Guy Billout

The unusual art of Guy Billout. [His work is always the first thing I look for in The Atlantic.]

Boosterism

Should "Silicon Valley" be added to the name at the San Jose airport?

Because You Never Know When You'll Need a Saw Blade

Back by popular demand: Cool Tools discusses the "credit card survival tool."

Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric

Ordered and in the mail.

Pusher Aircraft

Art Contrarian looks at a concept that failed. An excerpt:

But perhaps the greatest problem was what to do when the pilot had to bail out of a single-engine plane; without special steps taken, he would be chopped up as he passed through the propeller arc. Solutions included feathering the prop or detaching it before bail-out. Another solution was the ejection seat common on jet fighters but something that didn't emerge until towards the end of World War 2.

Creativity Exercise: Time Traveling

Knowing what you know, if you were to travel back in time to the Forties, Fifties or Sixties, what knowledge - aside from which stocks to buy - would you be able to use?

Clearly there are opinions on major issues that could be conveyed, but just on a personal, day-to-day life level, what would you do differently that people back there might have done but did not?

Now leap ahead, then back. If you arrived here today from some point in the future, what changes might you make to your daily routine or personal life? What types of chores or tasks do we take for granted that people in the future will have greatly altered?

Quote of the Day

Don't play what's there, play what's not there.

- Miles Davis

Video Break

A presentation gone wrong.

Good Enough: Wants and Needs

Several years ago, I spoke with an executive about a service for his managers. It was rather innovative and would permit his managers to get some expert guidance on employee relations issues within a few hours.

He was enthusiastic at the beginning, but then wondered aloud if his managers would feel the need to be, to put it bluntly, that good. He said that unless a B or B+ manager was under the gun, the person might be happy to remain at that level, possibly because the person might regard his or her work as A level.

He had a point. In fact, I've noticed that the people who are most inclined to seek management assistance are the genuine A level performers. That's how they got there and that's how they stay there.

All of which brings up a marketing observation: Sometimes, those who want a product don't need it that much and those who need it the most don't want it.

Prospecting Yourself

Businesses are often advised to see which additional services or products can be sold to current customers instead of burning up money and energy trying to find new ones. A variation of that advice can be applied to your resources.

Which of your current strengths can be used to a greater degree? Are there some skills or products that were employed in other arenas that can be modified and used today? Go back ten years. Review all of those projects that were successful "once upon a time" and look for hidden treasure.

You may be surprised at what emerges.