The idea of failing fast is in vogue among the corporate elite aka The C Suite. I love the experimental spirit of this concept, but, like many ideas that get co-opted by MBA marketing genius types, the Fail Fast mantra can be dangerous if you’re not failing fast the right way. Here are a few tips to help make your fast failures more valuable and actionable.
I recently read a post by Jaime Creixems on his affection for the superior experiences crafted by Disney Imagineers (and to a lesser degree Apple). It’s nothing that hasn’t been said before; in a nutshell, Disney & Apple care deeply about and excel at user experience design (water is also wet).
Jaime also said the following, which I could not agree with more:
To achieve that kind of ‘awesomeness’ you need to care deeply about details.
His attention to detail comment, coupled with Andy Budd’s recent scathing remarks about the agency model inspired this post.
I’ve been clear about my affection for the social bookmarking service Delicious, but I’m afraid that the site’s days are numbered. It has nothing to do with Yahoo! selling it off—honestly, I’m happy that they did. It has everything to do with the ubiquity of two little buttons (seen on this blog) that are powered by two of the largest Internet companies in the world.
Commercials are an annoyance that we’ve learned to tolerate.
Commercials are annoying. Sure, every once in a while there’s a commercial that does a fine job of storytelling, capturing viewer attention and even becoming part of the cultural fabric. But these types of advertisements are the exception.
Commercials are intrusive. They’re fast-forwarded through—an excuse to run to the bathroom. Commercials are an annoyance that we’ve learned to tolerate as television viewers/radio listeners. We’ve been conditioned to believe that this invasive style of advertising is a necessity that must be endured in order to enjoy quality content.
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After dropping the kids off at school yesterday, I headed to our local Whole Foods Market to pick up the Thanksgiving turkey. Fortunately, I made it into the store just as it opened, beat the crowd and left unscathed – poultry in hand.
Prior to driving away from the store, I posted the following to my Twitter account:
So I went to @wholefoods this morning, and one of their employees gave me the bird. Happy Thanksgiving
People are going to say bad/mean things about you. It’s a fact of life. It’s also something that prevents many businesses from participating in online communities and other websites that offer user generated content.
We can’t invite conversation about our product (business, brand, etc.) because someone may say something negative! This is a comment that I hear all too often, and it’s true—if given the opportunity, someone, at some point, could say something critical or disparaging. But guess what… someone, at some point, will say something critical or disparaging whether you participate in social media or not.
