OSS consultants provide you with the opportunity to bring a different set of ideas, insights and connections to your OctopOSS
“…the program “The Brain,” in which Dr David Eagleman, neuroscientist, NYT bestselling author and Guggenheim Fellow shared a fascinating but little known secret…our brains are specifically designed so that we learn on the job – by doing. Dr Eagleman explained that this is why human babies do not have anywhere near the survival skills possessed […]
“It’s astounding to see the huge range of products and services that are becoming commoditized. Consumers can’t see differences between major brands in most categories, and as a result, many are buying based on price. If companies want to increase their margins — maybe even survive — they must learn how to develop value-add brands […]
In yesterday’s blog we discussed Ben Evans’ models of search and discovery (as follows) as well as how that overlays on OSS: There is giving you what you already know you want (Amazon, Google) There is working out what you want (Amazon and Google’s aspiration) And then there is suggesting what you might want (Heywood Hill). […]
Are you noticing a slow, but just perceptible shift being driven by the most progressive CSPs towards the slimming down of their OSS? And not just the yo-yo dieting where there’s a brief period of reduction followed by increased bloat, but sustained reductionist thinking. Making do without some of the features being offered by vendors […]
We’re in tech right? Not just any tech, but O…S…S! Nah we’re in the people business. No matter where we sit in the org chart, we need to understand people to build solutions Paul Graham talks about doing the things that don’t scale. Does he have some great ideas or what? What doesn’t scale: Understanding […]
Earlier this week we discussed how Peter Thiel’s statement, “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters,” and how it related to the world of OSS. One of Peter’s ventures is the Founders Fund, a venture capital firm investing in smart people solving the world’s difficult problems. The Founders Fund Manifesto is an inspirational […]
“We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.” Peter Thiel. This meme speaks of the innovation occurring in the world of technology. It seems that we are making fewer major innovations (flying cars) compared with the world-changing innovations that are really only minor in terms of technological breakthroughs (like Twitter’s 140 characters). When reading, […]
“Telcos spent all this money, built all the infrastructure, hired all these clever people, imagined and planned and consulted for all of it, have all this market power, and they’ll get none of it.” Ben Evans talking about mobile Internet. Ben has a point. Telcos spent huge amounts of money building the infrastructure to support mobile […]
“Steam engine time is a period of time when many inventors all over the world, despite isolation from each other, and with no contact with each other in any way, begin inventing a similar technology with a coincidental commonality of ideas.” Urban Dictionary. Another perspective on steam engine time is a period where there are […]
“Doing one thing well is hard. Doing more than one thing well at the same time is exponentially harder. Clarity and focus are what generate excellence. They bring the attention to detail, dedication and obsession which begets success. It’s impossible to be obsessed about more than one thing at the same time. If you believe, […]
“I like to think that if I’d been at Kitty Hawk in 1903 when Orville Wright took off, I would have been farsighted enough, and public-spirited enough–I owed this to future capitalists–to shoot him down. I mean, Karl Marx couldn’t have done as much damage to capitalists as Orville did. I won’t dwell on other […]
“He [Barry Schwartz] suggests that because we are presented with so much information, the overload of options and data leads us to falsely believe that, even a fairly mundane task like shopping for toothpaste, has greater significance than it really does.” Howstuffworks.com. Why do 5-10yo kids know what profession they want to do but by […]
“Lethargy bordering on sloth remains the cornerstone of our investment style.” Warren Buffett in his 1990 Chairman’s Letter. It’s been said that 90% of Warren Buffett’s immense wealth has been derived from just 10 deals. That’s 10 deals in roughly 60 years of investing. Warren undoubtedly gets to see many opportunities but only invests in […]
Efficiency experts refer to getting to genba (or gemba), a Japanese term for “the real place” or the place where the “real” work gets done. lt’s the place where every movement is vital and any inefficiency or waste is a target for improvement. In OSS, genba resides in two places – the product development and […]
A great friend of mine, Evan, and I recently caught up with Mike Lawrey, the Chairman of the TM Forum. Mike spoke to us about some interesting initiatives the TM Forum has in the pipeline, including some that build upon the success of their Smart City Forum. You may have noticed that I regularly discuss […]
Let’s have a look at how OSS stands today in the eyes of the customers that invest in them: The pieces don’t work together well Too expensive Too risky Too time consuming Consume too many resources Compromised outcomes – Don’t give us what we need Then look at it from the perspective of vendors / […]
“Are you an expert at something that actually generates value?” Seth Godin in a recent post called, “No direction home.” Seth’s post is actually about finding a job in a different way than most people try, one that I’m also a big advocate of. The quote above though is a very philosophical one for all […]
“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.” John F. Kennedy. I’m doing a renovation to my house currently and costs have been increasing because I’ve refined things along the way. I’ve compromised on some things along the way too. I’m not a […]
There’s a slight problem about being passionate about OSS – you see everything In relation to OSS problems, solutions, analogies, etc. l was talking with Simon, a great friend of mine recently about a new role that he’s taking on. He will be responsible for technology in the facilities used by the large bank that […]
What does your OSS mean to your business (or your customer’s business if you’re a vendor / installer)? In the upper echelons of the business, OSS are often seen as being a significant financial burden but a necessary evil, a means to an end (or any other negative cliché you’d like to throw in). But how do […]
