Ian M Rountree

Copywriter, Project Manager, Digital Marketing

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Kaizen and Application Level Lifestyle Design

August 1, 2011 by Ian Leave a Comment

One of the intensely appealing things about the current app economy is the sense we get of kaizen from the aps we’re downloading – constant, consistent improvement in their features and value propositions.

If we opt in early, we get to see the growth, the longer we use an application. If we opt in late, we get to see a mature version of the thing we’ve heard so much about – often at the same price, as the early adopters finance the enjoyment of the majority.

Strong revisioning practice powers this in software; the idea of taking a feature set basic enough to get a job done, calling that 1.0, and working up toward your dream. Every process in between initial betas and 2.0, or even 3.0 and 10.0 is powered by a simple, 3-4 step iteration process:

  • Describe the function
  • Apply it to the existing features
  • Gather response from users
  • Describe new functions

In this way, application developers can call every choice they make the right choice. Even if a feature fails, or is unpopular, under this model, it counts as an experiment rather than an accomplishment; and experiments only fail if you learn nothing from the doing of them.

What I always wonder is why we haven’t applied this theorem to our lives yet in a conscious way?

I’ve spent the past month working toward getting back in shape. I’ve busted my knee twice, damaged my shoulders by pushing too hard on a workout, and been out of commission with delayed onset muscle pain for nearly a week. I’ve dug out my weights, started eating somewhat differently, and modified my sleep schedule to accommodate for the occasional first-thing-in-the-morning run. It’s been difficult, and injury is not my favorite thing in the world.

But I’m continuing to work at it – why? Because I believe in kaizen as a personal ideal as well as a working ideal.

It’s an iteration process. Every time I make a change, run a little faster, or work a little harder, I mark the results and adjust my course. I make optimization moves – not just to my own process, such as finding the highest-energy points in the day at which to work out, but also finding better routes walking to the office (and shaving 10 extraneous minutes off the trip in the process).

Why is this a big deal?

Because it’s an awareness trap. By not paying attention to when I hit the milestone – when Ian 2.0, or 3.0 appears – I’m making the work of getting each maintenance release out far more easy.

We consider so many things by their end results; weight loss goals, study for degrees, getting that black belt, learning Esperanto, and so on. These goals are ambitious for a reason – they make us want to exercise our need to accomplish, to build ambition toward a goal. However, I’d argue that as we divide our attention more, we’re losing the ability to maintain the salience of these large goals in the face of all the many small steps it takes to achieve them.

What would happen if, instead of broad goals, we began to make the work of improving – the process of kaizen – a central part of our personal planning?

Filed Under: Marketing Strategy Tagged With: design, development, house md, lifestyle, quotes

Why Genesis Framework Rocks

May 27, 2011 by Ian Leave a Comment

I’ve used the Genesis Framework from StudioPress as the basis for my blog for a couple of months now, and am about to finish the fourth site I’ve developed on it. I need to say this: The framework rocks. Everything from the format, to the support from StudioPress, to helpful tools people have published have helped me cut down my modification and theme building time significantly.

Genesis is slick. Genesis is smooth. And, above all, it doesn’t always look the same – even when you’re using the same elements for design.

Here are the sites I’ve now got going, built on either Genesis itself, or one of its child themes.

The Dowager Shadow - Built on Genesis Framework
The Dowager Shadow
Ian M Rountree - Built on Genesis Framework
Ian M Rountree
Hard Refresh Blog - Built on Genesis Framework
Hard Refresh
Jazmine Rhomyk Gallery - Built on Genesis Framework
Jazmine Rhomyk

Yes. I like blue. Don’t judge me.

Why did I switch from Standard Theme to Genesis Framework?

  • SEO options – unless you’re using plugins, it’s the bee’s knees. Seriously – beyond just being able to designate title and meta descriptions, Genesis allows for built in redirects, which is great for link blogs.
  • Ease of design – Spending a lot of time building sites isn’t my goal – I want to get decent looking sites up quickly, so I can start filling them in with content.
  • Ease of modification – The above being said, I want to be able to iterate my work quickly. If there’s a feature I want to add, or a design change I want to make, I want to be able to make it on the fly. Genesis allows for that.
  • Updates and notifications – Really. What other theme tells you, on its own, when it’s ready to get upgraded?
  • The Showcase – totally for bragging rights. There are a lot of awesome examples in the SutioPress showcase of well-built Genesis framework powered websites. Two – and soon, I hope, three – of mine are there.

Genesis Framework can help wordpress become a proper CMS very swiftly.

Many of StudioPress’ turn-key themes make developing non-standard blogs a breeze. One of the troubles most people see with using WordPress in general is that so many WP-based websites look… Well, like WordPress websites. Getting away from the usual columned layout, and adding some flair is one of the many places where Genesis is a viking.

Check Genesis Framework out – it’s well worth it if you spend a lot of time working with wordpress.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: cms development, code, content creation, content marketing, design, development, genesis, information management, presentation, review, seo, software, studiopress, wordpress

Aspiration and Being In Love With Something

July 8, 2010 by Ian Leave a Comment

If you’re aspiring to something – you aren’t that something yet, are you?

Aspiration isn’t a bad thing on its own. We all have things we want to do with our lives. However, I’m finding I have a problem with anyone declaring they are an aspiring anything. “Aspiring marketer” or “aspiring author” – you’re basically claiming an adjunct to something that you aren’t. I could say I’m an aspiring fighter pilot, never do anything about it, and never be forced to lose the title associating me with airplanes. It’s misleading, not just to people I tell, but to myself as well.

Aspiration is not the same as enthusiasm.

Being an enthusiast is different, and it’s worth mentioning because people so often misuse the idea of aspiration to describe their status as an enthusiast. Being a media enthusiast covers a very different set of expectations, for the claimant and for their audience, than does a claim to being an aspiring media professional. Yet, we misinterpret the use of aspiration as being simply an extension of enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm is a good thing – until it goes too far.

Fanatics and stalkers aren’t limited to sports teams and people. Stalking an aspiration happens more often than I think we’d like to admit; our ambitions usually push us to action, but in some cases, can become the cart before the horse, causing us to be led by our perceived calling.

Being In Love with a concept, position or personal trajectory, without recognizing the phenomenon, can be dangerous.

It’s off-putting. You’ve seen this happen – some of us have had it happen to ourselves, even. The pattern is always the same; someone begins to insinuate themselves in a situation, and eventually instigates some form of change. The aim, naturally, is to fix the problem, or arrive Just In Time to be the hero, and end up as a de facto thought leader.

Have you done this? I’ve done this. But I’ve stopped. You should too.

Being In Love with an idea – a process, a position, a job – is not a bad thing on its face, but to a certain extent, it’s limiting. This level of enthusiasm can be off-putting in some cases, or at least can serve to distract you from the real goal of producing meaningful work.

An aspiring novelist In Love with writing will never think anything’s good enough to ship out the door and call finished. An aspiring life coach who buys so thoroughly into their own message of personal worth that they can’t stand to be slighted in any way will never land prominent speaking gigs.

To a certain degree, falling out of love with your aspirations, and continuing to strive for them, is one of the major signs of real maturation and personal progress.

Love is good. Blinded love, not so much.

Image by Lawraa.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: development, growth, personal development

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