The Cordray Crisis
“This latest episode over the Cordray appointment may be the most extreme example. But it’s surely not the final example.
It is instead an ominous milestone in the deterioration of the US political system into ever more intense acrimony and paralysis.”
Taking vacation at Red Frog is encouraged (and even celebrated). And it’s not abused. Ever. By anyone. Simply make sure your work is getting done and make sure you’re covered while you’re away and that’s it—no questions asked.
Give Your Employees Unlimited Vacation Days
Some look at business management techniques like this and think they are pipe dreams or flat out silly. I disagree: I think it’s a shift in our culture and a necessary one. Just as sales commissions train salespeople to focus on the wrong results, so do strict 9-5 environments and time-tracking. Productivity, skill, and value do not relate to minutes, hours, or days. One day I hope to lead an office with unrestricted vacation time, transparent salaries, and proper 15% time.
(via 9-bits)
(via 9-bits)
Source: inc.com
Revisiting my 2011 resolutions and my 2012 edition
Since it’s newly 2012, I felt it was time to revisit my 2011 resolutions (found here: http://johanlieu.com/post/2548438695/my-new-years-resolutions-for-2011), see if I kept them and grade myself like I said I would (I said I would do it on a monthly basis, but I didn’t, so you can probably guess how well this going to go for me):
Resolution #1:
1. I am going to commit to writing one long form blog post a week about product management, the web, the Internet industry, or anything else that I might find interesting to write about. I’ve been too lazy about developing a voice for my blog on the web, settling just for small commentary on things I share that I found interesting. It’s time to start creating ideas instead of just rehashing them.
Well, considering I wanted to post once a week and I only, by my count, got to 6 well written posts, resulting in a 11.5% completion rate, I think it’s safe to grade this one a big fat F. I think I set my expectations bar too high with the whole “long form” blog post requirement and then coupled with the once a week mandate, it gave me just long enough to procrastinate and not post anything since I had enough time to talk myself out of posting anything because I didn’t think it met the “long form” requirement. Too much bullshit on my part there. I’m going to post more frequently and not worry about meeting some arbitrary standard. I am just going to post more frequently and keep at it. I think Om Malik and MG Siegler had it right, you just need to do it regularly to actually do it.
Onward to resolution #2:
2. I am going to try and consciously be a nicer/better/positive person. I’ve found my negativity influencing one too many decisions I’ve made previously and need to change that. I normally don’t believe in “intangibles” but I think being a nicer, better person will be meaningful, even if it is on the intangible level.
I know it’s odd to grade this one, especially since I totally and miserably failed the previous resolution, but I believe I followed through on this one. You’re just going to have to trust me on this one; I was way more positive this year than I had been previously. If you want some proof, I guess you’re going to have to talk to my wife, brothers, and my other close friends. For those of you too lazy to check my sources, I got an A.
Now for resolution #3:
3. I will learn the skills needed to develop, launch, and maintain a simple web app this year. It doesn’t matter what technology I will learn, it matters that I just do it. It’s going to suck at first (actually it’s going to suck a lot) but I need to power through and get it done.
This is a two parter. I learned the needed skills, but I didn’t launch or maintain my simple web app. I could use the fact that I quit my job to start my own company as an excuse, but really, that should have been more of a catalyst. I will get my product out soon, so for now, I am going to grade this as an Incomplete.
As for 2012, I have some simple ones:
1. Follow through and release a web app/release my company’s app. Two for one here, but so intertwined that I combined them.
2. Write more and post more on this blog. I’m shooting for at least once a week again, but this time I won’t allow the arbitrary and vague level of quality hinder my flow.
3. Exercise 3 times a week for 52 weeks straight (I actually started this one back in October, but that was for momentum more than anything). This one is personal; this may come as a surprise to some of you (not really) but I was never in organized sports and never really was athletic (other than skateboarding) so this is something I’ve really never done. I’ve never exercised regularly in my life, so I want to see if I can do it. Seems like something I should be able to do, so we’ll see how that goes.
Well, there is nothing quite like calling yourself out on your own blog, but there it is. How did you do in keeping your 2011 resolutions?
P.S. If you talk to me, ask me how it’s coming along. Keep me accountable, I’ll appreciate it.
How Fox News is helping Barack Obama's re-election bid
Frum: “Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us – and now we’re discovering we work for Fox.”
The Big Lie: Wall Street has destroyed the wonder that was America.
“I have lived what now, at 75, is starting to feel like a long life. If anyone asks me what has been the great American story of my lifetime, I have a ready answer. It is the corruption, money-based, that has settled like some all-enveloping excremental mist on the landscape of our hopes, that has permeated every nook of any institution or being that has real influence on the way we live now.”
National Geographic: The Bible of King James
Fascinating history of the influence, both good and bad, of the King James Bible.
How to Actually Make Text Look Interesting
Nice intro to text design.
When Did the GOP Lose Touch With Reality?
“It’s fine to be unconcerned that the rich are getting richer, but blind to deny that middle-class wages have stagnated or worse over the past dozen years. In the aftershock of 2008, large numbers of Americans feel exploited and abused. Rather than workable solutions, my party is offering low taxes for the currently rich and high spending for the currently old, to be followed by who-knows-what and who-the-hell-cares. This isn’t conservatism; it’s a going-out-of-business sale for the baby-boom generation.”
David Frum brings the truth.
It is not healthy for companies to trade at prices well beyond what they are worth. It puts incredible pressure on the team to deliver results that can’t be delivered. And when the stock inevitably comes back to reality, the team feels like they somehow failed. Morale is impacted. The whole things is madness. And who benefits from that first day pop? Only the best customers of the banks who led the offerings. Why should they get a windfall when they did nothing to build the company and when they will be out of the stock so fast it will make your head spin?
A Look Inside Mobile Design Patterns
Invitations are helpful tips that are displayed the first time a user opens an application or arrives at a new place. They suggest actions and guide the user to the intended functionality. A simple invitation can turn an otherwise discouraging first time experience into a satisfying one.
via decodering.
Source: decodering
Dark Patterns: Deception vs. Honesty in UI Design
In particular, this passage does a fantastic job at articulating the hardest part of my job:
Removing dark patterns from any site involves a leap of faith. A company has to shift from a short-term quantitative measurement mindset to one that values relatively slow, steady growth of “warm fuzzy” qualitative things like brand image, credibility, and trust.
Source: 9-bits
daniel sinker: I'm starting to think Lego is evil
Well, maybe not evil, but “highly problematic.”
First, let’s remove what we all *think* Lego is (i.e. our own nostalgic memories, our aspirational beliefs, or $250 robot sets), and instead concentrate on what Lego today is, for the most part: It’s movie-tie-in model sets marketed pretty much…
Source: sinker
Horseshit | The Verge
Great article by @joshuatopolsky on the ridiculousness of fanboyism.
