TIP: Capturing ideas with your mobile phone

I'm not sure if it is legal, but yesterday I saved myself about twenty pound on reference material for an idea I was developing.  I was interested in gathering visual designs from some magazines that I would never normally read. As I considered whether to buy the magazine for the one or two visual references I wanted, I remembered that I had my mobile phone in my pocket! And so, I quickly whipped it out, used the built-in camera to snap the visual references I wanted, and went on my way. [NOTE: I do not think that my ethics would allow me to do this to copy an article I wanted to read, but my sense of logic seems to allow it for a simple graphical inspiration. What do you think?] This was a real 'Aha!' moment for me about how sometimes I do not make full use of the technology available to me, in the way that can serve me. And that the technology becomes useful when it does work for you. So, the question is...how can you make a piece of technology you own, work for you in a way that was never 'officially' planned?

Sociocracy Article in Strategy & Business

Brian Roberston, CEO of Ternary Software has an article in Strategy & Business this month on how his company implements Sociocracy. Brian explains how implementing Sociocracy as a form of dynamic governance has resulted in profit growths of between 38-50%. Sociocracy means "rule by the socios", or "people who know each other" as opposed to democracy which is "rule by the demos - the crowd".

What is not mentioned in the article is that John Buck, founder of the North American Centre for Sociocracy, trained Brian and his team on how to implement Sociocracy in their company.

I am training with John, at this time I am the only person in Ireland, trained in how to run Sociocratic circle meetings and elections. If you are an Irish company or organisation wanting to find a more effective way to organise yourselves, please do not hesitate to contact me.

http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/06314?pg=1

The Ten Faces of Innovation - People Make Innovation Happen

"The Ten Faces of Innovation: Strategies for Heightening Creativity" (Tom Kelley, Jonathan Littman)

I've been reading The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley at Ideo. I must say that I was won over to this book within a few pages after reading that he saw innovation as not just "New Ideas - plus action or implementation - which result in an improvement, a gain or a profit" as defined by 3M, but as "people creating value through the implementation of ideas."
I wholeheartedly agree with this, and see in in my work daily. It takes people to make things happen. And this can make it really easy to get things done, or really difficult. However, if you always consider the human component, you have a much better chance of succeeding in your endeavours than if you continue to see people as simply things to be manipulated, managed, watched, or figures on a resources chart.
I'm finding this book really easy to read, and am constantly inspired by the stories that Tom uses to illustrate the various characteristics of the Innovation personas. I particularly enjoy this book as it promotes an open approach to innovation, and does not promote a once-size fits all methodology.
So, if you are at all interested in innovation, creativity, or even just people, check out The Ten Faces of Innovation

Back to School & back to Learning (Hell for some)!!

I was getting my hair cut yesterday, and was talking to the hairdresser about her daughter who is starting into secondary school today. I asked her, had anyone talked to her about her learning style. She said No. I explained the 3 basic styles - visual, aural and kinaesthetic. I also explained how the basic question of 'How do you give (and like to receive) directions?' can tell you a lot about a person's leaning style. Immediately she recognised her own preference. I also highlighted that approximately 60% of prisoners in Northern Ireland have a visual/kinaesthetic leaning preference, as opposed to aural, which is the predominant form of teaching - often the preferred style of teachers, which in turn creates a self-perpetuating problem.
So to all the parents and students out there, I encourage you to discover your own and your child's natural learning style/preference. It will help give you some control in determining what you can do to learn more effectively, even if the material isn't presented a manner that really works best for you.
Here are some links I would recommend to find out more about
learning styles and multiple intelligences
http://www.learning-styles-online.com/
http://www.memletics.com/learning-skills-test/default.asp
http://www.accelerated-learning.net/learning_test.html
And for a great recource of creativity and learning visit -
http://www.winwenger.com/
Also, check out Amazon.com, or your local bookstore for many, many books on these topics.

Creativity & Conflict Resolution results in Impetus Award for Human Rights

I've just found out that a recent project that I was involved in with The Educational Shakespeare Company Ltd, has received the Impetus Award for Human Rights for the second year running.

The award is designed to recognise

...creative and innovative work by young people who use ethical values and human rights to respond to contemporary, challenging and contested issues in our society.

The award is given to projects that demonstrates:

• Exploration of shared rights and responsibilities
• Creative application of shared values
• Engagement with the local community

The award-winning project Crossing The Divide, is the first of an on-going series of cross-community projects co-produced with the Education and Outreach Department of Queens Film Theatre. This project aims to link young people from nationalist and Loyalist areas of Belfast, with the intention of learning how to work together to make a short film. These projects are pretty intense as they only run for 10 weeks, making them pretty demanding. The result of this project between the (mostly) Catholic Mornington community group from Ormeau Road in South Belfast, and Protestant Ballymac and East Belfast Mission of the Newtonards Road in East Belfast was three short films and a documentary. The first film, Turn the Music Down, is a short tale about who the real police are in the community. The second film Hoodin' It' looks at the role that boredom plays in so-called 'antisocial behaviour'. The final film Don't Judge Us is a heartfelt message to adults about how young people are perceived and the assumptions made, that are not always true.

The project is accompanied by a documentary that charts the journey of the participants during the filmmaking process. I'm personally really proudof the documentary and believe that it was instrumental in us receiving this award. Why? Because the documentary charts the highs and lows of our work, and we are not afraid to show when things went wrong.

You can see the Crossing The Divide along with An' Wha'? (winner of the Impetus Award in 2004/05) at Google Video.

Finally, I want to send out a big note of recognition to everyone who took part in this project. Well Done everyone!