Tom The Architect

In many businesses you hear people refer to the things the company sells as product, or material, or skus, or content. The abstraction of a burger or a mop, creates detachment between how the business thinks and how the customer thinks, resulting in a lack of accountability for the experience and value the customer receives. I cringe when I hear Suzanne Greco, Vice President Of Research & Development, SUBWAY refer to the things Subway sells as “product”.  There is an intimacy we all must have with the things we sell, and customers don’t think about how great a Subway product would taste. The customer thinks in concrete and tangible terms and so should the businesses that hope to meet their needs.  In Subway’s case they sell food, Sandwiches made of bread, lunch meat and cheese. Just listen to video linked above and replace product with sandwich or bread. The interview in my opinion has a completely different feel using real and intimate terms. So, lose the abstraction, be real and intimate with the things you sell.

My favorite view of London, a photo by TomC on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
At the Tate Modern in London, on the 5th Floor (I think) there is a door right next to a snack shop and gift shop. If you aren’t paying attention you will miss it. But walk through that door to a Patio and you will see this view. This panorama doesn’t do the view Justice. When you walk out on to the patio the first words out of your mouth will be WOW! The view is Art all by itself, a modern ever changing canvas. The act of walking through a standard doorway compresses the view and then once over the threshold the view explodes. Just another justification for taking time to explore and look around in all directions.

Untitled, a photo by TomC on Flickr.

It was a lovely day in Hyde Park floating on The Serpentine. Enjoy!

“We are building tools that amplify a human ability” – Steve Jobs 1980 (via Kottke.org)

In my opinion Steve Jobs and Apple took the next logical step, building products that amplify a human emotion at the same time amplifying a human ability.  It is the amplification of human emotion which today underpins the Apple brand.  There is great engineering, design, and marketing in other companies, but it is Apple that brings them together with a focus on amplifying human emotion at the sometime amplifying a human ability. Brilliant.

The perosn who doesn’t make mistakes is unlikely to make anything…

Failures and false starts are a precondition of success.

It’s Not How Good You are, Its How Good You Want To Be, Paul Arden

“Dare to be as good as you are. Believe in the potential of yourself and others. Stay open to possibilities. And remember, your past is not your future.”

Every Shot Must Have A Purpose, Pia Nilsson & Lyn Marriott

My Desk Reference Library., a photo by TomC on Flickr.

Here is my reference library. What’s in your reference library?

“you must realize that no amount of planning can anticipate such changes. Does that mean you shouldn’t plan? Not at all. You need to plan the way a fire department plans: It cannot anticipate where the next fire will be, so it has to shape an energetic and efficient team that is capable of responding to the unanticipated as well as to any ordinary event.”  Andy Grove Only the Paranoid Survive

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