The healing power of curiosity
It has been a heavy few weeks in the world. In times like this we often raise our voice to
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The New Zombie
Information is everywhere (and if you live in cities, people might be everywhere, too) and yet the volume of information we see is overwhelmed by what we do not see. Zombies are among us like information and because of that information might be less attuned to what is going on around them. This has enormous consequences and most of it is not good.
Read moreKindness Confusion in Collaboration and Co-creation
An emerging look at evolutionary behaviour is suggesting that we are better suited for survival by working together than in competition. This cooperation imperative has been called “survival of the kindness” which risks lumping affective social generosity and goodwill with effectiveness and desirability and, in doing so, risks the entire enterprise of collaboration-based efforts.
Read moreDisrupted Time: Review of Present Shock
Most simply, ‘present shock’ is the human response to living in a world that’s always on real time and simultaneous.
Read moreThe Job Market Metric In Education
Post-secondary and continuing education is continuing to be rationalized in ways that are transforming the very foundation of the enterprise.
Read moreThe Mindful Socially Innovative Organization
In complex systems there is a lot to pay attention to. Mindfulness and contemplative inquiry built into the organization can
Read moreMindful Navigation of Complexity and Social Media
If we are to mindfully design our social media ecology and do it in a manner that promotes empathy and connection, rather than overwhelms us; engenders learning and insight over simple content absorption; and promotes creativity and innovation rather than just talks about it, we need to answer the question more intently and act accordingly.
Read moreEmpathy: The Ultimate Design + Systems Challenge
Empathy is a central feature of good human-centred design, yet is often practiced narrowly. Visualization with systems thinking and mindfulness
Read moreThe Forward Orientation Problem With Complexity
These approaches combine inward reflection — reflective practice — with an openness to the data that comes in around them without imposing an order on it a priori. The orientation is to the data and the lessons that come from it rather than its directionality or imposing values on what the data might mean at the start. It means slowing down, contemplating things, and acting on reflection not reacting based on protocol. This is a fundamental shift for many of our activities, but may be the most necessary thing we can focus on if we are to have any hope of understanding, dealing with, and adapting to complexity.
All the methods and tools at our disposal will not help if we cannot change our mindset and orientation — even in the temporary — to this reality when looking at complexity in our work.
Contemplating Better Public Health: Perspective is Everything
How might we apply the lessons from cigarette use to mental health promotion? How might we design programs, spaces, places, and social conventions that promote the quiet contemplative acts that come from taking that cigarette break and offer potentially great value to tobacco users without creating harmful effects for others?
Engaging design, complexity and imagining the systems that influence them both might yield considerable insight into how we manage other public health problems and how we might better promote mental health in the protection of physical well-being.
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