Barry Schwartz: The Paradox of Choice

From Publishers Weekly

”Like Thoreau and the band Devo, psychology professor Schwartz provides ample evidence that we are faced with far too many choices on a daily basis, providing an illusion of a multitude of options when few honestly different ones actually exist. The conclusions Schwartz draws will be familiar to anyone who has flipped through 900 eerily similar channels of cable television only to find that nothing good is on. Whether choosing a health-care plan, choosing a college class or even buying a pair of jeans, Schwartz, drawing extensively on his own work in the social sciences, shows that a bewildering array of choices floods our exhausted brains, ultimately restricting instead of freeing us. We normally assume in America that more options (“easy fit” or “relaxed fit”?) will make us happier, but Schwartz shows the opposite is true, arguing that having all these choices actually goes so far as to erode our psychological well-being.”

Secrets of Success

Every interview in Jessica Livingston’s Founders at Work is full of interesting perspectives from successful people who had no guarantees when they started and probably claim to have no secrets of success. This is not a “success” book or a “how to” book, but simply an interesting book. Yet a read between-the-lines exposes secrets of success.

They are summed up in the interview with Paul Buchheit, creator of GMail and Adsense. Here is Buchheit on the idea for and the first implementation of Adsense:

”It was an idea that we had talked about for a long time, but there was this belief that it wouldn’t work. But it seemed like an interesting problem, so one evening I implemented this content-targeting system, just sort of as a side project, not because I was supposed to. And it turned out to work.”

Two Secrets of Success

In this quote we see two secrets of success common among folks that rise to the top of their industry:

1. They work on what they find interesting. Not just on what they are told to or supposed to.
2. They pursue ideas not generally expected to work.

Success and the micro-ISV

I suspect many micro-ISV owners have these traits and see themselves in this approach. To micro-ISV owners, it’s no secret.

In fact there are not really any “secrets of success” – it’s a simple risk-reward formula. Yet if this JoelOnSoftware thread is any indication, it is one that is too easily forgotten.

Success and the Employee

Work on what other people assign to you and you will likely complete the task, but will not find career-changing success. Work on something you find interesting and others find unlikely, and your chances for breakout success are increased almost immeasurably.

This advice is for everyone – not just company founders. For example, Paul Buchheit who I quoted above, is not a Google founder but an employee who practices these non-secret but too easily forgotten “secrets of success”.

Reason Number 121 Why I Love MacBooks

It’s all the little things. For example, while other people are buying extra laptop cord wraps and ties, MacBooks have one built right into the power supply. Simply flip in the outlet prongs, flip out the wrap feet, wrap the cord, and you have it nice and neat and ready to go. Just another little touch that, when all put together add up to a great experience with the product I use all day, every day.

New Feature: Measure Marketing Results

LeadsOnRails.com now has a reports to help users measure marketing results. Details here. Next up: we are tying these effectiveness reports directly to lead capture web forms to help users develop effective web campaigns.

Computer Worlds Top 5 Technologies for 2007

Computer World’s Top Five Technologies You Need to Know About in ‘07 includes Ruby on Rails as one of the “core technologies that may have the greatest effect on the world of computing over the next 12 months”. In his overview of Rails, the author includes shorter development timelines as one advantage of the framework.

Using Ruby on Rails has meant we can deliver new products and changes to existing products more quickly than we ever did before making the move. To users, this development speed manifests as responsive customer service.

I predict Ruby on Rails adoption will grow at an even faster rate in 2007 so am happy to say “stay tuned” for more details and an official announcement of a new Ruby on Rails training class we will be offering in partnership with another Rails firm starting this fall.

Manage Leads

LeadsOnRails.com automates lead management and lets you implement lead followup best practices to convert more leads and free your up more of your time.

This system was born from discussions with small business owners who often spend a fortune on lead acquisition only lose the lead information or fail to effectively followup on it due to poor communication among team members, poor advanced planning, or failure to create a lead management plan.

In LeadsOnRails each prospect is put on a track, which assigns steps to users and everyone can see leads progress through the pipeline. No one is left assuming someone else has taken action. As one of users put it – LeadsOnRails.com can serve as an organization’s best-practices manual.

LeadsOnRails is the first in a series of products aimed at making the dedicated expertise found in large, successful companies accessible to small and mid-size companies that do not have the need for a dedicated IT or marketing staff and do not have local IT staff to support desktops, databases, and networks.

Next up:

- New features including integrated email management and web site interfaces

- Improved help and get started pages (with video tutorials)

- Industry specific templates for leads and workflow

Track Leads

I like how the screens are coming together for our new lead tracking application, so I have put a montage of some of the main screens up on the product teaser website.

Click here to see the product site

Click here to log into the demo account. Please provide feedback!

One Step Closer to My Master’s Degree!

Update: I received an ‘A’ on my Capstone Paper. (My final GPA then is a perfect 4.0).

Just a celebratory post! I turned in my final research paper which marks the end of my work toward my Masters’ Degree at University of Denver. Whew…now all there is to do is wait for the final grade.

Thanks to my wife, Karen, and everyone that supported me through this effort.

My final project was an analysis of business and technology best-practices for new, small software companies. I will be posting portions of it here from time to time so stay tuned for details.

Review: Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000

Repetitive stress injuries caused from long and continuous rounds or working at the computer can result in damage ranging from mild discomfort to extreme damage requiring surgery. If your career depends on your ability to be working with a computer almost every day you MUST take time now to get your posture right and your workspace setup right. There are lots of good resources on the web (search Google for “RSI” or “ergonomics”) regarding proper posture, workspace setup, monitors, chairs, etc. This post is just a recommendation to everyone to get and use an ergonomic keyboard, at the least.

After a hard week of typing to complete papers and postings for my masters degree, I felt discomfort in my hands and wrists. This was my wake up call. My business would be dead in its tracks if I could not type for any period of time.

I immediately began researching ergonomic keyboards and found that the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 had received mostly positive reviews from users. I have had mine for about two months and love it! It is very comfortable and also completely customizable (in the soft sense, not form-factor) through the software that is included or can be downloaded from Microsoft. Take the time to program the keys along the top and you can have instant access to the tools you use the most.

The keyboard improves my productivity in two ways. It allows me to comfortably and ergonomically type all day long. It also encourages the use of keyboard shortcuts because of its software (found in System Preferences on my MacBook Pro) and because of its dedicated “Web/Home”, “Search” (which I’ve reprogrammed to bring up Spotlight), “Mail”, volume, “Calculator” (which I’ve reprogrammed to bring up Widgets), “Back”/”Forward” (great for web browsing and easily accessible to your thumbs), and five keys labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 that I have programmed to launch, or bring to focus if already launched, various apps I use often. There is a “Zoom” slider that I never use that I wish would have been setup to scroll instead of zoom.

Go get one (or any other recommended ergonomic keyboard) and your body – and your career – will thank you for it.

Why You Should Have a Non-Technical Business Partner

If you are a micro-ISV, you should have a non-technical business partner.

Accountability, Motivation and Focus are certainly over-used words, yet are also hurdles that most likely trip up most technical minded programmers turned business owners. Those with the interest and technical aptitude to design and develop programs will find the design and development tasks easy.

To turn the product created from those efforts into a viable business takes a level of accountability, focus, and motivation that is not expected of the typical programmer in the corporate world.

Working solo you are more likely to lose motivation and lose focus of the business side as more interesting technical challenges present themselves.

Always remember that the level of technical interest and challenge a task holds is not correlated to the business value of that task. As a technical developer turned business owner, your job is to focus on the business first – technical interest and development second.

Working with a non-technical business partner or partners, you are accountable to a person (or people) that have less interest in hearing that your accomplishment for the day was very technically exciting but did nothing to move toward completion of an important new feature.

For me, my non-technical business partner is my wife. Her and I are managing members of the LLC. While I am working in the office to complete a new feature, she is taking care of other business activities including keeping the books, marketing, industry research. If I can show her a brand new feature at the end of the day, I will feel a double sense of accomplishment. This gives me motivation and focus. So I had better stop writing and get working.