Podcast 218. I worked with data ever since it was handwritten or typed. I would count finished goods and raw materials inventory, draw up production schedules, calculate costs–all in written format. A long time ago. We can just generate much more data these days. Drawings and design become databases. Counts are automated with RFID and bar codes. We can contextualize, analyze, visualize. The question is–are we using it adequately to make better decisions?
Podcast 215–I moved to a new state a few months ago and have been searching for a good local, independent coffee shop with ethically traded coffee–in vain. So, I go to Starbucks a few times a week. The concept of quality at Starbucks is not the coffee, which is probably why people doctor it with flavored sugars and milk. Its quality has always been environment. One of my first jobs was with Airstream, manufacturer of quality recreation vehicles. Everyone in the company was aware of the need for quality.
The question for you today is are you contributing to building quality, ethical products that serve your customers and society?
On a personal development note, I leave you with Seven Daily Habits from Richard Koch in The 80/20 Principle.
Rockwell Automation unveiled a new Website design. It has one modern design strategy that drives me crazy, but otherwise it is a great leap forward in automation company sites. I’m sure I had zero influence, but I’ve been preaching this concept of emphasizing blogs and useful articles over product lists for at least 15 years. Overall, glad to see it.
I have unleashed my 214th podcast on the world. This is an essay about stressors of the times and how to deal with them. From the old Yoga teacher and Zen guy. Namaste.
Did you ever get a bright idea for a new product or service? You might have even sketched it and written a product outline. Then you filed it. One day you noticed someone else had taken that same idea and created a billion-dollar company? Bright ideas and doing the work.
Maurice Ashley immigrated to a tough part of New York City from Jamaica and later worked diligently to become the first African-American chess grandmaster. Later, he became a teacher of chess to inner city youth. His passion for teaching shines strongly in his interview with Tim Ferriss. I listen to almost an hour of podcasts a day while I workout. Another of my favorites is Wednesday with Seth Godin on Akimbo. Recently quoting Nobel-prize winning physicist Richard Feynman as saying I don’t understand people now. They just want answers given to them. They cannot think things through. Seth also tells of an experience with straight-A students where he showed them a gadget and asked them to explain how it worked. They couldn’t. They all just got out notebooks and pens ready to write down the answer. I riff off these for my latest Podcast.
The first writer to seriously look at the new phenomenon of data-driven analytics in baseball found himself allowed to sit in the locker room of the major league baseball team. He observed the players. Something naggged at his consciousness. Then it dawned on him—they didn’t look like athletes. Showering, getting dressed, no one really looked like a standout athlete. Yet, they were winning. Yes, said data-driven baseball exec Billy Beane, everyone else evaluates how players look. We look at their performance and indicators that they have future potential. But I really wanted to discuss Digital Transformation. And to transform digitally, you need to be (digital) data-driven.
