Doing a job that produces a desired outcome requires having the tools to do that job.

If the tools don’t exist  they need to be invented. If proper tools are available then they should be acquired and used.

How often is a desired outcome not achieved because the effort to acquire and learn the use of appropriate tools isn’t made?

Whose fault is that?

Illustration: The draisine –velocipede, invented by Karl von Drais from a pamphlet published in 1817. This particular illustration was found in the  book Bicycle by David V. Herlihy,Yale University Press, 2004, p.27

In his autobiographical book  Come and Gone: A True Story of Blue-Collar Bike Racing in America, author Joe Parkin describes how the great Belgian bike racer, Eddy Merckx, was so obsessed with adjusting his seat position to improve performance, that team mechanics were asked to keep tools out of his reach. Many racers at one time or another share this habit of being overly concerned about bicycle setup. A rider in peak form though doesn’t bother with finicky adjustments and can comfortably ride almost any bike. Having reached that elevated state of physical and emotional fitness where pain, suffering, and equipment hindrances cease to register, a rider in form can crash, then get up and back into the chase with undiminished focus, strength and endurance. A racer without form though will worry over torn handlebar tape.*

A Website That’s Out of Form

A website publisher tasked with developing and maintaining a web presence that is not in peak form, shares similar traits of a bike racer who hasn’t acheived peak fitness form. With such a site, the focus is turned to endlessly tweaking superficial details: the background image; or font choice, color, or size. Ultimately focusing on such refinement distracts from fulfilling the main purpose of a site: to efficiently deliver high-value, high-quality content to a targeted audience. Some of the main characteristics of an out-of-form site are the following:

• Lack of an established and clearly defined purpose
• Not understanding the needs of a target audience
• Design elements that draw attention away from content
• Overuse of flashy attention-diverting functionality
• Site focus on broadcasting a message instead of engagement and interaction

A Website in Peak Form

A website that performs at a high level has an entirely different feel. Without ignoring the important support role that design performs for the user experience, a well-tuned site provides a visitor with relevant, easily found, high-value and pertinent information. Here are some of the traits of a website in good form.

• The site purpose is clearly defined.
• The site targets a specific user profile.
• High-value content has a higher priority than graphic design.
• Functionality plays a secondary support role to content delivery
• Engaging with visitors is a high priority.

I need to make one thing clear: I love graphic design. Who doesn’t? I know there are many examples of great design where the design is the message and the high-value content. Not to belabor the point but in my experience people too often try to find expressive satisfaction in styling a web presence to their unique vision. This is a trap. Within a development team this can rapidly become a power struggle that culminates in a lose/lose situation.

Unless a particular site is meant to be a personal creative outlet, toning down visual statements and distractions will do more to guide visitors to important information simply  by staying out of the way. As is often true in other situations, less is more.

* Joe Parkin, ‘Come and Gone: A True Story of Blue Color Bike Racing in America’,  Velo Press 2010  AVAILABLE AT AMAZON

Photo Credit: Christian Klempp

Lately I’ve been making a concerted effort to use the RSS feed-reader  to aggregate favorite spots in the cybersphere. It’s a practical tool and easy to use for collecting favorite blogs, news sites, Facebookers, or Tweeters under one roof. So many are way ahead of me on this, but I’ve finally realized what a time saver the feed-reader is. Every morning when I sit down at the computer, checking the feed is my first stop, along with LinkedIn. My RSS feed of choice is Google Reader.

This morning I started by reading a collection of posts in  discussion groups at LinkedIn. And then I moved over to Mike Magnuson’s blog: Mag’s Sentence. I’ve always liked Mike’s writing –like it a lot actually, and it was great to see so many of his posts in one spot. I was riveted to the screen for half an hour. No exaggeration.  His descriptions of the Tour Of California and the luminaries that raced there this year, along with his personal accounts of training in Los Angeles, remind me of a cross between John Belushi and Hunter Thompson.

I was first introduced to Mike’s work a few years ago when I found his book Heft On Wheels in my  local book shop, The Northshire Bookstore, here in southern Vermont. In this book Mike describes how rediscovering the bicycle turned his life around. He would probably say this is an understatement. Mike’s book was an inspiration for me and reading it accompanied a turning point in my own life. But that’s another story.

I’m not going to tell you about Mike or his work work, except that he’s taught creative writing at the graduate level, and that you should read his blog. If you have a creative bone anywhere in your body, you’ll learn something valuable. I promise. Whatever you take away from his work is yours to find and have, but what I see in his work is a raw honesty that is non-the-less genuine, a quality which I believe everyone should try to emulate if not as a writer, then at least within the privacy of inner dialog.

Yes, I know, in business there are taboo subjects. If you’re building a presence on the web or on any other platform  one of the last things you want to do is to risk offending potential clients by expressing points of view  that that might be perceived as coarse or controversial and therefore offensive to some. Right?

If you’re genuine, and honest, and have the courage of your convictions, it’s almost a certainty that ruffling some feathers is unavoidable. But in the end, honesty will take you down your own path and not that of the herd. Walking your own path you’ll find the right people who want to do business with you, who want to associate with you.  And you’ll also have a lot more respect for yourself.

[from: The Tour de France, Christopher Thompson, p.267]

1. Racers’ jobs before and during their racing careers 1903-1939 (125 racers, 100%)

A. Manual Labor: (66 racers, 52.8%)

• Mechanics: (16 racers, 12.8%)
• Building trades: (16, 12.8%): 6 masons, 3 carpenters, 2 apprentice carpenters, 2 electricians, 1 apprentice electrician, 1 brickyard apprentice, 1 construction worker
• Industrial workers: (9, 7.2%): 3 miners, 2 metal workers,  1 rubber-factory worker, 1 broom-factory worker, 1 steel-factory worker, 1 cigar-box-factory worker
• Traditional Crafts: (9, 7.2%): 2 locksmiths, 1 blacksmith, 1 typographer, 1 saddler, 1 cabinetmaker, 1 mirror-cutter, 1 apprentice boilermaker, 1 cobbler
• Agricultural Laborers: (9, 7.2%): 3 peasants, 2 farmers, 2 herdsmen, 1 vineyard worker, 1 farm worker
• General labor: (7, 5.6%): 3 delivery men, 1 bargeman, 1 chimney sweep, 1 roadmender, 1 docker

B. Nonmanual labor: (59, 47.2%)

• Small businessmen: (31, 24.8%): 14 cycle merchants, manufacturers, or workshop owners, 7 inn, café, or restaurant owners, 3 butchers, 1 grocer, 1 apple merchant, 1 tractor-towing company owner, 1 merchant
• Clerical / service sector: (24, 19.2%) 10 store or office employees, 4 salesmen, 4 apprentice butchers, 2 bellboys, 1 illustrator-reporter, 1 taxi-driver, 1 submarine quartermaster, 1 draftsman
• Entertainers: (4, 3.2%) 1 clown-acrobat, 1 actor, 1 opera baritone, 1 banjo player

II Racer’s jobs before and during their racing careers, 1947-69 (107 racers, 100%)

A. Manual Labor: (72, 67.3%)

• Industrial workers: (20, 18.7%): 17 workers (including 10 metal workers), 3 miners
• Agricultural laborers: (17, 15.9%): 12 agricultural workers, peasants, or farmers, 2 shepherds, 1 gardener, 1 wine grower, 1 lumberjack
• Building trades: (16, 15.0%): 6 electricians, 4 carpenters, 2 construction painters, 1 mason, 1 plasterer, 1 plumber, 1 construction worker
• Traditional crafts: (10, 9.3%): 2 printers, 2 cobblers, 1 cooper, 1 typographer, 1 watchmaker, 1 turner, 1 cabinetmaker, 1 tailor
• Mechanics: (9, 8.4%)

B. Non-manual Labor: (35, 32.7%)

• Small businessmen: (20, 18.7%): 7 café owners, 4 cycle merchants, 3 bakers, 1 butcher, 1 oyster-seller, q greengrocer, 1 florist, 1 milkman, 1 shirt-shop owner
• Clerical / service sector: (15, 14.0%): 12 employees, 1 accountant, 1 teacher, 1 mailman