Where are the easy answers?

If you know anything about DARPA then driverless cars is not a surprise to you. Trying to get a car to do the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb at speed (like Audi is going to do) or negotiate a full on urban situation (like Google is going to do) is quite a step further.  The Audi thing is more like a “because it’s there” kind of challenge, but the Google version is about doing good in the world and reducing the road toll (something we obsess over in Australia (in comparison to deaths per capita shown here or here).  IDEO think we need a better set of controls to make driving a car easier for us to help that, but we haven’t done that well with remote controls so far.

So why are there problems like this in the world? Maybe we are phoning it in or just going through the motions? Maybe there is something repressing about general company culture? Maybe we are scared at the high price of being brave and doing the things we must, and how that will look? Or maybe we are being held back by an unconscious sense of familiarity? Maybe we need a better challenge – after all, it is certainly possible for to make the sun shine in the dark.

Being surrounded in our world by greatness and sources of inspiration, you would think that it is relatively hard for a disaster of innovation to happen – except that they do.

I hope I have the energy to strive for above average when it matters – even when it seems like it doesn’t.

Keith

PS. ”The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.” – Benjamin Mays

What are you doing with your data?

This video report on data visualisation is awesome if you can spare the hour of watch – plus the rest of the time you will spend clicking on the various links.

A great piece of information visualisation/ consolidation in itself.
http://datajournalism.stanford.edu/

Something I will return to over and over.

Keith

PS. “We aren’t in an information age, we are in an entertainment age.” – Tony Robbins

Robots or Linchpins? How about both!

GonkBot from JeffSotoArt

I would love to have a robot working for me, even an old one….

(I have borrowed the Star Wars Gonk Bot image from JeffSotoArt – he has a variety of images for sale there – beautiful work)

I am a big fan of Seth Godin and the ideas expressed in Linchpin around emotional labour. I have also seen a similar idea expressed by another favourite blog of mine Christopher S Penn’s Awaken your Superhero around the idea of not having robots working for you.

While I do like the sentiment they express, I am very aware that my own work in building an automated reporting solution within Excel is pushing relentlessly to doing substantial amounts of work robotic-ally.

I think the point I would want to make though is: We don’t have to choose between robots and Linchpins.  Both have their place and both together can be very effective indeed!

Keith

PS. “You are remembered for the rules you break.” Douglas MacArthur