The real challenge, as I see it, is that the more we use the internet and other technologies the more information is created out there, and the more to search. The genius of the few is replaced with crowdsourcing. Its about sense making, its about navigating between simple, complicated, complex and chaotic fields of problems. It’s about the ability to respond on flexible responsive processes.

That is the challenge for individuals, organisations and societies.

Some of us can navigate between, forwards and backwards these problemdomains, other can’t. They don’t know how to respond on the transformation, this paradigm shift. So who are the they who should help creating sense? Economist? Engineers, or maybe designers?

Sometimes I face the challenge, that people ask me why all this is happening exactly now - what are the signs and trends, why is Enterprise2.0 an answer.

Any thoughts? Perspectives?

I see a few my self….

1. Complexity
2. Globalization
3. Open Source

What do you see? And how?

This time it’s interesting, again. The conversation between Jess & Adam Richardson is about strategy and innovation. Read it, and listening. Here are some of the insights from the conversation:

• Chatting about the strategy practice at frog. Differences between traditional strategy offering from McKinsey or Bain. The advantages of integrating strategy with a more holistic practice including industrial and interaction designers, engineers, and others.
• Discussion of Org 2.0 companies and how they are better able to take on innovation and create compelling experience-based products, services, and systems. If you’re in an Org 1.0 company, start with a skunk works.
• Dealing with the innovation surplus. Companies that have embraced innovation now have no shortage of fantastic ideas. Now the challenge is prioritization and execution.
• Core insights. Like core competencies, core insights emerge from the unique combination of experience, skills, information, and activities of your organization. Core insights are hard to duplicate in the market, and offer significant competitive advantages.
• Some thoughts on influencing innovation - how can aspiring innovators escape the gravity well of the status quo? If you’re not in a company that embraces innovation, what can you do? Adam comes back to skunk works as one way to build momentum. Look for much more on this topic at bplusd in the coming weeks and months.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_V-zuDbO-k

It has been some time coming but it’s here, a comprehensive exploration into what is ‘Social Design’. This great video comes from the team at the socialdesignsite.com.

UPDATE - from Kate

What is Social Design from your point of view?

I think you should consider to visit “Design and the Elastic Mind”.

“The exhibition highlights designers’ ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and history—changes that demand or reflect major adjustments in human behaviour—and translate them into objects that people can actually understand and use.

Doesn’t that sound interesting? One of the important roles of the designer reveals it self: The role as an Sensemaking Catalyst.

…or what do you say?

The program was well arranged but I lacked enough time for reflection. I do in a stressed up working life. I don’t with you but sometimes the “the moment of truth”, the crucial learning point’s come to me quite a while after the actual conversation/learning situation.

I just came by his blog again and had the possibility to read up some of his work:

Transformations not only require recognition of the difference between what is practiced and what is preached - a transformation called for years ago by Donald Schon (1971) - it also requires a transformation in the way we think (…) I believe the pattern of thought that is required is systemic (…) Systemic thinking is holistic versus reductionist thinking, synthetic versus analytic. Reductionist and analytic thinking derive properties of wholes from the sum of their parts. Holistic and synthetic thinking derive properties of parts from properties of the whole that contains them (…) In general, those who make public policy and engage in public decision-making do not understand that improvement in the performance of parts of a system taken separately may not, and usually does not, improve the performance of the system as a whole. In fact, it may make system performance worse, or even destroy it.

This is key. Indeed, from my experience, I can testify that the obstacles to introducing knowledge sharing and collaboration have little to do with the lack of management support, lack of time, or lack of ROI metrics that knowledge managers tend to complain about. They also have little to do with so-called “mental models” of hierarchies vs. social networks and the like. In the end, what makes it difficult is exactly what Ackoff discusses in his paper: the inability of some key managers to move away from analytical thinking.

What do you think?

Recently I re-discovered a conversation on the topic over at Greg’s which reminded on earlier discussion I’ve had with several colleague where we in a kind of “battle” presented different perspectives. I Denmark, at the least, there is still a lot of designers who see them self as artists. And the common understanding is still that design is more about form than process.

If you’re interested in design-related discussions I strongly can recommend the Google Group “transforning transformation, please take a look here.

But before leaving - how to you explain design?

To cut it short - what books should be on the shelf of the CEO if he/she want to learn about running a business in the 21. Century?”

After a few hours I got a tremendous response and a list of very interesting books - on the list is:

“The World is Flat”
The weblog of Jonathan Schwartz
“Innovation to the Core”
“Innovation and Entrepreneurship”
“Making it happen”
“Good to Great”
“Blue Ocean Strategy”
“Leading the Revolution”
“The Art of Innovation”
“The Future of Management”
“A Whole New Mind”
“Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity And the New Science of Ideas”
“The Breakthrough Company”
“Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder”
“Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google”
“Media Rules!: Mastering Today’s Technology to Connect with and Keep Your Audience”
“The Innovator’s Dilemma”
“The Innovator’s Solution”
“Mavericks at Work”
“Wikinomics”
“The Corporate Fool”
“The Goal”
“http://www.caro.cc/download/communitycommercenters.pdf”

Thank you very much to:

Frank Alex
Niti Bhan
Hannes Helander
Richard Auld
Kevin Paylow
Charles Caro
Jens Galatius
Peter Bysshe
Mike Slevin
Luiza Nadolska
Ionel Roiban
Tim Merrick
Peter Flentov
Sabina Podjed
James Finister
Alexander Osterwalder

It there a book missing?

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.