Subscription models are changing the way we think about products, services, and the creativity and tools that shape them. Two articles that might seem unrelated appeared in my feed one morning: one on creativity and the other on subscription-based business models. Writing for Vox, Terry Nguyen looks at how the business and arts sectors have …
Systems change is so difficult because is the link between the past, present and future is tight and often invisible. The term “system(s) change” is often used without a clear sense of what it means. What is the system that needs to be changed and how is that system defined? These are two important questions …
Innovation is emotional work and it’s time to connect our feelings and thoughts to fuel our change efforts and actions. I recently read an interview between Yancey Strickler and Clare Farrell, co-founder of The Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement that attracted my attention. The interview was part of Strickler’s Ideaspace podcast and titled ‘from hope to …
Design is far too important not to be shared and made as accessible as possible as our future literally depends on it. Design is not a luxury. Design is what will shape our world to come. Our ‘next’ will be designed by us and those design choices will shape who benefits, how, and what influence …
Why does most of what we read about innovation resemble very little of what our work life actually looks like? It is rare to find a profile of an innovation initiative that speaks to the everyday experiences of business, government, healthcare, or non-profit life. Instead, we read cases where there was leadership, time, focus, drive …
Innovation means trying new things and that involves overcoming fear by and through design efforts Of the many barriers to successful innovation, the constellation of fears associated with prototyping and evaluation might be the greatest of them all. This is partly due to the high diving board problem, but also because innovation means learning, making, …
At a time when change seems pervasive leading teams through transitions has never been more important Developmental psychology has many uses beyond understanding how individuals grow and mature — it can be a useful tool for helping frame how organizations do much the same. The parallels between human and organizational growth, evolution, maturity and death …
The idea of entanglements is central to understanding complexity in systems and the knots that they generate The idea of entanglements and systems is at the heart of our understanding of complexity as it’s experienced in the world. Much of the literature on complexity speaks of entanglements as complications that arise to challenge our ideas …
How to design when we are massively disrupted and still left with this persistent feeling of sameness? Contrast captures our attention and too much or too little is not helpful to us humans. Yet, this is the situation much of the world finds itself in 2021. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to reveal …
The design opportunities for a post-pandemic world require untangling many knots in our systems. With so much of the world locked down, shut in, or at least restricted in what they can do, there’s been some time to reflect on the state of things and imagine what might come next. The creation of this next …
