Inspiriation

Inventing on Principle

Abe Becker — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:52:59 +0000

Bret Victor, (http://worrydream.com/) talks about defining yourself by your principles, rather than by your craft.

"Creators need immediate connection" is his principle, and his demonstration of how software, specifically Javascript, needs to be compiled and run causes many precious ideas to die due to the lack of immediate response. He is saying we spend so much time fiddling with code, when we could be nurturing ideas.

His 2012 talk at Cusec (http://cusec.net/) is a real eye opener, with plenty of concrete, real world examples from folks like Larry Tesler and Alan Kay following a principle, and creating the future, rather than just joining in "what is".

http://vimeo.com/36579366

The Easy Path to Brilliant Ideas

Abe Becker — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:24:41 +0000

I just recently read:

Awake at the Wheel

Exploring the intersection between work, play, and the creative process.

by Jonathan Fields, from http://www.psychologytoday.com

The main point of the article is addressing a simple three-step practice to improve focus.

Step 1 – Define the challenge/problem
Step 2 – Work like crazy to find a solution
Step 3 – Build in space. Make a deliberate practice of stepping away, completely away and giving your brain and biology the opportunity to relax.

I think this makes a lot of sense - it's so easy to get caught up in a task and not realize you've been spinning your wheels and not making progress.

The work like crazy part really can't be understated here - you've got to get that raw material into your temporary memory so the sub-concious can mull it over, and later deliver that golden nugget when you least expect it.

Another think I've found useful is to switch sides of the brain that you're using when focus wanes.

What to switch to depends on what it is that you're doing, of course.

Currently I'm doing a lot of computer programming, so switching off to drawing something, or even just talking about something non-logical seems to work.

The brain is like a well.

If you drain it, you've got to wait for it to fill back up before using it again!

Route to 2015: Google’s Senior Vice President of Americas Sales peers into the future of advertising.

Abe Becker — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:46:22 +0000

This thinkwithgoogle.com article by Dennis Woodside explains what he expects in marketing on the way to 2015. Some great food for thought on what we can do to prepare.

All retailers will go mobile.
Increase in social recommendations for products.
Business models built on sifting the deluge of data
realtime ad stats and adaptive advertising

Dennis Woodside's 4 B's

Be found
Be engaging
Be relevant
Be accountable

By Abe Becker

Google

Brené Brown: Listening to shame

Abe Becker — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 02:10:54 +0000

Shame is quite a hot topic in psychology these days. I highly recommend this talk because it offers some insight into a topic that nearly everyone is scared to talk about, but everyone stands to benefit from.

http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_listening_to_shame.html

My thoughts:

Might there be a correlation between a person's desire to learn/excel and their level of shame when appearing unintelligent/lazy?

We know shame is a powerful motivator - how powerful is its opposite?

Google