Ed Catmull, the first CEO of Pixar, is a fascinating thinker with some incredible ideas about running a creative team. In one presentation, he was discussing why everyone loved the movie Toy Story. It isn’t because it’s a single great idea, he said, Toy Story is a collection of great ideas. Everyone brought their ideas […]
Insider’s Look of the Science Fiction Portal
Ed Catmull, the first CEO of Pixar, is a fascinating thinker with some incredible ideas about running a creative team. In one presentation, he was discussing why everyone loved the movie Toy Story. It isn’t because it’s a single great idea, he said, Toy Story is a collection of great ideas. Everyone brought their ideas […]
How to Construct a Portal to Another World
Introduction My grandparents owned a beautiful Victorian home with these heavy, oak pocket doors that separated the dining room from the sitting room. As a child, these doors were quite scary. They were very heavy, so it took a little bit of effort to get them moving — and, once rumbling down their tracks — […]
Fun in Parenting (or Out-Maneuvering Your Kid)
“Punch buggy!” For those of you who don’t know, punch buggy is an opportunistic form of vehicle identification violence. As you ride down the road, everyone in the car looks for Volkswagen Beetles. The first person spotting one shouts “punch buggy” and accompanies the proclamation with a light (or not) punch to a slightly less […]
Boulders, Bowling Balls, Softballs and Marbles
Imagine each of these things. Different sizes, right? Right. This is how I think about tasks. Boulders are big tasks – they might even be entire projects. Much like a block of marble waiting to be sculpted, the boulder is unrefined…it has no appreciable form. The boulder represents a large unit of work that needs […]
Chris-Allport App Privacy Policy
Last updated: December 3, 2021 I respect the privacy of my users. This Privacy Policy explains how I collect, use, and disclose and safeguard your information when you use mobile applications that I have published. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE TERMS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE DO […]
Win Your DCP (2006)
Take a little Guitar Hero, add a little Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, throw in some people you know, see if it will blend, and you get Win Your DCP.Surely you are thinking, “what is a DCP?” If not, I am disappointed. A DCP is a document change proposal. When designing by committee, one must submit […]
A Phish Tale
This actually happened. Yesterday, I received a phishing email from someone pretend to be the chairman of a board of directors on which I currently serve. Not leaving well enough alone, I had to have some fun. And I truly hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. “Josh” Chris, I’ll […]
Why Bother with Communication? (Part 3)
Many years ago, I was sitting in a meeting with two colleagues. We were discussing something technical and the conversation got very heated and very loud. As I sat there and listened to both sides of the argument, I started laughing. First, it was just to myself, but as the argument bloomed, so did my […]
Ever Find Yourself in a Place Where NOTHING Makes Sense? (Part 2)
Quick. Multiple choice question: It’s not supposed to make sense. I don’t know what they are talking about. Maybe I am in the wrong place. Face it, sometimes, the information simply isn’t for you. That doesn’t make it bad, irrelevant, or wrong. Furthermore, it does not diminish your value. We are all cut from a […]
Be Honest with How Much You Know (especially when others don’t) – Part 1
Have you ever been in a meeting or seminar when the person talking simply makes no sense? That’s not to say the lecture is bad, the presentation might be completely engaging, but it just doesn’t seem to mean anything to you. It happens to me all the time. People are talking, usually speaking English, and […]
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