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 …
The global retail phenomenon called ‘Black Friday’ demonstrates true complexity. How what and where we buy shapes how we live. The Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States is the day in which retailers were said to have cleared the red ink (debt) and moved into the black (profit) for the year’s sales, hence the …
‘Achieving scale’ might be the golden goose of social innovation. It’s a simple phrase, but its meaning and misunderstanding is not. “How do we take this to scale?” This common and often well-meaning question has enormous problems with it for social innovation besides the grammar. Scale might be among the most widely misunderstood concepts in …
Evaluation is the longest four-letter word in the English language. Kidding aside, what is evaluation? Why should we all care? Evaluators are an existential bunch, which might surprise you. Evaluation is not a popular word with people. Too often it’s associated with things that are done to us not with us or for us or …
Pushing change is not for the faint of heart or head. Loneliness is one of side effects that innovators must consider. A wise man once told me: No one welcomes change except wet babies Whether it’s through some form of behavioural intervention, using evaluation data to point out strengths and weaknesses in a program, or …
Empathy is considered to be at the bedrock of good design. But what if how we’re thinking about empathy is wrong? Empathy is certainly having its moment. Anywhere you look for writing on design and innovation and you’ll likely find a big role for empathy. Designers are encouraged to empathize with their potential customers and …
The Canadian province of Alberta has a reputation for fostering innovation. From strategic foresight to systemic design this reputation is well-earned. Alberta is a province in Western Canada known internationally for its expansive landscape of prairie and mountains, oil industry, and prehistoric riches. Its weather can be extreme — from large temperature swings (including the …
Circular thinking — from economics to design – is reshaping our world. By changing our thinking we change our relationship with consumption. Circular thinking is a way of approaching problems of design and consumption that view what we create, use, and dispose of in ways that are harmonious with nature, not against it. A growing …
The latest issue of the Censemaking Innovation Newsletter is out. Looking for a better coffee break?: just open your inbox. Innovation is not a topic bereft of content: it’s the opposite. There’s so much content out there across so many fields that many people just rely on whatever pops into their news feed. It’s why …
