Thoughts Pad

This week I read an article from Erik J. Heels, where he states that patents are not always worth a try for startups, mainly when it comes to software patents.

Well, it happens that I have being reading about this subject lately, and sometimes I do agree, sometimes I don’t.

Although being expensive and time consuming, patents do give its owner a reasonable advantage over competitors avoiding them from stealing the idea. Ok, I agree that it doesn’t always avoid that. Sometimes, enforcing a software patent isn’t that easy, and if they steal your idea early, then they may gain a huge advantage over you before you even get you patent aproved.

It takes something between 5 to 6 years to get a software patent aproved. That’s just about the life time of most technologies!

If your technology is good enough to strive through and live longer than that, you probably managed to gain the biggest piece in the market share. Then, would you really need a software patent to enforce competitors?

It happens that there is no easy answer to this. It is very hard to predict the future, and patents are assets. If you’re more conservative, then patents will certainly bring you some peace of mind. If you’re the type that doesn’t fear competitors and trust in your bat, then patents may be a waste of time and money.

But never forget: patents are assets. Though you may never use it, whenever you need it you’ll have it.

And no, I’m not going to start working as an IP lawyer or consultant, in case you’re wondering I’m being biased. It simply happens that I have a special interest on this matter.

What do you think? Is it worth investing on patents, or is it better to use that money and time trying to overcome competition?

Last post I wondered a little bit about how could a company give enough freedom to their employees so they can create their creative environment and do a better job. After posting, I began pondering some starting points, or directives, which could help a company walk in that direction.

First, I would like to bold that in the creative process, there should be no deadlines or that will kill it from the root. But, I didn’t forget that in the real world, we need to interact with other companies and people with which we must sign contracts, and that they unfortunatelly have deadlines. What a paradox! Companies need money to survive. They get their money from their contracts. The contracts sets deadlines to the company’s works. The creative process that leads to a great product demands that deadlines should not exist. So, how could we tackle this issue and have at least a better approach?

As I said before, I tried to set some starting points or directives based on the kind of work I’m into, and wondering that it could be totally or partially applied to most other areas.

So, lets state now that inside the company there should be no deadlines. Deadlines are capital ofense, as John Cleese has stated.

Then, instead of setting a deadline, what about setting quality goals? Sometimes, with a tight deadline people tends to chose the “enough for the moment” approach on solving problems. Maybe, if we begin by setting quality goals, then we are virtully setting a deadline. How is that? With a reasonable quality goal, you can deliver a great project without the need of having people wondering of better possible solutions for ever. If you set a quality goal, people will try their best to reach that, with no deadline. But, to make then deliver on the deadline, you set an ambitious goal that you think can be archieved in the time frame you’ve got. But please, don’t do contracts with tight deadlines. If you do that, you’re shooting your foot anyway, and the whole theory for creativity process is not for you.

Then I wondered: That is not the solution by itself. Otherwise, it would be too easy, uh?
How to avoid the employee from getting stucked somewhere, and help him on his creative evolvement? Perhaps starting the quality goals definition by brainstorming the product and it’s requirements. Then, that could already leaverage some ideas that would inspire the employee and put him in a nice stand to begin his work and save some precious time.

But, that is just the beginning. During the project, the employee could get stucked in something we didn’t wondered in the beginning. At this moment, is where I think that two (or more) heads thinks better. Never found yourself deep in something, and got stucked lacking more ideas? What you need is fresh air, and fresh ideas. Perhaps just steping the next door and share the difficulties with the neighbor would help give the person that fresh air and ideas needed. Perhaps a coaching team could also come by and help by providing some more brainstorming, ideas… Perhaps the coaching team could find out that the person went the wrong way, and could put him back on track. Perhaps, a walk in the park or a nice sleep could help on that also. If we can’t set a deadline, then all we’ve got left is improving our capabilities, save time on the process and create a clean and free highway to creativity so it can come as better and quick as possible.

Another essencial thing to have a nice job done: information. If you’re willing to delive a good product, leave your employees absolutely aware of what you need, or what yor client needs. All the documentation, charts, goals descriptions, requirements, meetings, brainstorming, etc just looks like not enough when we want to get everyone perfectly aware of our needs and engaged on that goal. Here you must use your creativity to have the information delivered as expected to all people related to the product creation.

I know this is not enough to change a company culture, but perhaps this could make someone think and thus it would serve as a nice starting point

I went through the first morning of the event, and it was very inspiring. The speakers quality is very ok, and the event very well organized, but the catering service… Ok, we’re surviving that and in the end, we came here for brain not stomach food.

John Cleese mainly talked about ways of leting and insentivating your creativity come out from your unconscious. Not a surprise to most of us, interrupting the cognitive process can be a disaster as he said. I believe that, and always tried to find a calm and quiet place to let my ideas flow. But that is nice when we’re under control of the situation and we can manage to set a good slot of time in a peaceful place to let our neurones work as they like. But, how to produce such an environment inside a company? How to let your employee in charge of creating their creative environment in which they can feed their minds with what they need to come out with innovation? Is it good or is it bad for your company?

That is hard to say. A later speaker, author of the book My Company is a Jungle, claimed that culture is vital inside a company. If your company doesn’t have an inner culture, you’re going out of wings. Maybe, that could relate our former need: How to let our employees in charge of creating their perfect creative environment and not mess up with your company? Maybe, setting a culture could be the answer.

Yeah, that’s not something new or ground breaking. We hear all the time people saying about companies trying to set a creative culture, and you shouldn’t take more than 1 second to remind the name of a couple of them.

What are the other companies missing then? Is that fear which motivates then to keep thenselves in the age of iron when it comes to creating a culture inside a company? Is the fear caused because it is expensive to afford such a freedom to their employees?

We clearly see the benefits of providing time and a good environment for criativity, so why do we keep pushing and pressing people to keep in track of deadlines, and do more things in less time? We are so used to this culture, of pushing and pressing and delivering things in very tight deadlines, that we feel afraid of trying the disruptive aproach of not having a deadline and not pushing things arround.

So, from were I can see, things must change both internally and externally, and as Jef Staes said: it must start from the edge.

After a fews months in a rush, I finally started to settle down and had the time to return to my blog. Soon, there will be some changes arround here, and I’m also moving to another domain which I’ll be announcing pretty soon.

The news is that I’m writing from the Lotto Arena, Antwerp, Belgium at the Creativity World Forum, 10 minutes away frowm watching a speaking of John Cleese. During the event, I’ll be taking notes and will be bloging about interesting bits absorved from the speakers.

Stay tunned!