Mission Métier

Feed Your Mind Living Art

2007-11-30T21:46:00.000-06:00

It's an amazing thing, how utterly different valuable art is when taken in a second time, the third time, and so on. Some works of art gain immensely, they are a new thing. They are so remarkably different, they make you question your work. They live. Again, other art looses immensely. I recently viewed an exhibition of art I had seen previously and was amazed by how little it moved me, I was almost aghast to think of the raptures I had once felt, and now felt no more.

The real joy of art lies in experiencing it over and over again, and always finding it different every time we experience it. Art of any kind can be valuable, valuable like a jewel, or a beautiful book, into which you can look deeper and get a more profound experience every time.

So it is. This clip is from the beautiful documentary on Andy Goldsworthy's art, "Rivers and Tides". Like Goldsworthy's art ,"Rivers and Tides" lives simply because its meaning is not fixed or static.

Enjoy!

"Representing the Neighborhood"

2007-11-20T20:51:00.000-06:00

In 1969, the US Senate had a hearing on funding the proposed Corporation for Public Broadcasting, but President Nixon wanted it cut in half for the Vietnam War. Sometimes nice guys do win some.

Gilgamesh Guild: Red Lion Down's Crypt

2007-11-02T13:49:00.000-05:00

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The searcher operates at a peculiar crossroads where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location.

A crypt containing several pieces of printed ephemera awaits your attention. The cost of this adventure is the amount of what I call life which is required to be exchanged for it.

'Amazing Chase' builds amazing teams

2007-10-06T14:05:00.001-05:00

What does a fundraising event to benefit women and their children have to do with team-building? More than I ever imagined.

St. Monica's hosted its Second Annual Amazing Chase this past Saturday. Firespring participated with two teams of four that raced throughout Lincoln finding clues, performing mental and physical challenges - all while having loads of fun and supporting a great cause.

Considering all the training investments we've made, it's truly remarkable how much we learned about team work, good communication, strategy, and quick decision making during a two hour event. In fact, our learning continued back at the office today as our teams revisited our experiences during the race and their application to our work.

Few things are better than supporting a great cause while extracting practical lessons that can be applied to your work. Look for these types of opportunities in your community. You'll be pleased with the results.

Execution is everything!

2007-10-05T22:00:00.000-05:00

Read Getting Real as soon as possible!! 91 provocative essays, 2oo pages loaded with actionable ideas that you'll read again, again, and again.

The essay "Done!" draws the important distinction between invention and innovation. Invention is the first occurrence of an idea for a new product or process, while innovation is the first attempt to execute it.

Note: While this book's emphasis is on building a web app, a lot of these ideas are applicable to non-software activities too. The suggestions about small teams, rapid prototyping, expecting iterations, and many others presented serve as a guide whether you're starting a business, writing a book, designing a web site, recording an album, or doing a variety of other endeavors. Once you start Getting Real in one area of your life, you'll see how these concepts can apply to a wide range of activities.

David Kelley: The future of design is human-centered

2007-10-04T18:39:00.000-05:00

Low-key and thoughtful, IDEO founder David Kelley seems the antithesis of the "design star" -- and indeed, he says that product design within the past two decades, has become much less about the design and more about the user who'll be experiencing it. In this classic 2002 talk, he shares some video of products coming out of IDEO, including Prada's famous high-tech dressing rooms, "Dilbert's ultimate cubicle," and a gotta-have-it gadget called Spyfish. He finishes by discussing a project he's passionate about: ApproTEC -- now called KickStart -- offering designs that give Kenyans the means to end poverty.