To Be Continued: The random search effect I

"Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by [ambitiously] "lazy" men trying to find easier ways to do something." -RAH

Today starts a new feature on WWED called "The Random Search Effect". It is, in essence, exactly what it says and refers to the notion that sometimes I just find things that match my thoughts at the moment or thoughts I've had in the past by no intent whatsoever. The quote above comes from JA Heinlein of the Heinlein Publishing Group in Colorado, and I found it while following a link for Hugh MacLeod's new book, Ignore Everybody. And I am of course, looking for a publisher for Wild Wild East, so what the heck - this random thing works pretty well - but what I like about the quote is that it closely parallels a thought by Lech Walesa, former President of Poland, that I had written about earlier this year in a story called "Workers of the World Unite - A Recession Re-imagined - The Individual Collectivist is Born". Walesa said, "I'm lazy. But it's the lazy people who invented the wheel and the bicycle because they didn't like walking or carrying things." I like both of those expressions of the same thought but in reference to my own way of working, would describe myself in terms of a thought by Madison Avenue's Bill Bernbach. "I spend many hours, making up for not being a genius".

So here's to random search. To happy accidents. To just foraging around in a mass of non-directional information until the right idea just presents itself - and you think that you're a fucking genius just for finding it. I'll just put in my hours, thank you very much.

For more in the Random Search Effect series see:

To be continued: The Random Search Effect I
Children & Unselfishness: The Random Search Effect II
Your Inner Fire: The Random Search Effect III
Mystery Google: The Random Search Effect IV
Warren Buffet: The Random Search Effect V

Workers of the World Unite - A recession re-imagined - The Individual Collectivist is Born

Lech Wałęsa (IPA: [ˈlɛx vaˈwɛ̃sa]; born September 29, 1943) was an auto mechanic and shipyard worker who became a Polish politician and a trade union and human rights activist. He co-founded Solidarity (Solidarność), the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union , won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995.^[1] I first became aware of Walesa in the late 80s as the leader of the Velvet Revolution, a non-violent workers revolution that helped bring Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union to the end of the Cold War. This clipping - from somewhere around that time, impressed me for it's simplicity, directness and correctness in the face of uncertain futures. Here are a few other quotes from Walesa that I quite enjoy: On Work - “I'm lazy. But it's the lazy people who invented the wheel and the bicycle because they didn't like walking or carrying things.” On America - “You have riches and freedom here but I feel no sense of faith or direction. You have so many computers, why don't you use them in the search for love?” On progress - “He who puts out his hand to stop the wheel of history will have his fingers crushed.” On the opposition - “I got politics and economics moving and then others took over.” On talk - “I must tell you that the supply of words on the world market is plentiful, but the demand is falling.” Interestingly enough, I was not able to find the quote at the top of this page, my favourite still.

The way society functions, we are all encouraged to rely on institutions for security - basically, because they need us to function, but when those institutions fail, where are we to turn? I was asked recently if I had always felt like an entrepreneur, an independent, a free thinker at an early age and in reflection I had to answer, yes. Yes, of course. I'm adopted, so that put me solo from the git-go. I painted signs at 16, opened a video games parlour at 19 and was also a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in the US from 1974-1976. In 76, I remember going out on strike with the union and watching the union management go from defiant, to defensive to defeat - not even amongst their own ranks could they summon a quorum - whilst management remained immovable. This told me quite a bit - and I also remember having a lemonade stand when I was 10. I proceeded on to university, being quite possibly the only man in the union who had a "Plan B" - actually, for me it had always been "Plan A" - the factories only being a way for me to have made enough money to have funded my education. Later, in the corporate world, I saw social behaviours that mimicked what I saw in the union organisation - the water cooler revolts, the drunken Monday Night Football declarations, the Xeroxed defiance of a populace to afraid to advance into management and risk becoming part of the problem. The black and white photo you see of the solitary worker is from those days - I have kept it all these years, kept in my daytimer as well, to remind me of how I saw myself at the time - an individual, but just another uniformed part of the masses that would board the rapid transit towards the building of a stronger America every day. I remember proposing an idea to my boss, Allan Klein at Leo Burnett, for our client Nintendo. I remember Allan listening, as if he had a more urgent meeting to get to and wrapping up the whole session up with the statement, "David, they haven't asked us for that". "I know Allan", I returned, "But isn't it our job to think and be proactive for our client, to make proposals?" "No, not really, David. Our job is to execute what we're told", he responded. It was well before that day, probably around the time I saved the B&W solitary man photo that I knew that, that kind of thinking was wrong, it was just on that particular day I understood fully that it was really wrong, and ultimately detrimental to the whole place. There was an obstacle in my path and nothing would ever grow there for me. It was time to kick it.

We'll Have a Gay Old Time - Perspective XIX: The Little Things XII

1) "We plan to fail" - this is an idea I had for an Apple theme line - the idea being that they try so many innovative things that there has to be a lot of room for failure. Every business should allow more room for failure. 2) There's a penguin on my cigarettes surrounded by gold stars. I doubt that anybody ever sees it. 3) "The Anti-brand". This is an idea I had to appeal to people who don't like to wear Nike logos on their shorts or shun commercialism entirely. I am like that sometimes. 4) "The Individual Collectivist" - This is a concept I have of the new Asian consumer. There's so much collectivism inbread by society, governments, schools, Buddhism, Confucianism and the like but everyone is busy creating their own personal world in the way they program their cel-phone, structure social networking sites and design blogs - it's almost an inverse reaction to collectivism in much the same way that rebellion is for western teenagers. Just something I'm thinking about. 5) I saw a lawyer in a bar who gave me just a huge amount of shit over owing his girlfriend, a cafe owner, a dollar for a beer. Odd when your whole life revolves around just one dollar. I paid him. 6) I sang with a woman tonight and we did a nice job. My voice has gotten much better with age. Sort of a lofty, bouncy baritone. 7) Was asked to do a public speaking gig the next night and the whole show became a train-wreck because the sound system was full of feed-back in both of the mics. There was nothing I could do to save it. 8) There's a funny thing in Vietnam - when you drink a beer they give you a long cylindrical tube of ice inserted in the mug. As the ice melts the waiter will come, remove the melting cylinder, and replace it with a new one - placing the old ice back in his bucket, presumably for another customer? 9) I've found a restaurant that serves deer, stirfried. It's delicious. 10) I was called a musical genius the other night. That was nice. 11) I'm copying Hugh MacLeod, as he instructs. Not the cartoons but just the general idea of having a lot of ideas and using the Internet to get them out there. 12) Time to sit and think. I'm making all these notes in a street restaurant and just having more thoughts than I know what to do with. 13) I went to the Hacker's Happy Hour recently and then to the Creative Circle, the advertising get-together. Amazing how different their attitudes are. More on this later. 14) At a certain point you realize it's not about the money but you can't do anything without the money. 15) I walk to the back of the restaurant to use the toilet and two girls are singing and doing the dishes in big plastic tubs. It's so cute. They smile at me. 16) There's a million ideas in every day if you just stop and look at the little things. 17) I learned a lot in Korea but I found myself in Vietnam. 18) The evening ends drinking beer with some Vietnamese guys who have limited or no English. It's a little bit of fun. I bid them farewell as one of the guys is in the men's room. Walking home a motorbike pulls up and the guy who had been in the men's room want's to tell me he is interested in going home with me. I explain to him, as best as I can, that I'm not gay and he is obviously disappointed. 19) Sometimes you just don't see stuff coming.


For more on the "Perspective" or "Little Things" series, click below:

My Morning Wake-Up Call - Perspective XX: The Little Things XII
We'll Have A Gay Old Time - Perspective XIX: The Little Things XII
"Rolled Foggy Disposed Ricepaper" - Perspective XVIII: The Little Things XI
Joyeux Noel - Perspective XVII: The Little Things X
Lunch With Obama - Perspective XVI: The Little Things IX
One Motley Crue On The Bus Today - Perspective XV: The Little Things VIII
Attraction vs. Conversion: How To Power Your Blog - Perspective XIV: The Little Things VII
A glass box full of deep fried chicken heads - Perspective XIII: The Little Things VI
Seoul Searching - Perspective XII
He Would Have Shot Me 40 Years Ago - Perspective XI: The Little Things V
Chomsky on Colour & Sleep - Perspective X: The Little Things IV.2
Running With Scizzors - Perspective IX: The Little Things IV
Henry Miler II - Perspective VIII : The Little Things III.1
Henry Miller - Perspective VII: The Little Things III
Big Brother - Perspective VI: The Little Things II
This Carnival of Life! - Perspective V
The Art Walk - Perspective IV: The Little Things
Bentley #5 - Perspective III.2
Bentley vs. Vespa - Perspective III.1
Bentleys Invade Vietnam - Perspective III
Death Of A Colleague - Perspective II
Perspective