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