The multi tasking hoax
Multi-tasking is a hoax. In fact it’s one of the worst developments associated with the personal computer revolution. It robs us of time, reduces focus, and has a negative impact on reaching deadlines adn getting stuff done. So here is my top 10 list of ways to avoid the multi-tasking hoax:
- Only have one computer application open at a time
- Only check your emails at 2 designated times of the day (say 9am and 3pm)
- Don’t write long to do lists (guilty). Instead write down the answer to this question: ‘The one thing I must finish today’
- Close your eyes while taking phone calls to ensure you listen to the other party.
- Learn to say ‘no’. Tell the other person why, you can’t do it, or offer for them to pick something to drop off.
- Meditate daily. Think about long term goals
- Focus on depth of activities, not number of activities completed. Do less things, better.
- Never tell anyone you are busy. We are all busy. It leads to pin balling around stuff instead of finishing.
- have defined goals for the year. Ask yourself each morning how your are moving towards them.
- Add your item for number 10 in the comments.
Startup Blog says: Multitasking is your enemy. Avoid it.
Pixel, passion, prizes, pictures.
Patrick Jean’s short film Pixel (featured below) isn’t new – it’s been around a few months, but it is amazing. It was viewed more than 1 million times within it’s first 24 hours of its release.
It was a passion project by Patrick. He did it because he was inspired by the 8-bit video games he grew up on. He won lots of prizes, and then got many offers from major Hollywood studios (Sony, Warner, Dreamworks) to make pictures.
The lessons we can take from the film are many for entrepreneurs:
- It’s one of the best mashups of technology / genres I’ve ever seen.
- It leverages nostalgia – one of the most powerful emotional tools.
- It was released to the market free to just ‘see what happens’. And some very cool stuff happened.
- It reminds us that sampling isn’t limited to tiny bottles of shampoo.
- Patrick didn’t invent the technology to make it, he re-imagined the use of it.
Very soon, Patrick will be making movies that we’ll all be watching in cinemas. Startup blog says: think like Patrick.
Why Masterchef works
Masterchef has truly been a phenomenon in Australia over the past 2 seasons. A ratings boon which is rare in our fragmented media environment. In fact it was watched by an average 3.54 million, up from 3.29 million last year. This makes it the most watched non sporting event in Australian history. It’s not hard to find a Masterchef fan, but not being one I was curious what all the fuss was about so I endured a few episodes. I didn’t catch the bug and so asked some colleagues why they believe (from an advertising, marketing and media perspective) it did so well. The best description I got was from Paul Gardner who summarised it as follows:
He said there has been three distinct phases in the evolution of reality TV.
1. Hoons & Havoc. Lock up a group of highly charged youths in a house filled with alcohol and sexualy energy and see what happens. Think Big Brother.
2. The Challenge. Take a group of normal people outside of their comfort zone to compete in a Spartan like fashion. See what behaviour humans will stoop to in order to win and prove superiority. An observation of social interaction at a draconian level. Think Survivor.
3. Denied Talent. Take a group of people who have some genuine flair for something, who have not been given the chance (for whatever reason) to display their talent. Give the competitors potential for a new start, to chance become entrepreneurs. Make the show inclusive, yet competitive. Add a sense of collaboration and educational good for all. Build a result into the show which isn’t purely financial but provides recognition and a new direction. Overall, make it represent the values of a modern civilised society. This is what Masterchef has done.
The thing that’s really impressive about Masterchef from a marketing perspective is that they took the well worn genre of ‘cooking’ understood the important nuances of human behaviour and made it something much bigger than anyone ever expected.
Bratz dolls & stealing ideas
It was recently decided in an appeal court that success of the Bratz dolls brand is not based on the idea. It’s my favourite court ruling in a long time. In April 2009, a federal judge upheld the $100 million jury verdict that essentially gave Mattel ownership of the billion dollar plus Bratz brand. Which basically gave Mattel the rights to most of MGA’s Bratz products. A jury in the case found that the designer who created the dolls was working at Mattel when he conceived of the idea and the name and made the initial drawings for the pouty and multi ethnic girls.
But this decision got over ruled a few a days ago by a unanimous panel of the ninth circuit.
“It is not equitable to transfer this billion-dollar brand, the value of which is overwhelmingly the result of MGA’s legitimate efforts, because it may have started with two misappropriated names,” the appellate panel said in its ruling today.
“It is not equitable to transfer this billion-dollar brand, the value of which is overwhelmingly the result of MGA’s legitimate efforts, because it may have started with two misappropriated names,” the appellate panel said in its ruling today.
The great thing about this decision is that it reconginizes where true brand value comes from, everything ‘but’ the idea. As I’ve always said on Startup blog ideas are near worthless when it comes to building brand equity. Rather it’s the rich combination of design, building supply chains, inventing demand, effective distribution and the constant iteration of these factors. It should not only be a lesson for entrepreneurs, but large lazy corporates who try and beat their more nimble and innovative competition in the courts.
Alternate words
The words we use shape our behaviour. They even create bias, prejudices and potentially create a subconscious blue print for our strategic thinking. So in the spirit of solutions – I’ve list some new and better ways of saying old words.
Old word is Target. Replacement word = Audience.
A target is something we shoot at, aim for and maybe even kill. We care not for them. We care about us, and try to dominate them to bring home food for the night. An audience is a group of people we try to impress. We ask for some time on the stage (permission based), give our best performance and hope they throw flowers, not rotten tomatoes. If we do particularly well they’ll ask for an encore (supporting product to buy?) and tell their friends to come see the show.
Old word is Consumer. Replacement word = Person.
A consumer devours everything in their path. By defining people as such we subconsciously want them to mindlessly fill their life with stuff. We are not asking them to think, or consider, just act. We care not how the item bought for consumption is used and whether or not it enhances our world or theirs. It’s a production and factory mentality which is quickly becoming outdated. A person has feelings, emotions and aspirations. We are people, while they are consumers. The ‘we’ are people mindset is far superior to the ‘they’ are consumers view. It will take us much further and we’ll go there together.
Old word is Retiree. Replacement word = Projecteer
Retiring is an industrial revolution hangover based on physical labour taking it’s toll on men an woman. We must stop and rest in our final days because we having no energy left or have become less useful (in a physical sense) to the industrial machine. It was invented because the hours people have worked since the industrial revolution is beyond what is meant for humans. A Projecteer is what will replace the concept of Retirement. In fact, retirement will diminish as passion projects and life long idea work rises. We will be projecteers with specialist skills which are valued and revered as we gain in years and experience. Our mental faculties will flourish with improvements in diet and medicine and older generations will reclaim their position at the top of the human hierarchy.
Old word is Demographic. Replacement word = Tribe.
The problem with demographics is that a teenager is no longer a teenager. A teenager is a goth, an emo, a surfer, a skater… The same can be said for any age group or geographic locator. We are no longer definable by statistical clustering. Our values and attitudes are less likely to be defined via demography, but the tribes we move in, which now very often include people from disparate backgrounds and ages. The net enabled us to find the tribes we really belong to.
Old word is Non-profit. Replacement word = Social profit.
It’s nothing short of insane to have the word non-profit associated with organisations that build positive social outcomes. The word profit isn’t exclusive to financial output. Actually the word profit comes from the latin ‘Profectus‘ meaning to ‘make progress.’ The financial element was added much later. In this sense organisations providing social progress should move quickly to communicate the social profit they are making and in doing so remove the negative connotations that come with the word ‘non’.
Smart entrepreneurs shape peoples thinking with the words they use.
Grandparents circa 2010
Here’s some surprising statistics about those over 65 in Australia.
- 75% are online
- 70% use search engines
- 63% shop online
- 30% instant message
- 56% share photo’s online
- 46% bank online
- 45% are on social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo! Groups
Yep, the former young male demographic bias we love talking about on the web is now truly busted. The web is everywhere and everyone.
Web startups, you’re market may not be tech savvy, mac fan boys after all!
(stats provided by Eye of Australia 2010)
Snails
In business some people are snails. They move slow. They only slide in and out when the conditions are right (it’s wet). They leave a trail of slime behind them. And they are in constant danger of being crushed but others who just didn’t see them. They’re inconsequential. They’re existence seems superfluous even though they must have some kind position within the economic (food) chain.
Snails can’t live in startup land. They’re too dependent on the right conditions, even though Snails can be found in a very wide range of environments, both the human kind (human = government, private industry and SME’s) and the slug kind (slug = ditches, deserts and the abyssal depths of the sea).
Snails don’t build anything or change their enviornment. Instead they hide in the depths of some rich natural environments. Take a small portion of food and hope not to get crushed. There is a bit of snail in all of us and it’s something we must decide to avoid before we start anything important.
Johnny Walker brand story
The high ground for any brand is the story. It’s what we should be aiming for. A brand where part of what people buy is the is the history, or to be part of a tribe. Johnny Walker has put together a great new campaign where they tell their story. It’s a 6 minute time investment worth taking.
Some things worth thinking about with the Johnny walker story:
- It’s a long copy format. 6 minutes plus. Something which can’t be done on TV.
- It circumvents the negative connotations with success and globalisation. The personal effort and history makes financial success more palatable.
- It gives detail about the product, range and brand that just wouldn’t be possible in shorter media formats
- It’s sharable. Easy to send to friends, worth talking about.
- It’s eyeball worthy. Well shot and executed.
- It’s the idea. Ideas are king again, not media. Any brand with a story, and a small level of film / web expertise could have done it.
- This is clearly Radvertising
What does this mean for startups? It means that a large part of what we talk about should not only be how we got here, but why we are taking this journey. A story they can live vicariously through.
Subvert
The only way to truly subvert dominant power structures and hierarchy, is to move on as soon as capitalism leverages the proposition you’ve invented.
Brain clutter
Our brain is programmed to collate, categorise, and organise all it sees and hears. It does it without us even realising it. If you’re finding it hard to generate new thoughts then try this:
Clean out your living and work space
Make your physical space minimalist
Allow things around you to be as bare as possible.
When our brain has less stuff to organise and work on, it can wander and imagine. When it has space, it can invent concepts and cool ideas simply because it has the RAM (unsued processing capacity) available to do it.
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