Karim Rashid home recommendations

Karim Rashid 30 home recommendations

1. Create large white spaces with accents of strong positive colors.
2. Knock down walls that are not structural and open up spaces as much as possible.
3. No visible books, magazines, CDs, or clutter. No bookshelves.
4. Have less but better furniture. Try to substitute two or three pieces with one.
5. Flat surfaces accumulate things, so have a small side table near the entrance for keys, mp3 players, mobile phones, etc.
6. Put all your chargers in one place – with one surge protector – and always make sure everything is fully charged.
7. Try to consolidate all your technology so that your computer, TV and stereo are all of a piece.
8. Have a plasma screen or watch a projection TV.
9. Use warm, soft but high­ performance materials.
10. Embrace ( don’t fear ) technology.
11. All kitchen products should be hidden. The kitchen should be bare and beautiful. Only the most sensual and artistic designs should be on display. All other gadgets need to be hidden.
12. Improve order. Line everything up perfectly: vases, objects, books, stereo equipment. Order inspires. Order is Zen. Order is relaxing.
13. Don’t be a pack rat: recycle newspaper and magazines as soon as you’re done reading them. Better yet, read them online.
14. Avoid curtains. They are dirt and dust collectors and make spaces look smaller with added bulk and weight. Use seamless mesh blinds instead.
15. Use materials that are easy to clean and that age well. Plastic floors ( laminates, vinyl sheeting, or artificial rubber ) are lightweight and inexpensive materials that wear well and are more resistant to scratches and staining.
16. Colored glass looks great in bathrooms; it plays with the changing light.
17. Use dimmer switches throughout the house and incandescent light over fluorescent. Halogen bulbs are also nice. Put everything on timers and sensors.
18. Use color to express yourself. Don’t be afraid of that bright orange chair. Paint your wall lime green. Be brave when it comes to carpets, countertops and tables. Color is beautiful and it’s all about self-expression. Be yourself.
19. Do not buy useless, kitschy souvenirs. Do you really need a sombrero from ? If you bring something into your home, make sure it has meaning.
20. Wallpaper is wonderful. It lasts longer than paint and is easy to clean and replace.
21. Wall-to-wall carpeting is warm, easy to maintain, pleasurable, soft and friendly.
22. Use biodegradable and natural cleaning products.
23. Anytime you buy something for your home, get rid of something else. Seek balance. People tend to accumulate far more than they need. Buy a vase; get rid of a vase.
24. If you’re moving to a new place, look for lots of light. Daylight is essential to positive thinking and your well-being. If you’re not moving, look for ways to maximize the light you have: skylights, enlarged windows and so on.
25. Make do with less. And make sure you really want what you’re buying. I’m not anti-consumption per se but I think it’s essential to consume with awareness. Buy only what you need.
26. Avoid sharp edges. Let your space flow.
27. Addition by subtraction. This is one of my pet theories and it’s really very simple. You get rid of things you don’t want and your life becomes fuller. Less becomes more; the things you do keep become more valuable.
28. Make your space reconfigurable.
29. You don’t need storage space. If something is stashed away, you’re not using it. Get rid of it.
30. Be sure the next thing you buy has more than one use.

Source:
Design your self
Karim Rashid
Page 52 – 55
Regan
ISBN: 0060839023

Ritz-Carlton service values

Ritz-Carlton service values

1. I build strong relationships and create Ritz-Carlton guests for life.
   
2. I am always responsive to the expressed and unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.
   
3. I am empowered to create unique, memorable and personal experiences for our guests.
   
4. I understand my role in achieving the key success factors and creating the Ritz-Carlton Mystique.
   
5. I continuously seek opportunities to innovate and improve the Ritz-Carlton experience.
   
6. I own and immediately resolve guest problems.
   
7. I create a work environment of teamwork and lateral service so that the needs of our guests and each other are met.
   
8. I have the opportunity to continuously learn and grow.
   
9. I am involved in the planning of the work that affects me.
   
10. I am proud of my professional appearance, language and behavior.
    
11. I protect the privacy and security of our guests, my fellow employees and the company's confidential information and assets.
    
12. I am responsible for uncompromising levels of cleanliness and creating a safe and accident-free environment.
    

Source:

Ritz-Carlton Gold Standards

Motivations

What motivates us to act?

The desire to gain
To make money
To save time
To avoid effort
To achieve comfort
To have health
To be popular
To experience pleasure
To be clean
To be praised
To be in style
To gratify curiosity
To satisfy an appetite
To have beautiful possessions
To attract the opposite sex
To be an individual
To emulate others
To take advantage of opportunities

The desire to avoid loss
To avoid criticism
To avoid loss of possessions
To avoid physical pain
To avoid loss of reputation
To avoid loss of money
To avoid trouble

Source:
Successful direct marketing methods
Bob Stone
NTC

Do it anyway

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway.

Source:

Mother Teresa

Churning

What is churning?
It is a product development process which begins with the idea, move it through engineering and production, gets it to the consumer who generates feedback, modify the product, send it back to the consumer and repeat the cycle.
 
What are the principles of churning?

1. Plan for it.
2. Fail quickly but last long.
3. Use your own products.
4. Build in the means to fix your product.
5. Write the engineering specifications of your product so other folks can figure out how to extend and enhance your product.
6. Improve your product for people who are buying it, not people who aren’t.
7. Don’t try to hide your mistakes.

Source:
Rules of revolutionaries
Page 46 to 63
Guy Kawasaki
HarperCollins
ISBN: 0887309968

Walt Disney World guest service guidelines

Walt Disney World guest service guidelines

1. Make eye contact and smile!
Start and end every guest contact and communication with direct eye contact and a sincere smile.

2. Greet and welcome each and every guest
Extend the appropriate greeting to every guest with whom you come into contact.
“Good morning / afternoon / evening”
“Welcome!” / “Have a good day.”
“May I help you?”
Make guests feel welcome by providing a special differentiated greeting in each area.

3. Seek out guest contact
It is the responsibility of every cast member to seek out guests who need help or assistance.
Listen to guests’ needs
Answer questions
Offer assistance ( For example: Taking family photographs )

4. Provide immediate service recovery
It is the responsibility of all cast members to attempt, to the best of their abilities, to immediately resolve a guest service failure before it becomes a guest service problem.
Always find the answer for the guest and / or find another cast member who can help the guest.

5. Display appropriate body language at all times
It is the responsibility of every cast member to display approachable body language when on stage.
Attentive appearance
Good posture
Appropriate facial expression

6. Preserve the “magical” guest experience
Always focus on the positive, rather than the rules and regulations.
Talking about personal or job-related problems in front of our guests is unacceptable.

7. Thank each and every guest
Extend every guest a sincere thank-you at the conclusion of every transaction.
Extend every guest a thank-you or similar expression of appreciation as he / she leaves your area.

Source:
Be our guest
Disney Institute
Page 86
Disney Editions
ISBN: 0786853948

Sheeps, wolves, serpents and doves

I treat religious texts as texts of wisdom. They have taught me a great deal. I recently learn a verse from the Bible that helps me to deal with the world today.

Matthew 10:16

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the mist of wolves: be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

I ask Lucy ( a Christian friend of mine ) what does this verse mean?

Her reply:

Matthew 10:16 were spoken by Jesus Christ to His twelve disciples whom He personally selected and was preparing to send them out to preach to the Jews who rejected Him. Jesus instructed His twelve apostles or disciples to watch out for the kind of people in each community. His instructions, advice, warnings and encouragements are still valid today!

In this verse, Jesus was encouraging his apostle to be meek and mild even in the presence of violent objectionable people ( as sheep in the mist of wolves ). He warned them to be cautious of the people who were against them but at the same time not to use violence against violence ( wise as serpent, harmless as doves ).

Inspiration from common events

I wish to live as to derive my inspiration from the commonest events, so that what my senses may perceive, my daily walk, the conversation with my neighbors may inspire me and I may dream of no heaven but that which lies about me.

Henry David Thoreau

Life like a box of chocolates

Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

Mrs. Gump in the movie - Forrest Gump

If we never know what we are going to get, does that means that we don’t try. No! Just try and try till we get the chocolate we want. Even if we have tried the whole box, go out and get another box.

Even if we can’t get the chocolate we want after several boxes, we know we have try and we have taste a lot of different kinds of chocolates. At least we know what different chocolates taste like.

Life Designer

David Perkins says:
The human mind is the design that designs itself and continually redesigns itself. Other mammals are designs but do little self-designing. We humans are so taken with design that we not only design and redesign everything around us but even ourselves. As a designer of yourself, you never know more than yourself.

Why I find it interesting?
Seeing oneself as a designer.
Seeing life as a piece of art.
Seeing myself as the most suitable designer for my piece of art - life.

Ian Schrager inspiration

How does Ian Schrager stay hip?

I read probably 40 to 50 magazines a week on absolutely anything - technology, news, fashion, travel and music. I might even look at a racy magazine to see how they're treating sex compared with 10 years ago. Magazines are the best way to find out what's in the air, what the social or cultural trends are. I tear out anything that grabs my interest.

Source:

At the desk of Ian Schrager, hip hotelier

Amy Goldwasser

Business 2.0 2002 May