Author Archives: Michael A. Robson

“Design is a Job” How to Direct, Teach, and Profit from Great Design

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Recently, my work, magnificently, has taken a creative turn. From the cold and calculating straight sales world, I blessedly find myself surrounded by bright, lively and brilliant people. And we’re building something. As time goes on, I find myself doing something, oddly, impossibly, that looks like design. Believe it or not, once upon I time, I wanted to be a product designer. I enrolled in one of Canada’s top design institutions, and had a great time doodling and making IKEA furniture out of cardboard, but at the end of the year one of my professors asked me a simple question: He asked me what I wanted to do with design, upon graduation.

“I want to be a product designer of course. I want to work at a big company like Sony or Nike, making cool stuff like TV’s, sneakers and flying cars” He then dropped his head, and gave me the bad news. Or the Test. Depending on how you look at it.

“Oh…you wouldn’t be doing any of that. Only Engineers get to do that kind of thing.” Continue reading →

“What Makes your Brain Happy and Why you Should do the Opposite” The Guide to Getting away from Self Help Books

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Okay, a bit on the nose there.

Recently I have been very busy with a new project. But I finally finished this, er, brainy book by David DiSalvo. As always, I’m confounded and fascinated by the paradox of the mind–how are we addicted to things that are bad for us, and what science might suggest we do about it. If you’ve ever explored psychology you know how quickly it bumps into philosophy. And here’s why this is so difficult: Psychology is innately inaccurate. How do you measure the brain’s behaviour? How do you measure satisfaction? How do you measure happiness? Beyond the ‘yes/no’ analyses of brain scanning, it gets murky.  Continue reading →

“Tapworthy” The Evolution of Stupidly Simple Software Design

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It’s generally believed that the first known ‘PC’ on the market was called the Altair 8800–the one Bill Gates and his buddies famously giggled excitedly over, as they flew down to Albequerque, New Mexico, to get their humble software to run on the thing. The Altair was not meant for human beings to use; it was meant for computer geeks to tinker with. It did very little–okay it did nothing. Still, it was exciting enough that the company that sold the Altair, MITS, couldn’t handle all the demand. Suddenly, a metal box with a few blinking lights was selling like hotcakes.

Within two years the IBM 5100 and Apple I were released, putting MITS out to pasture. Slowly, the need for well designed software came to light. Soon, the Graphical User Interface, Keyboards and Mice, Mac, Windows, and all the rest of it. And now, we have mass-market touch-based computing–Apps. To some they are the dumbest form of technology on the planet. They’re too easy to use. They’re casual. They’re like playing with elastic bands, flicking and scratching, rubbing and pushing. It’s the complexity of full productivity software, with the usability and ‘golly gee stupid simplicity’ of toy blocks.

Why is this the evolution of great software design? Is it just because Apple came out with the first sexy gotta have it touch screen phone? Or is it the goal, the destiny, of all great technologies that,to put it bluntly, idiots can use it. Continue reading →

“Unstoppable Confidence” Because You Can Never have Too Much of It.

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My recent curiosity with Neuro Linguistic Programming has led me to another book on the subject, this one focusing primarily on confidence.

What’s the difference between confident people and shy people? Usually the difference between optimism and pessimism. Both groups of people are pretty attached to what they think is a certain outcome. The confident people are attached and expecting a great outcome, the shy people are expecting a terrible outcome. Why? Probably because through the course of their 15-20 years on this planet, they had few bumps and bruises. They may have been picked on in school, or had a bad breakup with a former lover. They may have had strangely abusive relationships with friends, even family, and picked up on certain rules. They carry those rules with them wherever they go, even if those rules haven’t proven themselves to be effective at all.

The cool thing about NLP is that, once you realize that your own personal history is just a mental routine that you go through (eg. you see a pretty girl, imagine her laughing at you, and you give up the thought of talking to her–the girl triggers the routine), you can just… give yourself a new history. It’s true. You can actually reprogram yourself. This book is full of bizarre techniques to do just that. Continue reading →

“Frogs into Princes” Understanding the Magic that Happens When We Talk

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You may have heard of NLP, but if you haven’t it’s not your fault: Neuro Linguistic Programming (fittingly) has been simmering below the surface of the public consciousness for a few decades now. NLP is the study of how our minds use, interpret and process language and thought. This seemingly geeky subject turns out to be incredibly fun and useful, if you can figure it out. Using NLP in your day to day life effectively is kinda like the ‘stop the bullets in mid-air’ scene in The Matrix. Yes, I’m talking about hypnosis. Buckle up. Continue reading →

“Borderless Economics”: World Peace, Nirvana and other Economic Models

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Author @TheEconomist

The thing that you have to understand about Economists is that they’re generally an optimistic bunch, but they’re really annoyed by the complications of…reality. They love models: models are perfect and simple. Because they omit externalities and oddities, they work perfectly. The simplest of models involve but two variables: wine and cheese, money and time, socks and shoes, and so on. As you progress further in your studies of the dismal science, you must heartbreakingly accept that in the real world, there is almost no application for a two-variable model.

It’s heartbreaking because in the sterile simplicity of Economics, the world works perfectly. Everyone who wants a job, has one; everyone who wants to borrow money, can; if you want time off work, you just work fewer hours. In the world of Economics we are all Utility Calculators, and we’re very good at what we do. We scan the job market for opportunities, spot them, and train to be the next Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, or Homer Simpson, depending our utility/salary demands (shockingly, no one ever chooses to be homeless, or a drug addict, or unemployed in this model).

In the world of Economic models, not only do we all have jobs, but we all have jobs that we’re good at, so we make a lot of money. On top of that, we enjoy our jobs. In other words, if you simplify the model enough, you can actually create the conditions for perfect Human Capital Allocation.

My point is this: there are a few differences between the skills in this world, and where they are most needed (likewise, the low-skill human labor, and where that’s needed). It’s just of a pain in the butt that these two groups can’t find each other more easily. If they could, so theorizes Robert Guest, we could solve most if not all of the world’s problems. In a perfect Economic World, every product has the perfect price, there is no Economic profit, and everyone is maximizing their happiness. How adorable. Continue reading →