Take an architect, ad some bricks and mortar, a flavour of Mr. Philippe and finally spice is up with a lot of hype…..
Then you have a success.
I’ve been posting this before, I know. But I think it’s very interesting to see what can be done when thinking design into “old” industries, not only into products, or companies…..
It’s so obvious…
Dexigner reminded me once again.
Do you know of any other disruptive design-influenced industry movements? Please share 
Warning: This does not have much to do with our usual posts, this is posted entirely because I find it interesting and fun.
A brazilian designer, Icaro Doria, has made some interpretions of some common flags from small to large countries. Honestly I’d like to buy some of them and place them on the walls of my new flat in Copenhagen.
I especially love the one about China:
See all of them at BrazilianArtists.net
Originally spotted at the Z + Partners Weblog
v. de·signed, de·sign·ing, de·signs
v. tr.
I just checked out the programs of Era 05 and Index:05. Wauvv! My deep down anthropological heart is beating faster.
Why?
Because I started my carrier in anthropology wanting to go out and save the world. That is still my ambition although I realised some years ago that being a full time member of the development business wasn’t going to either save the world or satisfy my personal ambitions. So I turned to another area where I could develop my own potentials while still making a difference to the better. That is partly why I am now studying innovation, which in my terms is the act of creating and implementing new or just better stuff that adds value to something or someone.
Therefore it makes me truly happy to see the directions in the field of design and innovation focusing on user centered design and design to improve life - also for the ones that aren’t represented in the regular consumer catalogue. The pact of these two issues is very powerful because it implies that we not only create and implement new products, but that we are able to design concepts that adress important needs in the world within a broad range of fields.
To its far extreme the concept of design implies that we can give form to the world the way we like. We can shape intelligent products, political systems, social processes, personal life styles, future strategies… you just choose yourself. Of course it is not that easy. There are a number of political, social, economical and human factors that challenge the utopia of designing the perfect world. However, I like the almost existentialistic freedom of choice that is opened by the concept of design. There is always a choice in designing one way or the other. Therefore I believe that it is very important that we acknowledge the responsibility inherent in being conscious creators of the here and there, the now and the future.
This is the consciousness that I see in the agendas of Era 05 and Index:05 and that is why it warms my still idealistic heart.
The top-down will inevitably meet the bottom-up, somewhere, somehow. If done artfully, Good Things will happen.
Does that apply for designprocesses as well? - inside - out / outside in?
A lot is happening in Copenhagen during September – era05 will take place, INDEX:2005 will also be major event.
If you are a designer planning your participation in era05 or INDEX:2005, please let us know. Maybe the rest of the cph127-community will have the opportunity to follow – via some live-blogging – the event. Would be niiice….;-)
I can already now promise you some heavy coverage from INDEX:Views
Please let me know if you will be here in Copenhagen during the event. Maybe we can figure something out, doing some sightseeing – “The Grande Tour”
I’ve enjoyed reading Hans Henrik’s and Louise’s thoughts about individual incentives and ideation.
I think it’s worth questioning the effect of incentives. Alfie Kohn’s fascinating book, Punished by Rewards, highlights many cases in which the use of incentives actually diminishes motivation. Many of his examples focus on education and learning; for example a test group solving puzzles without reward would work for longer and with more commitment than a contrasting group that was given an incentive.
Also, I think it’s valuable to see creativity and innovation as inherently social processes, putting aside the stereotype of the genius in the attic. In my experience, creative ideas flow easily from teams of people who are willing to listen to each other and build on each other’s thinking collaboratively. I often work with activities from the world of improv theatre, which is perhaps the ulitmate form of co-creation, where each player has to acknowledge and build upon the offers of his team mates.
The introduction of individual incentives would very likely undermine that kind of good-willed collaboration. I would argue that giving honest, specific and considered feedback to colleauges is one of the simplest and most effecitve ways to support the building of community and a spirit of collaboration.
I believe that is innately human to play with ideas and the use of individual incentives risks replacing this powerful, intrinsic motivation with something much less effective.
(Looking at Olivier Toubia’s abstract, referenced by Hans Henrik (I’ve not read the full report) it’s interesting that in his experiment, the most effective reward was one based on how many ideas others added to the individual’s core idea. What isn’t assessed, however, is a control group which isn’t incentivised at all.)
I had a very interesting talk today with Jan Hein Nielsen around the issue of creating innovative organisations. To Jan innovation is not about applying creative tools once in a while to come up with a new idea. It is about leveraging the potential in the organisation to create an innovative culture where innovation is not something you do once in a while or something somebody does in a special department, but a mindset and a way of every day living where everybody has his or her eyes open for opportunities for improvement or new ideas.
Some of the key factors in this kind of culture are the leaders being able to let go of control and act in the field between chaos and order, and the employees being inspired and confident to be reflective, take action and to a larger extent work together using their collective ressources instead of being isolated in departments or career tracks.
Taking this thought a bit further I can’t help thinking how to reach the level of an innovative national culture in Denmark - or the World, to be a bit more openminded… If we are to build truly innovative societies where the potential of the individual interplays with the synergetic potential of the collective and is supported by the system… then…just imagine…
Do any of you have experiences of being part of well functioning innovative systems or cultures? Or do you have experiences on how not to do in organisations or other groups? What are the key elements of innovative cultures or innovative systems? And how do we get to there from here?