Author: JP

Ever since I read Leadership is an Art, maybe 20 years ago, I’ve had a lot of time for the management thoughts and writings of Max De Pree. That in turn led to a deeper interest in Herman Miller.
Max’s writings exemplified modern servant leadership to me, almost like a reinterpretation of New Testament teachings in a modern enterprise context. I had to learn more about the company. Which I did. They’re an admirable company with admirable people and admirable values. [If you’re even vaguely interested, take a look at this article as an introduction.]
And it is therefore with considerable regret that I note that Bill Stumpf died last month. I found his writings useful as well. Some of you may have read The Ice Palace That Melted Away, well worth it. Incidentally, it wasn’t until today that I realised that the subtitles change between the hardcover and paperback editions of Stumpf’s book. The hardback says “Restoring civility and other lost virtues to everyday life” and the paperback says “How good design enhances our lives”.

I’ve never really known or met Stumpf; what I know of him is through his designs and his writings. In a recent addendum to his obituary in the Times, the author adds:

Stumpf was a visionary who brought a passionate intensity to his work. The horror he felt when faced with something ugly or that did not function properly was described in his book, The Ice Palaces that Melted Away.

Or just look at the quotes and anecdotes related to Stumpf in his wikipedia entry:

Everything was about freeing up the body, designing away constraints

“I work best when I’m pushed to the edge,” he said, “when I’m at the point where my pride is subdued, where I’m an innocent again. Herman Miller knows how to push me that way, mainly because the company still believes — years after D.J. DePree first told me — that good design isn’t just good business, it’s a moral obligation. Now that’s pressure.”

Good design isn’t just good business, it’s a moral obligation. So good I had to say it twice. Thanks to the Duprees, to Bill Stumpf and to the Herman Miller company. And my condolences to the Stumpf family.

A few days ago I wrote a post about how I found Gyorgy Faludy‘s Learn By Heart This Poem Of Mine. I’d been looking for the poem for a very long time, without knowing author, title or first line. Yet it happened. Because of the blogosphere.

Now I want to be able to do something else. This is very very provisional. Somewhere in my head, I place this poem in the same treasured collection as WB Yeats‘ An Irish Airman Foresees His Death and Dylan Thomas’s And Death Shall Have No Dominion. Something to do with the lilts and cadences and metre and scansion and hauntingness and je-ne-sais-quoi. It doesn’t matter whether I am right or wrong in this grouping, that’s a very personal thing. What matters is whether we can use the power of many and group selection and wisdom of crowds and collaborative filtering to come up with something like this. if you liked poems A and B then you are likely to like poem C.

Sounds easy, but I haven’t seen anything that does that. Is it because there’s no market? Maybe there are too few dinosaurs like me who like poetry. Is it because it already exists, but I haven’t seen it? Possibly. Someone out there will correct me.

Or maybe it’s because this is not easy. Collaborative filtering is possible when there is a clear and deep and liquid market where transactions are done, so that access/acquisition of items can be represented in a correlated manner. People who did this also did this. Is it possible when there is no central market? Collaborative filtering is possible when the items are homogeneous in nature. Are poems sufficiently homogeneous? Is homogeneity a necessary condition?

Can I create one, just using names and titles and links? And a folksonomic description basis? With not a dram of DRM in sight?

Just wondering. Any ideas out there?

Just an experiment. Dave La Morte asks if we can find the Homer Price live action video he saw while at grammar school. Most of the “usual suspects” show everything that is Homer Price and VHS as “out of print”.

I have found something that may work, but I can’t tell because I’ve never seen any Homer Price stories on video. The best I’ve been able to come up with is this place, with an eye-watering price tag; it can also be found here and here. It is also available in a number of libraries, such as this one in Colonie.

Any better offers? Dave, is it what you were looking for?

After nearly ten years at Dresdner Kleinwort, I shall be leaving the bank at
the end of this week. It’s been a wonderful time: I’ve had the opportunity
to work with many truly talented people, been given the freedom to
experiment with real innovation in technology and its application,
experienced being part of a close and resilient culture over a decade of
tumult and change. But now it’s time to move on. My thanks to all concerned.

I’ve never worked for a competitor in my life, either by accident or design.
That trend serendipitously continues, and from 1st October I am taking over
as CIO, Global Services, BT.

My best wishes to all at Dresdner Kleinwort, especially to those who have
worked with me, supported me and encouraged me. You know who you are.

Here’s a story by Mark Frauenfelder showing how he found a set of books he was looking for via his blog. Once again it is a case of the conversational richness that a blog community represents, how natural-language amorphous requests and queries resolve themselves beautifully “given enough eyeballs”.

Of course I appreciate the skill, talent and expertise of professionals in libraries, bookshops, archives and what-have-you. Of course I appreciate the intellectual horsepower and creativity of search tools and techniques.

But I also appreciate the collective power of community in resolving the more amorphous and “provisional” queries that we have. The provisional aspect of blogs extends beyond statements and views and reaches into questions and searches and finds.

If anyone else has stories to tell about the sheer joy of using community to find things and solve problems, please do share them. I think it’s worth collecting and documenting on an opensource basis.