Enough!

Ever since coming to the USA I had to adjust the meaning of the words "design" or "innovation" in my vocabulary, apparently our cultures (Italian and American) are far enough to require these adjustments. However, I never really bought into one of the accepted "truths" in this business, that sounds more or less like this: "P&G is one of  the most powerful corporations when it comes to Design and Innovation".

Then you see things like this article.

Really? That's how low we've taken the bar for "innovation"? I'm glad the article points out that this is weak, and late, I still believe that even the "good" innovations in this pattern deserve a better scrutiny.
As far as In can tell, these"innovations" almost never have a real positive effect on people's lives, although I admit sometimes they do fatten wallets...is that still a good measure?

Mahalo

Fantastic!

I stumbled upon this, and happily repost.
Further proof that "how" is often times more powerful than "what"
Laughing Squid: Gorgeous Watermelon Dragon Sculpture Carved From 14 Watermelons

Mahalo

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Beutiful wheels...and thoughts

Paul Bunditz hit home again, with his beautiful bikes, carefully crafted with tremendous quality. I recommend that you check out the website here, and even more so his thoughts here

One of my favorite lines: "There’s no objective measure of good taste. Love transforms crap into wonder."

Mahalo

How to get things done

Today I stumbled upon an article on Steven Sinofsky, the man that is turning Microsoft upside down (in a good way). I particularly enjoyed this part:

"...So Sinofsky told them how he does things. Plan first, then build. Eliminate most middle management. Deliver exactly what you promise, exactly on time"

Makes sense, right? Then why is it so hard for most corporations to grasp this concept?

You can read the whole article here if you want.

Mahalo

HOME

This is the trailer for an amazing documentary, the full movie is free and can be watched here.
If anybody you know sees this, all possible outcomes I can imagine are good.
Please share

Mahalo

Geek Hour

Ok, I confess it: I'm a "weregeek", it's like a werewolf but turns into a geek instead of a wolf.
Every designer is, to some degree, a geek; this isn't something I figured out on my own, I once heard Mark Newson (one of the "coolest" design personas out there) say that he was one, and it got me thinking. You have to be, to become totally immersed in something and discover...
Which is why, even if I doubt this is what Mark Newson had in mind, I'm not too ashamed posting a couple of shots of what I did yesterday evening (Uber-geek)

I find a strange, perverse pleasure in disassembling something beyond my reach in terms of complexity, something that no longer works, and somehow find a way to solve whatever the issue was, reassemble, and enjoy the new life of the object.
In strict financial terms, the time I spent doing this was probably worth more than a 7 year old mac anyway, but there's something very zen in getting lost completely in a task like this, and that's where the real value is.
Plus, I'm keeping it out of a landfill for a little longer. That's also worth a lot.
And I'm now my son's hero.
By the way, it now works as good as new :)

Mahalo

Overwhelmed

Well, I haven't been updating my blog a lot lately.
Truth is, the last few months have been times of change for me, or at least times that will lead to change.
I'm in the middle of a personal transformation, that hopefully will lead to a better me, and perhaps a better life (not that mine is so bad after all).
As you can imagine, because of this, my mind has been racing with a lot of thoughts, and a seemingly total lack of direction. As a result, every time I've tried to sit down and write my thoughts I've been overwhelmed by all this, and ended up writing nothing.
Well, today I'm trying something to break this dry spell.
Recently I was watching TV with my kids, and I stumbled upon a show on Victor Borge. I had a blast, and my kids (5 and 8) were also laughing hysterically, which of course made me question once again the value of Spongebob & friends versus what used to make our parents laugh.
I decided to post a short clip from Victor Borge's immense body of work, to see if the lighter mood of this video breaks the spell of my overwhelming thoughts. Enjoy.



Mahalo

bread

I've been playing with bread recipes lately. Here's the latest outcome... not bad

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inspiration

Sometimes you find random sentences or images, in random places, that light up your day, even just a little bit

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Chapeau

makes me regret buying a bread machine...

Mahalo

Good Saturday

The waves were good this morning, perfect shape. Too bad for the fierce crowd, I caught way fewer than I wanted, but still managed to get a handful of really good ones, plus some fillers.
Thanks Dave for kicking me out of bed.
Now the time has come to partake in the activity that in my mom's hometown is called "polleggio"...pretty heavy stuff ...see if you can find it on the web.
That's why I need to replenish now.
Same homemade bread, same homegrown chicken...can't speak for the pig, but I trust the source.
Mahalo

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Innovation Process?

At work a lot of people keep talking about "innovation process".
Of course I can be wrong (I usually am), but the way I look at things "innovation process" is an oxymoron. 
Process, in the business world, is what you put in place to have predictable results. You have manufacturing processes, development processes, testing processes...
It seems obvious to me that if you're after innovation, predictability somehow shouldn't be part of the picture. You can use processes to help structure the exploration, I'll give you that, but I personally see that as a dangerous thing, and here's why: a lot of people (far too many in here) confuse the meanings of two words, "process" and "results".
It's not a direct translation, but there's a firm believe that a process is all you need to get results, and if you follow the process well you'll get your results.
Now, while this can be true in, say, manufacturing, I don't think it helps innovation one bit.
What happens instead is that anybody, even people that aren't naturally cut for it, feels entitled to drive an innovation effort, just because they have a process to follow. Furthermore, the idea that the process guarantees results prevents people from trying to break the rules (of the process itself), and where I come from breaking the rules, or at least bending them, is one of the key ingredients of innovation.
Luckily, to quote Corinne Maier, in the corporate world "..you will not be judged by how well you perform, you will be judged by how well you conform", therefore as long as you follow process and check all the boxes, you'll get your performance bonus.
Even if you're driving the company into the ground.


Mahalo