Killing Your Own Company and Forgetting Virtual Reality
SxSWxPhil Part two
The days are pressing on and while Austin has been filling up with people, Mia and I have been filling up on everything fried, smoked, pulled and slow cooked. It’s said that one should treat their body like a temple, but no one says that temple must live for very long. The best food I’ve had so far, bar a few exceptions, has all come from a truck. The knowledge that they can simply pack up shop and leave – I think – speaks to the transience of all good things. That being said, I did have a moment of weakness one day and ate a salad for lunch – which was it’s own punishment for my transgression.
Amidst a fog of sleep deprivation – we’ve been attempting to make it to as many different talks, art installations and exhibits as possible – of which there are impossibly, thousands. To get a gauge of what was popular right now – I took a wander through the trade halls. Most of the tech and innovation was geared towards augmenting the human experience. There were exoskeletons, interactive video, 3D printed shoes, interactive video and each and every different type of wearable and interactive video you could think of. There were motion sensing OOH displays, makeup filters for work Skype meetings, robots, VR and not to mention all the interactive video. What actually surprised me was how little innovation there was around reducing waste or our carbon footprint. There was little to no crowding or excitement at any of the spaces that focused on our planet – with the exception of say, NASA, and even they’re hell bent on leaving it.
It’s hard to make saving the planet sexy.
Part of the beauty of SXSW so far has also been all the people that I’ve met (mostly in queues, of which there are a lot) and the conversations we’ve had. While the event itself is a good representation of what’s trending it’s been interesting to hear a diverse range of opinions from the SXSW goers themselves; what they think is big, why they came and what they do. What feels unanimous though is the excitement about the technologies – regardless of what we know we can achieve with them, be it 3D printing, AI, psychology and biometrics, or VR.
8K VR Projection from the trade show.
For some time now, I’ve been on the hunt for really great headset VR. That’s not to say that I don’t think it doesn’t exist, just that it’s proving extremely difficult to find. For such an exciting and hyped technology – It’s been difficult to fall in love with. So what makes VR good? This is just one of the questions answered by Mandy Mandelstein, Creative Director of LuxLoop in her talk on UX design. Coming from a background in film, Mandy highlighted the similarities between film and UX storyboards. From that she then went on to show the similarities in A/B testing methods – creating different cuts and versions and then showing them to people for feedback. She asked why we treat the processes so differently, when really we are trying to fundamentally achieve the same goal. A good user experience, she says, is simply good storytelling. Which is not to say that it’s easy, but it can give us a better idea of where we could direct our efforts when trying to achieve great UX. But where does that leave us for VR?
VR doesn’t suck. Your story does.
We’ve been telling stories since the dawn of time; from campfire tellings, to film and all the books and paintings inbetween, Mandy says. We don’t actually need VR to become immersed, we just need to have a good story. She advises that we ask not, What’s my VR experience? but rather what’s my story?
I also had the pleasure of seeing Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant speak about ‘Originals’ – the non-conformists who move the world. He lays out the six rules that make ‘Originals’, who they are.
- Originals aren’t risk seekers
- Originals avoid false negatives
- Originals make the unfamiliar familiar
- Originals admit their weaknesses
- Originals hire differently
- Originals fight groupthink
Not a rule for one of his originals, but Adam ended on a note to round off his thinking;
You must be willing to kill your own company.
He talks about how it’s impossible to innovate inside your own bubble – and to continually achieve, you must be willing to kill your own company. If you have a terrible work culture, this is something that many of your employees might be keen to do too without you organising it. But what Adam is referring to is different way of framing innovation. Bring everyone into a room and instead of asking them what’s going to get this company ahead in five years – ask them how they’d kill this company with another one in that time – and there is where you’ll find your best ideas flourish.
I also managed to catch Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the cast in conversation about VEEP. They didn’t have six rules for being Originals – they were just a funny group of people talking about a very funny show. If you haven’t watched it. Do.
There’s too much to write – and not enough time!
Kesha, venture capitalists and immersive artworks still to come – stay tuned for Part 3 and read Mia’s write up on Who. What. WiTH
