We’ve been getting a lot of snow in the Seattle area, and while it has been an inconvenience in some ways, it has also been an opportunity in other ways. As if confirming the cliché, in every adversity there is a seed of an opportunity. However, the issue is not that there are no seed of opportunity, the question is will you be able to do something about it.

Thanks to the snow, I learn that we could fit two cars and a bike into out two car garage. Tight yes, but it works. And now I have ideas on things we could clear out of that space to make it even more usable. In addition the snow has presented opportunities for us to stay indoors and bond. 

Calling family especially my cousins that I haven’t talked to in years is a good way to spend Christmas. They all have their own families and children now. For this I am very thankful and happy. I have to work harder at connecting with Family.

Finally, I have some technical stuff I have been thinking about.. I will keep this blog personal but in 2009, I will be doing more professional type blogging and for that I will be moving to blogger. Yes, Google blogger. Why? I have decided that even in the current incarnation of live spaces, it has failed to live up to its promise. There is still not a lot of users customizing their own templates. No one is making or at least boasting of the money they are making on the platform. Furthermore, features that support search engine optimization, easy url etc. are limited. When (note I said when not if) live spaces catches up, I will consider a return to the fold. For now, it is simply buried in the mish-mash of Windows Live.

Finally  got an electric tuner [ a little device called guitar professor that is actually a tuner, a chord finder and a pitch pipe all rolled into one] for an amazingly low price of $20.

After spending less than 20 minutes tuning my guitar perfectly, I played the small set of chords that I know and I came to realize that my guitar has been out of tune for so long, I have forgotten what it sounded like when it was in tune. As a result, I have picked up some habits that I will have to relearn and/or unlearn.

This is also a metaphor for how I feel about being overweight. I have been overweight for so long, I have forgotten what is feels like to be svelte and a very good college level breaststroke swimmer. Good enough for NUGA (Nigerian University Games 1992 in Benin City).

Well, it is another new year another new resolution and of course weight loss will be close to the top of the list, right? we’ll see because I don’t know that yet. However what I do know is the theme for the new year for me. And it is… drum roll please

Work and Work Out

It is actually snowing here and everything is white. Just like in the movies. And I am drinking a warm milk tea and warm macadamia nut cookies just like in the movies. In a little while, I will strum some interesting chords on my guitar, read/scan some blogs (newspapers are so last century) and work on a site, or write some code or whatever strike my fancy for a bit, just like in the movies.

It is a perfect day in Seattle. And this is why I think it might be time to move or move on….

At the gym (yes, I do make it there from time to time) tonight, I was listening to a podcast by Judy Estrin of JLabs, ex-CTO of Cisco, serial entrepreneur and once rated one of the most powerful women in business discuss Innovation. However I think she was so wrong, I could not listen till the end of the presentation. I was constantly arguing with her in my head. And this is someone who wrote a book on the subject. What she was describing as innovation is what I would describe as the process of research and development especially basic research and the application of the output of R&D.

For me the critical difference is innovation is sometimes the output of R&D. It is the paradigm shifting efficiency that impacts the status quo of a field. Yes, there could be incremental innovation or dramatic seismic innovation. There are also different types of innovation for example process innovation or technology innovation.

Not to be so full of myself I did a quick survey of what other people think of innovation, and I tend to agree with Ideo’s definition of the term. See the book “The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO”.  Wikipedia, the ultimate crowd sourcing authority also seems to agree with me, defining innovation as a new way of doing something. And also going on to make a distinction between invention and innovations as ideas applied successfully. Something Judy clearly disagrees with.

Whatever side of the debate you seat though, the common ground (Obamaesque term now) is that individuals and organizations need to be innovative now more than anytime in the past.

In the last few days, I have had to work hard at “work”. In the process, I realize I have always worked hard at play, not necessarily at work but I do like the intellectual stimulation of work. I don’t do any heavy lifting or physical labor for work (or for play for that matter)

First observation is concentration, when I was in school, at my best, I typically can study for about 50 minutes and then I needed about 10 minutes of play. That is still true now, except the work day is not designed for those breaks.

Working in a cubicle for people like me is a bad idea. I need focus to do my work well, not necessarily quietness although sometimes, that is exactly what I need however having people walking all around or talking is very distracting to me. I am constantly on my headset now as a way of blocking out all that distraction.

Home office – a new discovery is how productive I am in my home office once I set my mind to it. Get up, dress, eat breakfast and get to work. With a sprinkle of conference calls thrown in No commutes, no time wasting meetings. Man, I could get used to this.

Listened to a podcast from http://ecorner.stanford.edu by Tom Kelley, General Manager at IDEO about how to be an Innovator.

Key Lessons:

1 – think like a traveler (Vu Jade)

2 – treat life like an experiment

3 – Attitude of wisdom

4 – Use your whole brain

5 – follow your passion (something I was thinking of earlier today)

He also talked about a book about the right brain that I will like to read sometime in the future – A whole new mind by Daniel Pink