The (old) Alpha Mind

Seth Godin on the inbox mentality needs a little clarification for solo practitioners. We who fill our own in-boxes need to keep them empty as well as keeping them filled. I followed the careers of a bunch of Guy Kawasaki’s devotees during the last bubble, and saw far too many who thought they’d make a killing by being “idea people” while remaining isolated. Many of them, I think, had good ideas, but needed the discipline of emptying the in-boxes they themselves had filled. Even the “simple” matter of breaking out of isolation requires grunt work amounting to hundreds of tasks a month.

Lee, it’s simple. You have one of the most popular blogs on earth that mentions one of the most popular dishes in North America. The very fact that you mentioned tuna casserole once (now twice) on your blog means you will get lots of clicks from people who are actually looking for a recipe that will remind them of their midwestern (U.S.) parents.

Most of these people, BTW, are probably annoyed to find you don’t give a recipe.  If you’d like to allay their annoyance, just ask and I’ll send a seviceable recipe for tuna casserole.

You realize, don’t you, that having started this discussion is only going to give you greater prominence among tuna casserole bait-and-switch sites?

I learn from Lessig of Harvard Free Culture’s Dare. To Share. With Us. A “showcase of new & derivative artworks released under flexible licenses that allow for sharing & remixing.” Hope some Bostonian friend of mine will go and tell me about it. I’m stuck on this coast through May.

Jane Jacobs, a very forward thinker, dies at 89.

Shel Israel comments on Scott McNeally’s stepping down at Sun. I have my own comment:

I worked at Sun briefly, in ‘94, the summer between my two years at MIT. The company was in the doldrums then, and after some missteps (and after I left) McNealy turned things around nicely.

I found his style annoying at times, but I rooted for him for exactly the reason I believe he wanted me to root for him: he was David going after Redmond’s Goliath. I never wanted to see MS slain, but I hoped, and still hope, that there will be enough viable competitors to keep the company honest.

My desire for this was enough that I wanted more from Scott. But I’m grateful for what he gave us along this line.

Kathy Sierra (whose blog I must really like—I’m tempted to comment on it every day) reminds us of TV Turn Off Week.

I’m so glad it’s easy. I’ve been virtually TV-free for ten years. (”Virtually” means I watch other people’s sets but don’t own one, the way the Amish are car-free.) I love the video on Kathy’s post.

A week or so ago I was talking with my brother, whose household has been TV-free for over a year. We’re convinced that the reason most people give themselves for watching TV is simply to know what’s going on. Being pop-culturally literate, and up on current events. I know it’s a temptation for me. I’ve tried to keep my self pop-literate, and it sorta kinda works.

Here’s what I do: about twice a year I go to the web sites of the TV networks. I watch video snippets. I’ve especially appreciated Leno’s monologues and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. These usually give me a handful of pop-culture references I can Google and learn little bits about what America is thinking and feeling.

I also learn a big bit about myself. Each time I do this I spend far more time at it than I want to. Even if I’m not using a television set, TV is addictive, and I can surf for hours when I’ve only set aside an hour for it.

I know, too, that this education is very incomplete. Both my brother and I wish somebody would come up with a cheap service that collects TV ads, and revealing bits of the shows that are hot, and put them on DVD and mailed them out weekly. I’m not sure what I’d pay for them, but both as a marketer and as a citizen, I’d be greatly helped by seeing what the country is seeing, in a limited and very efficient manner.

I’ve become convinced that there are some very important and un-studied aspects of corporate innovation that are worth looking into. There are some roadblocks to innovation which a little insight could remove, and despite quite a throng of people studying innovation, I’m not sure all the dynamics have been understood.

I’m also convinced that technology vendors need to understand them. They need to understand the roadblocks on the way to both

• a potential adopter’s decision to innovate at all, and
• how the vendor might get deep enough in the process to get the design win.

So I’m launching a new study of innovation processes using a few Alpha Mind frameworks that I haven’t even published yet. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll publish those frameworks as I also prepare a research agenda and a plan for the first phase of study.

What I know already is that phase 1 will focus on M2M (machine-to-machine) innovation in manufacturing companies. Reason? Despite never having written about M2M publicly, I’ve consulted in the arena a couple of times in the last few years, and so I know a bit about it.

For starters, I already know some of the specific roadblocks to innovation in manufacturing firms, and I know how some companies have already fumbled their opportunities to win huge advantages through M2M innovation.

And I think I know how to learn more. Watch this space. I’ll post here as the research agenda takes shape.

Yes, there really seemed to be a good reason for me to mix my Quaker posts into my Alpha Mind blog. The reason was that Quakerism provides some excellent examples of the Alpha Mind, individuals who in some very different ways had lasting impact on the ideas and interactions of others. To name a few, George Fox, William Penn, Samuel Bownas, John Woolman, John Greenleaf Whittier, Robert K. Greenleaf, and Rufus Jones. (I also like to think Robert Levering, who lives and works just across the Bay from me, will also make a lasting mark.)

But the fact is that even if I blog a lot more here, studying those examples of thought leadership may wait a long time, since I have so much other work to keep me busy. And the Quaker posts I’ve put here really haven’t moved the Alpha Mind research agenda forward in any way at all.

So… I’ve built a new blog for my Quaker and Christian musings. It’s called Christian Alternative. Them as wants to read about Quakerism, ministry, inspiring humanitarianism and dreadful schisms, can read it over there.

And for them as needs reminding what this blog is all about, my very first post still says it best.

Kathy Sierra documents the first day in the lives of two foals. Lovely video. Almost had to get on the edge of my seat and root: “Go boy! Do it! Yeah!”

…and, alas, I’m left with much of the same frustration I had after reading Birth of the Chaordic Age. The actual working principles for creating a chaordic organization are few and far between.Â� Not that there aren’t any, but there aren’t enough to sink one’s teeth into.

I the six+ years since the book was published, I’d hoped there’d be more solid definitions, principles, and guidance for getting a choard built.Â� The Wikipedia page is faulted for being flully and philosophical. Well, “fluffy” is my extension of what’s actually said there, but I add it because I’m not sure there’s been enough practical knowledge generated to write a much more solid entry.