Thursday, August 29, 2013

What makes "change" happen?

“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” 
And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, 
I know I need to change something.”

Steve Jobs, Standford Commencement Speech, 2005








Dissatisfaction.

This is almost a perennial state of mind for people in any creative field. The solution to the brief is never perfect of course, it can only come close. But this also serves as motivation for doing it better the next time, for learning from the missteps. Inevitably the day comes when just getting it close-enough happens too often. Being jaded is dangerous; no longer caring about the outcome invites the kind of change that will never be strategic or productive: clients will leave and contracts will be cancelled.

Vision & Articulation.

We need to see real possibilities. To look past the horizon line and fix our gaze on a tangible goal, even when it’s not fully in view. It starts with an idea, the plans and tactics to bring it to fruition follow. It’s never an easy path, it’s constantly revised and anxiety prevails. Where does the vision come from? A desire to emulate another mental construct? To reflect a process or an idea that has worked for someone else? I think it’s always the original voice that gets heard above the din of all the imposters and posers. Creating a vision is really just a matter of being true to oneself. The trick is “knowing” oneself in the first place, getting to the heart of your mission, decoding the DNA of your company and finding your own path. Vision and perspective go hand in hand. You have to step outside your usual circles and your usual patterns in order to gain enough psychic distance to find the right vantage point to review those patterns and circles. Physical distance helps too. Working abroad, even for a short period, where you are immersed in different cultures, confronted with different world views, often brings clarity to your own. “Visual acuity” improves greatly when you finally get a sense of your own mortality. It starts with witnessing the demise and passing of others. The closer they are to you, the more effective the lesson. I’ve stopped waiting for the perfect moment, for inspiration to strike. There’s not enough time left for that. Any step forward is a good thing, even if it may not be quite the right one. The first step is always the most important one.

Resistance. 

“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose” 

Me and Bobby McGee - Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster

Resistance in any organization is often just a fear of the unknown, a reluctance to change patterns and deviate from a comfort zone. Even a productive pattern needs to be disrupted in preparation for future success. The degree of resistance appears to be directly proportional to what is at stake. When the coffers are empty, the motivation to try a different tactic is exceptionally strong. This is of course is a reckless form of leadership when you’re faced with a payroll and overhead. (Somewhat more acceptable when it’s just your own savings account that’s at risk). Although independent contracting in my case does not involve permanent staff or even regular business relationships, there is still the ecology of my current business model, my clients needs, my “brand” and value proposition. The forces at play naturally come from outside sources and it’s not just about my personal desire or wish to grow or change a service offer. This gets complicated. If you’re dealing with clients who have hired your “brand” or expertise, changing the brand is impossible. You have to change (inform) the client by educating them (which can be a herculean task!) or begin to target new ones, if the brand or value proposition shift is too great.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Introducing the Vroodle (variations on a Venn)


We all use the venn diagram. And overuse it. 
Is there a best practices strategy for venn diagramming for a type of set theory in complex social systems?  Applying mathematical theory to social systems is way out of scope for me. But I can certainly have a little fun with it. So here are some of my Vroodles!


But what’s a vroodle exactly? It’s when a Droodle says hello to the venerable Mr John Venn, the originator of the Venn diagram (1880).

But what’s a droodle ?

The name "Droodle" is really just a made up word suggesting doodle, drawing and riddle. It was coined by Roger Price in 1952.

Go ahead do a few and I'd love to post them here too!



Saturday, August 24, 2013

How do teams work? Perception vs Reality

If everyone leaves their ego at the door, who will lead the meeting?

This is just a personal observation based on anecdotal evidence. If you spend all of your time trying to reach a consensus you're spending less time coming up with ideas. The point of multidisiplinary collaboration is to embrace all of the different perspectives at the table, to live in the problem-space with this ambiguity and creative tension and to tred lightly as you work through as many diverse ideas as possible.


(Are you a black triangle?)


Friday, August 16, 2013

Visualizing social behavior.

Even through visual expression, indirect reciprocity appears to be a naturally "expansive" form of social interaction. This is by no means definitive proof. These diagrams just feel and look correct to me.



Tuesday, August 13, 2013

From thinking to doing: How do you bridge the gap?

Synthesis. 

What does yours look like?

After all of the problem finding and framing, the data collection and parsing, the iterations and the incubation comes the big insight. But how exactly did you get there?

Moving up Ackoff's knowledge pyramid is arduous work. Dissecting the process seems to destroy any hope of finding any definitive structure or element that defines the actual synthesis when shifting from one stage into the next.The insight comes into view not because you're following a particular critical thinking methodology, but because you're doing something. 

Critical thinking methods are important for that reason alone. The make you think about your data in a very structured way. They can't actually lead you to the insight, the methods just keep your thinking agile and focused so that you'll be able to recognize and act on an idea when it does finally flash before your minds eye.




Friday, August 9, 2013

What does "logic" look like?




Roger Martin, describes abductive reasoning as "The logic of what might be". I think this statement also embodies the belief that true insights require a leap of faith. They are hard won and the process can be a little scary.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Why is sketching good for your thoughts?


Getting it out of your head to examine your idea or process, automatically gives you more information about it. You see it in a new dimension. Not only is it readily shared with others in the room, it also becomes less “precious”. You have to overcome the natural desire to protect your ideas. If they cannot stand up to the harsh light of reality, then you need to iterate and move on.

Colin Ware(1) describes concept sketches as images that contain both “appearance” and “idea”. Although he is referring to graphical systems or 3-dimensional artefacts, sketches of process can have a true appearance to them as well. In fact, the actual appearance of a process may have even more value than the ideas it embodies. ( More on this later).

The following examples (2) of sketches and prototypes  are of course just plain hilarious and fantastic. No design iteration is required: straight from the visual thinking sketches of a child into production!







1. Ware, C. (2010). Visual thinking: For design. Morgan Kaufmann.
2.(from Jack Beveridge and Joshua Lake)