Transformations are easier to understand retrospectively, not in real time. New technologies are about to upend that, forever. It is often difficult to fully appreciate transformation in the middle of it. Most of us might have been ‘wowed’ by the Internet when it came out, but it’s only looking back that we realized how much […]
Amplification and Impact Read More »
Our consumption habits will kill our planet if we let it. Small actions, done often, can change our future course. Shopping is big business. It’s also helping our planet. Today is Black Friday, which is shaping up to be the largest shopping day of the year in the United States and Canada. In Canada, this
Big Changes Through Small Actions Read More »
Innovation is often portrayed as dramatic, disruptive processes and outcomes. That perception might be keeping us from making real transformations. We need to talk about innovation differently if we want to make it accessible, practical, achievable, and transformative. Much of the current discourse is not helping us get there. Innovation’s PR issue Innovation is a
Evolutionary Innovation: How We Transform Read More »
Developmental Evaluation is all about using data to support innovation. How does this look in practice (and how’s it done?) Developmental Evaluation (DE) is all about supporting and developing innovation. It provides some of the raw feedback materials and a process to help innovators make decisions about what they are creating, adapting to changing conditions,
What Does Developmental Evaluation Look Like? Read More »
Innovation requires the right organizing, not just skill and vision. This article explores what that means in practice.
An Organizing Framework for Innovation Read More »
Big shakeups happen in work, life, and the economy regularly. Navigating these waves of change well requires forethought and foresight. How do we prepare ourselves to meet the future in a way that accounts for all the changes that are underway without us giving up our agency and purpose? Strategic foresight is an approach that
Riding the waves of resilience Read More »
Innovation can involve small adjustments or great transformations. Social media provides a case study for understanding why ongoing monitoring and evaluation can tell many different stories about whether change is big or small, for good or for not — or something altogether different. Online social networks like Twitter and Facebook often notify their users of
Transformation and Innovation Read More »
Organizational transformation efforts from culture change to developmental evaluation all depend on one ingredient that is rarely discussed: time. How do we sit with this and avoid the trap of aspiring for greatness while failing to give it the time necessary to make change a reality? Toolkits are a big hit with those looking to create
How do we sit with time? Read More »
Developmental evaluation holds promise for product and service designers looking to understand the process, outcomes, and strategies of innovation and link them to effects. It’s the great promise of DE that is also the reason to be most wary of it and beware the traps that are set for those unaware.  Developmental evaluation (DE), when
Developmental Evaluation’s Traps Read More »
As cities and regions worldwide celebrate Pride the role of diversity, understanding and unity has been brought to mind just as it has contemplating the British public’s choice to leave the EU with Brexit. Both events offer lessons in dealing with complexity and why diversity isn’t about either/or, but more both and neither and
Diversity / Complexity in Focus Read More »
