Winners
11/29/2008 10:52 Filed in: Presentations
We have someone in the office who has a quote posted in
their cubicle that says, “Winners don’t do different
things. They do things differently.” Apparently, this
was written by Shiv Khera, a motivational
speaker and author from India. Now, I thought
about this for quite a while, trying to figure out
just what this meant.
Obviously, the difference between the meaning of “different” and “differently” in the context of the quote was the essence of the meaning of this statement. It was after figuring out what that difference is that I realized that the quote is actually representative of the problem nowadays. In the context of the quote, “different” means something fundamentally different while “differently” means doing the same thing, just in a different manner. The reason this is a problem is that this advice encourages people to stick to the herd and that mere cosmetic changes are what will lead you to success.
I see this thinking at play all the time and it kills creativity while giving it lip service. It fosters closed minds and resistance to change. It feeds the fear and loathing of anything truly different. For example, when speccing out a workstation for print, design, and video work, the thought of some was, “Get a beefy Dell.” It was the fear and loathing of that which is truly different for them (the Mac) that closed their minds to the best tools and equipment for the job while leaving their minds “open” to mere variations of the same theme of what was currently on their desk.
I also see this in presentation slide design. We have people “simplifying” their slides by merely removing all of the background while keeping their walls of text and endless sea of bullet points.
Another way we can see just how Mr. Khera’s quote is off the mark is when presenting data to your audience. For this example, I took the Operating System usage statistics on my web site and whipped up the following.
The first slide is your typical chart throwing all of the data on the screen, giving each data point equal importance, whether it deserves it or not:
There are obvious problems with this slide. Each data point, by being placed in this chart are given equal importance. However, what’s important to me as the presenter is that the Mac has 12% usage share on my site. This is far more than most of those stuck in the Windows world would imagine. It’s a potentially powerful point that gets lost in all of the noise. You also have more data points than colors given how Windows and the Sony PSP share the yellow color. Granted, this is a limitation of Keynote, but it’s actually a good limitation. Too many data points dilutes your message. If you need more than 6 colors for your chart, you have far too much information in there.
So, using Shiv Khera’s approach to this slide, we have this:
With this slide, I’m doing the same thing, just “differently.” I’ve added snazzy textures to the pie chart and made the pieces explode out to give them separation. However, do you think this actually helps the message? I’d say this is even worse. Here, you have an appealing, but distracting texture for the pie chart pieces and the orientation of the chart actually emphasizes the Windows slice while hiding the Macintosh slice. You could even swap the order of these two examples and you’d have the same problems as I listed above.
Now, let’s take a fundamentally different approach. One where I’m not doing the same thing, just differently, but rethinking the delivery process in its entirety.
With this slide, I’ve completely cut through the noise and using only the statistic that really matters for the message. I have an image (a photo by Aaronage) of a Macintosh computer with the 12% in big, bold numbers. With this slide, there’s no question whatsoever what my message is.
Unfortunately, in my day to day life, I see more of the first two slides than I do of the last one. This is because too many people are afraid to be different and instead are just doing things differently.
Obviously, the difference between the meaning of “different” and “differently” in the context of the quote was the essence of the meaning of this statement. It was after figuring out what that difference is that I realized that the quote is actually representative of the problem nowadays. In the context of the quote, “different” means something fundamentally different while “differently” means doing the same thing, just in a different manner. The reason this is a problem is that this advice encourages people to stick to the herd and that mere cosmetic changes are what will lead you to success.
I see this thinking at play all the time and it kills creativity while giving it lip service. It fosters closed minds and resistance to change. It feeds the fear and loathing of anything truly different. For example, when speccing out a workstation for print, design, and video work, the thought of some was, “Get a beefy Dell.” It was the fear and loathing of that which is truly different for them (the Mac) that closed their minds to the best tools and equipment for the job while leaving their minds “open” to mere variations of the same theme of what was currently on their desk.
I also see this in presentation slide design. We have people “simplifying” their slides by merely removing all of the background while keeping their walls of text and endless sea of bullet points.
Another way we can see just how Mr. Khera’s quote is off the mark is when presenting data to your audience. For this example, I took the Operating System usage statistics on my web site and whipped up the following.
The first slide is your typical chart throwing all of the data on the screen, giving each data point equal importance, whether it deserves it or not:
There are obvious problems with this slide. Each data point, by being placed in this chart are given equal importance. However, what’s important to me as the presenter is that the Mac has 12% usage share on my site. This is far more than most of those stuck in the Windows world would imagine. It’s a potentially powerful point that gets lost in all of the noise. You also have more data points than colors given how Windows and the Sony PSP share the yellow color. Granted, this is a limitation of Keynote, but it’s actually a good limitation. Too many data points dilutes your message. If you need more than 6 colors for your chart, you have far too much information in there.
So, using Shiv Khera’s approach to this slide, we have this:
With this slide, I’m doing the same thing, just “differently.” I’ve added snazzy textures to the pie chart and made the pieces explode out to give them separation. However, do you think this actually helps the message? I’d say this is even worse. Here, you have an appealing, but distracting texture for the pie chart pieces and the orientation of the chart actually emphasizes the Windows slice while hiding the Macintosh slice. You could even swap the order of these two examples and you’d have the same problems as I listed above.
Now, let’s take a fundamentally different approach. One where I’m not doing the same thing, just differently, but rethinking the delivery process in its entirety.
With this slide, I’ve completely cut through the noise and using only the statistic that really matters for the message. I have an image (a photo by Aaronage) of a Macintosh computer with the 12% in big, bold numbers. With this slide, there’s no question whatsoever what my message is.
Unfortunately, in my day to day life, I see more of the first two slides than I do of the last one. This is because too many people are afraid to be different and instead are just doing things differently.
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Design By Committee
11/08/2008 12:56 Filed in: Presentations
The video below is a great example of how many
organizations tackle designing their solutions. Though
this uses a corporation as an example, this very much
applies to government as well. Design by committee
rarely, if ever works and is almost guaranteed to lead
to the project's failure. Common problems that crop up
are:
All of these can and do create products that, much like the stop sign in the video, just do not work. I see this all the time when I, someone who can visualize concepts and ideas, am pushed aside, dismissed, or shouted down by those who, by their own admission, can't or have a hard time visualizing. I understand that in my case, there's more at play than what I have listed above, but addressing that list can lead to more effective design efforts.
Keep your stakeholders limited to what is necessary and seek and respect expert opinions.
- Not considering or incorrectly identifying the audience
- Design decisions that are made because "it looks good" or "it's interesting" without being able to explain why
- Ignoring the designers
- Overly self-important attitudes (either individually or organizationally)
- Losing sight of the core purpose
- Thinking that "more is more"
- Not recognizing other design talent in the organization
All of these can and do create products that, much like the stop sign in the video, just do not work. I see this all the time when I, someone who can visualize concepts and ideas, am pushed aside, dismissed, or shouted down by those who, by their own admission, can't or have a hard time visualizing. I understand that in my case, there's more at play than what I have listed above, but addressing that list can lead to more effective design efforts.
Keep your stakeholders limited to what is necessary and seek and respect expert opinions.
Fire Them Up!
11/08/2008 12:56 Filed in: Presentations
Of Obama and Communism
11/05/2008 20:56 Filed in: The World At
Large
For those who follow me on Twitter, you may be thinking
I'm going overboard when I equate the Democrats' gains
in Congress and in Obama's taking the White House with
a slide toward Communism. However, consider the
following all together. It smacks of the Soviet
rhetoric we heard growing up:
Biden insisting that paying more taxes is the patriotic thing to do:
Pelosi telling us that a one-party state under the democrats would make Congress more "bipartisan"
I'm sure she meant, "But I do tell you that if the Democrats win, and have substantial majorities, the American people would be happy serfs."
And then there's Obama calling those bourgeois wanting to keep their hard earned money "selfish":
Who can forget Obama's lamenting that the courts weren't more redistributionist:
...and the "guardian of free speech (as long as it's Marxist)" Pelosi rounding this off with:
Yes, Madam Speaker. You and what you stand for is dangerous. I hope and pray the Constitution and all it stands for can withstand their assaults.
Biden insisting that paying more taxes is the patriotic thing to do:
"We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people," Biden said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."Noting that wealthier Americans would indeed pay more, Biden said: "It's time to be patriotic ... time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut."http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977452499
Pelosi telling us that a one-party state under the democrats would make Congress more "bipartisan"
"Elect us, hold us accountable, and make a judgment and then go from there. But I do tell you that if the Democrats win, and have substantial majorities, Congress of the United States will be more bipartisan," said Pelosi.http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/28/pelosi-you-know-what-would-make-congress-more-bipartisan-giving-us-total-control/
I'm sure she meant, "But I do tell you that if the Democrats win, and have substantial majorities, the American people would be happy serfs."
And then there's Obama calling those bourgeois wanting to keep their hard earned money "selfish":
"The reason that we want to do this, change our tax code, is not because I have anything against the rich. I love rich people! I want all of you to be rich. Go for it. That’s the America dream, that’s the American way, that’s terrific... "John McCain and Sarah Palin they call this socialistic. You know I don’t know when, when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness.http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/obama-blasts-selfish-americans-for-not.html
Who can forget Obama's lamenting that the courts weren't more redistributionist:
...and the "guardian of free speech (as long as it's Marxist)" Pelosi rounding this off with:
"It's interesting to hear Senator McCain talking about the dangerous Obama, Reid, Pelosi. Dangerous is not really a word that should be a part of a national debate as we go into a presidential race," said Pelosi.http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=6473426
Yes, Madam Speaker. You and what you stand for is dangerous. I hope and pray the Constitution and all it stands for can withstand their assaults.
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes...
11/02/2008 14:10 Filed in: Personal
As you can see, things have changed around here. I've
updated the design of the site and made my Twitter
postings more prominent given I post there more often
than here and will probably continue to do so. With
that said, I don't intend to let this site whither
away, which is why I put the Twitter widget up at the
top. I will also be posting here more.
Gone are the forums. Frankly, they weren't being used and with each passing day, are becoming more of a liability.
iPhone users, see the link to the top right. Yessir! This site is also available in an iPhone-friendly format.
I'm still using RapidWeaver. I don't want to use a hosted service and I don't want to have to worry about constantly updating (and breaking) blogging software.
As I make further tweaks, I'll post them.
Gone are the forums. Frankly, they weren't being used and with each passing day, are becoming more of a liability.
iPhone users, see the link to the top right. Yessir! This site is also available in an iPhone-friendly format.
I'm still using RapidWeaver. I don't want to use a hosted service and I don't want to have to worry about constantly updating (and breaking) blogging software.
As I make further tweaks, I'll post them.
Racists For Anne Barth?
11/02/2008 11:58 Filed in: The World At
Large
This should come as no surprise, given the amount of
money he brings to our state, but our senator famous
for using the "N" word on the Senate floor 9 years ago
can be seen endorsing Anne Barth in her race for
Congress. What's more important than this racist's
endorsement of Barth is defeating her for the sake of
pluralism. If Barth were to win, it would send us back
to having only one political point of view representing
our state in Congress. There is no way that can be
justified as good for our democracy.
Beware those who merely exchange their hoods for a straw hat and a newspaper:
Beware those who merely exchange their hoods for a straw hat and a newspaper: