Getting Unstuck

By Kelly Goto

While attending a NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) awards ceremony a few years ago I witnessed a speech that really affected me. The award-winner in the social entrepreneur category was C. Diane Howell, PhD, the CEO of Black Expo Ltd who was recognized for providing a forum for African American business networking and empowerment on a national level.

When her name was announced, she jumped out of her chair as the audience rose to a standing ovation. She spent several moments composing herself before she could speak - she was so emotionally charged and overwhelmed. When she did speak, her voice was full -- powerful and direct. She had been (to her knowledge) the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley - and for the past 15 years had operated with strong determination to promote African American economic development in any way possible.

It became clear, as I listened, that Diane's mission to self-empower the Black community is a lifetime commitment. Upon closing she said something I'll never forget: "There is only one thing I would have done differently if I were to do it all over again. I would have aimed HIGHER."

C. DIANE HOWELL, PHD, IS UNSTUCK!

What about the rest of us?

When speaking with clients and colleagues in the web industry over the past several years, a common issue has emerged in many conversations. Most people I speak to feel 'stuck' in one way or another. It comes out in different ways. "Our company is stuck in the 1960's" one client said to me yesterday. "I think we need to rethink our process, and the people who work here," another client commented.

I circle the globe and talk to teams, companies and individuals who are feeling the pressure of moving from the 'old web' to the 'new web' in an innovative way. I hear comments like this all the time: "I know we're supposed to have a more dynamic web site…" "This feels daunting… often undoable". The obstacles are intimidating. The issues are too numerous to count - often spreading throughout the organization like cancerous cells - impacting teams one individual at a time. People are stuck.

The organizations and individuals who do break free are often viewed as wonder workers or the lucky few, and we've all met our share. These are the teams that have managed to create a product on the side using the latest technologies. They've found ways to find a way to work with other 'free-thinkers' and move onto the latest technical platform that will allow rapid and fluid prototyping. They tend to dictate their own schedules and projects - selecting only the most interesting and challenging work.

Meanwhile, the rest of the battered masses continue to stumble in the dark, seeking a miracle cure for getting unstuck - a formula that will allow them to create and innovate in an unconstrained manner. Some actually see a light at the end of the tunnel. However, they're not sure how to navigate around the obstacles to get themselves to that light, so they can work and live in it.

What is the problem?

From a simplistic viewpoint, the main issue is the web medium itself. It has morphed from static brochure ware and 'flashy' interfaces to emerge as a new entity all together. At the simplest level, the new web is akin to a software interface, offering access to applications that allow consumers to interact with sites in a manner very similar to that of the traditional desktop or product interface. The emergence of Web "two-point-oh" has been fueled by the use of dynamic technologies like AJAX, which allow designers and developers to brainstorm and create online application in weeks rather than months, iterating 'on the fly' to enhance the experience on a near-daily basis.

The second issue is that the target is moving very quickly. With the onset of video sharing, improved bandwidth and social networking, the paradigm continues to shift. MySpace unleashed a new generation of web interaction and social behavior. Companies are frantically trying to capture the attention of this generation and determine how to tap into their wants, needs and desires. YouTube proved the desire RW for cross-media sharing and the value of user-generated content. Apple continues to unveil a suite of products that allow for in-home media networking and communication to rise to the next level, sparked recently with the release of the new iTV. The potential for the web and cross-media integration has become so large it is overwhelming.

Companies feel the pressure to innovate, and individuals feel they cannot keep up with the pace. Various processes have collided, as has organizational culture. Businesses are trying to determine how over-hyped term "2.0" is truly affecting the industry, and how to incorporate new platforms and technologies to allow this 'hype' to mature. Teams know there are tools, techniques and processes they should incorporate into their daily workflow, but it is overwhelming to consider changing an entire toolkit. They are starving for a pause that will allow them to catch their breath and make necessary modifications. However the pace appears to be moving to a higher gear rather than running on neutral.

The questions resound—Are the newer technologies like AJAX really meaningful to the entire user experience, or are they just for show? How can teams demonstrate to the blissfully unaware how these technologies can drive better results? Certainly, using technology for technology's sake is not the goal here. The goal is to create simplified and streamlined user experiences that people can actually use and integrate into their daily lives.

Compounding the problem is in-your-face innovation. Most mainstream magazines caught onto the hype that started last year highlighting the innovation happening (once again) in Silicon Valley. The topic of this year's World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland was innovation. One event was entitled "The Impact of Web 2.0 and Emerging Social Network Models" with Bill Gates, Chad Hurley (YouTube) and Caterina Fake (Flickr). They discussed a 'shifting power equation,' which results in giving power back to the people. This new paradigm means allowing anyone with internet access, anywhere in the world, to communicate, create and connect via the web. Everyone is given a voice and the tools to allow them to speak virtually as loud as they can. But they're not the only ones trying to stay ahead of the curve.

An Approach to Getting Unstuck.

'Stuckness' is a collective problem. Resolving it will require collective initiative, hopefully resulting in valuable insight, tips, techniques and solutions that can produce industry-wide benefits. When I first began exploring this issue, I struggled with what to call it. Several terms came to mind ranging from "shifting" to "transition." However, I became increasingly attached to the term "unstuck" and found that it resonated clearly with everyone who heard it. After a quick web search, the book 'Unstuck' by Keith Yamashita came to my attention. The book conveying a similar theme. However, when reading Yamashita's book, it became clear that it dealt with only part of the issue of being stuck. It was a terrific staring point to a larger dialog.

In order to develop strategies to becoming unstuck, it became clear we needed to define ways people felt they were currently stuck. Brainstorming on the question, 'how do you feel stuck?' resulted in a pile of hand-written pieces of paper which were then separated into the following categories:

• Organization (Culture & Context)
• Team (Process & Communication)
• Tactics (Hands-on Tools & Techniques)
• Philosophy (Personal Attitude & Beliefs)

Organization (Culture & Context)

From a cultural perspective, companies need to embrace the concept of innovation and change. We can all agree that understanding the context of any situation is critical to identifying a problem, and outlining a solution. Ideally, companies are trying to create an atmosphere that rewards innovation and openness. In theory this sounds great. In reality, it is a bit more difficult to truly implement.

Some companies have set aside creative "white space" time, where employees are allowed a half a day, once a week, to work on pie-in-the-sky projects of there own choosing. This time is considered sacred and the employees can choose to collaborate among themselves. This has resulted in new widgets, new applications, new technologies, new patents, new marketing practices, etc. Google has implemented an 80/20 rule. Under this rule, 80% of an employee's time should be spent on projects for work, and 20% of their time is allocated for brainstorming or working on innovative projects. While this sounds great, most of the Google employees that I spoke with admitted that they barely have enough time in their day to concentrate on the work at hand. So while this is a great concept, the actual execution of this strategy is a bit more tricky. Enabling and institutionalizing creative outlets can be an important factor in getting teams and individuals unstuck.

The commitment to becoming unstuck requires buy-in from the highest level down to the newest hire of the organization. As a matter of fact, sometimes the newest and youngest hire can help create a new energy for the company to feed off. Without the support of the CEO and senior management, this cultural shift cannot occur. However, I believe you can start feeding areas of unstuck from the bottom up and the top down, with a lot of synergy and collaboration between management, teams and individuals.

Team (Process & Communication)

Moving past culture and company, the next item to address is the team itself. For the web, this usually means an internal marketing or web team responsible for executing web-based initiatives and campaigns. Recently, I met with a web marketing manager for a large national bank. His team was dispersed across several floors, across several buildings and outsourced. He had web producers, usability specialists, information architects, visual designers, HTML coders and a team of programmers in three countries. At another company, the internal web team was primarily programmers working on software releases and some web applications. They needed to bring in contractors to supplement the front-end, bring in a user experience perspective, and provide SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and other web-marketing solutions for their public web site.

Improved communication systems starting with a shared process was part of the solution in this case. With the influx of web-based applications and increased browser-based interactivity, designers are thinking more like developers, and vice versa. The divide between the two disciplines is becoming grey, and new methodologies and are needed to help bridge the gap. In-house development teams moving past old-school waterfall methodology looking at more flexible, agile methodology are incorporating what is called 'extreme programming' to enable developers to work in shorter cycles and prototype and test their solutions in 3-week increments rather than working for 3-months to produce a stack of requirements based on assumptions. Newer methodologies such as SCRUM<./a> take the best of agile thinking and provide a more robust project management system for teams looking for a solution. In the future, merging best practices in User Centered Design (UCD) along with best practices in Agile development will enable teams to work more collaboratively and effectively - and get through some of the 'stuck' energy.

Tactics (Hands-on Tools & Techniques)

Some companies feel if they buy the latest software and hardware and invest in some training, they can move quickly to another level. However this is akin to outfitting your kitchen with the latest equipment and supplies, and expecting a gourmet meal every evening. First you need to decide what type of meal you will be creating and get the proper ingredients and foundational training. Whether Italian, Thai or Indian - you need the basics along with practice and experimentation to really make a meal.

Philosophy (Personal Attitude & Beliefs)

At the very deepest level, individuals need to embrace an unstuck philosophy. As explained above, company goals, policy and practice should actively encourage this. It is not a matter of simply adopting the façade of a "positive attitude", but instead creating an environment that challenges individuals to creatively solve issues.

One of my first stops on this endeavor to understand "Getting Unstuck" was to collaborate with Future Lab's Kristian Bengtsson. Kristian believes being FEARLESS and HAVING FUN lie at the heart of the matter. He works in an agile design and development team that has the ability to conceive and execute online applications and web sites in a fast-paced, intuitive manner. To enable this process, Kristian's company introduced the Action Space Grid. The Action Space Grid is a .NET based platform for quick prototyping and development, but more importantly, it is also a way of thinking. The Action Space Grid is why Kristian's team feels Unstuck, and why they are able to execute web projects in very short amount of time. They just 'do' and leave others to wonder 'how.'

So, are we Unstuck Yet?

Maybe not, but we're on our way. This is (obviously) just a starting point. We are ever in search of more clarity, more examples and more freeing solutions. We also recognize that an individual doesn't just one day become unstuck like our glorified image of the enlightened Dalai Lama.

We also have to watch that our Unstuck companies don't become re-stuck. Organizations have the tendency to fall into complacency and reaction - stuckness - just as do people. So, we must continually re-evaluate and break out of our stuckness to ensure the innovation that we love so much.

If you have any thoughts or ideas on the subject, we would love to hear your comments. Please e-mail us at gotoreport@gotomedia.com.