~ a group blog on a variety of topics related to anthropology, sociology, and ordinary people ~
“Project X Challengers” is a series from Digital Manga Publishing that shows the history of the development of different breakthrough products in the distinctive manga style from Japan. Currently, there are three books in the series: “Nissin Cup Noodle”, “7-11 bring the convenience market to Japan” and “Datsun Fairlady Z (Project X 240Z Challengers)”.
You have to get used to the back to front, right to left reading convention but after that they are a wealth of information.…
I read a lot of blogs, but I usually find myself responding to the Business Week Blogs more than others. Today is no exception. Bruce Nussbaum recently gave a speech at the Royal College of Art stating that CEOs Must Be Designers, Not Just Hire Them. Think Steve Jobs And iPhone.
My Response:
So Bruce, I have to disagree: CEO’s should be CEO’s, but a good CEO knows how to spot talent.…
If you have spent any time in an airport at all you have seen my co-workers and I. When I say co-workers, I don’t mean the people I work with at Jump. I mean every poor bugger that has to fly across three time zones countless times a year. Even if we are not all working for the same company, we are co-workers in spirit. We are the people moving at a brisk pace down the concourse with a jacket slung over one arm, pulling a piece of luggage with another arm, a cell phone is attached to our heads with duct tape, and we are cramming a $12 slice of $1 pizza into our chattering mouths with a third arm.…
In general, companies hire an anthropologist to conduct an internal or external ethnographic study for a simple reason: to uncover new ways to achieve competitive advantage. This usually like research to understanding new opportunities for products or services, or internally focused to change organizational issues, among other things. Unfortunately, our clients often have no idea what to do with the research. That’s the fault of anthropologists by the way.
Over the years, clients have told me about experiences they have had with social scientists of different stripes.…
So I’ve been struggling all weekend trying to think of a unique take on the Maker Faire. Frankly I’ve given up. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it and I think it is best to point you to this Wired article. I know it’s cheap not to write my own, but frankly, if you ever been to Maker Faire, its hard to understand the concept of “Maker Faire shock.”…
Well, Bruce Nussbaum has being making me think alot apparently, I posted yet another comment to his recent entry asking if CEO’s have “innovation fatigue.”
I think that is partly true, but I wonder if it is more about “broken promise fatigue” rather than “innovation fatigue.” Companies that you listed: the Nikes, GE’s, Apple’s of the world have all seen great returns on big bets, and can also stomach the loss they have experienced in the past as well.…
I got an exciting little boost today when Bruce Nussbaum, Business Week’s long-time writer on innovation and design coverage, posted my entire response to his entry on “Who Is Tired of innovation?” to his blog. Thanks Bruce, my first “official” business publication. You can find it at his site under the “Clown Theory of Innovation.”
The gist is what is Innovation vs. the emerging Practice of Innovation? The second point is what do we really mean to say when we suggest that someone doesn’t “get it” ?…
It’s the only picture in my bedroom actually. She is in her late teens or early twenties, standing with her back to the camera, and playing the guitar next to a couple of cars. Her hair has been pinned up hastily and she is Jeans and a simple top. Obviously a casual environment. I have pictures of friends and family all over my apartment, yet this is the only one in my bedroom.…
How many people are like me, so enamored of the latest technical plaything our personal sense of risk and reward is totally out of whack?
In what I am readily recognizing as my continuing quest to give up all privacy, I have been playing with Google My Maps feature that lets you create and make public maps that reflect your own interests. In my case, it is the start of my autobiography in map form.…
California (APP) April 1, 2007 – A cultural conundrum is playing out in the 9th circuit that is sure to be heard before the Supreme Court by Fall. A coalition of organizations aimed at protecting the rights of indigenous people’s has filed a motion to halt all forms of graduate student field work throughout the world. “Frankly, we’re just tired of it.” stated Jason Natuktu, an Inuit Elder of Afognak, Alaska.…
We had a fellow come into the office to conduct a workshop in ergonomics. It sparked more interesting thoughts than you might think. For example, if slouching is so bad for you, why does it feel so good? Further, does it add more fodder to the growing pile of data that anything one might enjoy: bacon, sausage, beer and buffalo wings are all some form of cosmic bait and switch?
He also mentioned that a way to avoid injuries related to being a knowledge worker type is to stop working every 20 minutes, get up walk around, do some stretches, etc.…
Just as “design anthropologists” are busy wringing their hands over who is or is not in the club, a recent post on Bruce Nussbaum’s blog shows that the arguments for the purity of the art are not limited to anthropology, design is engaged in its own angst. While some are lamenting that design schools are no longer teaching the basic skills of design, Bruce argues that students need classic design training, putting form and function to thought, in addition to sharper skills in design thinking.…