A Business Technology Place

Interactive Films, Data Mining, and Orson Welles

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Will interactive films find a viewer niche? Black Mirror: Bandersnatch on Netflix has was released last December as a choose-your-own-adventure film. If you haven’t read about or tried viewing the film, it’s worth your time to consider the implications for future video content delivery and marketing. Bandersnatch is an interactive film. Viewers are periodically presented with options during the film to choose a path for the main character. The remote control for the TV is used to select between the two paths. So while each option is filmed, only one is shown. There is no prescribed ending for the story. In fact, there are numerous paths and multiple possible endings. I remember reading interactive books during the early 80s. Though I can’t recall the name of the books or the author, I distinctly remember choosing to have the main character in the book drink the sea water while stranded on

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Planting organizational seeds for a sustainable future

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I’m in the process of repositioning to a new role within the same company. I’ve done this in the past, but never viewed the transition through a lean lens.  When this happened early in my career, I looked forward to the new job without giving thoughtful consideration to the previous job. Sure, I had documentation and notes I could leave for the next person. But I didn’t think about leaving a sustainable system. That all changed when I was introduced to lean philosophy and thinking. The fifth lean principle is to pursue perfection. This is the principle that creates the basis for making continuous improvement and respect part of the culture and not just another management fad. Lean thinking identifies value and remove waste in such a way that practitioners view their work as more than a job. The work becomes part of a sustainable system that adapts to changing

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Have you found it?

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Questions. What do you want to do? What do you want to be when you grow-up? What’s your dream job? Where do you see yourself in five years? While the questions can be interpreted with different time horizons, they all focus on the core of who I am. These questions help me to think about motivators in my life as well as what provides emotional reward. The questions could be rephrased as “who are you, what gets you up in the morning, and why are you here?” Answers. I’ve heard some acquaintances answer with specific jobs or titles. They want to be a doctor, lawyer, pilot, etc. Then there are a group of friends who are motivated to switch their careers to something different. They may answer with stated goals to start a business or to go back to school to become a nurse. Others I know, answer in terms

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Making Respect Part of the Culture

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The word respect is so common in company core values that I wonder if it’s become ubiquitous.  How do we define respect? Is it treating people kindly, helping those in need, and recognizing the contributions of others? Most certainly. But the challenge is, these are surface level behaviors and don’t create lasting impact for the organization or individuals. If something is a core value, I would expect to find it deeply embedded in the thinking, behaviors, and expectations for a company. Giving respect to others is a key component for molding the culture of an organization. It requires more than periodic displays of kindness. Respect is way harder than that, but so much more powerful. Respect requires a willingness to change an opinion. It requires admitting others may have more knowledge about a situation. It requires collaboration.  Respect is sustained actions and involvement of employees in continuous improvement and problem

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My next book to read just got hacked

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Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. I have a confession to make. I find it difficult to select my next book to read. It usually goes something like this. Open either the Kindle app or local library app on my tablet. Stare at category headers like fiction, history, and business. Decide on casual or serious reading. Then start scrolling through books, reading summaries, and reviews. Hopefully, I feel good about a selection and begin. Part of my challenge is I enjoy both casual and serious reading. I define these as: Casual Reading is for fun, entertainment, or to relax. Serious Reading is for learning and thinking. A third type of reading but less common is purposeful.   Purposeful Reading is to find, record, and retain information about a topic. Casual reading is relaxing but also stimulates creativity. Serious reading deep dives a topic and promotes alternative thinking. Depending on my mood, I

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