GoFind! has been released

I'm really excited to announce that we've launched the Android application we've been working on called GoFind!. It's available in the Android Market for purchase right now. So, what is GoFind!?

GoFind! is an application that was designed to solve a very specific problem - getting two people together who are trying to find each other. For example, let's say you're at Lollapalooza or Taste of Chicago, or you're just in the park. But you look around and realize...you need to meet up with your friend, and you have no idea where they are. Now what? You can text each other and try to give vague directions ("I'm by this big tree...you know, the one we were by earlier? By the other tree?") or you can call each other and attempt to be heard over the noise ("Where are you?" "What?!!" "What?"). OR, you can now GoFind! each other.

Using Global Positioning Systems, the internal accelerometer and text messaging the app is really powerful, but very simple to use. Try it! You will be lead directly to your friend as the initiator of the GoFind! request, and as the Target you will see what direction your friend is coming from. It's pretty awesome.

The finder screen points the finder to their friend:



















The target screen tells the target where their friend is coming from:

Art by a three year old

My daughter Leila goes to a public Montessori school in the city of Chicago. According to the teacher, "after learning about Piet Mondrian, students used his artwork as inspiration for their own artwork." This is what Leila made:

Business related? Nope - just have the proud father thing going on and thought it would be fun to put on my blog. Happy Friday everyone.

When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority

If everything you want to do is a priority, it's no different than not having any priorities at all. Everything can be important, but it can't all be the most important.

It's very easy to get caught up in all the various things we want to do, and this is something I struggle with myself. Sometimes I'll feel like I'm having an explosion of ideas, but there's simply no way to do everything. And as we all know, an idea with no execution behind it isn't going to get you anywhere.

While there are a host of theories about how to best prioritize projects (and I have my own opinions about how work should be prioritized) the first step is at least understanding that you do indeed have to come up with your priorities. Without prioritization, everything gets a little attention, but almost nothing is actually completed. Even worse, you're probably losing a lot of momentum on almost everything and expending a great amount of energy with very little return. (For more on this, please see the importance of momentum.)

This seems sort of obvious, but I think a lot of companies still struggle tremendously with this concept, and it's understandable. It's really hard taking what may very well be a great idea and pushing it off until later. It's tempting to try and take on that one additional thing without having to give up anything. The problem is, it almost never works out that way - something always has to give.

I think this is why so many people (and I certainly put myself in this category) don't get enough sleep - we simply don't make it a top priority.

If you're finding that you aren't getting as much work done as you think you should, or if you feel really busy but don't have as much to show for your work as you would expect, you may simply need to take a step back and prioritize your work.

Sometimes pausing everything and figuring out your priorities is the best action you can take.

No information is better than bad information

Have you ever asked someone for directions, only to learn after following their instructions that they were wrong? It's awful. Why didn't that person just tell you they didn't know in the first place? Or maybe they thought they knew but they were simply mistaken? Either way, you're worse off that if that person had simply said: "I don't know".

Applications, websites, reports and user interfaces are the same way, and often times exist solely so that you can more clearly present certain information to someone. If the information you're presenting is wrong though, what's the point? You've actually done more harm than good.

People working in technology sometimes forget this simple truth - that bad information is far worse than no information at all. If you're getting so caught up in the functionality of something, so eager to see it "work", that you're neglecting the actual information being presented, you're doomed to failure.

We're working on an application right now and have decided that in order for it to guarantee a positive user experience, the GPS must be turned on and a coordinate must be retrieved. Could we use cell tower triangulation? Sure, we could. But that also means that a lot of people would be given incorrect information. The application would technically work but we'd be doing our users a huge disservice. Sometimes the best answer is "Sorry, I can't help you right now"

No amount of fancy design or awesome functionality can cover up the stink of bad information.

Are you certain that what you're presenting to your users is correct? If you're not, you have problems with the very foundation of your application.

Patience is Expensive

In our personal lives, I think the old adage is true - patience really is a virtue. Having patience with your friends, spouse, and children is a way to strengthen the foundation of your most important relationships. There's not really any cost, the rewards are great, and there is very little (if any) risk.

In business though, patience can be very costly. It's not a virtue, it's an expense. This doesn't mean it's never worth the cost - but a lot of times it isn't.

If your revenues are declining, you probably need more action than patience. If a project is running off the rails, it needs a project manager that's going to fix it immediately, not someone that's going to be patient and "let the process sort things out." If someone wants to start their own business, too much patience might be what's holding them back.

The exact definition of patience is: "the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset." Of course, getting angry or upset doesn't necessarily mean showing that you are angry or upset.

My point is, if you're able to accept "delay, trouble or suffering without getting angry or upset" you are, at a minimum, paying a price for that patience.