Archive for January, 2009
- By Scott Berkun on January 28th, 2009
- 2 Comments »
- linkfest
Wednesday linkfest
- Review of idea generation / innovation management software. It’s more of a listing than a review, but it’s the closest thing I’ve found. I get asked about this all the time – anyone know of a better comparative review of these kinds of “creativity support” tools?
- Designing in hostile territory. Good advice here. Especially the last bit: bite off as little as possible to generate proof.
- How important is practice? Interesting thread on metafilter about the under/over rated nature of practice and how people think about it. Tech-y focus but not too much.
- Innovation and invention. Found this transcript of a short speech by the CEO of Boeing the other day. Talks about his list of myths of innovation – different but similar to the ones in my book.
- By Scott Berkun on January 28th, 2009
- 1 Comment »
- Design
Why do designers fail? Interview w/Adaptive Path
Last year I gave a talk at UIE 13 on some research I’ve done into why designers fail.
I’ll be talking about failure again at Adaptive Path’s MX event in March.
In the meantime, I had the pleasure of getting some fun questions from Henning Fischer, on the topic:
Henning Fischer [HF]: Scott, welcome and thank you for joining me. My first question for you is: What inspired you to look into the reasons why designers fail?
Scott Berkun [SB]: Hmm. Let’s see. FAILING. I’ve worked on many projects and many of them didn’t work out well, or up to my expectations. And in talking to other designers over the years, I’ve learned it’s rare to find a designer who can point to the finished product and say, “This is exactly all that I hoped it would be.â€
- By Scott Berkun on January 28th, 2009
- 2 Comments »
- Management
No secrets: new project management blog
I get lots of thanks and kudos for pmclinic, a discussion list about real issues managers face, despite the fact I don’t contribute much directly to the thing anymore, and Shawn Murphy runs the list. Instead it’s 5 or 10 really smart, wise people who do much of the posting and advice giving.
One of these smart, wise, clever contributors is an industry veteran named Steven Levy. Why do I mention him now? Here’s why.
He’s set up shop on his own at a shiny new blog on project management called: No Secrets.
He’s already been busy with posts on How to kill projects, and is your boss a manager or an administrator?. Check it out.
- By Scott Berkun on January 27th, 2009
- 2 Comments »
- Book reviews
Good advice from top bloggers
My favorite books on start-ups and entrepreneurship is Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston. It’s simply a collection of good interviews with the right people asking the right questions. No phony big theories. No made-up jargony words in the title. Just good conversations with people who have experience I want to learn from. Love it.
In that vein, I’m happy to recommend Blog Blazzers: 40 top bloggers share their secrets. Stephane Grenier, the author sent me the book a few weeks ago and I read through it in a few hours. Seth Godin, Jeff Atwood, Eric Sink, Dan Lyons (Diary of Steve Jobs), and 35 other successful bloggers explain how they do what they do, what they’ve learned, and how they make money or get other rewards from their work.
For $16 and a couple of hours (books of interviews are fast reads) I learned some new tricks, had more confidence in the old ones, and definitely got my money and times worth. At first I was annoyed by some repetitive questions – but in some ways it was interesting to see how different bloggers answers compared with each other. I read a lot of blogs, including some blogs on blogging (but gratefully no blogs on blogs on blogs) but there’s still nothing as good as sitting down with a book.
- By Scott Berkun on January 27th, 2009
- 16 Comments »
- Making things happen
Lose your job? Get a free book
Been thinking much about what I can do in the face of all that’s going on in the economy (130,000 layoffs so far this month). Losing a job sucks and often triggers collateral suckage. I’m just a writer so I can’t do much in a practical way, but I can give out free copies of books.
The first 20 people who lost their jobs (scouts honor) who leave a comment or send in an email will get a signed copy of the bestseller Making Things Happen. Might help with planning whatever thing you decide to do next. Or make for excellent kindling, depending on much savings you had. It also has pretty pictures, which you can pretend is a very slow television show.
Sorry, but this is U.S. only. Think global act local and all that.
It’s not much, but until I find a better idea, I’m sharing what I have.
- By Scott Berkun on January 26th, 2009
- 3 Comments »
- creative thinking
Failure: the secret to success (Honda & race cars)
Nice little video on failure and its role in success. It’s vaguely an advertisement for Honda, but its very low key, and mostly interviews with engineers, product planners, and drivers about their stories of failure. It’s well produced, and definitely worth the 8 minutes.
Failure: The secret to success (YouTube)
(Thx to Livia for the link)
Also check out my essay, How to learn from your mistakes.
SCOTT'S NEW BOOK
A provocative collection of behind-the-scenes tales from the life of a successful public speaker, bestselling business author Scott Berkun offers a unique insider's take on what public speakers do, how they do it, and how anyone can do it well. Book Details
OTHER BESTSELLERS
- How I make a living: in detail
Peter says..."Hi Scott, Thank you for sharing this with us. Posts like these are a great motivational source for me. As I’m hoping (and planning) to one day too...' - How I make a living: in detail
Sachin says..."you should consider using ads (at least one small) to increase your income…….there are many good ad networks also where ads do not look bad...' - #41 – Why I left Microsoft
vivek says..."Great! There is always two kind of voices one come from heart and another come from mind. When you passed out of college you listened your mind but at...' - How I make a living: in detail
Elisabeth says..."It’s amazing how many people place so high of an importance on money that they will trade making more of it in exchange for doing a job they...'
Don't miss anything - Free Newsletter
Receive short, near-monthly emails with new essays, most popular posts, and occasional big announcements. Not cheezy - it's good, funny and concise. (privacy policy here)
