The Divine Miss N

Do you matter, part 2

This is going to be a bit of a work in progress, I've started reading Do You Matter? (Robert Brunner, Stewart Emery and Russ Hall) and on page 4 was the first quote I wanted to copy and remember. So what I've decided to do is create a post, and then as I'm reading the book add the quotes and thoughts and observations etc to this post. So this'll be a bit of a work in progress. And hit your RSS feed multiple times I think. Apologies for that. But I think this could be an interesting book.

Right, let's get going.
Page 4:
'What to do?
Become brilliant at using design to provide and amazing customer experience. That's what to do. This would be a reason why you care about design.'
Oh, ding, ding, ding. So many people (especially you MBA out there) think design is about taking a product and fixing its bad hair day (I am liberally borrowing this expression from Nick Leon, the director of Design London). Pretty it up a little. Make it look nice. To me, even though I'm still struggling to give a short and coherent definition of design*, this is so short-sighted. Design is about much more than making a product look pretty. It's fundamental to every product and service. Look around you now. Everything you see around you, the computer, the building you're in, the clothes you're wearing, the chair you're sitting in, those are all solutions designed for you. 

And hey presto, on the next page is this:
'We think most people are prone to define design, particularly good design, more narrowly than they should. When you see an iconic product, such as an iPhone, for instance, that enjoys an initial runaway success, it's so easy to overlook the big picture of how the product fits into the company's future - and the the future of similar products in general. We want you to consider a far broader view of the significance of design.' (p 5)

On why one-hit design wonders don't work:
'You can create a good design, do it once, and do it well, and have a nice object. That doesn't mean it will be a great product or a good business. It might be mildly successful, it might win some awards, and it might even get some buzz on the blogs. The difference between a great product and a merely good product, however, is that a great product embodies an idea that people can understand and learn about - an idea that grows in their minds, one they can emotionally engage with.' (p7)

And what exactly design can do, and should do:
'This approach is product design as a total concept - how the product operates, how it sounds, and how it feels. Included in the design is the experience of how you buy it, the experience of what happens when you actually get possession of it and open up the box, how you start to feel and what all this communicates to you. And of course, there is the chain of events through which you became aware of the product. This is part of the design too, what all those touch points meant to you.'  (p 8)

 

And here's a very important one:

'Design is everyone's job. Doing good design takes more than good designers. It takes a commitment from everybody in the company - soup to nuts, end to end.' (p 12)

And this is one of the reasons I'm in d-school: 'Developing an awareness of excellent design as the connective tissue that defines and ensures an excellent experience for your customers is a vital key to the future of your business.' (p 21)

So far, so good. I'm liking this. It's a book I could give to my MBA friends and they'd understand it (not that they're dim, but most of them don't have a design background). But here is something odd: 'You might even, as a business person, categorically dislike dealing with designers, but at least develop a love of knowing what the deal about design is.' (p 21). Huh? What? No way. Let me read that again. '... categorically dislike dealing with designers...'. Yep, it really said that. Why on earth would they say that? That just confirms stereotypes from both ways: that business people can't understand and appreciate designers, and that designers are hopeless to work with. Neither of which in my opinion and experience is true.

But fortunately, there's some good stuff after this:

'It [design] can't be a veneer. Design is not an event or a process you apply to a physical and mechanical reality. You are designing a customer experience supply chain. If you are the CEO and this is something you really want to do, it's not just a matter of getting together your executive staff and saying "Go design some good stuff." You have to look at your business from beginning to end and see how it all relates to your customer; then you must decide how you will design all the pieces of a customer experience solar system and go about accomplishing true organizational change.' (p 46)

Slight cringe about the business-bullshit-bingo words: customer experience supply chain. But other than that, a good point.

* and I also don't have a good definition of brand, or of love. Must work on that.

Do you matter?

Saw the above in a Borders whilst on holiday in TX, couldn't resist buying it. Will let you know what I think of the book when I've read it. And more on the holiday later on as well.

I love vending machines

I love vending machines. Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em. So when I saw this specimen during a layover yesterday in Minneapolis, I couldn't help but peer inside and take pics.

I'm typing this from the very comfortable sofa in the fabulous house of Al and mrs M, who are kindly letting me set up camp in their house and invade their lives for the next few days. And even though I've been here less than 24 hours, I already love Texas, and am reminded why I love the US so much. Vending machines such as the one on the left, great weather, ice machines in the fridge door (yes, that makes me jump up and down with joy), and of course the company of great friends. I can really only say one thing: yeeehaaww!

Here's to another year

Most people make New Year's resolutions on Jan 1st. I always make mine on my birthday, which is my own personal New Year celebration. But before I make my resolutions, it's time to look back and see what happened in this past year. I work in an industry I love, and which allows me to learn something new every day at work (big thank you to my colleagues who have so patient and kind and have taught me more than I think they realise). I am doing a part-time degree that is inspiring beyond anything I could've dreamed and where I have made some wonderful new friends. I have seen some amazing exhibitions, conferences (Interesting2008), events (bschool meets dschool was definitely a highlight) and performances, most notably my alltime hero Bruce Springsteen in A'dam, my teenage heroes The Black Crowes, new discoveries Jamie Lidell and John Mayer (twice) who's fast becoming one of my new favourites. I completed some of my 1,001 things to do, most notably and memorably the 2 Michelin ** dinner at The Square earlier this year which opened up whole new avenues of addiction. I've met some inspiring, interesting, amazing, wonderful people both online and offline. And of course there's my family whom I love so dearly and who are my most ardent supporters for which I can't thank them enough, it's a wonderful feeling that whatever I do or dream up of doing, they are right there for me, cheering me on. If you can measure a person's wealth by her friends, then I'm a billionaire; there's so many wonderful people I get to share my life with, and so much love that I feel incredibly lucky. And yes, I do get very sentimental and soppy about these things, especially on my birthday, but it's my blog and I'll be soppy if I want to.

Life is very good. And I am grateful for that and humbled by it. And thank everyone who's been so instrumental in making this my best year ever so far. For this coming year I hope to travel a bit more (kicking off in a few days when I fly to Dallas to visit Al and the lovely miss M, followed by a trip to India late November to attend a wedding), continue to enjoy work and school (and try to balance the two), and enjoying this wonderful city some more. There you go. Soppiness over now, back to normal broadcast from the next post onwards.

Jammin' with graphs

A picture is worth a 1000 words. If it's done the right way, that is. I saw a website called GraphJam this morning which has the best graphs, piecharts and Venn diagrams that I've ever seen. Here's an example:

Now, especially if you're an MBA or a consultant, repeat after me: "I will not, under any circumstances now or in the future, create diagrams, pie- or barcharts or Venn Diagrams that add nothing whatsoever to the slide deck I am making. I will only use them where they make sense and help my audience to understand what I'm talking about, not to show off I've found the graph-making button in my software.'

And if you do feel the need to toy around with graphs, create one and submit it to GraphJam.

{Graphjam chart from here}

The most fun

you can have with a suit on. Saw this on the tube and couldn't help but chuckle.

Calling all MBA applicants in NL

Saw this and am passing it on, please note that this is all I know and I have no affiliation with this whatsoever. However, if you're thinking about going to a top-tier MBA school, this sounds like it could be of great help to your research of schools and programs. And I can't say it often enough, there aren't enough Dutch people pursuing top-flight MBAs, for reasons completely beyond me. So if an MBA is an idea you're toying with, and you're in NL, go to this and figure out if it's for you. Go NL!

"The Dutch Ivy Circle Alumni Association invites you to its second Amsterdam MBA Fair on Sunday 28 September, 2008, from 11am to 5pm.  

 We offer young professionals who intend to pursue an MBA, the unique opportunity to meet admissions directors and alumni from the top 1 2  global MBA programs.

This MBA fair at the Barlaeus Gymnasium in Amsterdam will give you access to the 12 most internationally renowned business schools from the United States ( Chicago , Columbia , Harvard, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, Stanford, Tuck and Wharton) and Europe (IESE, IMD, INSEAD, LBS). This is a unique opportunity. You will meet admissions directors and alumni from the top 12 global MBA programs and you will be given a great platform to share and exchange MBA information. The day is intended to make you much better equipped to conduct your MBA selection and application processes and increase your chances of acceptance at one of these outstanding business schools. 

 During the morning you will have the opportunity to ask questions about MBA programs in general. After lunch, you will learn about the three schools you're most interested in. Representatives from the Fulbright Foundation will provide information on sponsoring opportunities, and the US Consul will answer your visa questions. By the end of the day you will be familiar with the added value of your preferred MBA programs, knowing which schools best fit your competencies and ambition

Are you a young professional with three to four years of work experience in the public or private sector? Do you have ambitions that extend beyond the Netherlands ? Do you intend to pursue an international MBA in the next 1-2 years?

Then register at our website, www.amsterdammbafair.nl/registration. (Please note that seats are limited. Places will be given on a first come first served basis.) 

If you have already applied to Business Schools and/or you have been accepted, this event is still a wonderful opportunity to meet alumni and learn more about your preferred school(s). And even if you are not planning to attend, feel free to send us your contact information (and the schools you have applied to or were accepted at) to ensure that you are invited to other applicant events, like our pre-departure drinks at the US Consulate.

The Amsterdam MBA Fair is made possible thanks to the generous contribution of our partners Aegon, A.T. Kearney, and Booz & Company."

Not my brightest moment

So that wasn't my brightest moment today I have to admit. I was part of the alumni panel at  MBA2010 today, where we had the graveyard slot (i.e. after lunch, when everone dozes off), and the other 4 panelists saved the day. Thank God. Because I wasn't on a roll at all. I blame it on the gazillion little fires I was putting out at work today, which I always do, that's part of my job, but today we had a few really hot ones, combined with having a complete office refurb and desks being replaced. The hunt was on for a working phone, a socket to plug laptop into, and praying that the builders are not using a drill the moment one of my clients calls and that the internet wasn't going to go down the moment I had send out email. All of the day until 2pm was spent running around like a headless chicken on steroids, so by the time I got to Lords, I was beat. And  I definitely wasn't in top form. If you were there, and listening, I apologise. I like to think that Im normally a tad more amusing and entertaining. I suppose everyone has their off-days. Nevertheless, I hope it was helpful. And entertaining. But if you read this, you probably knew what I was going to say anywa

What every MBA2010 should know

*warning, if you're an MBA2010, this will spoil whatever it is that I'll say during Orientation. You can stop reading now and read it after Wednesday if you want to be surprised.*

So last year I wrote this post on what advice I would give the incoming class, and since I've been asked to be part of the alumni panel at MBA2010 Orientation this week, I thought it prudent to check out what I'd written last year. And you know what? It's good stuff, which I know is tooting my own horn (although most of the advice comes from a group of people, not just me). But useful. So I'll copy the whole thing down here again, as much as a reminder to myself about what I want to say at Orientation as advice for the incoming class.

From last year's post (original here):

"My list:
* Remember what you came here to do. I wrote down what I thought I wanted to get out of my time at LBS, and promised I'd try and fit as many things as I could in, and would only do things that I'd love doing and got excited about. It is easy getting sidetracked with everything that's going on, and that goes in particular for jobs. I've been to Milkround presentations where I had no business going to, just because I felt I should go to them. Just because everyone else jumps into the river, doesn't mean you have to also. Or something like this. You get my drift.
* Put learning before grades. LBS is a grade-non-disclosure school which means no one except for you will ever see your grades. Take advantage of this. Stretch yourself. I took electives which I otherwise never would have taken. An internship that was unpaid but was invaluable in figuring out what I wanted to do next. Learning sometimes doesn't correlate with grades (and good internships don't always correlate with earning lots of money), some of my classes where I got the worst grades I learned the most from. Always, always put learning before grades.
* Give back. I believe in 'what goes around, comes around'; if you can help someone else, do. It's good karma. If you are less altruistically inclined, remember this: it will come back to you in spades, but not in ways you can imagine now. If you trip someone up, they will remember and who knows, they might just give a negative recommendation to their friends who works for company X that you are just dying to work for.

I have since thought of a few more:
* Have fun and lighten up a little. Life's not that serious. Neither is an MBA. Work hard, but also leave plenty of time to enjoy the good things in life
* Go outside your comfort zone in terms of friends. If you come to LBS, there will be around 60 other nationalities with you. And people from professional backgrounds you had no idea even existed. Don't stick with what you know. Or who you know. Venture out, get to know different cultures and ideas.

I asked a few of my fellow alumni, and they came up with this (thanks to H, M and J and yes, the list is censored a bit):

* The best stuff happens outside of class
*  If you have never lived in England before, read Kate Fox's Watching the English. It will make life a lot easier
*  If you are single, this is probably the last chance you will have to meet large numbers of people of the opposite sex. [Natasja's edit: especially if you're female I would think, the male/female ratio is 75/25]
* Only nerds, gifted individuals and private equity wannabes want to be on dean's list. Nobody likes a wannabe. Everyone loves a nerd.
* Decide on your grading philosophy today.
* Try to focus on learning. Not grades. Learn to build your intuition, not memorize formulas.
* Don't stare at the female professors. They will notice and they will remember (Natasja's edit: huh? Ehm. I don't personally have any experience with this, but will take my friend's word for this)
* There are good cheap eats in London. You just have to find them. Asking helps.
* There is life beyond Marylebone Road (aka the Bubble). Not just at night and in clubs. Explore.
* Get involved in clubs.  This extends your network and allows you to apply the skills you are learning.
* Accept that the only way to make lots of money is to have no life.  Work-life balance mean fine tuning budget/expenditure balance.
* London is the world's most expensive city.  Accept it now and stop whinging about it.
* Understand that this is an opportunity to learn about yourself and consider your next steps. you have another forty working years after graduation to work. Don't fill your first year with too many electives as you will change your mind after your summer internship in any case.
* This is not your home and yes it is overcast here most the time - we all already know that, you're not telling us anything we don't know yet. Take advantage of the free museums, concerts, cheap arts and drama."

Oh, and if you're going to London Business School (must remember to be on brand and not say LBS all the time), you'll be seeing loads of this:

This is not London

This one's especially for Fran and Grant. This is not London.

Changing the rules of the game

Without really realising it, I've become stuck in a bit of a rut. A blogging rut. The normal pattern for me for this blog is for a topic to hit me, me finding time to sit down for 10 minutes or so and hash out a post, find an image in my Flickr account which has some relation to the story (and sometimes the only relation is that I shot the image and wrote the post), and press 'save'. The careful observer notices the complete lack of spelling check, yes I blatantly do not spellcheck. Take that English professors from my undergrad. The whole thing doesn't sound like much work. And it isn't. But with the advent of Twitter, and especially Tumblr, my blogging habits but most of all my attention span, are starting to change. Having to sit down and find an image with a post all of a sudden seems a bit of a burden, as does waiting for a coherent and topical set of thoughts to materialise in my head. I want instant. Now, now, now. Instant gratification. But I'm not sure if this blog lends itself to that. So what I'll do is experiment a bit for a while here. Not all posts will be long as per usual, or have an image attached. Apologies for any upcoming randomness and conciseness. 

London Business School newsflash

I don't think I talk a lot on the blog about London Business School anymore (trying to be on brand and not say LBS but I know I can't keep it up; you know what, everywhere I say LBS, pretend I say London Business School). Which is a bit odd, since my bond with LBS is still quite strong. My housemate was one of my classmates, most of my friends in London are ex-LBS (working a little bit to tip that balance to include more 'normal' people, not that I don't like my MBA friends, but it's good to have a mix), I help organise a regular drinks-catch-up do for my class, answer questions and chat to applicants and students and help out with events that require alumni every now and then.

Two pieces of news came in this week which cement my connection with LBS that little more. First up, I’ll be part of an alumni panel at MBA2010 orientation, which I hope will be a hoot. Loved doing it last year, although I’m never quite sure if the advice I dole out is the kind of stuff people want to hear. Anyway, if you’re reading this and you’re 2010, come up and say hi, it would be nice to meet you.

Second piece of news is that I got elected to the IAB, the School’s International Alumni Board, kinda like a think tank made up of alumni. Every alumn can stand, and so I did. And got in as did 3 other 2007s (hurray, go Jackson, Jasdpee and Vinay!) and a bunch of alumns who I don't know yet but look forward to meeting. Thanks to everyone who voted for me, ever so nice. Now I hope I can live up to the votes of confidence.

I don't understand

There's a million things I don't understand. Like why single bachelors of the male variety (aren't all bachelors male otherwise they'd be called bachelorettes? I think they are, but just to clarify I've put the 'male' bit in) always have black leather sofas and giant flatscreen TVs in their homes. Or why people like pineapple. Or why we just can’t all get along. And more in that vain.

But lately what I’ve not been understanding at all is why there is such a thing as digital advertising agencies. In particular why there is a need for a specific agency that does digital stuff. Surely, digital isn’t just another channel on the block, it’s a new way of thinking, of figuring out how to interact with the audience or customers or whatever they’re called nowadays. Of communicating. I don’t understand the need for the separation of the different channels in different agencies. I’m also looking at it from a business and outsider’s perspective. Why would I, if I were a brand manager, have different agencies for different channels? Wouldn’t I just want to talk to a bunch of people who understand my painstakingly hard work on crafting and living a brand, and help me communicate that message in effective and clever ways? I'm pretty sure people on the receiving end (aka consumers/customers/audience) don't give a hoot which channel the message comes through, they most likely are not waiting for your message anway (subject for a whole new post). Whether that’s through a viral on Youtube, a print ad in the free London Paper or by organising a festival in a park on a sunny day with lots of music and ice-cream. Hell, it could be through a song, or a book, or a iPhone application, or by word of mouth. Or Twitter, reverse grafitti or by sponsoring an art show. As long as it’s done in the way that’s most appropriate for the brand, by people who know what they’re doing from a strategic, creative and technical point of view*, why would I want to have specific agencies? That feels like you’re deciding what channel the message is going to go out on, before knowing how you’re going to say it and whether that’s the most appropriate.

So I’m not getting it, this whole integrated versus specialist agencies thing. From an outsider’s perspective, it strikes me as being decidedly odd, and very old-fashioned. Time for the agency of the future, a new model. Anyone want to start one with me?

* so that's the reason I can see for the original existence of specific digital agencies: you definitely need technical know-how to do this kind of stuff. But surely that's a historical thing, not a reason for the continued existence of different agencies.

[blogpost sparked by a combination of Tom Fishburne's excellent drawing on silos and Russell Davies column in Campaign of July 25th which I can't seem to be able to track down on the Brandrepublic website.]

Confession

I have a confession to make.

You know me, I like my techie gadgets (I can't always afford them, but I do drool over them and covet them and dream about them). A lot. I'm inseparable from my iPod Touch, own a N95 and if you take my Powerbook away from me, I get serious withdrawl. Yet, and here's the confession... I have a paper diary/organiser/agenda. A good old fashioned Collins, £4.95, one-week-on-two-pages diary. Nothing fancy, although I am picky. Has to be A6 format, and one week on two pages. And preferably an elastic band that closes it, so that I can stick stuff in. Reading this blogpost though  and getting a meeting request from a friend who wanted to go to dinner and wanted to know which email address he needed to send the invitation to, made me realise that I'm maybe part of a dying breed of people that still have a paper organiser.

I like my paper diary. I like it because I can pencil in appointments. I have an overview of the week. Nothing quite as comforting as flipping backwards and forwards through the weeks and months. I can stick Post-it notes in it and pencil quotes into random pages. I keep my old diaries as keepsakes, it's great flicking through and being reminded of all the fun things I did. The only downside perhaps is lack up backup possibilities (short of photocopying it I suppose). If I lose it, I'm stuffed.

So there you go. I guess you can take the girl out of book history, but you can't take the love of paper away from the girl!

An Apple a day

*cue unabashed gushing. If you can't stand unabashed gushing, look away and come back for the next post* 

As some of you know, I'm a bit of a fan of Apple. My trusty Powerbook turns 3 this month, I have a passionate love affair with my iPod Touch, and no, I don't have an iPhone yet but as soon as my current contract runs out this autumn you will see me sprint to the O2 store. Yep, I do like Apple. And this week, this was yet again reinforced. 

A couple of weeks ago I got an email announcing the iTunes Live series of concerts in July, in the ever so cool Koko in Camden (evidence number 1: free concerts in a cool venue). The only way to get to the concerts was to put your name in a raffle to win tickets (clever piece of marketing evidence number 2, access to a select group of people about who you in the process gather what music they like), so I put my name in for the Jamie Lidell concert. And then completely forgot about the whole thing. Until I got an email announcing that I'd won tickets, hurrah. So I dragged a friend along, walked in, were given a pass that gave you access to 10 free songs from the iTunes live series (evidence number 3, give something away for free, everyone loves that), and then saw a stunningly good performance which blew my top off* (evidence number 4: program great artists). Every single detail was done right, and the whole thing was simple, but definitely not easy. Hats off to Apple, man, that was clever marketing/branding. 

* I've been having really good concert karma lately, with Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer and Jamie Lidell, all fabulous concerts, in one month.