#MonkeyFirst

I received some more advice today based on Google X for trying to tackle problems. The advice is trying to tackle the hardest problem first to decide whether the work is viable or not. The example from Google X is a monkey on a 10 foot pedestal reading Shakespeare. Which is the first bit you should tackle? Their answer is training the monkey as its clearly the hardest bit to do. Most people would create the pedestal but what is the point in delivering that if the monkey can never learn to read?

More detail in the link below but its an interesting thing to consider, why start the work before you’ve worked out how to tackle the most difficult thing? If its impossible can you save money by calling that out early?

https://www.inc.com/business-insider/alphabet-google-x-moonshot-labs-how-people-work-productivity-monkey-first.html

Getting your point across

Recently I’ve had some advice as well as been at a talk on how to present information. Both came up with rules of 3. Try to get 3 points across, try to do it in 3 different ways and repetition is the key.

Might be obvious to some people but its always good to brush up on ways to present your information regardless of whether its in front of a crowd with powerpoint or in an email its good to have new tools in your toolbox.

https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/3-rules-express-your-thoughts-clearly/

Value stream mapping

Image from Valueinsights.ch

Many years ago I was introduced to Value Stream Mapping and its been a fantastic tool ever since. The idea is to look at your processes and become more lean and efficient by identifying the waste in the process. Mapping time doing actual work and the time wasted waiting for emails or meetings or another meeting after that (you know how it goes) for someone to get to a decision shows a great metric, usually along the lines of actual work 35 minutes resolution time 3 weeks. By mapping the process you can look at where the delays are and identify the areas to focus your improvements on.

Link to Atlassian’s more detailed explaination

Give it ago let me know what you think!

Free Photoshop competitor

I actually found this via Tiktok but Inkscape is a totally free, open source desktop software that gives you many of the features of Photoshop for no cost. I’d highly recommend it.

Alternatively if you’re looking for something browser based I’ve used Photopea for a long time. It does the job and has some adverts down the side but you can’t complain for something thats free!

Nice comparison on Fixthephoto.com

The Everything Store

This was recommended to me when I wanted some reading on strategy.

I’ve been raving about this for weeks as its a wonderful insight into Amazon, I’m a fan of fiction books more than text books so stories like the Phoenix Project (previous post) are right up my street. This book works for me as while you are progressing through the pages Jeff Bezos and Amazon release new services or products and you can relate to it as you remember when that happened. You know about the competitors and you probably use the services every other day.

From a strategic thinking perspective its fantastic, learning how Jeff Bezos started Amazon, what decisions were made and why was very interesting. I can’t say I’d do the same as I value my family life but seeing the decisions driven by the need to provide cost savings for the customer and grow the business was brilliant.

Dorking

(how to find anything on the Internet)

I’ve been pointed towards a quick article on how to use advanced techniques to find anything on a search engine quickly. When interviewing I usually mention being able to use google effectively is definately a skill that shouldn’t be overlooked. There were a couple of things I wasn’t aware of on this so it maybe of use to others.

https://www.alec.fyi/dorking-how-to-find-anything-on-the-internet.html