gpoul's Out Of Memory Blog

“At first, the balloon factory folks shush the unicorn and warn him away. That often works. But sometimes, the unicorn ignores them and wanders into the factory anyway.

That’s when everyone runs for cover.” – Tribes, by Seth Godin

Interesting post over on Irving Wladawsky-Berger’s blog about the troubles in Atlanta and how the IOC relationship came to an end.

This all happened long before I joined IBM and the only time I heard about the Olympics in Atlanta 1996 was in the PMF course where most of our scenarios and exercises were based on the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

I’m sure this was quite an interesting project to work on and it’s interesting to see that we already started using the Apache HTTP Server with custom extensions 12 years ago :-)

It’s funny, entertaining, and about a very interesting topic. On the other hand it doesn’t cover too much in terms of process other than that it’s hard or even impossible to formalize innovation. (Reference: the Google tour / the Steve Jobs interview)

When Scott used his authority while being a voice in my head to have me turn around the book and look at the binder, I didn’t. I’m not sure if there’s something wrong with me or Scott’s authority isn’t what it used to be ;-)

I learned many new things and I’d definitely recommend reading it. – And don’t stop before the Colophon. *hint*

I definitely wanted to read more after finishing this book and I really like Scott’s writing style. I really hope his next book will be as good or even better than this one!

Task 1, 2, 3, and 5 are now completed. (I was only able to submit my review on amazon.de because I didn’t order through amazon.com, but I guess that’s ok)

I just pre-ordered my copy of the myths of innovation by Scott Berkun.

Update 6/5: Amazon.de informed me that shipment will be delayed. Current ETA: 6/21.

Update 6/17: While I was in Berlin Amazon.de delivered my copy. Will start reading tomorrow.

We all know these 10 kinds of people, but Scott’s are the complexifiers and simplifiers. – Who would you rather work with?

People I work with may disagree, but when watching myself today I think I first experience the complexity of the issue and when I found enough complexity I’m always happy to find a simple solution. Which leads me to the question: Which one am I? :-)

Ever wondered about what people said about you when you were not around? Thinking about improving the way you work and interact with your colleagues? Read Scott’s thoughts about the things you never hear and join the discussion!

Scott Berkun wrote an insightful post about the exceptions to Brooks’ law on his blog. I don’t really have anything to add to it, unfortunately, but it looks like a fairly good list that PMs might want to keep in mind.

If you’ve got any additions to his list, please make sure to post them so others can benefit!