Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Friday, 23 January 2009
How to innovate the pixar way
“Look, this is a young team. As individual animators, we all have different strengths and weaknesses, but if we can interconnect all our strengths, we are collectively the greatest animator on earth. So I want you guys to speak up and drop your drawers. We’re going to look at your scenes in front of everybody. Everyone will get humiliated and encouraged together. If there is a solution, I want everyone to hear the solution, so everyone adds it to their tool kit. I’m going to take my shot at what I think will improve a scene, but if you see something different, go ahead and disagree. I don’t know all the answers.” Brad Bird on how he consistently makes excellent films.
And... "Steve Jobs basically designed [the Pixar] building. In the center, he created this big atrium area, which seems initially like a waste of space. The reason he did it was that everybody goes off and works in their individual areas. People who work on software code are here, people who animate are there, and people who do designs are over there. Steve put the mailboxes, the meetings rooms, the cafeteria, and, most insidiously and brilliantly, the bathrooms in the center—which initially drove us crazy—so that you run into everybody during the course of a day. He realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen. So he made it impossible for you not to run into the rest of the company."
If you have the money, then why not make the office just as you want it?!
Full article here.
And... "Steve Jobs basically designed [the Pixar] building. In the center, he created this big atrium area, which seems initially like a waste of space. The reason he did it was that everybody goes off and works in their individual areas. People who work on software code are here, people who animate are there, and people who do designs are over there. Steve put the mailboxes, the meetings rooms, the cafeteria, and, most insidiously and brilliantly, the bathrooms in the center—which initially drove us crazy—so that you run into everybody during the course of a day. He realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen. So he made it impossible for you not to run into the rest of the company."
If you have the money, then why not make the office just as you want it?!
Full article here.
Monday, 19 January 2009
USAService.org
I like the civic virtue of this campaign from President (Elect still!) Obama. I wonder how many people will sign up. Such a shame that community service is labelled a punishment over here.
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Self service
Ikea may have worked out how to do international, graphics-led build instructions, but many others haven't. I spent an hour and a half today connecting two water butts to two drain pipes. The instructions beggared belief. At one point I was required to cut a section of pipe 4 and 5/8ths of an inch in length! Suffice to say, the final result was effective, but quite heath robinson.
I once installed a kitchen bin that slid outwards and opened as the cupboard door was opened and I've had my fair share of hell fitting stair gates. But what made them easier by far, was that the instruction paper itself was a template that you held up to the wall and drilled through. Smart and inventive, although as with all DIY, mostly still a hassle.
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Online leading the offline
Choosenick spotted this the other day, an article about sites taking the online experience offline. About the same time, I was watching TV when an Aviva ad came on (Aviva being the expensive new name for Norwich Union) for car insurance. Car insurance must be the most cluttered and clumsy marketplace in the world. If I hear another commitment to quote me less, I'll go mad.
Anyway - the smart guys at Aviva ran an ad saying that when you phone for a quote, they will also give you quotes from their competitors. The ad plays it as if you were the ad executive at Aviva making the suggestion, looking at your colleagues' reaction around the table. They look at you in incredulous silence for two, three seconds - an eternity in TV terms. It's quite powerful, which is an amazing achievement for a car insurance ad.
Aviva are smart because they've accepted that no-one listens to "lower than your currnt quote" pledges any more. They also know that the marketplace is increasingly transparent - with sites like confused.com offering brokerage. So they sensibly expanded their service.
But that's pretty radical. Not many company's will tell you their competitors' prices. It's like the John Lewis "never knowingly undersold" pledge, but taken to new heights. Companies that absorb such digital realities and turn them to their advantage stand a far better chance of success.
Anyway - the smart guys at Aviva ran an ad saying that when you phone for a quote, they will also give you quotes from their competitors. The ad plays it as if you were the ad executive at Aviva making the suggestion, looking at your colleagues' reaction around the table. They look at you in incredulous silence for two, three seconds - an eternity in TV terms. It's quite powerful, which is an amazing achievement for a car insurance ad.
Aviva are smart because they've accepted that no-one listens to "lower than your currnt quote" pledges any more. They also know that the marketplace is increasingly transparent - with sites like confused.com offering brokerage. So they sensibly expanded their service.
But that's pretty radical. Not many company's will tell you their competitors' prices. It's like the John Lewis "never knowingly undersold" pledge, but taken to new heights. Companies that absorb such digital realities and turn them to their advantage stand a far better chance of success.
Monday, 12 January 2009
Bernard Black
Just watching some old Black Books episodes. The one where Manny turns the book shop into a Borders. Much as I love good service, I also get a lot out of grumpy service. The man old greengrocer. The narky newsagent. Too much service is awful. It's a very British thing to cherish bad service. We need our Bernard Blacks to stem the tide of cheery cloying vacuous customer service.
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