February — 2010 — Third Thought Third Thought

Third Thought Deck: Balance

20th of February ~

I am engaging in balance myself.   I will be on vacation until March 2nd.

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Innovation with Purpose

16th of February ~

In my last newsletter I wrote about an inspiring exhibit from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum: Design for the Other 90%.  The show featured simple innovations for the majority of the world.

It’s got me thinking about all forms of  innovation.  On my radar this week are Crowdsourcing and the Purpose Prize.

Crowdsourcing

The word comes from CROWD + OUTSOURCING.  An organization has a challenge and invites a specific community to solve it.   The practice has broadened to include every aspect of corporate agendas since the word was coined a mere three years ago in a Wired magazine article.

Years ago I had the pleasure of talking with Mark Turrell, CEO and Founder of Imaginatik when he was launching his company and figuring out processes to capture collective intelligence.  If Crowdsourcing intrigues you I can recommend Mark and his company.  His results were impressive ten years ago and he and his colleagues are clear leaders in the field.

The Wisdom of Crowds did a fine job of exploring collective intelligence.  James Surowiecki is a journalist at The New Yorker and relates examples of  collective intelligence–both successes and failures.

Say what you like, but the Audience is usually right on Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

Another firm doing work in this area is Chaordix.  This blogpost from their site has a generous list of many crowdsourcing opportunities. Participate in any number of challenges from designing marketing to forecasting solar activity.

The Purpose Prize

And for those of us in our ‘encore careers’…the Purpose Prize is $100,000 big ones for worthy social innovations.  TEN people will win!  The catch is that you have to be over 60 years of age.  If you qualify you have until March 5th to enter or nominate someone else.  I don’t know about you but I am going to start thinking about it now.

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Third Thought Card: Add Love

15th of February ~

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Creative Habits

3rd of February ~

Often the challenge of creative individuals is finding that optimal state between dreaming and doing.

My last newsletter focused on Nick Bantock,a author of Griffin & Sabine and many other gorgeous books.  You can read more of his story here.  He is a Creative Producer with a truly solid background and I was intrigued with his routines.  Several things stuck out for me:

1) At the end of each day he leaves something simple undone.  The next morning when he entered his studio it is obvious and simple to get started.

2) He experimented with his physical space, finally arriving at a circular pattern of working.  He literally walks around his piece, getting different perspectives.  Since he started that pattern he has not gotten blocked.

3) Finally, he is organized and disciplined.  Easy to say, harder to do…or maybe I am projecting….

Nick strives to make his art, his life seamless.  That notion reminded Kath F. of this video (thanks Kath!):

Life as Art. Art as Life. Lovely.

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