Our Censemaking Methods Series continues with a focus on helping your visual thinking practice by introducing the simple Sketchnote and how it can help transform your team’s understanding of systems. Diagrams have a unique way of breaking down the complexity of systems, don’t they? Imagine a tool that lets everyone see and understand a concept from …
What happens when the AI-powered algorithms take what was once a peer-to-peer network and turn it into an AI arms race? Cory Doctorow has coined the term enshitification to describe the ways in which many large electronic media platforms from Google to Facebook to (now-called) X and others. He’s speaking to that feeling that I …
Evidence and Learning in the New AI-driven Arms Race Read More »
In this latest in our Censemaking Methods Series we turn our focus toward applying design to generating impact through better events and gatherings. Crafting an unforgettable gathering is an alchemy of art and science. Through intentional design, we can learn from service design From board retreats, annual general meetings, to brainstorming sessions, a stellar event …
Designing More Powerful Events For Greater Impact Read More »
Social innovation has stalled while its need has never been greater: How might we bring it back to life? This second of a two-part series that builds on a piece originally published on Medium. A new dawn for social innovation could be upon us if we look closely. As I outlined in an earlier article, …
Social Innovation’s Update: Part 2 – An Opportunity and Future Read More »
What does systemic change at an exponential level look like? Look around and you’ll see why a new approach to perceiving the world is now critical. The first question above is answered below: Whether it’s area burned (above) or carbon emissions (below), the Canadian wildfire situation is a start and gigantic example of what exponential …
Persistent, dramatic changes are taking place that influence our work, communities, and personal lives and understanding what it means to learn, respond, and succeed will take changes in how we evaluate it all. A key feature of change in a complex system is that once its shifted, it never goes back; there’s no ‘undoing’ what’s …
Systemic changes are happening all around us and the need for preparedness for an uncertain future has never been more salient. While operational plans and strategy are critical, psychological preparedness is just as important. Preparedness is anticipating certain kinds of events and outcomes tied to those events. Let’s look at environmental issues. For example, every …
Humans tell stories to each other through narrative, pictures, and data and models can help us make sense of things, but do they help us act? Or worse: do these models contribute to inertia? If you want to get a lot of traction on social media with a certain crowd, put up a model or …
Models for Clarity or Confusion: Are Your Sense-making Efforts Serving You? Read More »
The confusion between whether something is used to teach or to guide underlies much of the dissatisfaction with the use of models to inform the way we work, learn, and behave. Let’s talk about systems and models — but stick with me, this is a practical and not just academic matter. I’ll start with a …
Seth Godin’s recently published book, The Song of Significance, looks at how we organize our work and the message is profound if we’re ready to hear the song. I’ve written about Seth Godin many times in this space. Seth has written about the issues of work and education and making a difference in thousands of …
