Iteration is a Lifestyle

Posted on January 16, 2012 by admin

Just saw Eric Ries at Product Tank Meetup talk about ‘The Lean Startup’ – his new book with Miss Yoomoot.com Barbara Nowacka.

A couple of interesting points that resonated with me – either way you look at these idea’s are not just for the business world but about how to live life:

1. Startup = Experiment. Essentially it all begins by the quality of our imagination.

2. Experiment = What are we trying to learn about people? …if curiosity infected everyone

3. The keeping things lean methodology = Build. Measure. Learn. >> Then repeat

4. There are cycles and patterns to business and to life. Train your intuition to get better recognizing this over time.

5. Iteration = Pivot. One in the same, but Pivot has become the new buzz word. There are different types of Pivots that go far and wide.

6. By pivoting a lean startup can come to understand what a ‘Minimum Viable Product’ looks like

7. Pivoting takes leaving your emotions on the side-line.

Overall – the talk came to a close and besides wanting to read the book, what I heard wasn’t entirely new. It put a methodology: Iteration is a lifestyle for Lean.

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Believe in the drift

Posted on January 6, 2012 by admin

It’s all about going with the gut. If I sit here now and tell you why I am living in London with a Norwegian after first leaving the US for Australia 7 1/2 years ago then I have a crystal ball. I thought I was a planner by nature – careers, how much to save, when to get married, when to have children, when to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Not True!

Your family and university are supposed to put you on the right track, right? They are part of the equation, but it’s really the power of one.

Like driftwood..there is a journey that you create. And all of the possibilities should come from the gut. You sometimes you don’t know what that is going to be. It’s okay.

Believe in the drift. Believe in yourself.

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Trend-oids

Posted on January 2, 2012 by admin

Out to get us for 2012..more on the product side vs. the people side.

1. Snap and pay. Mobile banking – first seen in Kenya. Snap and pay will bring mobile banking to the Western world. An app like Danske bank created where you can take a photo of your bill and then pay is hot.

2. More life brought to inanimate objects like your plant txting you know it needs to be watered. Why can’t your milk let you know when it’s turning?

3. Doing more with less (because pockets are being crunched everywhere). It’s a better phrase for the reduce, reuse, recycle movement. Grow your own, make your own stuff.

4. Smarter everything. Not just in mobile and home energy monitors. More smart on the horizon…TV and other appliances, smart footwear, cars are getting smarter but could they go on autopilot?…etc. Helps you automate and save in the best ways.

5. Geo-behavioural-targeting to the 8th power. It’s almost going to freak people out if they want it too. For the lovers of Clicktale and data it’s going to be a blessing.

May the trend-oid be with you!

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2012 Vow: Live in the ‘Wow’

Posted on January 2, 2012 by admin

“Happiness is really just about four things: perceived control, perceived progress, connectedness (number and depth of your relationships), and vision/meaning (being part of something bigger than yourself).” ― Tony Hsieh, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

This year I just happened to stumble upon a book in my reception of my residence, just sitting waiting to be scooped up as a freebie. A book written and signed by Tony Hsieh – Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose.

I opened the front page and it was also signed – Live in the Wow! – Tony

The book documented Tony’s journey from young professional stepping out into the real world to CEO of Zappos.com, a very successful U.S. e-tailer. It was almost as if I was supposed to pick up the book that day and strangely enough at a time when I was looking for not just a good, but brilliant example of companies making a difference.

You see, my passion in life has been all about delivering service in order to make a difference. Zappos has a core value – Deliver WOW through service.  This could be my service unto others (giving when you don’t necessarily receive anything back) through to uplifting the entire customer experience for any role I am in. Most organisations like to call it Marketing and Customer Service but the combination is where I sit and that is where Customer Experience Management is born.

It certainly didn’t take me long to finish the book. Flipping the pages made me realise Tony’s life has followed a similar journey to mine. Purpose and progress are important to your happiness and wellbeing. Not just for your career but who you are and want to become. And this helps you live in the WOW!

Everyone has there own version of WOW, whether it means jumping out of a plane, presenting in front of a 100 people, knitting a new scarf, or simply making more people smile than you ever have before.

So live 2012 in whatever WOW you want to make of it. And don’t forget to keep living in the WOW you should be giving WOW.

I know that 2011 was a bumpy one for many. Remember even in times of struggle, when the last thing you want to do is WOW yourself. Reach out to the ones that care for you the most – because they will have the know-how to put you back on course.

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Lisa Frost.

Posted on September 11, 2011 by admin

The 10th anniversary of September 11th sort of hits home because on this day the BU SHA community lost an amazing gal who touched us all: Lisa Frost. Her personality was infectious and her dedication to the University was commendable.  She had a zest for life and she was one of these types that got along with everyone, graduated with top marks, was very active in University extra-curricular activities and also had a great job to go back to in LA when she boarded the plane that day.

Lisa’s legacy lives on and reminds me that we should be doing the best we can in order to bring the best out of others – the true currency of meaning in my book.

Thank You Lisa.

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The “Me-Too” Attitude

Posted on August 7, 2011 by admin

Listened to Johnny Wimbrey yesterday with my friend Jamie Dolan. He is quite an accomplished international speaker/life coach. It’s been a bit over a year since I went to see Tony Robbins in Rome and Johnny’s presentation struck accord with me in the same way that Tony’s did. A deja-vu moment which confirmed that I am right where I should be. Hey, after Tony it just took 3 months to get myself on the right professional track, surrounding myself with thinkers that can out-think me and representing a product I believe in. Strangely 5 minutes after I got to the event, a woman was speaking named Effercini from Cyprus and she looked quite familiar. Split second later it was another deja-vu moment – I met this woman at Tony Robbins a year earlier because I sat next to this massive Cypriot group. Thought I would share some bits from the event…

Great quotes of the day. This is all about having the right mindset and being yourself in order to activate small steps towards success.

  • People will start dancing to your own music and they won’t know why.
  • How solid is your foundation? Your roots need to be strong.
  • You deserve what other are getting in terms of success. Have a ‘me-too’ attitude.
  • If you try to swing the pendulum too much – chances are your not going to do it.
  • Think about sacrificing a season in order to go the extra mile
  • Don’t tell people everything until they see anything

So I am going to continue dancing (but to a different tune) and saying “me-too” more.

So simple but effective.

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Intro to Paris: For newbie’s

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

For newbie’s wanting a mix of neighbourhoods and attractions

Transport: Metro, walking, metro, and possibly taxi

A recommended itinerary from my trip to Paris last mid-May.

  • Notre Dame Cathedral
  • Eiffel Tower
  • River Cruise on the Seine starting from Eiffel Tower
  • Champs Elysees starting from Clemenceau to Arc de Triomphe
  • Montmatre area starting at the top of the hill with Basilica Sacre-Coeur and then meandering through the side streets down to the Moulin Rouge

Some pointers and fun things you may find en-route

Walking down the Champs Elysees stop at Laduree to try world famous macaroons. I also recommend the hot chocolate!

Don’t miss the Place du Tertre in Montmatre to find an artist colony of watercolor, portrait sketchers, and caricaturists

Even on a nice summer day the Seine can get a bit windy – just remember when hopping on board the boat cruise

Grap a crepe at one of the many stalls in Montmatre area

Lonely planet has a good walking tour of Montmatre where you can see a small working vineyard, where Vincent Van Gogh lived, and a windmill >>>Or this lovely tour company

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An idea…

Posted on May 17, 2011 by admin

So I like putting itineraries together for people. A bit quirky. A bit of a sample ‘tour.’ Something trendy. It’s my slice of heaven…putting a smile on people’s face through creating experiences. Wow..sounds like a hotel commercial, but with no ‘heavenly’ bed. Mom suggested I start a project 365 cities in 365 days. This may require oodles of travel or just a trip down memory lane. I certainly can find ways to talk about all sort of towns, cities, hamlets, villages I have visited in my lifetime thus far.

This is the challenge then: 365 daily itineraries. 365 days – the whiz-bang, the romantic, the trendy, the posh, the fun-filled – for 365 places.

The Tribute: I owe my enthusiasm for travel to Mom. So this goes out to her. Plus I must feature Mickey Mouse in one of my entries…she certainly understands the joy that Mickey brings.

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Random acts of Thank You…like ya mean it!

Posted on February 13, 2011 by admin

These days it feels like the word ‘Thank You’ is abused. Have you ever asked yourself how many times you say it…a day? When saying it – I mean – verbal or written. Now think of when you actually meant what you were saying. Instead of saying it for the sake of it…

It’s been bugging me a bit more lately how the meaning behind these two words is diminishing. They way I see a meaningful ‘Thank You’ – it should be memorable, provide that lil warm feeling inside, and make you want to say it more – at the right times. Recently, when I connected some new friends moving to Capetown with an old flatmate of mine who moved back a couple years ago. I thought it would be a nice gesture to connect them and they got in touch straight away. Not even 24 hours later they were hanging out and seeing the sites with her. A really nice feel good email came across from each of them – through their words I could see the excitement and comfort knowing they made a good match.

One of the best ‘Thank You’s was from my friend Kathy N. in High School – kind of came out of the blue one day and it really gave me the warm, fuzzy feeling:

….so if there was an award I can give you for having the biggest heart and the energy you create when we hang out I would totally give it to you. But I don’t know of one so I am dubbing you the ‘Mother Theresa of Friends – aka Mutha Chaiks’ heheheheh, corny but that is the way I thought of it. So have a great time tonight and thanks for being such a great friend and an overall awesome person.

On that note – This year’s big up is to random acts of thank you, but like ya mean it! I like the way you can surprise and delight through a meaningful thank you. So 2011 will be catching some people by surprise.

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Time to put up and shut up. Bring it, 2011

Posted on December 25, 2010 by admin

Thanks to Helen Walters for saying it right in a recent 2010 re-cap post:

“And that’s why 2010 gets to be thanked. It marked an important moment of no return. No more floundering. No more waiting for someone else to show the way. No more imagining that surely everything will be alright eventually. It will be, of course, but because I will make it so. I fear it sounds like I swallowed a self-help book, but I’m grateful for being able to recognize that we have one life, so best start living it sharpish. Yes, bills need to be paid and responsibilities have to be faced. But no more of the hamster wheel. The viable economy of all our futures will be built on the passion and talent of individuals. Time to put up and shut up. Bring it, 2011.”

My 2010 re-cap coming shortly…

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