Making Sense:

Finding the problem is the most rewarding part of commerce and life; even when there is no apparent solution or fix.

• The Honesty Risk. Take it. Mark Pollard: “We don’t have a problem, we just need to sell more” is like an adult holding at bay a kid with an outstretched arm in a play-fight, it’s like wearing hockey gear in a pillow fight, it’s a mental whoopee cushion. And it’s usually a dishonest and unimaginative response to problem-hunting and can signal a relationship that will struggle to get traction because someone – or an entire company – isn’t comfortable with truth.

• The Imitation Game. 3 Quarks Daily: Is there a step-by-step procedure which can decisively determine if any given mathematical statement is true or false? More precisely, is there an algorithm which can decide if a given statement can be proven using the rules of first order logic? […] In 1936 Turing and, separately, Church, proved that no such algorithm exists!

Making Do:

Technology is changing faster than human evolution permits; the elements we need to inject back into our environment include empathy along with testing common assumptions.

• What will digital life look like in 2025? Pew Research: The reports looked at the general future of technology, the internet of things, specific threats to the internet, the impact of artificial intelligence and robotics on jobs, the rise of killer apps in the gigabit age, the dangers posed by cyber attacks, and the future of privacy. […] Humans, their institutions, and their norms never adapt to changed circumstances as quickly as the technology advances and often do not respond even to obviously pressing problems until after catastrophe occurs.

• This Ugly Ad Saved My Business. Grigoriy Kogan: As with most marketplace services, I faced the chicken-and-egg problem. I needed to recruit cartoonists (sellers) to have something to sell, and companies (buyers) to license those cartoons and validate the business model. Trying to solve both problems at once was getting increasingly difficult,  and my perseverance was beginning to wane.

Making it:

Connections are opportunities to be explored, not just exploited.

• Connected Life 2014. TNS Global: explores how technology is transforming the lives of consumers across the planet. Covering over 55,000 regular internet users in 50 markets around the world, Connected Life offers essential insight into the impact of the growing digital ecosystem on the media landscape. It uncovers new and exciting opportunities for marketers to connect with their consumers in this increasingly complex environment.

• Hosain Rahman: Time to Think About the Internet of You. PSFK: Internet of Things has yet to deliver on its promise. While there are a few great integrated experiences today, many products still have discrete applications that are just too complicated to use or to connect to. As a result, few devices really talk effectively to anything else. The worst part is that it is still very confusing for consumers. The Internet of Things really needs an organizing principle – one that is less about the ‘things’ and more about the people at the center of those things.

 

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