Category Archives: Musings

Why Startups Should Run With Scissors

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Categories: Musings
Scissors

Not literally of course, but startups need to ‘run with scissors’, be reckless, take risks, and get results quickly at the get go. It’s at this stage when the risk is low, reward high, and mistakes are more readily overcome.

A startup shouldn’t be worrying about getting all the details right or being perfect because at that point there are too many unknowns: the market, the needs, and even the solution.

How can they focus on perfection when they’re not sure of what they need to perfect?

Once they’re out there, working with real customers in the actual market, they’ll quickly understand what’s important, what works and what doesn’t, and they’ll be able to adjust and adapt accordingly.

In short, when a startup is just getting started, embrace the scrappiness, hustle, and get shit done.

The difficult part comes in keeping this mentality as they grow.

Now they’re more reluctant to take risks because they’ve established themselves and built a reputation that they don’t want to damage. So instead of innovating and running with scissors they’re more careful and try to be perfect.

More often than not, this approach will lead to some hot new startup surpassing them, one that isn’t concerned with taking risks and making mistakes.

The lesson – keep running with scissors.

Image by jdhancock

The Myth Of Information Overload

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Categories: Musings
info_overload

I’ve heard a lot about information overload lately and how it’s killing our productivity. How we get analysis by paralysis or are all suffering from A.D.D. In short, this notion is absolutely ridiculous.

I can understand that some people may have trouble adapting to the sudden influx of information readily available to us, but the problem isn’t too much information, the problem is we don’t know what to do with it.

More importantly, it’s become clear that information is going to continue growing exponentially and become more and more accessible.

So how can information overload be a myth? Because we are now beginning to understand how to handle all of this information in two clear ways.

1. Organization Of Information

With the exponential increase in information, there was no real way to organize it, which was the first major challenge encountered.

Now, we’ve started to create structures and filters around our information in the form of reviews and curators and search engines, all of which make it easier to both filter and access the information we NEED.

This is the key point – there has always been a lot of information available, but all of a sudden we had access to all of it through the internet.

As we further develop tools and platforms, the organization of this information allows us to use it much more effectively and efficiently.

2. Adaptation To Information

The second piece of the puzzle is adapting to the new standard of information surplus, which I believe the next generation will be masters at.

For example, just look at how a kid does homework nowadays. Music is blasting, the TV is on, they’re texting their friends, and browsing Facebook – all while writing a paper on American History or doing Calculus homework.

They’ve adapted and embraced the excess information at such a young age that the idea of information overload becomes laughable.

It’s clear that information will continue to grow, but our organization of it and adaptation to it, makes the thought of information overload a myth.

Image Source: http://bit.ly/10lxN3g

Parkinson’s Law & Urgency

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Categories: Musings
urgency

First introduced my Cyril Northcote Parkinson in an essay in the Economist, Parkinson’s Law is as follows:

Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

Wise words that we often don’t think about when we work. For example, if you take on a project and give yourself 24 hours to complete it, the time constraint forces you to get creative and focus on the bare essentials. In the end, not only do you get the work done, but you often innovate along the way.

On the other hand, if you have a week to complete the same project, you build it up in complexity and unnecessary distractions. In the end, you still don’t get a lot of the real work done until closer to the deadline. Imagine the same situation for a project that is due in 2 months or even without a deadline – sounds like a disaster.

How can we take advantage of this? We need to embrace constraints and use them to our advantage. When this happens naturally, such as when we have a task that requires immediate attention, simply go with the flow and get it done.

More often than not, our work lacks that immediate urgency. In these cases, we need to manufacture our own hard deadlines and by doing so, we can eliminate our tendency to procrastinate.

For those projects that are larger in scope, we need to break them down into clearly defined, manageable chunks, and use a similar approach.

Ultimately it comes down to creating urgency for your work that may otherwise not naturally be there. So the question becomes, how do you create urgency?

Tigers, Sheep And Negativity

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Categories: Musings
tigers

You’ll always find those that say no. You can’t do it, you’re wasting your time, your idea is stupid. This can be detrimental to those who actually try to create in the world, but you must quickly realize something if you hope to succeed.

A creator is a tiger, someone who gives and contributes to society in the best way they know how. Everyone can create in some way.

The naysayers are sheep, they don’t understand why anyone would create, what it means, where it can take you and the value you gain from it.

If the tiger doesn’t learn to ignore the sheep, he will fail. The tiger will falter in his confidence, his beliefs and ideals. He will lose his passion and suffer and eventually, he too will become a sheep, full of negative energy and pessimism.

But if he can disregard the sheep, he can prosper. Other tigers will support him, inspire him, and he will see his goals realized, not always in success but in lessons and growth and pride.

Be a tiger. Ignore the sheep.

5 Reasons To Always Be Curious

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Categories: Musings
ABC

ABC… Always Be Curious, here are 5 reasons why.

1. Solving Problems

Curiosity drives the learning of all things, which gives a curious individuals a unique perspective and approach to solving problems that others are oblivious to.

2. Excitement

Variety is the spice of life, while repetition is BORING. Curiosity gives you the opportunity to experience the new and get excited.

3. Uncover Yourself

Curiosity will take you to some interesting places, but if you pay attention, you’ll quickly learn a lot about yourself, your passions, and your goals.

4. Knowledge is Power

Knowledge is at the core of curiosity, as you’ll be constantly learning. This is of value not only for the knowledge, but also in knowing how to learn.

5. Enjoy Life

Sometimes we’re just too serious. Curiosity allows our inner child to come out, play, and have some fun.

4 Simple, Yet Awesome Websites

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Categories: Musings
Capture3

The interwebs are filled with all kinds of interesting things – some are scary, some are funny, and some are informational, but these 4 have very simple, clever concepts that are worth a moment of your time. Enjoy!

1. Do Nothing for 2 Minutes

The title says it all, this website asks you to take 2 minutes out of our busy, important lives and simply do nothing, while you listen to a rolling tide. Peaceful, eh.

2. The Magic Button

Stressed? Confused? Don’t know what to do? Well the Magic Button won’t solve any of your problems, but it’s a great for a moment to reflect on your situation.

3. Pretty Loaded

Beautiful and mesmerizing, Pretty Loaded is a constant loop of creative and pretty loading animations compiled from across the web.

4. Drama Button

If you’re about to start some good old fashion drama, then be sure to use the Drama Button to emphasize the effect of what you’re about to say.

Education 2.0

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Categories: EDU + GOOD Musings
Brain

As the cost of education continues to rise and the efficiency of our current learning models in question,  we are seeing a growing number of alternative solutions to the more traditional forms of education. This is part of the Education 2.0 revolution that we are watching develop everyday.

The following is a preliminary list of Education 2.0 resources available to everyone online. This is only a small segment of such resources, but I hope to expand this in the coming years. Check them out below!

Virtual Classrooms

These platforms are the most comprehensive education efforts to date, which are not only delivering information, but integrating learning opportunities through exercises and applied learning.

Web Video/Audio

Although not as engaging as virtual classrooms, these organizations provide a wealth of high quality lectures ranging from thought leaders to the most prestigious of institutions.

Open Reference

You can find anything on the internet and these are typically the first places to look when you want to know how to do or learn anything you could think of.

Programming/Software

Probably the most engaged community in the future of education is that of hackers and technologists that are fully willing to embrace this change. Here you’ll find resources catered to these early adopters.

Languages

Learning languages online is also a growing trend, as several platforms have tailored the key foundations required for language mastery in an online environment.

Teaching Supplements

Technology is not only revolutionizing the education system, but also supplementing it and these are some great resources for teachers and classrooms.

Games/Interactive

I fully believe that games are the next step for education and that this particular area of the education revolution will be the most exciting in years to come.

Keep a look out as I’ll be continually updating this list to add more and more resources that are part of the education revolution.

Launch 2 Learn

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L2L

You can read tons of books, take classes, talk to people and brainstorm as much as you want, but the only real way to truly know anything is by experiencing it.

This is the basis behind Launch 2 Learn (L2L): an approach where you ‘launch’ ideas, businesses, projects or practices in the real world to truly learn about them. Starting anything is how you can determine its value to you, how it works, and what it actually takes to achieve success.

The process is simple. After launching you measure and gather feedback. Based on this information you are able to adapt or adjust accordingly and begin the process again.

Talk is cheap as they say, but by doing you can know, you can learn, and you can grow. There are two invaluable benefits that you gain through this process.

1. Gaining Knowledge

The obvious benefit is the knowledge you get from the real world experiences you have. This should not be taken for granted. Through this type of learning you get better at solving problems, making decisions, managing expectations, and evaluating opportunities. The more you launch the more you’ll learn and the better you’ll get at starting.

2. Overcoming Fear

The primary reason most people don’t actually take action is because they are afraid. Having doubts is common and expected, but the more you get into the habit of launching ideas, the more comfortable you will be with it. By going through this process repeatedly, you’ll be more willing to take calculated risks, you’ll be more confident, and you’ll overcome your fear.

Give it a try. Find something you’ve been wanting to launch and do so on a small scale that can minimize your risk, but still gives you valuable insight. Measure your results, learn from them and adapt or start over. Simple, yet effective.

Four Sirs In Top Hats

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Categories: Musings
Sir_Riddle

Four Sirs are buried up to their necks in the ground. They can’t move, so they can only look forward. Between Sir A and B is a brick wall which can’t be seen through.

All the Sirs know that between them, they are wearing four top hats–two blue and two red–but they do not know what color they are wearing. Each of them know where the other three are buried.

In order to avoid being shot, one of them must call out to the executioner the color of their hat. If they get it wrong, everyone will be shot. They are not allowed to talk to each other and have 10 minutes to answer before their impending doom.

After one minute, one of them calls out.

The questions is, which one of them calls out and why is he 100% certain of the color of his top hat?

*This isn’t a trick question. There are no outside influences or other ways of communicating. They can’t move and are buried in a straight line; A & B can only see their respective sides of the wall, Sir C can see B, and Sir D can see B & C.

Argania: A Gourmet Cooperative

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Categories: Musings
ArganiaTwitterCover

Yesterday my partner and I launched our Kickstarter Campaign for our new company Argania. Argania is a gourmet cooperative that sells products centered around the highly acclaimed argan oil.

The entire premise behind the business is to empower the producers of our products, while bringing great products to our customers. A major component of this is our own cooperative in Southwestern Morocco that produces our 100% organic argan oil.

Currently we’re selling 100% organic argan oil and three types of traditional amlou (a Moroccan spread): Peanut, Almond, and Chocolate Hazelnut.

Checkout our Kickstarter video below and find more details about our company and our campaign on our Kickstarter page!

Help us however you can: like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, spread the word, and back us on Kickstarter! Your support is greatly appreciated!

Welcome to Argania, a gourmet cooperative.

Thank You!

Einstein’s Puzzle

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Categories: Musings
e=mc2

I love puzzles and this one is a classic. It is said that the riddle was devised by Albert Einstein as a way to test out the intelligence of all the students who wanted him as an advisor. There’s no way to confirm it’s true origin, but it’s a good riddle all the same. See if you can figure it out!

Let us assume that there are five houses of different colors next to each other on the same road. In each house lives a man of a different nationality. Every man has his favorite drink, his favorite brand of cigarettes, and keeps pets of a particular kind.

  1. The Englishman lives in the red house.
  2. The Swede keeps dogs.
  3. The Dane drinks tea.
  4. The green house is just to the left of the white one.
  5. The owner of the green house drinks coffee.
  6. The Pall Mall smoker keeps birds.
  7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhills.
  8. The man in the center house drinks milk.
  9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
  10. The Blend smoker has a neighbor who keeps cats.
  11. The man who smokes Blue Masters drinks bier.
  12. The man who keeps horses lives next to the Dunhill smoker.
  13. The German smokes Prince.
  14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
  15. The Blend smoker has a neighbor who drinks water.

The question to be answered is: Who keeps fish?