Creativity and Mise en Place – Pastry Edition

a dessert by Jordi Roca My introduction to the execution side of creativity was in my mother's catering business that she ran out of our home when I was a kid. She called the business Gorgeous Food and the vision for the business was true to its name. The focus was on presenting fresh, seasonal ingredients in … Continue reading Creativity and Mise en Place – Pastry Edition

How to Run a Process Critique

A process critique is a short meeting in which you present your work-in-progress with the goal of gathering feedback. It's a tricky thing to navigate because many of us feel more comfortable presenting finished work where we sell every decision we've made with confidence. But a process crit requires us to be vulnerable. And that's … Continue reading How to Run a Process Critique

Too Many Lamps

I used to teach industrial design. A standard industrial design assignment is to ask students to design a lamp. It's a great assignment because lamps aren't just art--they need to function--but they are technically simple enough to give students room and freedom to explore interesting concepts. (We have a silly joke in design education, "Practice … Continue reading Too Many Lamps

Who Do You Serve?

"What you do is the promise you make to the people you serve." I think this is a quote from Seth Godin. It's meaningful because so often we focus on the thing we make--a gadget, an app, a class--rather than the people that the thing aims to serve. What we need to be more clear … Continue reading Who Do You Serve?

Decision-Making and Trade-Offs

Sometimes when we are having trouble making a decision, we will be advised to go with our gut. While this can be a good way to make a decision, it’s often not enough--especially when we are making decisions that affect other people or are unique to specific situations.If we want to be more intentional with … Continue reading Decision-Making and Trade-Offs

Businesses and Complex Adaptive Systems

trillium in an old-growth forest Can businesses be designed like complex adaptive systems? This is the question that Roger L. Martin explores in his new book When More Isn't Better: Overcoming America's Obsession with Economic Efficiency. The book opens much like Mariana Mazzucato's The Value of Everything--it opens with a long critique of our current … Continue reading Businesses and Complex Adaptive Systems

Coda: The TUNING Toolkit

The TUNING Toolkit is a set of tools that helps people turn their ideas into B.Corps, NonProfits, and DIY/Open Source projects that make the world better. It’s designed specifically for projects sparked by a desire to help people. The TUNING Toolkit is kicked off with a Prelude and ends in a Coda. In between the … Continue reading Coda: The TUNING Toolkit

CREATE: Love the Process

This post is part of a series that fleshes out The TUNING Toolkit – a toolkit that helps people move their ideas forward. REVIEW The TUNING Toolkilt has three sections: BELIEVE, CREATE, and ORGANIZE. In the BELIEVE section, we defined a high-level goal, telling ourselves that we have what it takes to achieve it, and … Continue reading CREATE: Love the Process

BELIEVE: See the Future

This post is part of a series that fleshes out The TUNING Toolkit – a toolkit that helps people move their ideas forward. REVIEW   The TUNING Toolkit is a set of concepts that we can use to move our ideas forward. The Toolkit has three short sections, titled BELIEVE, CREATE, and ORGANIZE. This post is … Continue reading BELIEVE: See the Future

How Might We Bring People Closer to the Social Justice Movement?

I’m a Democrat concerned about the future of the Republican Party.A problem that I observe in my own friend-and-colleague-circles is that Democrats can lump Trump-voters into one group. This causes harm.Why? Because Republicans aren’t monolithic. Many that I know are fiscally conservative, but socially moderate, which makes them have qualities and beliefs that even Dems … Continue reading How Might We Bring People Closer to the Social Justice Movement?