Disqus - Latest Comments for MarkDykeman

Re: http://danperezfilms.tumblr.com/post/22612818346

Mark Dykeman — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:04:16 -0000

That's incredibly beautiful and sad all at once.

Re: Earning Attention

Mark Dykeman — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:29:10 -0000

If you had asked, I wouldn't have ReTweeted this or shared this on Google +. But I did, so you must be doing something right. Or maybe I was just impressed by your Karaoke rap in Chicago during last year's SOB Con. Or your vast knowledge of comic books. I don't know.

Fair point, though and, as always, Suzemuse is right.

Re: 5 Books That Could Change Your Creative Game

Mark Dykeman — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:47:06 -0000

One book I really enjoy that gets little coverage is called "Advantage Play" by David Ben. He's a professional magician who writes about creative problem solving from the perspective of developing magic tricks. But but but... he also ties the concepts to business processes, emphasizing idea development, preparation and the need to sell your ideas or solutions. It's a little hard to find and doesn't look that interesting at first, but I've found a lot of gems in it.

Re: How to Become a Thought Leader

Mark Dykeman — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:15:54 -0000

Pundits are entertainers; thought leaders are people whose insights and ideas can help you grow. However, it seems to me that people sometimes get anointed as thought leaders for subjective reasons, including the advantages that accrue to the anointer (effectively making them a thought leader as well).

Demonstrated subject matter expertise and accomplishments should be a given.

Futurist path: this path is pretty risky, IMHO. I don't think you can get there without demonstrated subject matter expertise - at least in data analysis, research, etc. I think it's more properly a subset of expertise, but maybe I should read the Sterling article.

Despite all that, I would never feel comfortable completely following the pronouncements of a thought leader, especially someone who has no vested interest in my success.

Re: Where have I been?

Mark Dykeman — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 06:01:16 -0000

Sorry that you had to get rid of your house but otherwise it sounds like you are doing well. Cheers!

Re: Creativity and Research – 3 Dirty Little Secrets

Mark Dykeman — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:26:59 -0000

I enjoy Jonah Lehrer's articles and I'm planning to read his books. However, you bring up a very good point about sample sizes, research, etc. I also find that Lehrer kind of throws these things out there which are interesting but they may be designed to be more thought-provoking than useful.

His article has to be taken in the context that it's written and offered. This is very similar to the recent HBS working paper about the relationship between creativity and dishonesty. Yes, the research findings can lead you to draw a certain conclusion.... within the confines of the conditions of the experiments. However, it doesn't readily explain why things happened the way they did during the experiment.

Nice find, Mike!

Re: Your Klout Score Means Nothing

Mark Dykeman — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 06:22:06 -0000

Excellent post, Ian. I think you've made a very clear argument about the value of the Klout metrics and Klout in general.

Re: Welcome back!

Mark Dykeman — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 20:19:08 -0000

Well done!

Re: The Mounting Challenges of an Established Social Content Market

Mark Dykeman — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:02:09 -0000

Um, I may still be waking up... I'll provide a more thoughtful comment a little later on...

Re: The Mounting Challenges of an Established Social Content Market

Mark Dykeman — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 07:58:10 -0000

The technology that many write about is not that new or innovative anymore. The value is in what you can do with the technology. This is not a comment about you or your writing, Geoff, it's about a lot of the "echo chambery" stuff that people write about, i.e. 10 K ways to get 10 K Twitter followers.

Re: The Mounting Challenges of an Established Social Content Market

Mark Dykeman — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 07:44:51 -0000

Writing about the power and innovativeness of social media is getting to be like writing about the power and innovation inherent in your rotary dial telephone.

Re: Creativity 2011 – Week #6

Mark Dykeman — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:09:25 -0000

Thanks very much for linking out to Thoughtwrestling!

Re: The Age of the Sycophant

Mark Dykeman — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:40:55 -0000

And that's fine, Geoff. There's certainly been a change over the past couple of years towards selling paid services/products (which I've personally benefited from, by way of disclosure) although there's still plenty of free stuff being given away and pointers to other free/charitable services. In your case, you tell your community (e.g. the people who choose to pay attention to you) what you think they need to know. Fair enough.

Re: The Age of the Sycophant

Mark Dykeman — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:13:02 -0000

Geoff, at first I didn't agree with this post, especially in the way that you've portrayed Eddie Van Halen. But when I figured out that you were referring more to how people copied Van Halen's style, I had to concede the point. Personally, I think Eddie was innovative, especially at first, but his contributions to guitar playing and music in general are more about incorporating new techniques and sounds into the repertoire of the guitarist instead of making music that moved people. Actually, he did move a lot of people, but mainly rock guitarists or hard rock/metal lovers than the average music listener.

But here's the thing: most people learn a skill or craft by coping the stuff that they like, something that interests or moves them. Initially the copying attempts are crude and flawed but building technique and skills makes it better. However, the thing that seems to provide depth is going back a generation or two to find influences. For example, copying Mick and Keith is one thing, but you'll grow more by learning about their influences (e.g. Muddy Waters and other blues musicians). If you want to take the extra step back from the Beatles, go check out Elvis, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, etc. and, of course, Bob Dylan. Etc.

Now, the million dollar question: do you pay for it? Who do you pay and when? Who's worthy?

If we borrow someone's phrase for a moment, if someone has proven themselves as a "trust agent", wouldn't you normally support them? If if they are human, don't we all drop a turd every now and then?

One final thought: if someone is willing to pay a monthly fee for information that's freely available on the internet, doesn't that say more about the buyer than the seller?

Re: The Cowbell of Communications

Mark Dykeman — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 07:35:46 -0000

So, like, where can I buy Cowbell Hero? And when is Triangle Hero coming out?

Point well taken, as it should be, Ike.

Re: I Quit

Mark Dykeman — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 14:54:26 -0000

I fear I'd be in the utter fascination group, at least for awhile.

Re: I Quit

Mark Dykeman — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 12:10:12 -0000

Had no idea, Michael, but I can relate to a certain extent. I used to play Everquest about a decade ago and, although I don't think I played it as much as you might have (thank goodness for a day job, I guess) I certainly reached a point where I had to look at all of the time that I spent on it and chucked it.

I still think about it every now and then and I even tried the free trial version of EQ a couple of months ago. After an hour, I decided I was bored with it and uninstalled it.

I've never played WoW, but I'm sure it's a similar experience.

Anyway, more power to you and welcome back! :)

Re: 11 Free Resources About Creativity

Mark Dykeman — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 08:22:43 -0000

Actually, I'm getting a 404 error on the Pixar link (the very first one)... it's not behind a paywall, is it?

Re: 11 Free Resources About Creativity

Mark Dykeman — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 08:16:48 -0000

Thank you, Chris - this is the kind of stuff we like to talk about at Thoughtwrestling </end> ;)

In all seriousness, I haven't seen many of these before (shame on me) so I'll definitely want to check them out.

Re: A Scary Admission

Mark Dykeman — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:32:42 -0000

Chris, if you believe in the Law of Attraction, it must be because you seem to be experiencing positive results in applying it.

I do not believe in the Law of Attraction, at least in the romantic sense that some charlatans keep promoting, but I do believe in the power of positive thinking, visualization and heightened awareness through the proper attitude. In other words, there is no mystical Law of Attraction that works like magic and gives you things just because you want them badly enough. If there's any truth in it, it's in heightened awareness, a state of preparedness, and having the balls to seize the day.

I haven't read all of Think and Grow Rich, but one of the key points that I sussed was that if you want to successfully make an intention happen, you also have to visualize what you will do to make it happen, kind of like the golf pro visualizing the shot she or he needs to make before they do it. And then, of course, you need to take action when opportunity presents itself.

It seems like New Year's Resolutions on steroids, basically.

Re: Link Journeys for December 18, 2010

Mark Dykeman — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:37:29 -0000

Thanks for linking to 11 for 11, Michael!

Re: The best of the rest of the internet

Mark Dykeman — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 11:07:26 -0000

Thanks for linking out to Thoughtwrestling, Rachel. To be honest, I find the 11 for 11 list to be a bit daunting, but I'm going to give it a try!

Re: R.I.P. Delicious: You Were So Beautiful to Me

Mark Dykeman — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 19:15:39 -0000

If Yahoo can't make any money out of it, surely they could sell it to some interested party...

Re: 3 Best Free Direct Download eBooks

Mark Dykeman — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 13:00:31 -0000

Thanks Jens!

Re: The $10 Difference

Mark Dykeman — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 20:01:41 -0000

Holy cow. That's a powerful move, Jason, but I think it's one that'll work out well for you in the long run.

Kudos and power to you, friend.