Alienus Non Diutius

Pixar motto “Alienus Non Diutius” (Latin for ”Alone no longer”) speaks volume. Pixar is probably the only Hollywood production house that emphasizes collaboration where crew remain employed one movie after another. This is considerably different from other production houses where everyone is on a contract for one movie. Once the movie is over folks moves on to their next production forming another crew with other production houses or whatever else they can lay their hand on.  

Is it just a coincidence that Pixar continues to deliver hit after another hit? or is it the team work that make Pixar stand out. Consider Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Bugs life, Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Cars, Wall-E, etc.

“Alienus Non Diutius” hits the nail for software organization. Gone are the days of lone rangers where organization rode on the back of heroes only to find they can’t scale. Heroes are still needed (actually by a lot) – but someone who knows how to be part of a team environment. Such heroes bring sea change in an organization. These gifted individuals groom other strong players bringing high tide in the organization and make it play on a level field otherwise not possible.

Ouch!!!

$4 Trillion and counting – that is how much market cap of the financial sector has reduced in the current meltdown taking with it the nest egg of so many…

New York times has a good interactive map showing the meltdown and change among major players. Check it out.

Here is an interesting punch – this has wiped off wealth almost equal to the GDP of Japan, 2nd biggest economy after us. This data is from 2007. 

Ouch!!!

Imagineering

Last couple of week, I watched Discovery channel “Project Earth” series. It showcases ideas that environmental engineers are working on to reverse the global warming and reduce carbon dioxide in our environment.

One thing that occured to me watching the series is the imagination of people involved. Although, most of the ideas are still scratching the surface of the huge environmental problems and true large scale deployment remains elusive – but the thought process is simply remarkable.

Consider these ideas:

1. Cover the ice cap with reflective material to reduce the polar cap melting

2. Re-ciruclate the ocean water from far deep to start the fertilization process in the Ocean that can help soak carbon dioxide from the environment and over time green vegetation sink taking carbon to the watery grave

3. Shoot some mirrors in the sky to reflect sun light back cooling the earth

4. How about creating clouds in the Ocean and use wind pattern to help cover the earth with clouds again blocking sun rays resulting in cooler temperature

5. My personal favorite – how about building a helium filled (kind of blimp) rotationary wind turbine high in the sky tethered with wires to the ground generating electricity using wind energy. Essentially mining winds at high elevation thus making wind energy feasible around the globe.

and on and on…how bright brains are tackling to help slow down the melting process or some how soak carbon out of our environment.

It just speak to the human spirit who on the face of seemingly impossible task find a way to make it happen. All the global warming and over $4 a gallon gas has created enough sense of urgency for us to put planet first and find solution that remove our dependency on fossil fuel.