A few of my colleagues at IDEO spent the summer collaborating with Rock Lobster to build our vision of what the utility bike of the future should be.  This was done as part of the Oregon Manifest.  What they created, in my humble opinion, is simply magical… and it goes by the name of Faraday:

Don't you just want to jump on it and ride away?

It's an electric bike.  There's a motor mounted in the front hub, super high-tech batteries are mounted inside the top tubes, and it's all controlled via a small throttle control.  How does it feel to ride?  Beautiful.  We engineered proprietary firmware and software which seamlessly integrates the push from the motor with the push you're getting from your feet.

If you're interested in voting for the best in show, you can do so here (and I wouldn't mind if you voted for Faraday!).

Here's what the judges had to say:

There is something profoundly elegant about this bike. I experienced it as a flawless design execution. While the idea of a front rack is not novel, the modular plug-in platform is brilliant. The prototyping and thought that went into deciding upon a frame geometry that would work well with front cargo appears to be accurate from my own experience. Having spent a bit of time working on improvements to existing electric assist integrations, I have great respect for the innovations and design execution for this facet to the bike. I have no doubt that the work that went into the design and fabrication of the electric side alone was easily equal to the rest of the bike.  — Ross Evans

Contrasting with the other entries, the Faraday is a bicycle with two wheels, and it may be the better for it. It is an attractive machine that strikes a good balance between striking looks and understated aesthetics. Off all three entrants, this one probably is the most useful to most riders, as it’s easy to ride, easy to park, and easy to store at home. — Jan Heine

This bike struck a chord with me almost immediately, my first thoughts were that this is a very well thought out bike and it is definitely my favorite of the three. Visually I love the traditional lines and the striking integrated racking system actually added to the appeal. Again we have the right type of drivetrain and braking systems, and the very smart addition of electric assist! What got me most though is what’s missing… a big, ugly, heavy battery that seems to be on every other electric assisted bike I’ve seen. Other savvy well thought out features continued to impress upon closer inspection. I really felt the data collection sensors to help determine just how much help you get from the motor was a very cool touch. — Jeff Menown

My top pick of the three—and not just because it’s the sexiest and most conceptually successful. For me, the most important criteria are that the bike be practical, versatile, elegant, thoughtful, well-engineered, and, most important, a dynamic, real-world performance vehicle. And the Faraday is all of these things, despite its being one of those newfangled e-bikes, which run counter to my Puritanical belief that a bicycle’s engine is by definition its human. Otherwise, it’s a motorcycle, right? Well, dammit, this isn’t a motorcycle. It’s a brilliant update of the French porteur with a little lightning up its butt, and I love it. And a long-distance high five to those Californians for the clever name and great logo. — Jeremy Spencer

As I write this, I have to admit that my eyes are welling up a bit with tears, so proud am I of the amazing IDEO and Rock Lobster folks who cranked on this project.  What you see here is the result of many late nights and long weekends; since I live near our office, over the past few months I popped by most weekends and looked in the window of our shop and they were always there.  I have a bunch of innovation principles listed along the right side of this blog.  But words are wind, and it just so damn affirming and inspiring to see people really live them and go beyond them.

Awesome work, guys.  Go Faraday!

Earlier this evening I came across an intriguing interview with racer, metal sculptor, designer, and archmaster of doing Shinya Kimura.  Here's an excerpt, with Kimura's thoughts italicized:

What were your early influences? 

The shapes and designs of Italian sports car like Lamborghini Miura and bugs.

Have you ever had another job? 

No

What are your favourite and least favourite parts of a bike build? 

I love to see the hazy idea of mine actually becomes materialized, that is the most favourite part of a bike build. Least favourite part is…polishing!

What are his hopes for himself and Chabott? 

Keep creating whatever I like.

What are his regrets?  

No regrets at all!!

Will he always be a bike builder or is there something else on the horizon? 

I don't categorize myself as a bike builder but I will keep building bikes and creating whatever I have in my mind as long as I live.

This morning I attended a demonstration of a cool new service, and got to meet one of the women behind its creation.  It turns out that this new business was launched as part of a Stanford d.school class last Spring, for which I was a judge.  But I didn't know about this service until today.  Why?  Well, in part because at the big demo fair they held as part of this class, where each of the student teams demoed their ideas, I spent too much of my allocated judging time talking with one team, who were unfortunate in that they had a team member who couldn't get out of what I would call "heavy sales" mode.  By that I mean, no matter what questions I asked about things like point of view, first-hand experience of the world, prototyping — all the stuff you care about when engaging in the art and science of bringing cool stuff to life — he kept on patronizing me with the party line, the premeditated marketing messages they had whipped up beforehand.  In other words, he was laying some heavy bullshit on me.  Bummer.

And you know what?  Bullshit is bullshit.  Bullshitters don't ship, and they can't attract intrinsically motivated people to be on their teams in any sustainable, long-term way.  Why?  Because we all want to be around people with that gleam in their eyes which says "this is going to happen".  Life is too short to waste your time working with people who are motivated by extrinsic factors, such as money, status, or grades.  It's the intrinsically motivated folks who sweat the small stuff, grok the big picture, and — dare I say it — think different.

When I look at the interview transcript above, I see someone who would be hacking on bikes even if there was no money in it.  Kimura's voice is that of a person who has pledged their life toward a specific passion.  A person who comes up with solutions in his dreams.  Who takes their inner desires seriously enough to try and make them reality, rather than repressing them in the name of what the outside world wants them to be.  When I interview folks to be part of the team at my employer IDEO, I'm always looking for the sparks of passion which are the mark of someone powered from within.  They are easy to see when they're there, and they are equally easy to smell when they is fake.  In my experience, having that intrinsic motivation makes all the difference in the end result.  Not only is it impossible to fake, but if you try to fake it, you will always sound like a bullshitter, which completely torpedoes the basis of everything you're trying to claim in the first place.

This is all a roundabout way of saying that intrinsic motivation is, in my opinion, a killer input.  Meaning that it is one of several key factors which define a space within which talented people can collaborate with other similarly aligned people to make magic happen.  I've said previously that trust is a killer app, but it's not an application, it's an input, just like intrinsic motivation.  The output is wonderfulness. 

And there are more; this is a subject worthy of more study.

photo credit: Chabott Engineering

What if all of the big intitatives — both public and private — put into place over the past decade to computerize learning were trumped by a smart, funny, personable guy who, acting largely alone and on a shoestring budget, used a human-centered approach to creating a simple, cost-effective way to reach thousands and thousands of students over the web? And what if it all happened simply because he started teaching kids?

Well, here you go: Salman Khan did all of that, and more.  He is a wonderful example of the primacy of doing.

Let's look at some of the innovations brought to market by the Khan Academy.  Among others:

• free access over the internet
• self-paced learning
• lecture attendance at home, homework at school
• the psychological and emotional safety created by learning in private
• helping students achieve true mastery, as opposed to minimum tolerable levels of understanding
• liberating "slow" students from the tyrranny of being put on the low achievement track
• a more human classroom experience

What do all of these have in common?  Well, aside from being truly amazing outcomes for students, teachers, and parents, none of them were captured in a business plan slide deck, nor were they necessarily premediated goals for his venture.  In other words, Salman didn't start out with the goal to flip the learning paradigm.  He worked his way up to that point by doing something he loved.  To push that point even further, Sallman wasn't looking to start a venture at all, just to tutor his cousins more effectively.  He designed for them, saw the value he created, and then went from there. 

Embracing the primacy of doing, getting started, saying "what the hell, why don't I try this!" is a way to open yourself up to powerful forces of serendipity, luck, and good fortune.  In technical terms, doing gives you access to a real option, which is defined as:

the right — but not the obligation — to undertake some business decision; typically the option to make, abandon, expand, or contract a capital investment.

Think about it: if you could create the right to give yourself an expanded range of opportunities in the future, wouldn't you give that gift to yourself?  Of course you would.  So what Salman teaches us is that we need to act — we have to act — because inside of that action is a gift of a better future, both for ourselves and for others.  Accessing the gift requires some courage, so tell yourself you can do it, and help your friends and family to embrace their own potential to get out there and make it happen.  For me, that's the ultimate lesson of the Khan Academy.