Entries tagged “ideas”

In the world of business, and especially the world of technology, we have some archetypical stories of entrepreneurs in the garage, working to create new products and new companies. But too many of those stories seem to neglect the creative environment in which great ideas and inventions happen.

This is especially unfortunate because inspiration for this type of work doesn't seem to come from being surrounded by market analysis data, or charts and graphs about return on investment, but instead happens like so much creativity does, with a blaring soundtrack while sitting on a folding chair, inspired by the music, movies, books and art that surround us.

Worse, we hear about things like Celebrity Playlists and the artworks that people appreciate long after they've been successful, after they've already proven they have the ability to achieve, but seldom with a focus on what was playing at the time when they did the first work they were recognized for.

So, some time ago, I began a project to start to document some of these environments, inspired by the entrepreneurs and creative talents that I've had the chance to work with or be inspired by. Among others, I've gotten some great responses from Ray Ozzie of Microsoft (and of course Lotus); Jeff Bezos of Amazon; Pierre Omidyar of eBay; Dan Bricklin, co-creator of VisiCalc, and some more contributors along the way. As I start to share what I've found, I'd like to ask the same questions of you that I've asked of these people already.

1. What music, books or movies do you remember paying attention to at the time when you did your signature work? (This can be your "best" project, or merely your best-known, or the one you're most proud of.)
2. What do you remember of your physical workspace -- clutter on the desk, notes on the walls, whiteboards or blackboards, etc.?

The goal is to evoke a sense of what more subtle things may have been influencing the work that's created. There have, of course, been many similar or related efforts over the years, and I'll be trying to share and document of number of fantastic responses to these questions that I've collected.

If you'd like to participate yourself, you can answer the questions here in the comments, or post a reply on your own blog using the tag "createnv" (since it seems that's not taken yet) and/or embed this post on your own site with the code below. I'll be collecting responses from the blogosphere along with my own research and posting it all here in the days to come. (Thanks to Travis Isaacs for the image.)

I get a little self-conscious about the fact that I'm so earnest on my blog sometimes, since I'm kind of a smart-ass in person. But I figure I'll never regret putting myself out there, even if it's stuff that I'd mock myself for, if somebody else finds it useful.

Good news, then, when I read Sameer Vasta's post a few weeks ago. As you'd expect from a post called "The Ultimate Key to Happiness", it's a bit introspective and quite thoughtful. But I was most proud to have played a tiny role in helping Sameer's thoughts along with a Twitter update that I wrote because I felt I had figured out something important, and wanted to commemorate it. In Sameer's words.

A few weeks ago, Anil Dash posted a tweet (which I replicated on Squandrous) that had one simple nugget of wisdom — a quick quote that actually ended up being the impetus for this post: “Happiness is being good at something.”

I still have the SMS with that message saved on my phone. It acts as a reminder that I don’t necessarily have to do something great in order to be happy — I just need to take what I do all the time and do them well.

If we take, again, happiness as being based in satisfaction and value, Anil’s tweet rings even truer: instead of value being placed in specific achievement, value is being put in a repeated pattern of behavior, whether small or large in impact. The best part of the statement is that everyone is good at something if they just think about it, so everyone, in essence, has something to be happy about.

Truth be told, my little blurb probably isn't original at all -- I'm sure other people have said it first, or better, or both. But I just find it really satisfying that the act of being public with a discovery, of disclosing something personal even at risk of being mocked by a cynical jerk like, well... me can still have that impact sometimes of helping someone make a connection. And in turn, thanks to Sameer for returning the favor.

One of the things I love most about my job is that sense of discovery you get from working with people that are chock-full of good ideas. One great example is Brad Choate's 100+ iPhone Feature suggestions. I don't have an iPhone, but I love the sense that he could have just kept reeling off desired improvements infinitely, especially since he's the kind of guy who can actually make some of these requests happen, even if Apple doesn't indulge.