Geek Boss

Listen very carefully, I shall say this only twice…

‘To get employees to do something, managers need to ask them at least twice.’ –  Harvard Business Review.

Managers are combining different types of communication, such as email, IM and phone calls, to repeat and reinforce key messages, and so:

‘Managers who were deliberately redundant [i.e. used multiple channels of communication] moved their projects forward faster and more smoothly.’

Continue reading “Effective managers say the same thing twice”

An insight into Apple’s Jonathan Ive – Royal College of Art Innovation Night.

A good while ago now, I went to see Jonathan Ive interviewed by Sir Christopher Frayling at the Royal College of Art Innovation Night.

Continue reading “Reflections on Jonny Ive and Apple design”

Steve Jobs obsessively tinkered and polished Apple’s products (and his yacht, apparently). Jonathan Ive said that Apple doesn’t do focus groups. As Jobs once remarked, before Henry Ford, if you asked people what they wanted they would have asked for a more efficient horse.

Continue reading “Are you Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg?”

We’ve all had that Monday morning feeling. A mix of tiredness, anxiety and resignation. Defeated before we’ve begun.

Continue reading “Monday mornings and how to defeat them”

Thank you XKCD for this. Is it worth your time? Funny but also useful. Hat tip also to the ever-marvellous Chart Porn.

I came across this speech transcript when I was writing a piece about managing geeks. I wrote it eons ago when I was running Intelligent Games (IG), a computer games company. I’m sure that I didn’t always practice what I preached but looking back some of the points still seem pretty valid for how to manage creativity more generally.

Continue reading “How to manage creativity”

‘Consumers are irresistibly drawn to product specifications.’ – The Atlantic , drawing on findings published in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Continue reading “More is more, says research”

I love my current clients – this isn’t about them. But in the past, mainly when I was a freelance journalist, I have had to deal with a few clients that were very difficult. They went from profit to pain.

Continue reading “What’s your ‘profit to pain’ ratio for client management?”

Here rolls the sea
And even here
Lies the other shore
Waiting to be reached
Yes here
Is the everlasting present
Not distant
Not anywhere else

Continue reading “Done is better than perfect”