Getting it just right

Secret sauce

A gimlet is a deceptively simple cocktail. Traditionally, it has just two ingredients: gin and lime syrup. Shake with ice, and you’ve got it. It’s a product of the ‘jazz age’ about 100 years ago and has lasted the distance, while remaining quite obscure as a drink.

Yet, it’s my favourite alcoholic tipple right now, at least the version of it that?Andrew McConnell’s restaurant of the same name, in Melbourne, prepares. His is remarkably complex and here’s why. His head bartender, Cameron Parish, adds to the gin a touch of moscato, and then a syrup made with?seven?types of citrus: grapefruit, lemon, lime, yuzu, bergamot, finger lime and desert lime.

I buy mine bottled to take home, and I’m quite addicted. Like Coca-Cola, or?WD-40, it’s truly a secret sauce product: ostensibly I could make it at home, but I’d fail miserably, because I’d not understand the relative quantities, or the sequence, or the technique.

Question: What ‘secret sauce’ do your clients love, that you could refine in your organisation?

Almost the same, but different

I’m an Apple fanboy, and have been since the 80s. Back then they sold only to three audiences: education departments (a leftover from the Apple II days), graphic designers — and true believers.

As one of the latter, I do have two regrets. One is that I didn’t buy Apple shares around the time I bought my first Apple Mac. I would have struggled to raise much discretionary cash back then, but a share was under a dollar and I could have bought a few hundred of them. Today, they are trading at $150 and, with stock splits, $1k invested in the late 80s would be well over $150k now.

But the second regret is that in my biannual iPhone upgrade last year, I bought an iPhone Mini. I thought it would fit into my hand better, slide into a pocket neatly and technically, be just fine.

And, I was happy with it — until my wife bought her iPhone Pro.

Those extra millimetres make a huge difference to functionality —- the extra real estate makes a disproportionate difference to the reading experience, the heft of the larger device is somehow more sensual to the touch and, perhaps I’m imagining this, but the finish of the Pro (the metal and glass interface) is more, well, ‘pro’.

Yes, definitely a First World Problem here, but my point is this: barely palpable differences do make a difference.

Question: What are the subtle differentials in your product or service offerings that actual make a big difference to your customers?

“Fit for purpose”

This is a phrase that many of my clients like using. Perhaps you do too: ‘fit for purpose infrastructure’, ‘fit for purpose technology’, and so on. But, I notice that people mostly mean ‘upgraded?infrastructure’ or ‘optimised?technology’. They rarely go back to first principles and ask, “What?is?the purpose that needs to be fulfilled here?”

I’ve just moved back into my former office space after a six week refit. I say ‘former office’ because it used to be just that: a large desk took pride of place, with a huge monitor, a desk chair, and plenty of space to lay out papers. All very conventional. The problem was that?I’m not a desk worker: my clients don’t pay me for working on documents, sending emails, or designing powerpoint decks.

Rather, my value is in gaining agreement on complex issues, which means talking to people, and conceptualising and reframing ideas. So, my wife, Kate, who happens to be an interior designer, led me on a process where I got to the following ‘first principles:

1. I need space for generating and scribbling ideas. This means a large lounge area, with a giant digital touchscreen whiteboard. This connects to every form of device I own: my laptop, my phone, my Remarkable tablet.
2. I need space for reflection and thought. This means the lounge area doubles as a library, full of my books on every relevant subject, with comfortable sofas and chairs, and a great hifi system so music can accompany my thoughts.
3. I need to talk to my clients, either in 1:1 meetings or group workshops, easily and comfortably, not at a desk. So, my giant digital touchscreen doubles as a Zoom video conference device. And, my lounge area can accommodate meetings of up to six people.
4. I do have to send emails, prepare PowerPoint decks, and write documents, but it’s an enabler of my value, not the value itself. Therefore, my desk and computer sit in a separate, second area.

I also have a secret ‘fit for purpose’ weapon in my new workspace, which I won’t reveal just yet. I have experimented with it, and it’s shown great promise and, even in my first week back in my new space, one client has been wowed by the results.

I’ll provide photos for anyone who’s interested, but we’re still at 85% completion, so not quite there. Stay tuned.

Question: What what benefit from “design from first principles” in your organisation?

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Enjoy some secret sauce during the week, whatever form that takes, and see you next Friday.

Andrew