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 […]
Significance and Making a Difference Read More »
Creativity is something highly valued in individuals, yet is rarely supported in organizations. That requires designing a creative culture. If you don’t create a lot, you won’t be able to ship (what you create) because everything will be too precious to give away Seth Godin Creative work requires an exercise in ways of thinking and
Designing For Creative Organizational Cultures Read More »
This week, the world is noticing what happens when we ignore climate change. The alarms are (literally) ringing, and designers must answer the call. I am not arrogant enough to presume I know what to do to solve our issues of the day. But I know enough to suggest hundreds of things that can make
Climate Design For A World on Fire: Part 1 Read More »
One bright idea is pretty but a collection of ideas put into practice over time, sustainably, is beautiful (and real innovation). Sustainable innovation — a process, practice, and culture of design-driven creativity — might be the most valuable outcome for any organization. Real, sustained innovation is not about creating a single item — product, service, policy
Taking Ideas Into Sustainable Innovation Read More »
What regular practice does is reduce the cost of failure and these costs are different in times of disruption. Innovation succeeds because of regular, committed practice. It’s about consistency of effort and persistence. But what happens when we’re constantly being disrupted? The Twenty Twenties will go down as among the greatest periods of disruption of
Practice Amid Disruption Read More »
Creativity can come from destruction. There are ways to think about this can can turn the down into something positive.
An Age of Creation 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 »
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
The Lonely Innovator 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 »
Contests are seen by many in the social sector as a way to engage audiences and generate new thinking about important issues, yet in generating all of these contributions from the crowd are we undermining the very aims of work in social innovation when the fruits of these ideas largely remain to rot on the
No Contest: The Cost of Crowd-based Social Innovation Read More »
