Every day we make decision about our lives, our businesses that is based on how we perceive the world and people around us. Different personalities view the same situation from different perspectives and what is an opportunity to some is a threat to others.

Independent from our perspectives, independent from our personality (being optimistic, risk adverse, pessimistic, and so forth), our success and well-being will be the result of how well our view of the world matches the reality.

There are serious risks in any which way we choose to look at the world! The optimist who fails to see the dangers laying ahead, can get in lethal trouble by simply crossing the street. The pessimistic who only sees the dangers, will suffer the lethal risks of anxiety, depression, immobility and social isolation.

So whichever perspective you take on the world, you cannot build your life or business based on your convictions and preconceptions only. You need instead to figure out  the true nature of the world and people around you.

The next time you have a chance to do something that could be really rewarding, ask yourself; what is the fastest and simplest way to prove my position wrong?

Then go ahead and try to prove it wrong!! Proven wrong or not, the decision became easy to make, and you can be confident in your choice.

Pessimists or optimists, we are all better off challenging our world view.

If you, at any point find yourself involved with developing products or services, profit or non-profit, the book “Sprint: how to solve big problems  and test new ideas in just five days” by Knapp, Zeratsky and Kowitz should be a rewarding read.

Sprint: in hard copy

Should those ideas have great potential rewards, but serious risks along the way to success, this book might be the best reading-investment you have made since you read Harry Potter to you children.

Sprint, is the 5 day method that has been developed, tried and tested over years at Google Ventures as a way to quickly evaluate ideas for products, services and more. By diligently following a well thought out schedule of activities, a focused group of seven persons will define, prototype and test the prototype on real customers and learning first hand the rewarding lessons.

No fancy high-tech needed

The book gives the reader a nice introduction as to why this is relevant to so many and then guides the reader through the whole process using real world examples of both good and less good practice. The authors provide detailed instructions for you to try this out in your own organisation. At the end of the book, checklists for preparations and doing the Sprint are provided. So, when you reach the end cover, you have no excuses for not accelerating your high-stakes big-potential ideas by doing a Sprint with your own team.

If you still find yourself a bit hesitant or even sceptic about the Sprint concept in particular or process-soft-stuff in general, know that the authors have written the book with a great sense of humor and self-distance that is different to most of these ”DIY”-books.

Still not convinced? If you are one of those really hard-core anti-process-soft-stuff persons, I respect that, but would like to challenge you to read only the few pages about brainstorming, and why shout-out-loud-do-not-criticize-brainstorming is NOT a part of the Sprint. If, after reading that part, you still think this is just soft-process-BS, just hope you competition think so too…

Over the past two years I have had the opportunity to teach university students from all over the world about software architecture design and quality analysis. During this time I have received repeated questions on what to study to become a successful professional in the field of software engineering.  Often a follow up question is: Should I learn this technology/library or this other competing one.

Here’s a summary of  my answer to those students.

In my teens I had a fantastic concert experience listening to Michael Brecker, the jazz saxophone player of modern time, playing with the best big band in Europe, Tolvan Big Band,  live in Malmö Concerthall! In one song, Mr. Brecker played an electric-saxophone, and it blew the minds of anyone present.

A truly fantastic concert, where 25 years later, I can still recall the intensity, range and sweat of that solo.

As a young aspiring musician , I was inspired and started to listen to more great jazz musicians, thinking, that I should try myself to become a jazz-improvisor.  And I tried, in big band jazz, ensemble jazz, fusion and rock. How much I tried, it never was even close to anything I had listened to. The fluidity, intensity, harmonies and rhythms just wouldn’t appear…

Long later, I realized that my imagination about what great improvisation was about, was a naive romantic view of the ultimate creativity in each moment.

Jazz music, and most western music, is based on a harmonic system, and each song or arrangement has a prescribed sequence of harmonies as decided by the composer/arranger. This determines what notes will sound in and out of harmony at any particular point in the song. Then rhythm, plays important parts in what sounds cool and not.

I realized that to decide what to play, note by note, and considering the harmonies of the song while accomplishing “cool” phrases and rhythm playing, takes too long for the brain to decide and execute. The result is lack of fluidity and being out of sync with your ensemble.

Later when I had opportunities to meet good jazz musicians and learn about their everyday practice, I understood that there was no secret to it, really.

Or, rather, the secret was determination and perseverance.

What the great jazz improvisers do, is to practice! A lot!!!!

They practice scales and figures, in all interesting harmonic variants. In fact many, in the start of their careers, have played along some favorite recording, trying to copy the playing of their favorite musician.

When scales, harmonies and phrases was part of their muscle memory, improvisation turned from note to note decision making, into selection between variants. Resulting in more capacity to listen and communicating with the ensemble and the audience.

The greater the improviser, the larger the set of harmonies, rhythms and phrases she has internalized.

Armed with such skills the jazz musician is able to play, fluidly almost instinctively, in new and astonishing ways.

So, when a professional jazz musician play an improvised solo, the solo is truly unique and inspired by the moment. The mechanics of playing those phrases  are at the opposite, practiced many, many times before.

How does your development team perform their creations? Do they play note by note? Or have they practiced their mechanics enough to create a truly elegant solution?

Take a look in the patent registry of US, Japan or any country of the old economy. The world is full of solutions. A search on Google patents for Mousetrap, results in 54 000 (!) hits.

IBM has topped the list of granted patents in US each year between 1997 and 2012. All the years that was covered by the wikipedia page, so probably they top the list long before, and still do.

IBM’s business hasn’t exactly topped the IT companies those years, while Apple and Google are some of the most successful companies during the last 10 years or so. See the diagram how IBM, Apple and Google stocks compare for the last 10 years.