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  • Wrangling Code

    The Tiny Books Universe [Detail]

    For months I’ve been unable to update this site due to an underlying technical issue. After updating my operating system in early 2018, everything broke and, try as I might to fix it, I ended up unable to post anything.

    Ouch.

    This unfortunate problem collided with a period in my life in which I was very unwell and had to focus on other, more pressing matters.

    After months in the wilderness – literally, in Donegal – I’m back. I’ve been on a journey of self-discovery and I will share more on that soon, but – until then – I’m happy to say that this site is, once again, working. Hurrah!

    I’d like to thank David Turner – my co-founder at Get Invited – for helping me to get everything working again. Wrangling code is not my strong suit and David very kindly set aside some time to help fix everything. I very much appreciate his support, for fixing broken things and, more importantly, as a friend.

    I’ve made some major changes in my life and – as of 9 July, 2018 – I’m now a half-time lecturer. I’m embarking upon a new phase of my career and, now I have a little more time, I hope to post here a little more frequently once again.

    It’s good to be back.

  • Restart

    The Tiny Books Universe [Detail]

    In February, 2017 I wrote Going Deeper, just one of eight posts last year in the Tiny Books journal. I’d planned – as everyone does towards the beginning of a new year – to write more, but largely for health reasons, that writing didn’t materialise.

    At the time I reflected:

    To find the ideas that matter – the ideas that really last – it might be an idea to step out of the stream altogether.

    I hadn’t expected to take that advice quite so literally, but I’m honestly glad I did. I spent the majority of 2017 distanced from social platforms, putting the time I saved towards reading and reflecting.

    I also spent the year working with a cognitive behavioural therapist, which I found incredibly beneficial. That, however, is a topic for another day (and perhaps another journal.)

    After almost a year away from writing here I’m ready to get started again. As I’ve said before, I believe a good writer is a good thinker, and I’m looking forward to sharing some of my thinking again. Until then, I wish everyone a happy new year.

  • Welcome Back

    465,560 Views [Detail]

    In November, I shared the sad news that Casey Neistat was calling at a day and ending his vlog. As an educator I shared Neistat’s vlog with hundreds of students (not to mention a multitude of professionals). It was packed with useful advice and, even better, it was an entertaining way to learn.

    Great news: “The vlog is back.” This made my day.

    If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of discovering Neistat’s thinking, you now have a good reason to rectify that (and I’d encourage you to do so, post haste). Welcome back, Mr Neistat! I’m looking forward to a daily dose of inspiration once again.

  • Selling Hope

    Madlug [Detail]

    I recently discovered Madlug, a travel bag business with a difference. Their story, which is clearly articulated and poignant, caught my attention.

    Full disclosure, my son Ross Murphy, is an ambassador for the brand and has been hard at work taking beautiful photographs for the business’s web site and Instagram account.

    Madlug’s story, and its purpose, is clear:

    With every bag purchased a new travel bag will be given to a child in care to help them make their way with dignity.

    Reflecting on the business’s founding principles, Madlug’s founder, Dave Linton, tells a story of how he was struck by the plight of a young girl in a wheelchair, who explained:

    Health trusts don’t provide suitcases. Sometimes foster carers loan us a suitcase, but more often our belongings are moved in black plastic bin bags and we lose our dignity.

    Determined to address this heartbreaking situation, Madlug was born, with a focused mission: to create ‘Make a Difference Luggage’.

    From these humble beginnings, Madlug has grown into, “A movement of incredible people buying incredible bags so that new travel bags can be given to incredible children and young people in care.”

    To date the company has given over 1,100 travel bags to children in care, helping – in a small, but important way – to give these children back their dignity.

    Yes, Madlug is selling bags, but what they’re actually selling is something else: dignity.

    We might be living in an age where UK CEOs ‘Earn 386 Times More Than Workers on the National Living Wage’, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a difference to others’ lives and, in the process, help to build successful businesses.

    Madlug, and other companies like it, are selling hope, and hope is a precious commodity in the here and now.

    Next time you’re looking for a travel bag, why not make a difference at the same time, and pick up a Madlug bag? You’ll be helping others in the process and making your own small dent in the universe.

  • Design in Technology

    Design in Tech Report, 2017 [Detail]

    Since 2015, John Maeda – working with a talented team – has published an annual Design in Tech Report. This year’s edition was posted in early March and, if you’re in any way involved at the intersection of design and technology, I’d strongly recommend downloading a copy, saving it and reading it.

    I’m a little late to this year’s party as my focus of late has been on teaching, writing and running workshops – not to mention taking a little time off from screens – but, as they say, better late than never.

    2017’s Design in Tech Report is filled with useful advice. A number of insights leapt off the page for me:

    Design isn’t just about beauty; it’s about market relevance and meaningful results.

    Few would argue with this, but – surprisingly (as is often the case with key insights) – it’s often overlooked. Design isn’t window dressing, it increasingly lies at the heart of everything we do, and it’s great to see this thinking moving to the fore.

    At top business schools, design thinking is moving into the curriculum.

    Not before time! As an educator, I believe that the most interesting and exciting opportunities that lie ahead sit at the intersection of design and business. (That’s why Tiny Books is focused on exploring the design of business and the business of design.)

    Imagine what we could do if we tore down the silos that exist between design and business education? Imagine an MBA with a fundamental design-driven focus, as opposed to design added as an afterthought. That’s a course I’d like to contribute to.

    Code is not the only unicorn skill.

    As a writer and designer you won’t be surprised to hear that Maeda’s stress on the importance of writing as a core part of the design process appeals to me. Writing is a critical design skill that is all too often overlooked in curricula. Indeed, it’s a skill that will become increasingly valuable with the emergence of conversational interfaces.

    (My only, minor, complaint is that the ‘design schools that include writing and content strategy’ singled out in the report are all based in the United States. Design is a global activity, after all.)

    If you’re late to the party like me, this year, make haste and download a copy of the report. It’s filled with thought-provoking advice.

  • Going Deeper

    The Tiny Books Universe [Detail]

    We live increasingly in a world of streams.

    Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media seduce us into a river-like model that sweeps us along, carried away on the current of conversations (if, that is, our thoughts even spark conversations).

    The stream is relentless. You commit your ideas to it and hope, against hope, that they might find traction somewhere… anywhere.

    To be a part of this stream is to be a part of something (or so we’re told). A short update here, a brief link to something there… feed the stream.

    These fragments of thought are all too easily imparted, but when we live in the stream – in reality a torrent, that can easily sweep anything of lasting value away – we’re in danger of committing our thought to a world that often seems only interested in the superficial.

    I’m beginning to question the need to be immersed in this river.

    The stream is seductive, of course. It’s fuelled by a fear of missing out. We’re led to believe that turning our backs on the wealth of social media platforms that vie for our attention will leave us isolated, disconnected from the masses immersed in the rapids that are hurriedly moving forth.

    However – if we’re not careful – we can get swept along by the stream and find our thinking lost all too quickly in a relentless torrent of fragments. Shallow shortform thoughts are easily swept away.

    This idea – of shallow thought, versus deep thought – is something I’ve been thinking about a great deal of late (thanks, in no small part, to a decision I made on 1 January, 2017 to forego the shallows of social media streams – Twitter, in particular – in favour of spending more time reading, thinking and aiming to share thoughts that were more fully thought through).

    Deep thought – by its nature much harder to mine – is where I believe the real value lies.

    Over the holiday period I read and re-read Cal Newport’s Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World and, whilst I might not agree with the entirety of Newport’s thinking, the book did force me to question the sheer quantity of time I was committing to what you might term ‘shallow outputs’.

    As an educator, one of my roles is to signpost interesting thinking and, for the last year, I invested a great deal of time sharing links to interesting articles and other discoveries via Twitter. I hoped that by doing so I might point my students, and others, in interesting directions.

    On balance, however, I think the effort I expended on this was, for the most part, sadly wasted. Looking back I think the time I expended in the stream would have been better spent elsewhere.

    This line – from a recent post by Newport – shouted at me from the screen:

    Deep, audacious results are the only currency that matters.

    It might seem obvious – it is to me, now – but deep, audacious results (the result of deep, audacious thoughts) are less likely to emerge in the fragmentary streams we currently find ourselves immersed in. We need to focus on life beyond the stream.

    To find the ideas that matter – the ideas that really last – it might be an idea to step out of the stream altogether.

    If we do that, I believe, we might share ideas of value to an audience that is crying out for more – much more – than 140 character status updates.

  • Pioneers

    Pixel Pioneers [Detail]

    If the web’s your forté I’d urge you to take a look at Pixel Pioneers, a series of affordable events that brings world class advice from designers and developers right to your doorstep.

    Courtesy of Oliver Lindberg – until recently the editor of net magazine (and, in the interests of full disclosure, a good friend of mine) – Pixel Pioneers 100% echoes my values: it’s priced incredibly reasonably; it has a line up that features a balanced mix of speakers; and it’s touring the UK, so travel expenses should be less of an issue.

    Pixel Pioneers’ inaugural event will take place in the lovely city of Bristol on 22 June, 2017. It’s just £99 for an early bird ticket, so it’s well within reach of all: snap a ticket up quick!

    Even better – from my perspective – Pixel Pioneers is coming to Belfast on 16 November, 2017.

    I’m very much looking forward to attending a conference in Belfast once again, having run Break and contributed heavily to Build. It feels long overdue to welcome everyone to our city once again (this time without the stress of running a conference!).

    Roll on November!

  • A Calculated Leap of Faith

    DIBI Edinburgh [Detail]

    I’m very much looking forward to joining a wonderful line up of speakers at DIBI, Edinburgh in March, 2017. I’m honoured to be part of a schedule that includes a host of world class speakers, including: Joshua Davis (always an inspiration), and a wide range of inspiring speakers from Slack, Clearleft and Adobe Typekit, amongst others.

    I’ll be delivering the closing keynote on the first day and (I hope!) priming the audience for an evening of heartfelt discussion.

    My talk, ‘A Calculated Leap of Faith’, will touch on some of the ideas I covered in my first Tiny Book, ‘Start! Stop Procrastinating and Pursue Your Passion’, and will explore the pieces you need to put in place to turn your ideas into a reality.

    If you’ve not picked up a ticket – and you’ll be in the vicinity of Edinburgh in March – I’d encourage you to get a ticket before they disappear. I very much hope to see you there.

  • The Road to a Keynote

    The Road to a Keynote [Detail]

    If you’ve ever wanted to speak at a conference, I’d strongly recommend reading Des Traynor’s thoughts on How to Get Started at Conference Speaking. It’s to the point and filled with useful advice that’s well worth heeding.

    Traynor, one of the co-founders of Intercom, is a seasoned speaker and his advice, hard won in the trenches, is worth taking on board. One idea that caught my eye is the idea that you can, “Build your own speaking resume without having a stage.” As Traynor puts it the web is a powerful – off stage – medium for practising your on stage thoughts:

    As examples, Ryan Singer and Benedict Evans have given great talks to their laptops and published these online. So when people tell me they can’t find their, “first speaking event,” I tell them it’s right in front of them.

    This is great advice (and something I’d overlooked before).

    I’m a firm believer in the power of conference speaking to shape your thinking, but getting started can be a challenge. If you’re considering embarking on the road to a keynote, I’m sure you’ll appreciate Traynor’s thoughts.

  • Retreat

    The Tiny Books Universe [Detail]

    Taking time off from time to time is, I think, important (if often overlooked). It’s hard to recharge your intellectual batteries if you never retreat and regroup.

    As the new year dawned I made a conscious decision to pause and set aside some time for reading, something I’ve enjoyed tremendously over the last few weeks.

    I’ll be sharing some recommendations for required reading shortly – drawing from my recent reading retreat – but for now, it’s time to get started again and, from today, share some thoughts for a new year (albeit a little belatedly).

    Retreat, over.

    I’m looking forward to 2017, there’s lots to learn and I’m looking forward to learning it.

  • We have liftoff…

    The Tiny Books Universe [Detail]

    It’s been a rollercoaster of a week, but I’m delighted to have finally launched my first book: Start! Stop Procrastinating and Pursue Your Passion. It’s been a long – very long – journey, but it’s a relief to have finally shipped.

    Not before time!

    I’ll be writing a longer, reflective post – sharing some of the lessons I learned on the journey – in due course, but for now… I’m looking forward to having a short break and catching up on some long-overdue reading.

    If you’d like to buy the book I’d very much appreciate your support. It’s timed perfectly for a spot of holiday reading, and if you have an idea for a business you’d like to turn into a reality, it will help you achieve your goals.

  • Crafting Your Emails

    MailChimp Email Design Guide [Detail]

    I spent the weekend crafting emails for the launch (tomorrow!) of my first Tiny Book, Start!, and MailChimp’s Email Design Guide provided a wealth of helpful knowledge.

    MailChimp’s tools are incredibly easy to use and – equally importantly – their guides are a gift. If you’re embarking on an email marketing journey (which I am), I’d thoroughly recommend using MailChimp and availing of all the helpful advice they offer.

    As they put it:

    The Email Design Guide is filled with tips and advice to help you convey your message in style. Learn how to better use images, fonts, calls to action and more.

    The guide takes you step-by-step through everything you need to know to design effective emails, ensuring your message is heard loud and clear.

    I’m looking forward to hitting ‘Send’ on my launch email later today. If you’re not subscribed to the newsletter, sign up and you’ll get a special 48 hour discount when the book launches, saving you 1/3 off the price.

    I’d like to thank MailChimp for ensuring the process of creating my launch emails was effortless and easy. Hats off to their team for all their hard work!

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