Month: December 2009

Taking inventory and looking forward as the year comes to a close

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

I am seeing and reading lots of posts and updates about reflections of the past year and predictions for the new one.  This new year is even more reflective/prediction-oriented as we are entering a new decade (although it doesn't truly happen until the end of next year).

Ten years ago I was on Kiawah Island, SC to ring in Y2K and, as I recall, didn't think the world was coming to an end and or that every computer system was going to crash but believe I had a bit of extra cash and provisions (other than alcohol) just in case.  I was working for my first start up in Atlanta and the bottom had not dropped out of the technology sector yet.

Fast forward 10 years and I am on a different coast (Seattle) and working for a start up (Gist).  The more things change, the more they stay the same…

2010 will bring many things we expect and more that we don't…like every year I suppose.  Here are some thoughts looking forward to the new year:

World

The world is a dangerous place and we are the biggest target around (regardless of the billions we spend in humanitarian aid around the world).  As such, vigilance and assertiveness are our best defenses.  I still remember what it felt like on September 11th, 2001.  I fear many have forgotten.

Nation

I hope that our national leadership either begins to lead or is replaced by those who can.  Corruption, arrogance, and polarization benefit no one and will continue to feed the populist movement afoot in the rest of America.  Fiscal responsibility and the nurturing (not ownership) of the US economic engine must be a priority. 

Financial Markets

The capital markets continue on minus the casualties and blood letting of the past couple years.  I have no idea where the Dow ends up and don't care much but would like to see profits, earnings, and equity appreciation trend up (see point above) creating jobs and prosperity along the way.

Technology

Technology will continue to advance and as we become more personally connected electronically and share our own electronic narratives I hope our live personal interactions do not suffer.  I connect with many every day through various electronic media but treasure most a face-to-face conversation.

Me

I look forward to 2010 with anticipation.  I am excited to watch my girls continue to grow and will stay focused on treasuring every moment that passes.  I will continue to run, eat, work, and write doing my best to have life experiences along the way and will endeavor to share them succinctly here for your enjoyment.

Happy New Year!

Perfect seared scallops

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

I have tried for many years to get that amazing crusty sear on my scallops and have always failed miserably.  Recently, I (re)educated myself on the process after destroying a few with a dusting of flour, really hot oil, too much butter, etc. 

I have come a long way in my cooking over the years but there are still a few things I really suck at (like de-boning a chicken) and scallops were always on that list. 

Scallops, when done correctly, stand on their own and should not be abused with heavy sauces.  The key is to get them as dry as possible before dropping them into a pan with a butter/oil mixture for 1.5 minutes per side.  Use a little salt and pepper on them before searing and you will love them. 

That's it.  Like many things in cooking, simple preparation with high quality ingredients is all you need.

Food posts continue to be popular on my blog so thought I would add another one to the mix tonight.

Nice run this morning at the 12Ks of Christmas in Kirkland

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

I started the day off with a brisk run (faster than I thought I'd do it) in the annual Kirkland 12ks of Christmas run downtown.  This event did not happen last year due to snow and ice so we all missed a year. 

It is a good time, great distance (~7.5 miles), and nice part of the community here in Kirkland.  I ran it in 1:04:21 or 8:38 minute miles (here's the link to the full results). 

The rain mostly held off and I am looking forward to sore legs tomorrow as I have been off my usual running schedule due to work and waning motivation due to rain, cold, and darkness out here this time of year. 

Has healthcare reform become a true ‘Abilene Paradox’?

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

This is not intended to be a political post but rather one of the few times over the past 15 years that I can reference something I learned in business school around group decision dynamics – the Abilene Paradox. 

I will never forget the "Road to Abilene" video designed to reinforce it.  What the heck am I talking about? 

Here's the short version pulled from Wikipedia:

The Abilene paradox is a paradox
in which a group of people collectively decide on a course of action
that is counter to the preferences of any of the individuals in the
group.

I agree that healthcare in the US is a wreck and, in many ways, the costs are obstacles to entrepreneurship and innovation.  How many people do you know that are staying in a job because they need the benefits?  But I digress…

Why are we spending the cycles of so many smart people and the enthusiasm behind a new President for something that is not in the line of sight for the American people?  My advice to President Obama and his really scary colleagues (on both sides) in Congress is to focus on the economy and jobs.  The political capital spent to elevate and drive healthcare reform has been substantial but the outcome is not something the American people want…now.  We may need it but it is not what is wanted as unemployment stays high and people are seeing wages flat or below where they were last year.

No one has invited me to the Oval Office (yet) to share my opinion but the further the party in power heads towards Abilene the more they will feel the wrath of the electorate in the 2010 mid-terms and the 2012 presidential contest.

A year off every seven years?

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

Sounds like a good plan to me. 

Listen to what Stefan Sagmeister has to say about the power of time off and think about how you'd pull this off.  This is about taking a few less years of retirement and living a little more during your working years.

Thanks to the folks from the TED conference for sharing this and for Stefan for making us think about it.  This event is definitely on my list to work my way into at some point.

The 3 Most Important Trends Affecting Business, Technology, and Communications

/ Robert Pease / 3 Comments

I was recently asked about the three most important trends affecting business, technology, and communications.  Here is what I answered along with some additional thoughts on each:

1.  People are now able to rapidly connect based on shared needs, beliefs, or interests in ever smaller groups.

Connecting and sharing is now easier than ever with Facebook, Twitter, Ning, blogs, etc.  The list of ways to connect and share is very long but the important point here is that you don't need massive numbers to form an affinity group or micro-segment.

2.  Constant connectivity is blurring the line between personal and professional lives.

We all now come to work connected with our own mobile devices and computers as "work days" are evolving into a mix of personal pursuits and professional obligations that start way before 8am and end well after 5pm.  We all now have the ability to publish and build our individual brands so I am not just an employee of ABC company that does job X, I am a person with expertise who currently happens to work at ABC.  Read a few LinkedIn profiles and you'll see what I am talking about.

3.  Individuals are getting their news and information from places other than traditional media and are relying more on those with whom they are connected.

The turmoil traditional news sources, especially newspapers, are going through is widely known.  The cost structures of paper-based, advertising driven news does not translate to real-time news circulating on-line.  There are efforts underway to control access to news content and try to get to a workable new business model.  It is great to watch but I am darn glad I am not in that industry.  As "news" evolves and peer-based information sharing proliferates we will be informed by those we know or are connected to much more than by arm's length journalists. 

My answers are not the product of extensive research but rather how I see things coming together around me as I spend my days dealing with business, technology, and communications.  What do you think?

Workflow vs. Wizardry

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

Ok, so I'm trying to be a bit clever with my title here but wanted to put a post out there about the difference between the technical innovation that powers a product and the workflow that product enables.  Cool technology for the sake of cool technology is great and all but in order for it to be worthy of paying for it must serve some functional need – established, in need of optimization, or newly created.

My first start up was a company called Idapta.  We had really cool technology built by some super smart people.  The only problem was that we were building for a market that had yet to materialize (everyone remembers the build it and they will come strategy around B2B marketplaces, right?).  As we tried to pivot into the world of supply chain management, we were woefully unprepared both functionally and institutionally to address the core workflow needs at the process level and the underlying legacy technology.

My point is that it is definitely important to push the window of innovation and build great new products but that has to be mapped back to the demand profile of your market.  There is either pent up or realized demand awaiting your clever new widget or latent (yet to be realized) need requiring you to spend time, money, and energy elevating that pain to the point of need for a solution.  Needless to say, the latter option is super expensive and can be a "long hard slog."

Are you building with the workflow of your target user in mind or just building what you want to?  What do your target customers/users currently use to do what you want them to do with your product?  Nothing?  Then you are going to be elevating pain.  Ridiculously inefficient process or manual workaround?  Then you are on to something.