Posts filed under ‘Blogging’
(The need to) Move on
Sometimes it’s hard to move on.
There’s a psychological trait that makes us cling to our investments. Even the clever investor can hold on to an equity that is going down further than expected and loose a lot of money. Bu, when you’re inside, when you don’t have perspective, It’s hard to know when to quit.
But then there are stop-losses, and dynamic stop-losses, that will let you make that decision ex-ante. (Ex-post is even easier).
The same happens with project management. There are certain moments where the project is not feasible anymore. And the best option is to just close it. But it’s not easy. And sometimes, inability to recognise a failure can lead to heavier losses.
There are two forces that you need to master:
- The need to adapt. You need to be able to adapt to a new project, a new investment, a new job. The more, the better. To be able to enthusiastically think as a member of a project.
- The need to change. You need to be able to quit, to introduce change in an organisation you’re already in, to know when to drop a solution, to see when a project has failed.
But both collide in a certain point. And that can drive you insane.
- Excessive identification can lead to Stockholm syndrome: the hijacked that ends up caring about her hijackers, and that keeps her away from reality, and from much needed chances for change.
- There’s a need to forget sometimes, but there’s also the need to remember what we have learned.
- And excessive change can lead to disaffection, to being a mercenary, to not caring what you really do, to your work having no meaning for you.
As always is a matter of balance, but don’t forget the need to move on. That’s the hardest part: knowing when, or how, even why.
Why did I come up with this? Well, yesterday I went to hear british actress Maria Friedman singing Stephen Sondheim, Palau de la Música an incredible modernist theatre in Barcelona built by Lluís Domènech i Montaner in 1908, proclaimed heritage of humanity by UNESCO. It was so great. The public was so enthusiast that didn’t want to let her go. She even had to do repeats.
Stephen Sondheim makes you think with his lyrics. Let me share some with you. This song is about a brave young lady that is going nowhere and decides to leave everything, her country, France, the man she loves, the painter Seurat (she is pregnant with his baby), to start a new life in America.
“Move On” from Sunday in the Park with George by Stephen Sondheim
Stop worrying where you’re going, move on
If you can know where you’re going, you’ve gone
Just keep moving on.
I chose, and my world was shaken–so what?
The choice may have been mistaken
but choosing was not.
You have to move on.
Look at what you want,
Not at where you are,
Not at what you’ll be.
Look at all the things you’ve done for me:
Opened up my eyes
Taught me how to see
Notice every tree!
Understand the light!
Concentrate on now!
I want to move on . . .
I want to explore the light.
I want to know how to get through
through to something new–
Something of my own!
Move on!
Move on!
Stop worrying if your vision is new.
Let others make that decision . . .
they usually do!
You keep moving on.
Look at what you want,
Not at what you are
Not at what you’ll be
Look at all the things you gave to me.
See what’s in my eyes, And the color of my hair,
and the way it catches light.
And the care, and the feeling
And the light, moving on!
We’ve always belonged together.
We will always belong together!
Just keep moving on.
Anything you do, let it come from you–
then it will be new.
Give us more to see.
Google buys Feedburner: good news for information liquidity
It’s already news in TechCrunch: Google has paid $100 Million (in cash) for FeedBurner. Not bad for a 4-year-old start-up that raised $10 Million in two rounds.
See this brand? Now see Google in it
But that’s not what matters to me. I was wondering, does it make economic sense? Hardly anything that Google does doesn’t. But what does FeedBurner add to Google and how can that benefit us all?
For all those that might not know, RSS is a way to syndicate contents. It’s a standard that enables you to share information, usually news that may come from a news source. But you don’t have to worry about formats or anything because the content comes in a standardised format. That means you can read it your way. For example here you have this blog’s RSS feed.
the syndication family, sound familiar?
It’s a killer application, but it’s not that widely known. Some time ago, web portals used to build communities just by adding some news feeds, some contents, and some input and feedback from users. That was the seed to have a thriving community. It still is but, for how long will that model work?
With syndication, you choose your feeds and the way you read them. Such a simple technology lets you build your own community, with the people, blogs, feeds, news that you really care about. And that doesn’t happen in a web portal. It happens in your computer, letting you participate in many websites or blogs at the same time.
Instead of going somewhere to find things that interest you: let them come to you. That’s what I call information liquidity. Feedburner does that. Mixed information up, split it up into a lot of pieces and gave everyone his piece. Now Google can too. With Google’s bet for Feedburner, old underrated RSS it is going to get hotter.
back to basics: the quantity theory of money
and the equation of exchange in its simple form
Reminds me of the quantity theory of money. Just like money, the more that the information moves (VT), the more the real value of added transactions (T). That means more chances of information businesses making economic sense.
Light steel construction houses and chopsticks: when the medium changes the content
Today I was introduced to an expert on light steel construction. They are developing an European project about a method they have to calculate structures. The method is based on European Standards, which have been slowly adopted by the union’s countries.
Light steel construction houses: you can save materials, energy and use common standards for design with standardised components lowering costs and attaining scale economies
Compared to the equivalent American method, the European still needs a lot of dissemination. In the US the method is taught in engineering schools and widely used. In Europe there are still many things to be done, some member countries still have their own standards above the European norm. One example is France, that has a more restrictive norm. By 2010 all European countries will need to adapt their norms to the common one and, in case of collusion, the European one will prevail.
But, what is exactly “the method”? The method is a huge compilation of tables that, given a structure you want to build, let’s you find the right sizes and weights of the materials used without the need of an specific software for simulation.
That means pages and more pages of abacuses.
The right result is here… somewhere.
We were talking about disseminating the method using digital technology. First about an interactive cd, then considering the possibility of building a website to be able to manage all that.
But the more we talked about it, the more it was clear that a huge-book-based method did not have much sense in the digital era. Yes, some academics can still be interested in high resolution and highly decorative abacuses, but the straigtforward user will just want a straightforward result. Even flat screens are useless for a high resolution abacus, but a computer can look that up for you.
In the end, technology will change the way the method works. And different methods must be conceived for the different user profiles: newbies, experts, heavy users, audits… And the digital method will itself provide many insights on how it is used so it can be improved and evolve. There’s a lot to learn from the users.
There’s a chance to make community there. And to blog. And blogging content can be commented, shared, subscribed, searched and syndicated with other content in the light steel construction community.
There’s so much to be done! And a lot to learn too. Hope they count me in for this one. By the way they gave me a couple of steel chopsticks. I’ll try not to bite them.
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