Catching up
Today, Tuesday, I take a mid-week day of vacation. I am stretching this Thanksgiving week longer. As I am grilling some chicken wings for lunch, it is a good moment to catch up on saved TED talk, Youtube videos and podcasts.
The Infinite Game
In the Infinite Game, Simon Sinek discusses some of the principles from his 2019 book.
He makes it sounds so obvious and straight forward that some companies or adversaries work towards a different end goal. The North Vietnamese played to run out the clock. So did Reagan in the cold war against the Russians. The Afghans are the masters of playing the Infinite Game.
In business, it is convenient to trot out Apple or Tesla. They are truly great companies with great products. Though I fear grand theories can be more easily applied to them.
“While Microsoft executives were discussing presentation after presentation how they would beat Apple, their Apple counter parts were focussed on the educational customer and not on their direct competition. They were playing the infinite game.”
And yet, was Steve Jobs avoiding Amazon, the competitor, when Apple strong armed publishers into eBook price fixing?
I would love to read the infinite game plans of some smaller companies, as they transitioned from a small to mid-sized company, and eventually a large company. The struggle will be more real.
Companies that solely focus on competition will die. Those that focus on value creation will thrive.” — Edward de Bono
No Rules Rules
What if your company had no rules? is a Freakonomics book report podcast about Netflix’s Reed Hastings book. He talks about how he stumbled into the now famous Netflix culture, where the focus is all about enabling employees, and isn’t so much about policies and rules. A key tenet of Netflix is to get rid of the normal controls you’d come to expect in a corporate environment. Things like expense reports; approvals for big spending decisions; vacation policies. The idea is to entrust every employee to decide for themselves and provide them the flexibility. That, and a policy of not hiring any brilliant jerks.
Netflix is managing on the edge of chaos. - Reed Hastings
In conversation with current and former Netflix-employees, you do learn that their culture is different, counter to the culture at many other companies. There is a lot more chaos. Nevertheless, I hear a lot of positive feedback, as Netflix lets people build what they believe is the right thing to build.
One form of efficiency is coordinating all the tactics so everybody knows what’s going on. And then, the problem is, as you get big, that gets harder to do, you get slower. So, another way to operate is more loosely coupled, where lots of different departments are doing different things. And then the danger is that they’re going in different directions. So, you want them to be aligned, but not tightly coordinated. And to do that, you have to really set a lot of context, use a lot of examples, a lot of storytelling. But remember that all of Netflix is managing on the edge of chaos. Okay? You want to be right up to that edge where it’s dynamic and there’s freedom. It has not fallen into chaos, but it’s kind of right on the edge of it. And again, that’s only appropriate for some types of businesses.
The Netflix podcast reminds me of the time I worked at Sun Microsystems. There was quite a bit of chaos within. Surely things were uncoordinated because we were growing so fast. Yet, I have to believe it was also by design. At Sun, I regularly ran into competing projects which were going after the same goal. I didn’t feel efficient. I’ve since learned that if you are trying to solve challenging projects, you need competing projects to figure out the right approach.
At my current company, I’ve seen myself evolving. I started when we didn’t have any documented development processes. I then created some structure, and we ended up with a voluminous development manual. Over the past 1-2 years, I’ve been on a quest to put our processes on a serious diet. I’ve killed many documents, and shrunk the various process documents. The goal really is to keep the rules to a minimum, and provide a lot of freedom to the engineers.
The No Rules Rules culture is about preserving the small company culture into puberty and adulthood. I wonder if this is truly Netflix’s grow-up secret, or whether their initial financial success allowed them to continue to be like a small and innovative company. In other words, what’s the chicken and what’s the egg. Probably it’s both.
November 24, 2020
Shed Shelves
“The shed shelves which shelve the stuff you store on shed shelves.”, is my made up tongue twister. It is also my recent weekend project. Ever since we got a backyard shed, I wanted to put in some decent shelves. However, I am a total newby at woodworking. I may not even have the right tools for the job.
After spending a great amount of time on Youtube, I came up with a plan. I liked the shelves approach from Two Feet First.
To get started I did need the right tools. I bought a Kreg R3 Pocket Hole Jig System. I also learned how to use a gifted circular saw.
After a few trips to the local home improvement store, and some backyard sawing and drilling, I am pleased with the results. I built some serious shelves for our shed.
I did learn a few things along the way. If I would do it again, I would leverage more the side walls. I would also pay more attention to how straight the 2x4 lumber is.
Nevertheless, generally I worked out perfectly and I am very happy with the results.
November 22, 2020
This weekend I embarked on a woodworking project I have been planning for a while. I know very little about woodworking. Therefore, I spent a great amount of time on Youtube and on DYI websites to learn and figure things out.
Beyond a few basic tools, I lack the right tools for the job. I do know that the right tool makes a world of difference. I figured out my project would be well served if I got myself a Kreg pocket-hole jig. Since I needed to make a bunch of cuts, do I need to use a circular saw, or borrow a table or mitre saw? Shall I use 2x3 or 2x4 lumber? I have so many questions. (There is a business opportunity here somewhere: DYISlack.)
I made more than a few trips to the nearby Lowe’s home improvement store. Sometimes, it was because I just got the wrong item: I didn’t know my circular saw takes 7 1/4 inch blades and not the 10 inch blade I purchased. In other cases, I bought only a few items, to experiment with, before buying more of the same.
The quality and options in home improvement stores has nose dived steeply in recent years. Now that OSH is out of business, within a 10 mile radius, I am limited to Home Depot or Lowe’s. Both are just large warehouses full of material of dwindling quality. For example, few of the 2x4s were anywhere near straight at Lowe’s.
Worse is the customer service, or the training of the staff. Few employees knew where anything was in the store. Forget about any expert advise. I appreciated that at OSH you may run into a retired craftsman providing expert advise on the type of screw or pipe connector.
Home improvement companies have competed hard on price. Now it is time to bring back expertise. If they want to compete on price, offer a contractor discount. For the common folks, hire plenty of retired or laid-off craftsmen: a woodworker, an electrician, a plumber, an expert in concrete, or just Tim the tool man Taylor. I will gladly pay higher prices for guidance on which tool I should get, or which widget is right for the job.
November 21, 2020
Fleets are stories for a social network that isn’t
This week, Twitter launched Fleets.
Fleets are disappearing tweets. Snapchatty-tweets or Instagrammy-story-tweets were the other names which were quickly discarded. But you get they idea. Tweets are forever, Fleets disappear after 24 hours.
One of the hosts of the Reply All podcast uses a service to delete his tweets every two weeks. He will no longer need that service.
Twitter hopes Fleets will bring new users to its service. Twitter’s New ‘Fleets’ Are for People Who Are Afraid to Tweet
On one hand, I love the idea of Fleets. Fleets allow me to just stick to Twitter, and avoid all other social media. I can stay especially away from the Facebook universe. I enjoyed the stories of Instagram, but loathed the socialites or “influencers” and their choreographed pictures.
On the other hand, I have been able to compartmentalize the various services between family/friends (Facebook, Instagram) and discover/curiosity (Twitter). I am too old and not cool enough for Snapchat or TikTok. I enjoy the ideas and the topics from the people I follow on Twitter. However, I don’t know or care much about their personal lives. And surely, the same is true of the few folks who subscribe to my Twitter feed.
And there lies Twitter’s problem. Twitter is not really a social network. It is a social megaphone. It is a debate forum. It is therapy for some and tyranny for others. It ain’t no Instagram or Facebook, where you share with your family and friends what’s on your grill or in your dutch oven.
While Fleets will not compete with Instagram stories, they may have the power to bring some humanity to Twitter. I can put a human face behind so many sharp commenting twitterati. Perhaps it can make the trolls less trolly.
As for my fleets or tweets, check out @waffletchnlgy.
November 20, 2020
Backyard Crafts
I wonder how many people took up old-school crafts during this pandemic. Sure, we are well aware that Sourdough Loafs of San Francisco have their own Instagram account. However, we haven’t seen many botched backyard haircuts.
Nor did we get to admire a lot of experimentations in hair color.
Our son vowed to let his hair grow until he safely can visit a hair dresser. We are entering slowly into 70s style with his tick long hair with luscious large curls.
I am also letting it grow with a few touch ups along the way. My hair is clearly that of an aging new waver or grunge rocker with straight graying hair, just long enough to put behind his ear.
I have looked for a few tutorials on the basics of hair thinning or maintenance. I always end up on YouTube. Where is Coursera-for-Backyard-Crafts? I already have a curriculum lined up: hair cutting, bear trimming, bread making, sausage curing, cheese making, canning and fermenting.
I would make it a mix of videos and simple 1-2-3 instructions. Youtube is not a pleasant form to learn things, nor or long articles. When my hands are in the middle of kneading dough, I want something easy to read.
That’s it for now, as I head to a chair in the backyard for a quick trimming.
November 14, 2020
Unbinged
A recent SFGate.com headline read “HBO’s ‘The Undoing’ is the best show of the year - because you can’t binge it”.
It is true. Recently, I truly enjoyed watching Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, Disney+ The Right Stuff, or Belgian’s VRT Undercover season 2. All demanded 90’s patience for the next episode to be released. The shows even included a short previously-on-section to refresh your mind after a week of fog.
I am conflicted though. I often watch a show while doing house chores. I put on my ironing-man suit and don’t mind a big basket of clothes, as long as I can watch an intriguing show. Having to wait for next week’s episode means a big drop in productivity.
Perhaps there is a way the streaming services can incentivizee us. Help a struggling student or donate to a charity cause, to continue streaming your favorite show. Cash is not accepted, only goodwill. You can accrue “goodwill points” in your Binge-Piggy-Bank.
November 14, 2020
The original Space Race
The 1960’s space race must have been something. Nothing seemed to have energized a country as Sputnik did. Although watching Disney Plus’ The Right Stuff, there was a lot of skepticism about the NASA program. If you believe the fictional show, Kennedy, regardless of his 1962 speech at Rice University to put a man on the moon within the decade, didn’t see a lot of political upside in NASA. Eisenhower would get the credit if it went well. Kennedy would get the blame if it failed. I wonder if it is similar to how we look at the Space Force today.
Recent fictional TV shows, such as the Right Stuff, or Apple TV’s For All Mankind, have peaked my interest in the original Space Race. I almost missed new year, while listening to the BBC’s 13 minutes to the moon podcast. I was glued to my earbuds, the same way my parents and grandparents must have been to their black and white television in 1969.
The heroic stories about the engineering to get a man into space, let alone land on the moon were incredible. They provide a great backdrop to today’s Crew Dragon missions from Space X or Blue Origin’s New Shepard mission. Yep, it is named after Alan Shepard, the first American to travel into space. And now I know a lot more about it thanks to The Right Stuff. The character which intrigues me a lot is Gordo Cooper, an enfant terrible among astronauts.
I am giddy I wrote this blog entry, as I just discovered there is a second season to the BBC podcast. This time they are covering the doomed Apollo 13 mission, sans Tom Hanks. I may miss Thanksgiving.
November 11, 2020
One more thing: a new keyboard?
Today Apple made a slew of big announcements as part of its One More Thing event. Apple will reserve that moniker for big announcements.
Today’s announcement was all about the transition from Intel to Apple ARM-based silicon. This transition has been years in the making, and will last another 2 years.
The Apple ARM-based M1 Chip
Little know fact is that my first out of school job was at VLSI Technology. VLSI was, together with Apple, and Acorn Computers a founding member of the Advanced RISC Machines Ltd, or ARM joint venture. That was in the early nineties.
I also remember the transition from the PowerPC chips to Intel chips. It was an important change. For years, Apple computers were different from WinTels, both because of the chips and because of the operating systems. The CPU battle was between Motorola and Intel, which Intel won. The transition was so well executed. I expect the same thing to happen here, with Universal Apps able to run on either chip, and Rosetta 2 emulation layer, allowing Intel applications to run on an ARM machine. Even iPhone apps can run on a Mac.
MacRumors coverage of the event has all the highlights
These Macs are incredible machines. I can not think of a similar complete system which is not a Mac.
And yet, while scrolling through the coverage was, all I could think of was … “What about the keyboard, Tim?” “Tell me about the keyboard!”.
Apple messed up rather big when the keyboard on their previous laptops failed. Indeed, I type this from my mechanical keyboard, connected to my MacBook Pro, as its keyboard is giving me grief. Keys no longer press down easily, and others just hang.
So much greatness packed in a new family of M1-based machines is undone by a single faux-pas in the previous system, on something as simple as a keyboard. Make it right, Tim! Give us all a discount on our M1-machine.
November 10, 2020
Shall my next car be electric?
My son is on the road tonight with my trusty old tank, our 2005 Volvo V70 station wagon. With almost 200,000 miles on the odometer and some peeling paint near the roof rails, the car is doing overall quite well for its age.
Today, one of my friends is the proud new owner of a 2020 Golf SE Turbo. Another gasoline car.
This made me ponder whether my next car shall be electric, gasoline or a hybrid model.
My first consideration is whether the new technologies will be as reliable. I don’t think I will ever fare as lucky as I have been with my Volvo. The car has been solid. It has a true and tested power train. It is simple and lacks a lot of the electronics of today’s cars. And probably because of it, it has been such a great and reliable car.
My wife’s new car, a 2019 Honda Accord Hybrid, is full of electronics and software. I hold my heart for its reliability. There is just too much new technology in the Honda to make me feel comfortable. The same is true for the new hybrid Volvos I suspect.
Therefore, when I ultimately have to retire my tank, it shall either be a similar true and tested gasoline powertrain, or a simple new electric car. An older model Volvo, Mercedes, or Honda will serve me surely for a few years. Or, I will look at a Tesla Model 3 or Y. Sure the battery technology is key. Yet, the mechanics inside a Tesla are simple. They stand in stark contrast to what sits underneath the hood of our Honda Accord Hybrid. I hope I still have a little time to figure this out.
November 9, 2020
The right thing
It is 8:45am Pacific Time on Saturday November 7th. We are four days after the US election.
I am catching up on email and twitter when the news finally hits: “CNN predicts Joseph R Biden Junior as the next president of the United States. Kamala Harris will be the first woman and person of color as vice-president of the United States.”.
My English breakfast tea whispered to me:
“Winston Churchill once famously observed that Americans will always do the right thing, only after they have tried everything else.”
When more than 70 million Americans voted for lies, my tea is clearly wrong. That’s what you get when you commit the ultimate British faux-pas and make tea in the microwave.
When Trump won in 2016, I got the impression he was as surprised as many of us “Shit, I really won. Now I got to go to work.”
However at least Trump inherited lots of goodness. Not the least, president Obama had rebuilt the US economy from disaster. They had done in a very short time an incredible job. A solid foundation was laid, the walls were up, the roof was being put down. The only thing missing were the roof tiles. That’s when our so called president-builder came in to claim the keys to the front door.
It does appear to me that the Democratic presidents and vice-presidents should rebrand themselves as “The cleanup crew” or “The repair pair”.
Don’t underestimate the immense task ahead of our next president: a broken economy, a pandemic spinning out of control and a divided country. Tonight’s celebrations are less “woohoo we won” and more “let’s go to work!” What a contrast.
November 7, 2020