Comments on: dell: create or die

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:46:07 +0000

Liviu, well, as I’m fond of telling people, I can’t tell Dell what to do, nor would I want to. All I can do is describe what the view looks like from where I’m standing. They can value it, or not.
The other thing you have to ask yourself is, when I say “Creative”, what exactly do I mean by that? It’s an open-ended question.
Yep. This, too is a Blue Monster, of sorts. Exactly.

By: Liviu

Liviu — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:27:10 +0000

What if Dell doesn’t need to be creative?
What if their approach to business and clients don’t require them to be creative?
What if creativity wouldn’t bring them more profit?
Last thing: The cartoon in the beginning looks similar to the “Microsoft: change the world or go home” — I can see quite a common pattern in both of them.

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 04:07:29 +0000

Dell should try being innovative instead of creative.

By: Paula

Paula — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:38:49 +0000

I am not a geek. And this is my first time on this site via Seth Godin. But I just wanted to offer a non geek comment on Dell.
Don’t have a Dell, never used a Dell. But in the back of my mind when I recall them I think of them as building each computer based on the needs and wants of the each customer. Been thinking that for years. And it is my opinion that a push to play that up again — make Dell you and you Dell — on a personal level, not a technical level — in a very creative way is not a bad idea. Go back to the core. Like Daniel E’s uncle. My understanding is that the Dell customer wants a computer doing what they need it to do at a price that they can afford to pay but they could also band together as a group — a group of individuals — with their social object, a community of Dell users. Unique in a Dellish way. Not an underdog — just to unique something so common as an Apple or any of the “other PCs”. 2 cents non Geek thinking.

By: Erin Murphy

Erin Murphy — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:05:52 +0000

Maybe everyone at Dell should be given a copy of Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind!
Today, wealth comes not to the rulers of slave labor but to the liberators of human creativity, not to the conquerors of land but to the emancipators of mind.
– George Gilder

By: Mike Shields

Mike Shields — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:24:13 +0000

I’m probably tuning in late here, however, I don’t even see the things you attribute to Dell, from the outside looking in. Of course, I’m a Mac guy, and always will be. This probably colors my perception however, out of all the PC’s I’ve seen out there, the Dell is the most impersonal of all of them. Cookie Cutter just doesn’t cut it.

By: peter

peter — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:24:10 +0000

Conjuring a “buzz” around Dell as a creative powerhouse?
That is very ambitious, I wish you all the best.

By: tex1sam

tex1sam — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:37:36 +0000

A Dell sales associate accidently used my credit card info (which they deny every writing down or retaining) to pay for another customer’s laptop. I do think that it was an accident born of a policy infraction. But they put me through 6 weeks of hell to get that charge credited back. They made me meet and confront an inner racist that I didn’t know I had in me on long and unproductive calls to off-shore support centers. They never admitted their mistake or apoligized. I considered them a local company that I was happy to support, but no more.
I’d suggest that their new motto should be “Fuck the Street, Give a Shit About The Customer”

By: Frank the Tank

Frank the Tank — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:57:04 +0000

Nobody wants creativity from Dell. Its the opposite; non-creative, but reliable, stable, well tested and proven, rock-solid, long-supported, products, which can still be fixed after 3 years, because the parts (or similar/matching ones) are still available.
Nobody want’s a creative computer. What should that be anyway?! You don’t get/find a good computer-design by creativity (in terms of reliability; think of things like heat, irq-conflicts, etc.)
Now, configurability is important, but this has nothing to do with creativity. Again only things are configurable for a system, which has been proven rock solid.
‘What needs to happen for Dell to be a more “Creative” company?‘ That’s just silly. Dell doesn’t need to be a “Creative” company. Please don’t. Ever.
^^ funky image is for shit-companies.

By: Reza Sabernia

Reza Sabernia — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:36:55 +0000

I liked the issue that you brought up. Here is my 2 cents.
Why should Dell be creative? Does Dell really need to be creative and innovative? Does its target market demand that? Being creative requires R&D spending, which leads to higher costs and consequently higher prices. This is not a loyal Dell customer wants. A typical Dell customer wants low prices, good quality and great customer service.
Secondly, Dell has a very sophisticated supply chain system. This has enabled Dell to put the bits and pieces from vendors from over 80 countries around the world. What does that have to do with creativity? Dell doesn’t have to be creative as long as its suppliers are creative enough! They simply inherit innovation by equipping their computers with products from other creative suppliers.

By: John Ashton

John Ashton — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:20:08 +0000

S’been bothering me so I just wanted to clarify my previous comment. I was thinking of ‘break-trough’ as ‘rising from a trough of despair’. I did not mean trough in the sense of that in which pigs put their snouts.
Didn’t want you to think I was insulting you in some ironic way.

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:09:05 +0000

Hugh,
it’s EASY to write a blog post or comment about what’s wrong with Dell…
Agreed. It’s easy to create that list.
But he stuff that interests me about Dell; the stuff I’d like to see them doing more of, this stuff is HARD. Really hard.
It’s one mother of a puzzle! I like your connection (if I can simplify) between the employees rock — product rocks — user rocks, with the understanding that the last part is the current puzzle.
And so is the stuff I’m trying to do with them… but that’s what makes it so damn interesting.
Part of what keeps me coming back is your willingness to share your thinking. Thanks for doing that.
I can’t wait to see the fruits of your collaboration with Dell.
Best,
Michael

By: Rodr!go

Rodr!go — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:32:38 +0000

@Intenzity:
That’s precisely where Hugh enters. If he can manage to create this new DNA into Dell, they might be able to continue whit the copy-cats Pc, laptops et.al, BUT at the same time, they could evolve and deliver a new product.
I would love to see a PC that handles better than a Mac the graphics and power.
@Hugh:
Good luck, I want to see where all of this will be heading…

By: Daniel Edlen

Daniel Edlen — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:56:46 +0000

The user kicking ass, sounds good. I think it sounded like you felt like you were kicking ass using that new mini. Maybe refocus the public packaging of Dell onto that new toy. If I’m remembering correctly, Apple’s way back into our hearts was the iPod, the way it was marketed, and it’s new niche. It created its own need, powerful. Maybe the mini could do the same as it seems a new niche? Maybe I’m wrong, I haven’t bought a new PC in years, built my own in the first place.
Build your own. The reason my uncle likes Dell is that they offer an educator’s discount and that cool way to put together your own package on the website. Maybe play up that feature, the website, not the factory building the person’s computer. Show the person actually building it with the help of a Dell employee, or something.
Like Kathy says soooo eloquently throughout her blog with such energy, the user does need to feel kick assery to generate loyalty, word-of-mouth, and all that stuff that makes the iPod hit the stratosphere.
Peace. Hope you’re having fun in Paris. Hope you do think about my idea re: our art.

By: Christina Wodtke

Christina Wodtke — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:35:19 +0000

I do not think the cause is hopeless, as some have suggested, because of Ideastorm which was a creative notion that has led to some good innovations.
job 1 is getting the company to agree that this is a crucial competency. You aren’t changing anything if they don’t think they need creativity to compete.
I’d first recommend scenario planning. Envisioning futures that are not part of the official expected future can lead to embracing of new ways of acting, as well as new direction.
Second I’d tap into the design thinking movement. They have packaged creativity in a way that CEOs who aren’t steve jobs can get the value of creativity.
job 2 is to make room for it in the planning ad resourcing process. Do they have R&D? Do they have room in their release process for experiments and playing? Does their process allow for exploratory research (home visits with customers can be extremely inspiring.)
job 3 is making sure they have the right staff. It’s unlikely they have completely the wrong staff since most humans are creative if given enough space, but when it comes to execution, hiring rock stars vs hiring competent designers is the difference between this lumbering 8400 I have on my desk and the powerbook.
You might check out the work of John Kao, who has written on helping companies tap into their creative potential (he’s a designer and a frequent HBS contributor).
Good luck.