Cheskin - Fresh Perspectives

Fog and what comes out of it.

Leah Hunter — 2009-06-30T17:03:16-08:00

I've been thinking alot about the idea of progress, change. I've always been a fan of the stretch goal, for myself and my clients. BIG ideas. Overhauls. Starting revolutions and burning things.

I'm in a different place today. Change doesn't have to happen in leaps. It's the movement that's important. The fact that you're taking a step. Tiny movements or slow ones, like in tai chi, are still movements. Imprecise or clumsy ones count too, maybe even more. When you're feeling awkward and still take a step, that's brave. Progress is really...

Sustainability Challenge: Worms need to eat, too

Dave Decelle — 2009-06-24T10:19:25-08:00

I can�t believe how easy it is to compost, and how much it reduces the volume of garbage we put out each week. It�s really very simple. We have 2 plastic bins hidden away in a discreet place in our back yard that is full of red worms who love to eat vegetable matter. Under the sink in our kitchen we have a small plastic container that we put all our food scraps into after each meal. Every 2 or 3 days we simply dump the kitchen container into the large bins in the back yard and let the worms do the rest of the work. They produce an incredibly nutrient-rich compost that we then add to our garden, lawn and houseplants twice a year. And other than dumping more food scraps on them, the worms are zero maintenance.

We have grown fond of our worms and the important work they do for us. I wouldn�t quite call them pets, but we do have a phrase in our family: �It�s time to feed the worms.� This is one of my two year old son�s favorite things to do.

This is one of the simplest, hassle free sustainability tasks you can do. How much vegetable matter do you waste by throwing it in the garbage?

Grab a mop. Make it shine.

Leah Hunter — 2009-06-18T16:48:54-08:00

I was in Houston a few months ago doing a brand experience workshop with Added Value. I always get into great conversations at these things, and this one was no exception. One of the participants told me a lesson her grandfather taught her when she was 10. He said, �No matter how high you rise in this world, you�re never too high to go back and clean a toilet.�

What makes Disneyland the happiest place on earth?

LiAnne Yu — 2009-06-16T13:07:54-08:00

What makes Disneyland the happiest place on earth? Those of us love Disneyland understand that there�s pure magic in the park, our sense of reality is suspended and, long lines and overpriced food aside, we step into a sense of wonder. But how is this achieved? I recently read Designing Disney: The Art of the Show, and was captivated by Walt�s vision and leadership of his design team, called the Imagineers, and how they developed principles for what we at Cheskin Added Value call Experience Design. As unique as the Disney experience is, I believe a lot of those principles can also be thought of as universal guidelines for truly remarkable experience design. Here are some of the principles:

Am I an old fogie when it comes to tech?

LiAnne Yu — 2009-06-15T16:47:05-08:00

I�ve recently entered parenthood by becoming a stepmom to my partner�s 14 year old son, and even though I like to think of myself as both young at heart and technologically savvy, I�ve come to realize that when it comes to tech and entertainment, I�m an old fogie. Here are some areas where I�ve experienced myself on the wrong side of the generational gap:

Is �Experience Design� really the domain of Designers?

Darrel Rhea — 2009-05-31T14:32:31-08:00

The business world has woken up to the need to manage their relationships with customers with a more holistic framework than �products services and brands.� And many of us in Design have long been asserting that �experience� is the way to think about and guide the organization on their value-creation journey. But many of my peers in Design and Innovation claim that design managers should be accountable for the customer experience, and I disagree.

While designers have unique skills and processes for creating and managing experience, I believe there needs to be experience principals and a defined strategy at the corporate executive level. Designers usually contribute to only a few of the touch points of experience and have limited exposure to many critical areas of influence. The Experience Component dips into too many of the operational crannies, the technology aspects, engineering, marketing, customer service, finance, etc.

So who determines what the experience is?...

It's Never as Simple as We'd Hope

Tommy Stinson — 2009-05-27T14:41:49-08:00

In a recent briefing for BNET, Katherine Glover noted a growing trend in the "local food" movement: false "local" claims and measures to qualify "local" when resources like fertilizer, pesticides, etc. are flown in to support local foods. Clearly, "local" isn't as simple as we'd hope.

Kiwanja.net and innovative mobile phone uses

Tommy Stinson — 2009-05-22T10:34:13-08:00

FrontlineSMS is a free mobile phone software solution that allows mobile phone users to send text messages to large groups of people. It's specifically geared towards non-profit organizations and NGOs. The initiative is sponsored by Kiwanja.net and nGOmobile and is achieving some pretty exciting and impressive things on the ground in emerging markets.

Kiwanja.net's blog has had a recent series of guest blogs sponsored by other innovative leaders; most recently by Anthony Papillion, founder of OpenEMR HQ.

Anthony's entry features a really innovative - and important - potential use of the FrontlineSMS software: allowing women in abusive relationships to make safe calls to authorities that can't be traced but can be used in future court action - or to summon help immediately.

This is a great example of innovative extensions of innovative solutions. Read more here.

data or design?

Lee Shupp — 2009-05-11T21:15:13-08:00

Can a company blunt its innovation edge if it listens to its customers too closely? This is the question that Miguel Helft posed in this Sunday's New York Times. The article describes the departure of Douglas Bowman, a senior designer, from Google, who said on his blog that Google was unfriendly to designers, instead relying on customer data to make even the most minute design decisions. This raises an important issue in the age of real time web metrics and intensifying competition: what is the right balance between data and design?

Put Another B-school student on the Barby

Darrel Rhea — 2009-05-03T16:48:17-08:00

Following my last post, I recently met Roy Green, Dean of the Business School at UTS (University of Technology, Sydney, an impressive B-school with over 10,000 students). Roy is leading the enlightened charge to bring Design Thinking to Australia�s academic world. While Australia has some great design talent, the country hasn�t really been known for its leadership in design innovation. Now that consulting company�s like Sydney�s �2nd Road� are successfully bringing design strategy to senior business executives, it is inspiring a renaissance in trans-disciplinary thinking skills largely centered on the latest approaches to design, and UTS is moving to aggressively support the shift with up-to-date curriculum.

They may be down under, but they won�t be left behind in this global economy�

Business Embraces Design

Darrel Rhea — 2009-05-02T12:34:42-08:00

Today I visited the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western. I had meetings with 10 of the faculty and have a half a dozen students in the MBA and Doctoral programs. Like other leading Business schools, Weatherhead is integrating Design Methods with more traditional B-school curriculum. Why? They certainly aren�t doing this to follow any fad�

Their visionary faculty (including Fred Collopy and Dick Boland) concluded that Design Thinking is a critical missing skill set for future business leaders and they are building up an impressive academic program to deliver industry the creative managers they need. The fact that leading experts in Finance, Economics, Entrepreneurialism, Organizational Behavior, etc. had the open-minded vision to embrace another discipline like Design is exceptional. It�s evidence that this is �not your father�s B-school.� (The other clue is their world-class building by Frank Gehry� amazing.)

They have attracted thought leader faculty like Dick Buchanan (Former head of Carnegie Mellon�s School of Design) and they are leveraging CIA (The Cleveland Art Institute, a gem of a Design School with a rare 5 yr. undergrad program led by Dean Mathew Hollern).

Weatherhead is one the move, and I expect that in the coming years they will join the ranks of leading progressive programs that promote integrative or trans-disciplinary practices.

Innovation vs. Invention

Tim Hyer — 2009-04-28T10:15:12-08:00

Last week, Cheskin hosted entrepreneur and innovator, Peter Hart for a discussion on the future of innovation. Peter was a pioneer in the early days of artificial intelligence and search algorithms, and he founded Ricoh Innovations where he currently serves as chairman and president. Very stimulating guy. One of the first conversation topics posed to the group was, "Is there a difference between innovation and invention?" Considering our crowd of innovation consultants, the room quickly perked up and began a debate of semantics. Although the words sound similar, subtle differences in meaning are at the core of why some products enjoy great success while others fall by the wayside.

The Future of Design in Milan

Darrel Rhea — 2009-04-13T05:30:55-08:00

I�m not sure how I ended up on the stage at the Design Museum in Milan, an imposing temple to Italy�s product design genius, flanked by internationally renowned Italian designers. Sitting next to me was Stefano Giovannoni (a best selling Alessi rockstar), Francesco Lovo (Pininfarina�s design head), Luisa Bocchietto (President of Italy�s prestigious design organization, ADI) and a couple of others. We were there at the DMI International Conference to debate what Milan needs to do to maintain its prominence as a world design center.

Let�s be real, I really know relatively very little about Milanese design (a subject that there is much to know about spanning thousands of years), but I do know that Milan�s design changed the course of my life and had everything to do with my being there. As fate had it, 38 years earlier I was a teenager roaming Europe on my own with a backpack seeking to find myself. Walking down the streets of Milan one cold winter day, I looked in a furniture showroom window and found the most glorious expressions of design I had ever confronted � subtle combinations of sumptuous leather, chrome and minimal form. I spent the next week going from studio to gallery in awe, and I knew that I wanted to be part of that world. I promptly changed the course of my education.

So I was thrilled and honored to...

"Slow Business"

Jennifer Gray — 2009-04-03T22:15:47-08:00

The AIG bonus debacle is last week�s news. Still, I wade through articles and opinions, baffled at what sensible people propose. Most troubling is the call to publish AIG bonus-recipient names and leave punishment to gladiators, er I mean citizens. Sound principles like contract law and employee incentive plans vied for my consideration, and I couldn�t quite land on a perspective.

Finally, Judy Samuelson of The Aspen Institute, struck a chord of sound wisdom and strategy, as she�s wont to do. In her WSJ op-ed piece she points out the effect short-term thinking has on our economy. Time is needed to reach new heights � be it a faster pitch, a masters� degree or product or service innovation. She calls for long term assessment/rewards related to actions and decisions within an individual�s control, instead of the short-term movement (manipulation) of share price.

Like the �slow food� movement, I like the idea of �slow business�. I�ve pretty much had it with the faster, better, cheaper, Fast Company, make a buck and don�t look back approach mastered in the dot com era. There are companies and brands that have gone �radio silent�. Others are fighting and dying in the public eye and boardrooms across the world. But some are quietly upping the talent of their team, fine-tuning their offering and focusing on steady, sustainable innovation with an eye beyond the horizon. I'm finally ready to place a few bets.

Late Night and Tech

Caroline van der Pool — 2009-04-03T15:31:40-08:00

I�m excited about Jimmy Fallon�s new late night talk show...and no, I was not paid to write that. Why am I excited? Because he is trying to use social technologies and make his show more interactive with viewers. Nowadays all shows have a website where you can watch video, learn more about the characters and chat with other fans of the show. Fallon�s show is trying to take it a step further. His show not only has its own blog, it�s on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Flickr and Digg, which are all managed by Fallon (and his staff). Fallon is talking tech and of course, jokes about tech. Fallon�s guests include popular Silicon Valley celebs like Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht of Diggnation. Fallon is also experimenting with technology. During one of his first shows he picked an audience member, Bryan Brinkman, for everybody to follow on Twitter.