Here’s Where We Screwed Up With Gas
A few months ago I wrote about The Long Tail. The main idea behind this principle is that there is a class of commodities that eventually become so cheap they can be ‘wasted’ in order to exploit bigger, more valuable opportunities. Yahoo gives offers unlimited storage to its email customers to entice them to spend on other things - because storage has become cheap enough to give away. Netflix offers unlimited movie downloads for a flat monthly fee, implying an incredibly cheap per-movie viewing cost for heavy users.
Sphere: Related ContentAmerican Chopper - How Personalities Clash At Work
Today we take a look at the popular Discovery Channel series American Chopper, featuring the misadventures of the Teutul family (Senior, Junior and Mikey) and their company, custom bike manufacturer Orange County Choppers. The relationship between Junior and Senior illustrates two opposing Myers-Briggs type preferences extremely well.
By now, you probably know that every episode of American Chopper features a heated, no-holds-barred argument between Senior and Junior. The argument is about the same thing every week - whether it’s more important to make a good product, or stay on schedule. We witness a classic clash of personality types that might look like something you’ve experienced in the workplace yourself.
Sphere: Related ContentHow To Leverage Collaborative Innovation
Every now and then I read an article like this one in Forbes that touts the virtues of looking outside the walls of your company for innovation. There is a whole section in Mavericks at Work devoted to this, and the concept was, in fact, a partial inspiration for the name of this blog. I’m an outwardly focused individual, and naturally seek opportunities to collaborate and increase my knowledge. Similarly, organizations can seek the same opportunities for all kinds of situations - new products, new business solutions, new technologies, new perspectives on old problems.
Sphere: Related Content7 Myths and Misconceptions About Myers-Briggs
These seven tend to come up during Myers-Briggs workshops and can cause a lot of confusion. So without further ado…
How To Migrate Your Blog From Wordpress.com To Wordpress.org
Like thousands of others, I started my blog on Wordpress.com. The benefits of doing so are too many to list here. But there are a few liabilities - such as when you want to ‘monetize’ your blog or use it for purely business related purposes. Or when you’ve decided that the Wordpress.com widgets don’t give you enough functionality, and you want to be able to use the full range of plug-ins. When that time comes, you have to migrate to a server hosting Wordpress.org software. When I migrated a few months ago I found a huge set of headaches waiting for me. I had to do a bunch of things the hard way, because, frankly, I didn’t anticipate 1) the need to ever make the transition and 2) that when I did it might prove detrimental to my blog. So I’m going to show you exactly how to do it correctly, from the time you start a blog on Wordpress.org to the time you decide to migrate to your own hosted server. (Aside - that title is misleading because you’re actually migrating your blog to a SERVER running software downloaded from Wordpress.org - but I had to keep it short and searchable.) Now then:
How To Transform A Culture With Innovation
Have you ever witnessed an innovation that transforms everything in a culture?
It doesn’t happen often. Most of the time innovation improves rather than transforms. Well over 90 percent of the time, in fact.
There’s a good reason for that. Change is hard. In Myers-Briggs terms, most people in our culture (75 percent) prefer ’sensing,’ and one of the aspects of sensing is resistance to change. Incremental change, if useful, might be OK. Transformational change is painful.
Sphere: Related ContentHigh-Priced Gas Is GOOD For America!
How could this possibly be? We rely on gas for just about everything in this country - how could high priced gas actually be GOOD for us?
Because without high-priced gas, we’d have no incentive to innovate.
In my article on ‘Who Killed The Electric Car?’ last year, I emphasized the fact that no one wanted an expensive, inconvenient-to-operate electric car while gas was cheap. The economics would never work out, even if electricity was marginally cheaper than gas, because batteries were way too expensive. But it’s safe to say that many foretold the coming of high-priced gas back then. Peak Oil is a concept dating back to the 50s, and those who adhere to its principles saw a drop in petroleum production on the horizon.
So why didn’t we do anything about it? Same reason we don’t do anything about Social Security, widely predicted to collapse in a couple of decades - it’s not a current crisis. We respond to current crises pretty well in this country - we plan for future crises poorly (just ask those living in New Orleans).
Sphere: Related ContentHalf Price Myers-Briggs Step II!!
FINALLY.
I’m now able to offer the Myers-Briggs Typing Indicator® (MBTI®) through the blog. To commemorate this momentous occasion - the first five people who email me get the MBTI® Step II, Form Q - normally priced at $115 - for half price: $57.50. Here’s a sample of the Form Q Interpretive Report - all 18 pages of it.
Simply email me via the handy email form on my About… page, subject ‘Half Price Form Q.’ If you’re one of the first five you get the most comprehensive Myers-Briggs assessment, including 18 pages of highly detailed information, custom-taylored to your individual personality type, for a bargain price.
Sphere: Related Content“They Just Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To”
“Horton Hears a Hoo” is the latest Hollywood attempt to cash in on the legacy of Dr. Seuss. This follows two live action films - one mediocre (”How The Grinch Stole Christmas”) and one catastrophically bad (”The Cat In The Hat”). “Horton” is neither - it’s a solid effort, compared to the other two. And yet…
Each of the films features the latest in makeup, special effects, and animation. Each features famous comedic actors. And yet…
Each of the films stretches out the original source material into full-length features, but don’t match the quality of their respective half-hour TV versions. And yet…
NONE of them are as good as this 10-minute Looney Tunes animation of “Horton Hatches The Egg,” circa 1942. In 65 years Dr. Seuss features have REGRESSED.
What makes it better? Two things - the classic animation is top-notch, and the screenplay STICKS TO THE ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL. Special effects and makeup can’t make up for a lame screenplay.
Remember: Sometimes innovation doesn’t pay dividends unless it’s applied in the right places.
Sphere: Related ContentWill Verizon’s Open Source Innovation Succeed?
Up until late last year, Verizon was a closed network. And then, this:
In late November, Verizon Wireless said it would allow any device or software to run on its wireless network. It’s a reversal for the No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier, which had been known as the most protective in the industry.
Why the turnaround? And what does this say about the organizational character of Verizon?
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