Archive for August, 2005
The Big Moo
Seth Godin has a new book coming out in October entitled, The Big Moo. From the book’s description:
Most organizations are stuck in a rut. On one hand, they understand
all the good things that will come with growth. On the other, they’re
petrified that growth means change, and change means risk, and risk
means death. Nobody wants to screw up and ruin a good thing, so most
companies (and individuals) just keep trying to be perfect at the
things they’ve always done.In 2003, Seth Godin’s Purple Cow
challenged organizations to become remarkable—to drive growth by
standing out in a world full of brown cows. It struck a huge chord and
stayed on the Business-Week bestseller list for nearly two
years. You can hear countless brainstorming meetings where people refer
to purple cows and say things like, "That’s not good enough. We need to
create a big moo!"But how do you create a big moo—an
insight so astounding that people can’t help but remark on it, like
digital TV recording (TiVo) or overnight shipping (FedEx), or the
world’s best vacuum cleaner (Dyson)? Godin worked with thirty-two of
the world’s smartest thinkers to answer this critical question. And the
team—with the likes of Tom Peters, Malcolm Gladwell, Guy Kawasaki, Mark
Cuban, Robyn Waters, Dave Balter, Red Maxwell, and Randall Rothenberg
on board— created an incredibly useful book that’s fun to read and
perfect for groups to share, discuss, and apply.The Big Moo is a simple book in the tradition of Fish and Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.
Instead of lecturing you, it tells stories that stick to your ribs and
light your fire. It will help you to create a culture that consistently
delivers remarkable innovations.
Beating Wal-Mart (Starbucks, etc.) is a lark!
While catching up on my Tom Peters I ran across this: Beating Wal-Mart (Starbucks, etc.) is a lark!…and I believe it. If you are the little or the new guy, don’t try to compete with the leaders by mimicking them. Most of them are already big, fat and slow. Stay small and nimble as long as you can. Keep your world of possible options open.
The definition of insanity.. The Music Industry
Thought that I would share this quote (brought to me through Bloglines by the folks at unmediated: The definition of insanity).
Insanity is ignoring year after year, the demographics
with more money than time. Those who aren’t willing, or don’t have the
time to troll through the net to figure out which network has the most
music to download, searching for songs, picking out which peers to try
to download from and then hoping it all worked out right. Those who
would prefer to just buy music in the easiest way possible so they can
get on with enjoying their music and their lives. Isn’t that why we buy
bottled water? It’s easy and convenient?
Who said it? Mark Cuban. Just what I needed to see to remember that I like him…sorta.
Currently disappointing TV
The title says it all: Current TV short-circuits early and often.
Does the Long Tail Exist?
Yet another insightful post from Umar Haque at Bubble Generation – Does the Long Tail Exist? I love this sentiment:
This is a nice example of where and when to use intuition to make
assumptions in strategic analysis, and why a lot of analysts who rely
on total data end up in paralysis…
I made a similar comment about this back in March:
I have always believed the strength of 80/20 was not in it’s accuracy,
but in its ability to illustrate/communicate trends and patterns…the
metaphor. It seems to me that his argument is valid as it is.
The question remains: What are you going to do with this observation?
Forthcoming: tree structures should be chopped down
Very interesting thoughts/comments from Sig at Forthcoming: tree structures should be chopped down. He’s basically advocating non-hierarchical navigation through the use of "tags"…but not single "tags," multiples used per object to offer added depth and context. Although I don’t think that his thingamy quite solves the dilemma…it sure does suggest an interesting/novel approach.
Current TV Launches
Current TV launched today. Want to learn more about it? Go here, here or here.
Vlogging
Vlogging. Don’t know what that is? Check out Wired’s Blogging + Video = Vlogging. Pay particular attention to this comment:
When you have Hollywood and major media as a filter, they’re going to
do what appeals to millions rather than thousands," Sharp said. "It’s
just not cost-effective for them to produce a show about the didgeridoo
(for example). That’s what the internet has changed — you can find
stuff and market it ridiculously cheaply.
