Hakiri

From 1000 ideas one should definitely work. So although some say that stubbornness is the key to getting something good out of your work, I believe that it is mostly the combination of chance, timing and well planned execution. Keep in mind though that not all ideas click with people even when they are successfully executed.

My approach to this problem is very simple. I try to get out as many ideas as possible. I know that the majority of them will fail but some of them will work. This way I not only practice my creative thinking all the time but I also get a good exposure on quite diverse topics and problems.

So, do not waste time thinking whether your idea is any good. Just do it and see how it goes. You will see its real colors once you start executing it and you can always give up if it is too much for you.

Ricardo Semler is the CEO and majority owner of Semco SA, a Brazilian company best known for its radical form of industrial democracy and corporate re-engineering, a.k.a The Democratic Company.

Here follow a few extracts from things that I have came across while researching Semco and Ricardo Semler:

Bieber Labs have a nice summary plus some ideas laid out in a blog post. Bieber Labs summarizes a few common themes that seem to be predominant in Semler’s lectures and books. Here is the list:

• Trust people to do the right thing for the company
• Give them freedom and authority to work the way they want to
• Push decisions down the chain as far as possible
• Work in small batches and change things that aren’t working
• Allow those who are capable of leading to lead, no matter what their title or position is
• Put quality checks in place – whether it be test-driven development, or quality checks at each step in an assembly
• Fix problems at the core and stop the line as quickly as possible – in development this would be TDD and automated builds. Once a problem is found, find the root cause and put a test or quality check in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again
• and finally, Trust people to do the right thing for the company

Also, 37signals have some blog posts on Ricardo Semler’s work and in particular a post on one of his lectures that took place in MIT not that long time ago. Here is a quick summary of some of the stuff they’ve summarized from the talk:

Most business plans are wishful thinking

A 5 year plan is just an extrapolation added to wishful thinking. Have you ever seen a business plan that says, “I’m going to go up 5% and then down -14% and then -22% and then I’m going to recuperate a little bit and then it’s going to go to hell?”

`Cuz that’s what happens. That’s how it looks in practice, but that’s not the way we design it. We’re willing to trick ourselves into thinking we have control as long as we do it with wishful thinking.

Growth is overrated for companies

The assumption that growth is good for companies is a very difficult one to sustain. There is no evidence whatsoever that companies that grow a lot do better than companies that don’t grow a lot.

Admit what you don’t know

We don’t know where we’re going, but we’d rather not pretend that we do. Because we think pretending is a lot more dangerous than admitting that we don’t. Talking about specific numbers more than six months out is improbable. Think about the future but don’t write it down. If you write it down, you have to follow it.

Make meetings voluntary

All our meetings are on a voluntary basis. Because if it’s getting boring, go. If no one’s left, do we really need to do this?

Most hiring is like internet dating

[On hiring] The [typical] process of recruitment and selection in a company is basically an internet dating process. You say your company is Brad Pitt and she says she’s Angelina Jolie and you go and meet at a bar. You get together for two quick meetings and then you decide to get married and hope it works.

[Instead of that,] we take qualified candidates, the ten that fit the bill, and ask them to come in together. Then we have whoever wants to be involved interview these people. This will go for hours. Then [the interviewers] write down the two people who they want to keep. The two who score highest come back and spend the whole day here and talk to anyone they want. The result is less than 2% year turnover.

Do nothing sometimes

Sometimes doing absolutely nothing, even about a critical decision, will end up bring through a solution. The idea that we alone can be trained to know the answer is a very dangerous rational.

We need more democratic workplaces

We will send our sons anywhere in the world to die for democracy. But I’ve never seen a democratic workplace. So it’s very important for our lives except where we spend 60% of our time. There must be something wrong with that.

Balance your life

Every one of us has learned how to send emails on Sunday night. But how many of us know how to go a movie on Monday afternoon. You’ve unbalanced your life without balancing it with something else. The opposite to activity is not leisure. It’s idleness.

Although some of these concepts sound very interesting you should really try to make up your own mind.

I’ve been talking a lot about the creative process lately. The reason for this is very simple. Creativity is important, especially today when only a dozen take full advantage of it. Creativity is not a talent, neither it is a skill. You are not born with it but it is something that you cultivate and develop over time. This post will hopefully shed some light on how to develop your creative mind.

The following list was extracted from an article located over here. I’ve added a short summary and my own interpretations.

1. Relax, and create ideas each day.

   The more your practice your creative mind the better it will become. It is like training a muscle. The relaxation part is also very important. Speaking from my personal experience, the best things I’ve done happened in a state of complete relaxation away from problems. I call this state of the mind hackmode.

2. Expand your possibility box.

   The more you see/experience the more options you will have to mix and match. The creative process is all about coming with interesting combinations.

3. Notate everything.

   Uou have to free up space in your brain for newer stuff. Write down all your thoughts, otherwise you will forget them.

4. Change your location.

   I am going to add change everything. Change is good. Very good! Don’t be afraid to change things.

5. Create fast brainstorming sessions.

   Brainstorming is a powerful tool. How many times you’ve come home packed with ideas after talking with your friends. This is a form of brainstorming. This is the reason why going to events is an excellent opportunity to not only brainstorm but also to introduce some change (see the previous point).

6. Stop creating rules where rules do not exist.

   Question everything! Don’t be a braindead. We can think for ourselves.

7. Eliminate some of your fears.

   Don’t be afraid to do what you want to do. Don’t be afraid to share your discoveries. Don’t be afraid of failure. It is a part of the process and the sooner your realize it the better.

8. Find new ways of doing something.

   There are always ways to do things differently. Find them!

9. Stop trying to analyze and create at the same time.

   Too much analyzing has never brought any good to anyone. As soon as your start analyzing the creative process is over. Separate these two processes as they never work at the same time. First create the idea, then analyze it.

10. Don’t worry about who gets the credit.

    Your ego is evil! Spend time to figure out how the idea will work rather then who gets the credit.

11. When you do work with a team (art director, client, advertiser, etc.), build on each other’s ideas.

    Be open to the people you work with as that will enable the creative process.

Make sure that you go through the article pointed above as that will give you further insights that could come very useful.

5 years ago, the concept of working from any location seemed alien to most employers, but in todays rapidly connected world, it’s more common to find cutting edge researchers working without the constraints of 9-5 and the office life. Part of this process is defining a separate location in which to work from, and not just some random table at the end of the bed. The masters of space optimisation, the Japanese, have developed a Trunk Station that could be useful for those of us who are constantly fighting for a healthy balance of work and play.

The W 906mm x D 615mm H x 1190mm sized melamine resin trunk opens to reveal an very efficient work space, complete with pre-drilled holes for electrical and component wires/cables, a fold out desk, and plenty of shelving for a whole lot of extras.

Whilst many might be put off with shipping the unit from Japan, it shows that companies are embracing the need of remote workers. Who knows, maybe we might see this in Ikea soon?

As being a frequent reader of Fast Company, I simply couldn’t miss to check out their blogs too. So I did and stumbled across an article about the The new Rules of Innovation, which you can check out from over here.

The rules are as follow. I’ve added my own personal responses to these. Bare with me. It is 2:00am UK time and I falling a sleep although burning inside from excitement and interest:

1. None of us are as smart as all of us.

   I keep saying that all the time. People just don’t get it. Especially people from the IT security circles. Everybody wants to reinvent the wheel when there is so much more out there ready to be conquered.

2. Pioneers get scalped.

   Sure they do, but this is part of the fun!

3. The more you try, the luckier you get.

   This is in the true sense of the hacker spirit. The more you do something, the better results you will get. It is no brainer. The more you study the more you know. The more you hack, the better you will become. However, sometimes there are shortcuts. These I like the most. Personal preferences, I guess.

4. Don’t confuse ideas with innovation.

   The trick is to know what you’re good at and then go outside for help with what’s missing. I simply cannot say it better then that.

5. If you love something, give it away.

   Openness has done only good!

6. Innovation is about breaking rules, so ignore any or all of the above.

   It is not about breaking the rules. It is about following them.

I highly recommend to check out the article from above in order to get some more food for thought. However, I also advise you to be careful because you can easily fall into a day dreaming trap. The trick is to just say Screw it, let’s do it! as Richard Branson likes to say. Too much thinking and philosophy is not good for your health. It is just enough to know what is your part of the big social ecosystem. Once you find your spot you will feel much happier.