see a given situation from alternative perspectives.

Dev Patnaik documented three kinds of reframes:

Step out of your own perspective and see the world as it sees itself. (Walk in someone else’s shoes) See the world in a way that’s completely different from anyone else. (Read between the lines too …

When you hear this phrase, or find yourself thinking it, it is a sign that something is not well with your brainstorming session or collaborative work.

Someone is not feeling acknowledged.
Or someone is feeling threatened.

Acknowledgement is an affirmation, an expression of respect and acceptance. Acknowledgement can be expressed in different forms:

Overt and direct: “Thank you for that suggestion. That’s a great thought.” Indirect: eye contact, laugh (with; not …