How Cozy CEO Gino Zahnd Landed A-List Investors Like Kevin Rose, Gary Vaynerchuk -- and Me (!) The Four Qs of Career Success. 7 Must-Have (Free) Mobile Apps to do Your Job Better. Friendship and Solitude - Redfin Blog. Redesigning Google: how Larry Page engineered a beautiful revolution. By Dieter Bohn and Ellis Hamburger Something strange and remarkable started happening at Google immediately after Larry Page took full control as CEO in 2011: it started designing good-looking apps. Great design is not something anybody has traditionally expected from Google. Infamously, the company used to focus on A/B testing tiny, incremental changes like 41 different shades of blue for links instead of trusting its designers to create and execute on an overall vision. The “design philosophy that lives or dies strictly by the sword of data” led its very first visual designer, Douglas Bowman, to leave in 2009.
More recently, however, it’s been impossible to ignore a series of thoughtfully designed apps — especially on iOS, a platform that doesn’t belong to Google. Google+, YouTube, Gmail, and Maps are consistent and beautiful — in stark contrast both to Google’s previous efforts and even Apple’s own increasingly staid offerings. They’re talking to each other. Sticky TOC engaged! 8 Habits of Remarkably Successful People. I'm fortunate to know a number of remarkably successful people. I've described how these people share a set of specific perspectives and beliefs. They also share a number of habits: 1. They don't create back-up plans. Back-up plans can help you sleep easier at night. You'll work a lot harder and a lot longer if your primary plan simply has to work because there is no other option. If somehow the worst does happen (and the "worst" is never as bad as you think) trust that you will find a way to rebound. 2.
You can be good with a little effort. But you can't be great--at anything--unless you put in an incredible amount of focused effort. Scratch the surface of any person with rare skills and you'll find a person who has put thousands of hours of effort into developing those skills. There are no shortcuts. So start doing the work now. 3. ...and they work a lot more. Forget the Sheryl Sandberg "I leave every day at 5:30" stories. Better yet, they want to put in lots of time. 4. 5. 7. 8. To fail. Build Your Company’s Battlefield Manual. Forrester’s top 15 emerging technologies. How can big data and smart analytics tools ignite growth for your company? Find out at DataBeat, May 19-20 in San Francisco, from top data scientists, analysts, investors, and entrepreneurs.
Register now and save $200! Research firm Forrester understands that everyone who’s been listening with even one ear knows that mobile, social, cloud, and data are big freight trains of change that are crashing through old business models and old business practices. But let’s face it: That train is in the station. Also see: Forrester’s top 10 mobile trends for 2013 Analyst Bryan Hopkins gave us a peek into what Forrester thinks is next, and much of it builds on those four horseman of disruptive change. Here they are, in four groups: End user computing technologies Next-generation devices and UIs New sensors and new user interfaces. Sensors and remote computing technologies Smart products Thing that can sense, react, and communicate.
Process data management technologies. The #1 Career Mistake Capable People Make. The Disciplined Pursuit of Less - Greg McKeown. By Greg McKeown | 10:00 AM August 8, 2012 Why don’t successful people and organizations automatically become very successful? One important explanation is due to what I call “the clarity paradox,” which can be summed up in four predictable phases: Phase 1: When we really have clarity of purpose, it leads to success.
Phase 2: When we have success, it leads to more options and opportunities. Phase 3: When we have increased options and opportunities, it leads to diffused efforts. Curiously, and overstating the point in order to make it, success is a catalyst for failure. We can see this in companies that were once darlings of Wall Street, but later collapsed. Here’s a more personal example: For years, Enric Sala was a professor at the prestigious Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.
What can we do to avoid the clarity paradox and continue our upward momentum? First, use more extreme criteria. Second, ask “What is essential?” Conducting a life audit. SnapNFind Indiegogo Project. Losing things stinks and there are few gadgets that actually allow you to use your iPhone to recover something you've lost. That's why we we're excited to run across the StickNFind on crowdsourcing site Indiegogo. The StickNFind works by placing a small Bluetooth sticker onto a remote, pet's collar, or even your child's backpack.
You can then use your iPhone or Android device to locate the item, causing it to vibrate and light up. The receiver is about the size of a quarter and pretty thin: StickNFind's app is pretty robust. The company seems to be onto something, they've got years of experience with Bluetooth technology and have already raised $300,000 with 29 days to go. To support the company check out their indiegogo page. Here's a pic of the StickNFind app in action: Don't Miss: REVIEW: A Must-Have iPhone Camera Accessory, The Olloclip > 19 Brilliant Business Lessons From Moneyball. Startup Metrics for Pirates (SeedCamp 2008) 5 Ways to Begin Designing Your Life in 2013. Big Idea 2013: Learning Fast From Failure. Big Idea 2013: The Year Small Business Goes Big. 7 Things Customers Want Most From You. What do your customers really want from you? No matter what your industry, your customers want more than just great products and workable solutions. What they really want to know is that you--personally--are the type of person whom they can trust to get the job done.
Here are the seven things they want to see in you: 1. Customers want to know that you'll represent their interests, even it's not in your own financial interest--and particularly when the proverbial chips are down. 2. Customers want to know that you can be trusted to do the right thing. 3. The best customers don't want you to truckle and beg. 4. Customers don't have the time to sit and listen to cookie-cutter sales presentations. 5. Customers are taking a risk when they buy from you. 6. Customers want you to see the situation from their perspective. 7. Above all, customers want you to be honest with them. Gartner: Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends For 2013. Uncompromising Promises. What Successful Night Owls Get Done Before Bed. Early birds get all the credit. Research indicates that morning people tend to be more active and goal oriented, and such larks as Steve Jobs, Craig Newmark of Craigslist, and 25-year old David Karp, founder of the Tumblr blogging platform suggest that climbing the ladder of success is easier before breakfast.
So does that mean night owls are at a disadvantage? Research by Satoshi Kanazawa and colleagues at the London School of Economics and Political Science suggests no. The group discovered significant differences in sleep preferences and found that people with higher IQs are more likely to be night owls. They found an evolutionary shift from being active in the day towards nightly pursuits and that those individuals who preferred to stay up late demonstrated "a higher level of cognitive complexity.” Armed with that knowledge, Fast Company found a group of dedicated night owls to discuss their strategies for making the wee hours work for them. Pick One Project Combat Clutter. Three (Incredibly Simple) Questions The Most Successful People Use To Change The World. What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day.
Remember when you used to have a period at the beginning of every day to think about your schedule, catch up with friends, maybe knock out a few tasks? It was called home room, and it went away after high school. But many successful people schedule themselves a kind of grown-up home room every day. You should too. The first hour of the workday goes a bit differently for Craig Newmark of Craigslist, David Karp of Tumblr, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, career writer (and Fast Company blogger) Brian Tracy, and others, and they’ll tell you it makes a big difference. Here are the first items on their daily to-do list. Don’t Check Your Email for the First Hour. Seriously. Tumblr founder David Karp will "try hard" not to check his email until 9:30 or 10 a.m., according to an Inc. profile of him. If you need to make sure the most important messages from select people come through instantly, AwayFind can monitor your inbox and get your attention when something notable arrives.
The Link Between Quietness And Productivity. Some of you may have tried to reach me this morning and found that I was unavailable. That’s because I was knee high in muck with my husband and some friends. We were out having what I call clamming wars, here on Cape Cod. I have to admit, my team was quite vocal everytime we scored a clam, which by my count was many. The other team raked for clams quietly in the distance. You can imagine our surprise when the quiet team hauled in considerably more clams than our team. Sometimes we forget that the most productive people in an organization aren’t the ones who make the most noise. Here are some reasons I think this is so. Being quiet strengthens focus. Being quiet calms others. Being quiet conveys confidence. Being quiet means you think before you speak. Being quiet gives you the space to dig deep. The next time you evaluate team performance, be sure to give credit where credit is due.
[Image: Flickr user Benson Kua] 9 Keys to Business & Career Success. I'm fortunate enough to know a number of remarkably successful people. Regardless of industry or profession, they all share the same perspectives and beliefs. And they act on those beliefs: 1. Time doesn't fill me. Deadlines and time frames establish parameters, but typically not in a good way. Forget deadlines, at least as a way to manage your activity. Average people allow time to impose its will on them; remarkable people impose their will on their time. 2. Some of your employees drive you nuts.
You chose them. Think about the type of people you want to work with. Then change what you do so you can start attracting those people. Successful people are naturally drawn to successful people. 3. Dues aren't paid, past tense. No matter what you've done or accomplished in the past, you're never too good to roll up your sleeves, get dirty, and do the grunt work. Remarkably successful people never feel entitled--except to the fruits of their labor. 4. 5. Ask people why they have been successful. Two Lists You Should Look at Every Morning - Peter Bregman.
By Peter Bregman | 11:00 AM May 27, 2009 I was late for my meeting with the CEO of a technology company and I was emailing him from my iPhone as I walked onto the elevator in his company’s office building. I stayed focused on the screen as I rode to the sixth floor. I was still typing with my thumbs when the elevator doors opened and I walked out without looking up. Then I heard a voice behind me, “Wrong floor.” I looked back at the man who was holding the door open for me to get back in; it was the CEO, a big smile on his face.
He had been in the elevator with me the whole time. “Busted,” he said. The world is moving fast and it’s only getting faster. So we try to speed up to match the pace of the action around us. But that’s a mistake. Never before has it been so important to say “No.” It’s hard to do because maybe, just maybe, that next piece of information will be the key to our success. Now is a good time to pause, prioritize, and focus. Some people already have the first list. Home. Life Lessons From Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin was a man of action. Over his lifetime, his curiosity and passion fueled a diverse range of interests. He was a writer (often using a pseudonym), publisher, diplomat, inventor and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
His inventions included the lightning rod, bifocals and the Franklin stove. Franklin was responsible for establishing the first public library, organizing fire fighters in Philadelphia, was one of the early supporters of mutual insurance and crossed the Atlantic eight times. Self-development was a constant endeavor throughout his incredible life. Benjamin Franklin was clearly a man who knew how to get things done. 14 Action Inducing LessonsLess Talk, More Action “Well done is better than well said.”Talk is cheap. “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” This is probably one of the first quotes I remember hearing as a teenager. Be Prepared “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” You need a plan to accomplish your goals. 4 Secrets of Great Critical Thinkers. In 2009, J D Wetherspoon, a chain of more than 800 pubs in the UK, was facing declining sales. Demand for beer had been down for five years.
In addition, pricing pressure from super market chains was intense, and higher alcohol taxes further squeezed its already tight margins. What would you say is the company's real business problem? Most people see it as a sales problem and recommend better marketing and promotion. But this reflex may be wrong. In Wetherspoon’s case, the company examined the problem more deeply, looked at data, and framed the situation from multiple angles. In the end, they found the real problem: A subtle but profound shift in consumer preferences.
The strategy worked. If you fail to do this, you risk solving the wrong problem. Ironically, the more experience you have, the harder it will to break from conventional mindsets. 1. 2. 3. 4. The best problem solvers see a complex problem through multiple lenses. The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time - Tony Schwartz. By Tony Schwartz | 8:53 AM March 14, 2012 Why is it that between 25% and 50% of people report feeling overwhelmed or burned out at work? It’s not just the number of hours we’re working, but also the fact that we spend too many continuous hours juggling too many things at the same time. What we’ve lost, above all, are stopping points, finish lines and boundaries. Technology has blurred them beyond recognition. Wherever we go, our work follows us, on our digital devices, ever insistent and intrusive.
It’s like an itch we can’t resist scratching, even though scratching invariably makes it worse. Tell the truth: Do you answer email during conference calls (and sometimes even during calls with one other person)? The biggest cost — assuming you don’t crash — is to your productivity. I know this from my own experience. If you’re a manager, here are three policies worth promoting: 1. 2. 3. It’s also up to individuals to set their own boundaries. 1. 2. 3. The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies. Building A Village Starts With Building The Tractor. Hide captionDesigned and built on Marcin Jakubowski's farm, this tractor cost far less than a commercial tractor. Jon Kalish/NPR Designed and built on Marcin Jakubowski's farm, this tractor cost far less than a commercial tractor.
Do-it-yourselfers have made everything from bamboo bicycles to 3-D printers, but nothing as ambitious as what's happening on a farm in northwest Missouri where tractors and other industrial machines are being made from scratch. hide captionPhysicist Marcin Jakubowski leads the Open Source Ecology project, which aims to design and build affordable alternatives to industrial machines. Physicist Marcin Jakubowski leads the Open Source Ecology project, which aims to design and build affordable alternatives to industrial machines. Marcin Jakubowski earned a Ph.D. in physics, and his doctoral thesis deals with velocity turbulence and zonal flow detection, whatever that is. But when Jakubowski graduated in 2004, he wanted nothing to do with physics or academia.