Category: Work

Seth Godin on Being Satisfied Creatively

“Are you satisfied creatively?

 

Not even close. That’s a very dangerous place to be and it would truly depress me if that happened and I would get very scared as well. I think if your goal is for everything to be okay, that’s a mistake. To achieve that goal, the only obstacle you’d have to face tomorrow is to eliminate all risk so that everything would be okay. I’ve made the decision that I’m never trying to make everything okay. I’m trying for there to be more loose ends, not fewer loose ends.”

https://thegreatdiscontent.com/seth-godin

Today I’m making motion graphics in After Effects, tomorrow I’m setting up a new site for a client in WordPress, the day after, who knows!? While it does afford a certain level of discomfort, I’d much rather be pushing myself than complacent with just one domain.

 

 

Greg Hoy on the Cycle of Agency Life

“Time and time again, ideas were presented to various internal stakeholders, all of whom had their own agendas and budgets. Pushing ideas through the maze of red tape and exhausting levels of buy-in was usually a soul-sucking effort in futility. Even though everyone was theoretically working for the greater good, everyone was working against each other at the same time. Great ideas became mediocre ideas that became ghosts of ideas put on the back burner.”

https://the-pastry-box-project.net/greg-hoy/2014-april-17

Having only worked with and for large internal shops I’m always curious as to what the other side of the table (at a dedicated agency) would be like.

Put Your Phone Away

“I would often catch myself pulling out my phone to merely check the time (and then check the time again since I never actually remembered it the first time). This frequent ‘time check’ reenforced the habit of constantly pulling out my phone and undoubtedly led to unnecessary browsing if a waiting notification piqued my interest. Buy a watch. Wear it.”

https://medium.com/p/15308056cfae

Speaking of distractions, put your damn phone away.

Matt Griffin on Working with Email

“And when you’ve finished that batch of email responses and are ready to return to your work? Close that email client, friend! Don’t open it back up until you’re ready to dedicate your attention to it again. Otherwise, it’s just a distraction. I find it useful to set times for checking my email throughout the day, for instance 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 4 p.m.”

http://alistapart.com/column/my-life-with-email

Some good tips here. Email is one of those deceptively simple things that everyone misuses.

How Chipotle Transformed Itself

“After Flores expressed his frustration, Moran showed him his early notes for the restaurateur program, which is unique among fast food restaurants in that it ties pay and promotion to how well you mentor people, rather than store sales.

“It was a great meeting but I didn’t know what was going to happen. At most companies you meet the top execs and then you never hear from them again,” Flores says.

A few weeks after the October meeting, while vacationing in Houston, Flores got a call on his cell from Ells and Moran letting him know that he had been promoted to restaurateur and was getting a $3,000 bonus. Rather than waiting until he returned to Milwaukee to get him the check, it was delivered to him in Houston the following day. At the time his salary was around $38,000, and the bonus was meaningful.

“That’s when I knew the company was special,” Flores said.”

http://qz.com/183224/how-chipotle-transformed-itself-by-upending-its-approach-to-management/

 

I think the portions are absurdly large at Chipotle, but the few times I’ve gone it’s been a pleasant experience. Different than traditional fast food.