Tag Archive for 'feedback loop'

Ideas that mess with your head

Published on 24 December, 2008 in High Performance and Innovation. Closed Tags: .

The way that you think is largely a product of your experiences. Our friends and the books that we read are great starting point, and the internet a great opportunity equaliser. Now, while our upbringing and early life, formal education and significant events have a massive impact in how we see things, what if you hung around some of the most brilliant minds in the world for a few days?

There are a couple of these impactful events of intense stimulation now – Davos, Clinton Global Initiative and a miriad of seminars come to mind – but one of the most accessible could just be TED. They’ve just increased their price by 50% (from $4,000 to $6,000pa) but damn they come out with some awesome stuff!

Check out this video that shows what may be the future for our computer screens for example.

Daniel Smith

Career Decisions of a Hyper Achiever

Published on 15 December, 2008 in High Performance and Innovation. Closed Tags: , .

Marissa Mayer (VP at Google) looked at the best decisions that she’d ever made and came up with two commonalities:

  1. She works really hard – big projects are an exciting challenge.
  2. She surrounded herself with really smart people. That’s the best place to learn and grow – as a result, she ended up as Craig Silverstein’s assistant for her first two years because he’s one of the smartest people she’s ever met!
  3. She believes in doing something that you’re a little not ready to do… that’s where you really explore and find your limits.

It seems to be working for her…

I like her nine notions of innovation too…

  1. Ideas come from everywhere
    Google expects everyone to innovate, even the finance team.
  2. Share everything you can
    Every idea, every project, every deadline – it’s all accessible to everyone on the intranet
  3. You’re brilliant, we’re hiring
    Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin approve hires. They favor intelligence over experience
  4. A license to pursue dreams
    Employees get a “free” day a week. Half of new launches come from this “20% time”
  5. Innovation, not instant perfection
    Google launches early and often in small beta tests, before releasing new features widely
  6. Don’t politic, use data
    Mayer discourages the use of “I like” in meetings, pushing staffers to use metrics
  7. Creativity loves restraint
    Give people a vision, rules about how to get there, and deadlines
  8. Worry about usage and users, not money
    Provide something simple to use and easy to love. The money will follow.
  9. Don’t kill projects — morph them
    There’s always a kernel of something good that can be salvaged

I love her style… especially as captain of the pom pom squad and debate teams!

Daniel Smith