Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Change is the advantage

10. Change Your Idea

To benefit from engaging with users you have to be willing to change your idea. We've always encouraged founders to see a startup idea as a hypothesis rather than a blueprint. And yet they're still surprised how well it works to change the idea.

This is an excerpt from a rather good pice by Paul Graham on startups.

I think this point is rather crucial. Change is such a big part of actually creating value. Pushing and pulling too hard are not. I would almost say that change is a key innovation strategy.

Posted via web from Mark Whiting's posterous

Friday, November 6, 2009

Why are icebergs so photogenic?

Icebergs and iceland seem to both be great things to photograph. Why is this?

Posted via web from Mark Whiting's posterous

Designing Luck

This image was used by Jan Chipchase to note Ritualised Luck, situations where rituals exist which aim to increase someones luck. In this image a prayer card is shown which the driver touches before every ride.

I think however, this speaks about a greater source of luck, valuable rituals strategically designed to enable luck to integrate into your life. What I am suggesting is a bit like a serendipity strategy, a strategy designed to expose you to conducive situations, new information, creative ideas and extraordinary people to help you find great opportunities regularly.

I think some examples are: watching TED, taking part in community building, regular and diverse reading, enforced seclusion and bordom, and continuous context shifting such as traveling.

Any ideas about other such strategies?

Posted via web from Mark Whiting's posterous