From the monthly archives:

December 2010

DMV and free marketing

December 30, 2010

I went to the DMV yesterday to renew my driver’s license. It didn’t take that long. The process worked pretty well actually. But one of the people I interacted with was the typical surly bureaucrat straight out of central casting. I really wonder why people show up to work like that. Smiling is free. And […]

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Cab driver marketing

December 15, 2010

I was lazy this morning and took a taxi to work. It cost me a bit extra but it was worth the lesson. I paid the driver and left a pretty good tip. Not extravagant but good. And as I was getting out of the car, the driver thanked me. It got me thinking. The […]

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What do you design around?

December 5, 2010

Your work isn’t going to be perfect. There are too many constituencies and too many constraints. So what do you take as given and what do you think can be changed? If you design consumer products, you will face many tradeoffs. People may like or need their products to be a certain shape or size. […]

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Is there a better model?

December 4, 2010

How do you think about your company? Is it an engine of growth or profit? Engines are mechanical contrivances that have parts designed to work in concert with each other to produce motion. What are the implications of such a model for how your company would organize itself? How would such a company behave? Is […]

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Your brand is useless

December 4, 2010

It doesn’t feed people. It doesn’t help them get from one place to another. It doesn’t teach them anything. It doesn’t make them safer. It doesn’t help them store their data. And it most definitely does not help them find themselves or form an identity. It doesn’t do anything. Maybe your products and services do. […]

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Your company doesn’t exist

December 2, 2010

A company is just a legal entity. A concept. That’s all. I’m sure it feels real to you. But what exactly about it is real? I submit, that when it comes down to it, there is only one thing about it that is real – people. Your company is people. The company doesn’t do anything, people […]

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Can we talk?

December 1, 2010

Communication is the most important bit of infrastructure in the creation of society. Without communication there is no way for any two people to connect, to share ideas, to determine whether they have shared interests, to collaborate, etc. We all know that communication can be difficult. But we all believe that it basically works. I […]

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