Blog

The Lean Media book project is still on track. In November, I wrapped up the second draft and sent it out to a group of beta readers including media professionals and lay readers. I am now synthesizing their feedback and determining what parts need to be brought back into the third draft. There are someRead more

I’m in the midst of writing my Lean Media book and today was working on a chapter about Lean Media feedback. Since the beginning feedback has been a central part of the Lean Media framework, and the last version of the flowchart had audience feedback coming back to the creative team after the idea, prototypes, and soft launch.Read more

I have been relatively quiet on the Lean Media website. Behind the scenes, however, I have been making progress with the Lean Media book. There are a few major updates to share, but I also want to reassure readers that the project is continuing and I expect to have more materials to post (including new draft chapters) inRead more

Last month I gave my first public presentation of Lean Media at a forum at Harvard hosted by the Harvard Extension Alumni Association, of which I am a member. The presentation at Harvard Hall on May 22 was part of an innovation symposium. It was short, but very effective — 10 minutes to present and 10 minutesRead more

Over the weekend, I listened to Tim Ferriss interview Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert cartoon strip. Before hearing the interview, I knew about Dilbert. It’s a classic. Everyone who has worked in an office can appreciate Adams’ relentless satire of office life. But I knew very little about the history of the strip, or Adams’Read more

I recently received feedback about various lean media concepts from faculty at the Media Ventures program at the Boston University College of Communication. Jodi Luber, who teaches media entrepreneurship at BU, had a great idea: A one-page template for producers/creators/entrepreneurs based on lean media concepts. Her class already uses the lean canvas one-pager to develop business modelsRead more

I recently received an interesting piece of Lean Media feedback from a friend. He is an engineer and former MIT Media Lab staffer who earlier in his career was a part of creative teams that made music, websites, and even an opera. He has also done a fair amount of reading and examination that relate to production issues, showingRead more

There is a newly released TED talk on ted.com titled “How to use data to make a hit TV show.” The speaker is Sebastian Wernicke, a data scientist (and former animator) who makes an interesting comparison about the rival political dramas House of Cards (Netflix) and Alpha House (Amazon). The video, which was shot lastRead more

Over New Year’s I shared some lean media concepts with a few old friends. One of them, who has worked in the music industry since the 1990s, immediately got it, and wanted to give some feedback and insights. He related a tale that went something like this: “About ten years ago I was friends with two people who livedRead more