It all depends on what you mean by success

Forty years ago this month, the first human to human heart transplant was performed in South Africa.  An incredibly complicated and dangerous procedure, the first one was deemed a success.  According to an article about it, the patient’s ”body did not reject the heart, due in large part to the immunosuppressive drugs he received. But those drugs also weakened his immune system, and he contracted double pneumonia, which killed him 18 days after the transplant.”

So, was the surgery a success or not?  The heart was transplanted, so the answer is “yes.”  The patient died from complications, so the answer is “no.”  It was a giant leap for the field of medicine and a huge disappointment to the family and friends of the patient, and probably to the surgeon and staff who attended to the man and his borrowed heart.

I find this same challenge in other more routine projects that I work on.  Lives may not be on the line, but often the goals are not completely achieved, yet lots of progress is made.  Is it a success or not?  Well, that depends.  Goal setting can be tricky, as there is often both a component of results and the journey to the results, both of which have value.

So, what will constitute a beta test of Remarkable when we are ready?  Will all our potential customers have a great experience?  We hope so, but do not bet on it (after all, it is a beta, and if it was perfect we would call it a “production release” instead).  Will we learn a lot that will make the product better over time and ensure that we have something that everyone will love as much as we will?  That is the goal. 

And the good news is that our offering requires no antibiotics and has no side-effects (other than an addiction to using it and a complusion to telling your friends about it).

If you haven’t signed up to receive notification of our upcoming beta test, do it today!

SomeoneYouKnow.isRemarkable.com…like Paul Francis Webster

What do the Spider-man movie, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, and Duke Ellington have in common?  All had hit songs written by Paul Francis Webster.  On this day, Mr. Webster would have been 100 years old.  In his seventy-seven years, he penned dozens of hit songs, won a 3 Academy Awards for best song, and a Grammy.  He was nominated for more Academy Awards than any other lyricist in history.  There are 496 songs in his discography at the Songwriters Hall of Fame.   In today’s world of one-hit wonders and American Idols, isn’t that remarkable?  To put that in perspective, if each song was 3 minutes that is more than 24 continuous hours of music that he penned in his career.

If you know someone remarkable, send a note to Someone@CreativeOutletLabs.com.  Maybe you know a famous lyricist, or maybe you know a music lover than has more than 24 hours of continuous hours of music on their iPod.  In either case, send in your recommendations.  On this blog, I will feature some of the best submissions to inspire us all.

SomeoneYouKnow.isRemarkable.com…like Nancy Brinker

You may not have heard of Nancy, but I guarantee you have heard about her sister.  After her sister lost her battle with breast cancer, Nancy envisioned thousands of women in pink shirts raising money for research and prevention and the group now called Susan G. Komen For the Cure was born.

Remarkably Nancy now leads a global organization that has raised nearly $1 billion for research.  Not only that, but the foundation has such a strong brand that it practically owns the color pink. 

Oh, and Nancy is 61 one years old today on December 6th.  Happy Birthday, Nancy!

If someone you know or admire is remarkable, feature them here by emailing someone@CreativeOutletLabs.com with details.