Bottlebrush

I don't remember ever seeing these before.  I looked them up and their name matches their unusual flower shape, bottlebrush.  In full bloom they are quite striking.

According to Gardenguides.com the bottlebrush tree (Callistemon citrinus) is an evergreen shrub native to Australia but widely grown in southern California and Florida.  Apparently they will survive up in Savannah as well.  The long lasting blooms are very popular with birds and insects, especially hummingbirds, and appear in the spring and summer.  

Research

These are some books I have read for a current project on modifying behaviors.

There is a lot of information in here but these are my Key Takeaways: 

1. People often do not realize the reasons behind their actions and continue to follow the same patterns without thinking.  This is beneficial except when it is not.  

2. Techniques for change include becoming more aware of actions and making small changes slowly. 

3. Variable rewards are very strong motivators.

4. Social reinforcement is very powerful.

24e Design Co.

This is one of my favorite stores on Broughton St. in downtown Savannah, GA.  They have furniture, artwork, lighting and more.  They also provide design services.  The style ranges from industrial (with old plane parts) to traditional and exotic, but I like almost everything there.

Strategy. Structure. Sales

I went to a presentation last night put on by the local GA/SC Coastal NKBA chapter.  The presenter was Ammie Dover of Larek Point Consulting.  She did a nice job of presenting (without the crutch of slides) concise and actionable steps to improve small business success. Many of the things she emphasized dovetailed nicely with Good to Great by Jim Collins.  

Main Takeaways:

Have a specific goal, a plan to reach that goal with deliberate actions.

Make sure everyone in the company is on the same page.  Everyone and everything is a representation of you and your brand.  

Put processes in place, she is a big fan of checklists, so that there is continuity and clear expectations.

Script and practice for conflicts, this was also talked about in Habits by Charles Duhigg.

Make processes measurable and hold people, including yourself, accountable.

Know who your ideal customer is.  Not every dollar has the same value.  

Have a clear vision of who you are, what you do, why you do it and who you do it for.

 

Stop Trying to Save the World

This is a fairly long article written by Michael Hobbes but really worth the read if you are interested in these issues.  I have been hearing/reading a fair amount about foreign and domestic aid projects recently from both sides and I largely agree with this author's conclusions.  These are my conclusions.

www.lowyinterpreter.org

www.lowyinterpreter.org

There is no magic bullet.

One size does not fit all.  What works in one instance can not be automatically scaled up and spread out everywhere with assumptions of the same results.  Also there are differing measures of 'success'.

Donor expectations can easily exceed plausibility.

Even if you find the keystone change that may improve say, education, you can not anticipate all the long term and wide ranging adaptations of the community to this change.  In other words the butterfly effects, positive and negative, are unpredictable.

Cultural legacies can not be ignored.  This is true both at home and abroad.  Asking local people what they want and need is key to understanding what is needed and what will really work there.  Also keeping in contact and involving local people in long term follow up shows that you really care about more than just short term headlines.

And of course this is not to say that no one should try to help other people.  It's still the right thing to do and some people are very passionate about it.  Just be aware of the pitfalls and try to ensure what you're doing doesn't actually end up making those people you were trying to help worse off then when you started.

Brainstorming

I thought this was a very good description from Accelerator (part of Bresslergroup) of the ideal brainstorming process and an interesting project.  I do think brainstorming can still be effective, however, it is not something that just magically happens.  Planning is key.  This includes proper framing of the problem, key constraints and letting people think about it separately on their own ahead of time.  Everyone comes prepared with ideas ahead of time and all ideas are presented  whether the person behind them is the "loudest in the room" or not.  I also enjoy the rule about not criticizing an idea unless you can come up with a better one.

Break Books

These are the two books I read over our weeklong spring break.  Both from the Jen Library.  

This was the second of Malcolm Gladwell's books that I have read.  The basic takeaway for me was that you can be "successful" if you work hard, are focused and persistent.  However, to be a superstar you also have to be born at the right time, in the right place and to the right parents.  I'm not sure if this is meant to be encouraging or discouraging.  The most interesting thing to me was the difference birth month makes to sports success.

outliers.jpg

This book was a really easy read.  I got through it in two days.  Unfortunately I'd heard most of the interesting premises of this book through news stories.  There is a lot of focus on personal habits and how to make and break them.  How you need to work out your willpower muscle.  This is the part I'd heard before.  I wish there had been a little more to the section about organizational habits and how to change them, other than waiting for a major crisis.  Interestingly this is also the second book I've read recently that uses Rosa Parks as an example, the other was 'Quiet' by Susan Cain.  That makes the argument that she was an introvert and that's why she had such a great impact, this makes the argument that she had a wide and strong social group and that's why she had such a great impact.  I feel both may be stretching her to make a point, I need to read a biography of her next see what was really going on there.  


"So-Called"

This is another part of the SCAD Museum of Art program, deFine Art.  These works are by New York artist Nari Ward and feature objects found in his neighborhood.  As an immigrant he has a special feel for the American dream.  The opening of the constitution is made of cast off shoelaces, recalling the 'bootstrap' mentality of success through hard work.  

In a picture, I see immediately what this says.  But in the space it read like a foreign language, reminding me of trips I'd taken to other countries where I did not speak the language and all the signs looked like gibberish.

These are figures made of foam insulation and little electronic bits like fuses, transistors and the like.

'Tramatic' Kitchens

I saw this flicker post because it got a lot of publicity.  Apparently it's a home in Chicago and has already sold after high demand.  This piqued my interest because some of the appliance designs seem like they had potential.  I dug around and discovered there is a set in this home right here in Savannah from two years later, 1958.  Note they both had replaced the dishwasher and the Savannah home replaced the washer/dryer. I also discovered these awesome ads for the originals on Sociological Images here.  

I can't seem to find any info on how long these were made and why some of them didn't take off. I don't think the name really helps it.  Who thought 'Tramatic' was a good idea?  The ad copy is fantastic.  Built-Ins in quotes as this was apparently a new concept.  Not just yellow, blue and pink but Canary Yellow, Petal Pink, Cadet Blue, Turquoise Green and of course Woodgrain.  

This ad wisely makes no mention of 'Tramatizing' your home but I do think it is interesting there were financing and trade-in options.  I don't know of anywhere your old appliances have trade-in value now.  However I suspect the conversion of existing kitchens to accommodate this style of fridge was not as easy or cheap as they make it out to be.  I am sure this is one reason this never really caught on.  Also the vertically challenged, disabled and children would have trouble accessing this.

Out of all these ideas the built in wall oven seems to be the only one with lasting power.  Versions of the cooktop itself still exists of course but these separate controls with all the buttons would be absolutely irresistible to children and I can see why they had to go.

A few of these ideas made better traction in Europe.  The refrigerator and the combo washer dryer in particular.  I've seen the combo washer dryer here in the states from LG but it was not a big seller as it had extended cycle times and lower capacities then we are used to.    

Ergonomically the dishwasher seems like the worst solution.  You must have had to remove the top rack and then lean in to get to the second rack.  Surprising since the wall oven and fridge seem made with ergonomics in mind.  Of course you still have to lean that low to get to the lower rack of a dishwasher now.  I am curious how well the dishwasher cleaned since water seems to have come from all sides.  I thought initially it spun the dishes but upon close inspection you can see the top rack is square. It also looks like the capacity is limited.  Combined with the awkward lid you had to clamp on and remove I'm not surprised this one didn't have lasting power.

SCAD MOA-deFINE ART

A really interesting piece by Xu Bing called '1st Class'.  His exhibit, called Things Are Not What They First Appear, is part of the deFINE ART 2015 program at SCAD Museum of Art through July 1st 2015.

It looks like a tiger skin rug from a distance.

Upon closer examination you see it is made of cigarettes.

This is the equivalent of 68 years of a pack a day habit.

It completely changes color from different angles.

The tobacco gives the room a distinct smell as well.

This was my favorite angle, where you can see some of both. 

This made me think of 'paper tiger' because of the cigarette paper.  Probably not what he was going for as a paper tiger is something that is supposed to look dangerous but really is not.  This is the opposite of what I would say about cigarettes.  But that's what popped into my head.  Also this apparently took the better part of a week to install.  Some sections are glued together but they are all loose around the edges.

Best of KBIS

Some interesting things from the KBIS show in Las Vegas last month.  Some winners I like better than others. LG's wireless charging countertop would be nice. The cover that makes the toilet look like an armchair not so much.  This little bathroom storage device may be stealing my thunder.

Mock-ups

Initial mock-ups for a toilet paper dispenser/storage unit. Wall hung, various sizes. Four roll, three roll and two roll capacity. May have a night light, air freshener and/or smart home connectivity to auto order more tp when start to get low.

4 roll

4 roll

3 roll

3 roll

2 roll

Easy to Use vs. Maximum Functionality

I just listened to the episode of the podcast 99% Invisible called 'Of Mice and Men'. I'll link here to the webpage which has helpful pictures.

This episode is partially about the invention of the mouse by a guy named Doug Engelbart but it's also about different ideas of products design. Do you make something super simple and easy to use with less functionality? Or do you pack in all the potential uses this product has even if it will take the user much longer to use all the functions. The former was Steve Jobs' theory. Make it clean and simple and easy to learn and people will but it. Over time you can add more functions once everyone has grasped the original concept. I think when you are introducing something so new it is really the only way you are going to get large scale adoption.

Also not everyone is interested in exploring every possible function. This is why you have people who can code and people who are perfectly happy just using the surface features of computers...I would sort of like a key set though so I didn't have to go back and forth from mouse to keyboard.  But then how would you integrate all of those Adobe keyboard shortcuts? 

Newest iteration of the Apple mouse. I don't maximize it's functionality either. To many gestures to keep track of and remember to use.

Newest iteration of the Apple mouse. I don't maximize it's functionality either. To many gestures to keep track of and remember to use.