While I lived in New York, I participated in a leadership exercise that illustrated the potential of productivity under pressure. Our group was divided into two teams and given the task to create an actual product, build a website, and provide a way for someone to purchase the product online. Now, this process could take as much as three months or even more to complete. However, we were given a mere three hours.

Both teams kicked into high gear as soon as the clock began, and three hours later, both teams had a product, a functioning website, and an online purchase option. Granted, the products did not look that great, the websites were extremely bare, and the payment option was done through PayPal, but - both teams had completed the almost-impossible objective.

Many times, we do not really push ourselves. We find a nice steady pace and stick to that. It’s comfortable. However, by not pushing ourselves, we are not meeting new challenges. If we are not challenging ourselves, we are not growing. And, if we are not growing, we are not reaching our potential.

Part of our philosophy at Anthology is to push things to the max. Most of our deadlines are aggressive. Our time budgets are aggressive. And we demand excellence. However, by pushing hard and creating difficult objectives, we are constantly refining our process and growing as a team. Our tiny successes become big successes and our tiny failures becoming huge learning experiences.

I have always been a freak about efficiency - I guess it is a combination of having an appreciation for aspects of engineering and having the tendency to be slightly obsessive-compulsive from time to time. Optimization yields efficiency.

In my day-to-day life, I try to optimize whenever possible - from lines of code in a long web app to simple things like how many loads of laundry I do in a given month. I always try to find the fastest way to get from point A to point B without affecting the quality of the end product.

Optimization is really key to progressing and evolving as an individual. As you optimize aspects in your life, you can begin to take on new things, bigger responsibilities, and explore different options.

Programmers always boast about optimization of code, but I think the principle can apply to all areas of our life - even design. Some of the best designs I have seen have been optimized for simplicity and communication. It is all about getting the core functionality of something and removing the clutter.

Recently, Anthology created an election countdown widget for Apple’s Dashboard (OS X) to help promote a new site called Help Me Vote 08. Help Me Vote provides a leadership analysis for each of the presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain - then allows you to compare your rankings with others.

This morning, Apple featured the Election Countdown widget on the homepage of the widget directory. Awesome.

Download the widget:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/justforfun/election2008countdown.html
http://helpmevote08.com/widgetry

The 2008 Olymipcs not only showcased the best athletes in the world, but also the best commercials in the world. Clearly, the marketing opportunities are huge during Olympic broadcasts and several companies stepped up to the plate. The following commercials are the best of the 2008 Olympics - they are engaging, compelling, and inspiring.

10. Coca-Cola: Bird’s Nest

9. GM: I Was Made For You

8. Home Depot: Sweat

7. Visa GO WORLD Series: Michael Phelps 8 Gold Medals

6. GM: Gas Station/Chevy Volt

5. Coke: Olympics and Special Olympics

4. Visa GO WORLD Series: Kerri Strug

3. Nike: Courage (I’ve Got Soul)

2. Visa GO WORLD Series: Come Together

1. Visa GO WORLD Series: Derek Redmond

And a Bonus… the worst commercial of the 2008 Games.

McDonald’s “Golden” Sandwich Commercial

Anthology recently had the opportunity to develop a custom spash page for the band Leeland. The project consisted of time-released videos of each band member on the splash page. These videos were humorous and received great response from fans.

A secondary page was created to communicate the band’s “Opposite Way” movement - living the opposite way of the world. This page carried a more serious tone and allowed people to leave stories about how they were living the opposite way. The stories shared here were inspirational to other fans.

LeelandOnline.com

The Opposite Way Movement

Leeland on iTunes