Not thinking, on a budget

One of my post Web 2.0 Expo book purchases was Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug. I obviously missed the boat as this is now the second edition published in 2005 but it cropped up on one of James Kalbach's slides so I thought I'd check it out. 48 reviews on Amazon with an average 5 star rating was enough for me.

It's everything a business book should be. Short, I've read it in two evenings, and with all of its points clearly made.

There is some really valuable material in here, especially the chapters on how to do useability testing on a budget. I'll definitely be getting the video camera out when I get back to the office.

Having just gone through the process of designing and developing the new Esendex web site I feel that perhaps we've missed a trick.

In reality however we've made some massive improvements and web site design and development should be an iterative process, the trees really do get in the way after a while.

Buzzing the Purple Cow

Been reading a few marketing books of late. Quick, easy to comprehend, page turners to stimulate a bit of creative thinking about raising the profile of Esendex. Couple worthy of note.

Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkableby Seth Godin is essentially a list of brainstorming prompts and examples to get you thinking. The premise is that to stand out, a business needs to be different. A purple cow in a field of brown ones.

I enjoyed it, it didn't take me long to read and it got me thinking. Some of the reviews of this book have been quite dismissive and probably as a pure marketing book they're right. As brainstorming aid however I think it hits the mark.

Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About Your Stuffby Mark Hughes on the other hand was a probably a bit too long. It played heavily on his achievement while working for Half.com to convince a small town to change their name from Halfway to Half.com. The publicity gained from this catapulted Half.com into the public eye and ultimately under eBay's wing.

There are some interesting case studies but I struggled really to find anything that was relevant to me and my business.

Naked Conversations

Almost at the end of Naked Conversations : How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers and for someone who is relatively new to blogging it's been a fascinating read. Chock full of examples of businesses blogging, in fact that's pretty much most of the book, but all pertinent and presented with considered commentary.

I've enjoyed producing this blog and this book has inspired me to make blogging more central to our customer communication processes and given me some guidelines for doing it effectively.

Climate Change, what are we going to do about it?

I recently read Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning by George Monbiot. It's a fascinating read that collates some of the wide ranging solutions to reducing CO₂ emissions in the key areas

It has as it's base premise the requirement to cut CO₂ emissions by 90% if we are to keep CO₂ levels sufficently low to prevent further climate change. A shocking number, but he goes onto provide a series of solutions to achieving this in areas such as transport, energy production, housing, food shopping and many more.

Where this book is different is the acceptance that these changes have to happen within the context of an essentially capitalist society. Yes, austerity is required but that doesn't have to mean a reduction in living standards.

The temptation is to rush out and make sweeping changes to my life and the operation of the company to 'do our bit' to prevent climate change.

13 years ago while at University studying Environmental Engineering (blimey was it really that long ago?), that was my response. I was passionate, arrogant and naive and couldn't understand why people didn't want to do something, anything about preserving and protecting the environment.

I soon became jaded as the rest of the world ignored the issue and anyone who tried to make a difference was marginalised. I felt like a few of us were taking on the entire burden without any support from governments or fellow humans.

I sit here now newly invigorated. Climate change is well and truly on the agenda, even the current US Administration is admitting that there might be something we should consider doing. But, exciting as this is, the time hasn't come for sweeping, ill-considered changes.

It's not just because I am older and a little wiser, I might even go as far as to say I'm less arrogant. When it comes to my personal life, I can make whatever changes I want but my business life is very different.

I have a responsibility to all our stakeholders be they employees, customers or shareholders. We have to remain a profitable, viable business so we can:

• keep our employees in employment
• maintain service to our customers
• provide a return to our shareholders

Making sweeping changes to reduce our CO₂ emissions that could reduce our competitveness, when those competing against us have chosen not to make that same committment is tantamount to commercial suicide. This helps no-one.

It is at this stage I look to the government to provide the level playing field. I really want to make the changes but government policy needs to drive the majority of the solutions proposed in Heat. The challenge for government will be to do this domestically while also reaching an international consensus to ensure as a nation we remain competitive.

A daunting prospect for those in power, but the alternative doesn't really bear thinking about.