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Culture is everything.
Justin Marcucci | March 2013

We are frequently asked about our culture (and culture in general) by clients, partners and potential team members. Usually, I trip through a few sentences about values and good faith and the like, but I thought I'd actually pen a response and immortalize it here.

We aren't a large company. At 35 employees, we are still considered a very small business by federal standards.  However, any time you have a group of more than 12 or so people working together, there is the pull of an incalculable force which takes hold of the company and inevitably decides its fate.

Culture.

Like gravity or The Force, culture is a power that once directionally established is very difficult to change and it is even more difficult to fight its manifestations.  The big misconception (I think) is that culture isn't just a marker of how much screwing around goes on in the office, or how much folks get away with in the eyes of management. Instead, culture is that underlying set of principles that have been established, adopted, and supported by staff members which drive behavior when management isn't around.

Let's face it, the level of honest reaction and natural behavior that occurs in front of management - in most reasonable situations - ceases to be entirely honest and natural once an organization grows beyond say, 10 people. It’s not people being dishonest, it’s just the reflection of the natural tendency that humans have to please. In most cases, people are going to be on their best behavior in front of their bosses.  So it's only in the absence of management that the true culture of a company can be witnessed (and subsequently judged). How a collection of intelligent individuals act in a group dynamic when not directly breathing the hot-air spewed by management is the true litmus of a company's culture.

How do the people within organization behave or make decisions when on their own? Have they been empowered to always make the best decision for the client, user, project, or product? Are they comfortable taking calculated risks in the hopes of innovation, or are they afraid of failing and as such, more likely to stick to normal convention? Will they be respected for trying to innovate or penalized for failing?

It’s culture that determines how an employee is going to make these decisions when there isn’t a manager around to intervene. And, quite frankly, it’s exactly the employee’s tendencies towards these decisions that will determine how strong a business is at all levels - from the most junior intern to the senior leadership team.

So what do I think a healthy culture looks like? To me, the Mount Olympus of corporate culture is the following: brutal honestly, a collaborative pride of creation, and mutual good faith.

• Don't bullshit me and I won't bullshit you. If you screw up, I'm going to let you know and tell you what you need to improve on. But, when you hit a home run, I'll be the first one to hug you when you cross the plate.

• Pour your soul into what you create and the pride we collectively feel when it's finished will fuel our desire to out-do ourselves for the next project.

• Operate in good faith. Make good decisions and do the right thing. I'll trust you to be honest, give you loose hours, extra days off and a super relaxed atmosphere and in return, stay late when it's needed, finish what needs to get done without having to be asked and don't engage in fake doctor appointments and stupid juvenile nonsense like that.

There are no brain busters or secret formulas in those principals. It's basic good human stuff, and I believe it's the simplicity of those tenets that make them so powerful.

These are the actions that solidify the culture of an organization and drive them to do the right thing when forced to make an unguided decision. These are the actions that allow a team to operate sucessfully without constant managerial involvement. Most importantly, these are the actions that create an environment that engender staff to feel supported, involved, and empowered to do whatever they can to help the company succeed… and at the end of the day, that culture is the difference between a good company and a great one.

-j

 

iMore app, making choices, and starting something big.
Seth Clifford | April 2012

We're thrilled to announce the launch of a new app for iMore, the iOS arm of the vaunted Mobile Nations empire. It was the result of a few months of solid design and development with the ultimate goal being an app that looked and felt completely at home on the iPhone - an app that Apple itself could have created. We wanted to accurately represent the site and its content, and the end product is a highly polished, very usable reading app with podcast downloading/streaming functionality built right in. It's the first step in a series of developmental releases for iMore, and we're really looking forward to iterating on the app, and bringing it to the iPad as well.

To coincide with the launch, Rene (editor-in-chief of iMore) and I both wrote posts for the site to explain both the functions of the app as well as the challenges we faced in bringing it to life. His post and walkthrough is here, and my post on the choices we collectively made is here. I think they complement each other and provide a good deal of background on the process - and the sacrifices - of bringing a 1.0 to market when there's so much you want to do.

Stay tuned for updates to that app. I have a feeling they're going to come quickly. We all love it and can't wait to make it even better. And if you haven't, download it on the App Store and let us know what you think.

S

END OF LINE

 

Nickelfish v4.0
Seth Clifford | October 2011

After many months of planning, design, and construction, we are absolutely thrilled to announce that our new site is live! We've been trying to do this for a long time, but as the old saying goes "the shoemaker's children have no shoes", and we've been busy making awesome stuff for other people, neglecting our own tiny slice of the internets.

But no more. We've got a colorful, engaging look at some of the more recent work we've done and the new project pages reflect the pride we feel from the work. We've added many new members to our team, so we've fleshed out a little personal space for everyone, and we had some incredible artwork commissioned for us to depict the team as the superheroes they are. Be sure and read the alter-ego bios on the About page, they're just fantastic. There's a few other nerdy laughs tucked around the site amidst the copy, primarily for our own amusement, but we're sure a few of you will crack a smile here and there as well. And since some of you have asked in the past, we added a new Downloads section where we have some cool desktop wallpapers done by our design team that you can grab.

I'm going to personally try to blog more, and I'm bringing a few people kicking and screaming with me. We do a lot of thinking about stuff, and we like talking about it, so we're going to start sharing with you as well. A few team members have expressed an interest in writing about their respective fields, so I'm going to do my best to keep that train rolling. As always, you can follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/nickelfish) and like us on Facebook (http://facebook.com/nickelfish). There are some great photos and videos on the Facebook page from around the office and some events that we've had.

Overall, we're so happy with the way the new site looks and feels, and it's long overdue. We really wanted something that we could show to people without disclaimers, and we feel we've hit our marks for now. We have plans to continue revising and adding features within the site, including some white papers that we've done on various topics, so keep an eye out for them. I'd love to know what you think about everything, so hit me up on Twitter (http://twitter.com/sethclifford) and say hi.

The power of the internet, focused locally.
Seth Clifford | July 2011

It's always amazing to me when something happens through actions on the internet that affects me in my actual life. On Friday such an occurrence came to pass, and it was one of those moments in which you realize what a truly valuable communication tool the web has become, and in this case, particularly Twitter. Twitter, derided by many in its path to prominence for being just a vector for sharing lunch preferences; Twitter, celebrity soapbox; Twitter, armchair activist bullhorn. It's always been a tool to me, for conversation, and a connection to people with like-minded interests.

At the office on Friday, we were testing a BlackBerry app that we've developed in tandem with an Android and iOS version. Something wasn't working quite right, and we couldn't determine if it was the app itself or our handset that was acting up. A sheepish query wandered through our conversation - "does anyone know ANYONE with this phone so we can find out what the problem is?" - and the stark realization that indeed, no one knew anyone with that particular phone became apparent.

I sounded the alert on Twitter - a last resort - and my post was retweeted and seen by someone not even following me at the time. It turns out, this guy not only had the phone we needed, but he was less than fifteen minutes away from our office and was happy to loan us the device. Elated, I made plans to meet him and set out to claim my redemption.

Within a single hour, with Twitter's help, I managed to get the backup device for our testing, and meet a fine gentleman who ended up running in many of the same online circles I did. Our social Venn diagrams never crossed for whatever reason, but that was quickly rectified, and I marveled at how quickly the entire scenario played out.

It's stuff like this that makes me tolerate the deluge of stupidity and ignorance surging through the internet. For every million asinine YouTube comments that make me hang my head in shame and lament humanity, there's one thing like this, but it's the rarity of it that makes it so special.

Huge thanks (again) to @jdipane for the RT, and to @azeis for coming through with the clutch play.

-SC

Specs Mean Nothing [In a World of Software Experiences]
Seth Clifford | March 2011

The release of the iPad 2 brings with it some lofty claims by Apple about what it can accomplish, and other tablet makers have been quick to point out its inadequacies, but they've primarily focused on hardware shortcomings. Unfortunately for these other manufacturers, they're fighting a battle that really doesn't even exist in the minds of consumers.

Look at how Apple positions its products: pure experience, with promise of creation, exploration, and connection with the people and things we care about. That is what resonates with consumers. My mom isn't interested in the fact that the iPad has a dual-core processor, or that the Xoom has a better camera on the back. She cares about seeing her grandkids, and FaceTime makes that happen. Software enables her to experience what she wants with the device. The fact that the camera is only VGA means absolutely nothing to her.

This is where other companies fall down. They can't compete in the software choices. They build to impress a group of people (spec nerds) who represent a shrinking market, and a market whose clout over the direction the consumer tech industry takes has all but vanished. Apple builds for everyone. It's the reason hardcore geeks get bent out of shape when they can't do exactly what they want with Apple hardware, but it's not for them. It's for everyone else, and everyone else is who's spending the lion's share of the money and filling Apple's coffers with reasons to continue along this path. Computers have been too hard to use for too many people for too long and Apple's stance is that it's time for a change.

The spec battle is long since over. Companies who insist on continuing it instead of creating compelling software experiences do so at their own peril. It's too bad, because more interesting software makes the market better for all of us.

-SC