Wired Discovery

Right now I'm in a conversation with some friends all over the world focusing on how to support knowledge-driven communities of practice. I have tried to find a useful metaphor for what I would like us to create in order to support the learning and knowledge development associated with Appreciative Inquiry, and so far I have come up with the following:

"As I see it, what we need in the AI community is a website that is like a college campus. We need a library with lots of different kinds of information such as articles, videos, blogs, links etc (document management). Rooms for lessons (e-learning). A lab for creating new things (project/collaboration rooms). A cafeteria for informal exchange (chat). A store where we can by books, workshop material etc (web-store). A yearbook where we can see how everybody is connected (database). And so on. "

Perhaps not the most novel metaphor, but one firmly grounded in my experience from working at universities and from R&D related to knowledge management and collaboration software. Some of this and more recent experience were put into the article "Using the Web to Support Organic Development of the European AI Network" written by Leif Josefsson and me. It was recently published in the special issue of the AI Practitioner called "Wired Discovery: New Conversations and Deeper Connections" guest-edited by Loretta L. Donovan, Gabriel Shirley and Sue Anderson Derby.

Do you know any good metaphors for knowledge-driven communities of practice? Please let me know!

PS. Spring is here!

Bear Necessities

When the UK AI Network met in Islington March 28, one of the topics we discussed was “What is important?” with respect to the network itself. Before rushing into creating lots of activities and fancy web features, we really want everyone to think about what they want from the network. I think this is a good strategy, not only for communities of practice, but in general.

For me, one vital aspect of life is the opportunity to go for long nature walks. This is something I do rather often and one of my latest adventures took me to the Chipinque Park in Monterrey. This park has everything for everyone and is really well-kept. I thought myself rather fit and started to walk up the steep mountain, but I hadn’t thought about the altitude and soon found myself quite out of breath. Fortunately I had brought some water and was also able to replenish my stock at the top restaurant, to make my hike into the somewhat more unknown possible.

The views were stunning, and I also saw an industrious squirrel, reminding me of my recent walk through the Regents Park in London. The black spot in the photo is actually an eagle, giving an elegant illustration of they joy of soaring. A happy day indeed, although I didn’t see any of the bears claimed to live in the area. I wonder what would happen if we used a park as a metaphor for a community? Anyhow, enjoy the pictures.

Do you have any favourite nature trails? Please, share stories about them!

Design Conversations

When Richard Boland held his closing speech at the Positive Design Conference he really put pressure on us, making us reflecting on to what extent us coming to Monterrey for this event really could make up for the money it had cost, the time we had to spend away from our families and for the tons of carbon dioxide we had generated by flying there. I definitely think that we achieved a good result, even from a sustainability perspective, with lots of new ideas for research and education. However, the most important result from my perspective was the interdisciplinary conversations and the academic bonding they resulted in. As you can see from the pictures, we certainly had a lot of fun!

So how do you design a conference that will lead to such conversations? I think it was a very good idea to have a mix of inspiring presentations and group work. The social events were also great, with lots of opportunities to talk and dance and explore the local culture. Another design element was the mix of people from design, management and technology from different countries but with a clear collaborative attitude. I also very much liked us creating a collective poem at the end, reading out loud the sentence we had written expressing a summary of our experience of the conference. My contribution was: “From name to face to soul mate”.

I really think the conference was a great example of positive design, with respect to both process and outcome. I’m looking forward to the next conference in Korea 2010, especially after Professor Dong-Sung Cho’s presentation of the BEST Sustainability Report. Thank you so much, both organisers and participants for a wonderful conference! I miss you all already. You have inspired me to continue to make a difference!

Urban Exploration

According to Wikipedia, “urban exploration is the examination of the normally unseen or off-limits parts of human civilization”. One of the most acknowledged urban explorers in Sweden is Jan Jörnmark, who in addition to being a researcher and university teacher also likes to explore with his camera. In fiction, I think that Margaret Atwood did a great job with describing how nature regains control in Oryx and Crake.

"He doesn't know which is worse, a past he can't regain or a present that will destroy him if he looks at it too clearly. Then there's the future. Sheer vertigo." Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake

I recently did some exploration in an urban environment, but it was quite the opposite of the “traditional” sense since I went to a newly developed area in Monterrey among the mountains in Mexico. The Paseo Santa Lucia is part of a greater park that was developed in time for the Monterrey Forum in 2007. Since this forum focused on cultural diversity, knowledge, peace and sustainability I thought it was a good way to get in the right mood for the Positive Design Conference and as you can see from the pictures, I had a really good time.

The Hidden Factory

When I described The Flying Starship workshop to my friend Ali Tabrizi at Katapult, he said that to him it seemed like an excellent way of exposing “the hidden factory” within an organisation. After running the workshop yesterday with members of the Appreciative Inquiry network in Göteborg, I see what he meant.

We used a combination of the The Flying Starship simulation and an Appreciative Inquiry workshop developed by Innovation Partners International (thank you Bernard Mohr for all your help and inspiration!). By acting as a factory, we all got an experience of what chaos an over-zealous Tayloristic organisational design can result in. Although everybody were very focused on their specific task, most of the efforts went to feed the hidden factory and not to the (very few) products reaching the eagerly awaiting customer.

The second part of the workshop made us experience the power of a strength-based approach to development, with appreciating interviews and creative group work resulting in surprisingly many novel ideas for improvement in very short time, based on the aspects many of the workers considered worth preserving.

If you plan on doing a major change project in your organisation or are planning a leadership course, I strongly recommend including a Flying Starship workshop! You can see for your self how fun it was by looking at these pictures.

Have you been to such a workshop? Or used similar simulations? Please tell us about your experience in a comment!

Business Innovation for Sustainable Growth

True friends open doors for you so you can enter new worlds. One such good friend is Kristofer Erlandsson from Processim. After an excellent Rotary lunch where Jonas Hallberg did a thought-provoking and funny presentation on rhetoric, he introduced me to the Globe Forum Business Network. In addition to the network and all the material published, conferences are organised around the globe. Make sure you are in Stockholm May 7-8 for the conference “Business Innovation for Sustainable Growth”. Of course, Stockholm in May is a treat in itself.

Göteborg also has its attractions. Last week I was invited to a house-warming party at the newly launched unit for Sustainable Business Development at Chalmers University of Technology. In addition to talking to all the guests I had the honour of being the photographer, my first official photo assignment!

If you are interested in sustainable development and innovation, there are several excellent communities and information sources you can rely on. One of them is World Changing, an online journal with reports from all over the world trying to connect the dots. Another great source of information is the UK-based think tank Demos, who recently launched their new “Atlas of Ideas 2.0” project covering innovation in Asia, the Islamic world and Brazil. Also there is always TED with inspired talks by the world's greatest thinkers and doers.

Do you know of any other great sources? Please, make a comment tell us!

Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own

Last night I went to the IMAX Cinema in London to watch the U23D film. It was quite amazing! I’m not in the habit of going to concerts but this has to be the next best thing, or even better since you get a much better view of the band. Make sure you don’t leave too early, because the graphics at the end are also worth looking at while appreciating all the people involved making the film. Many great U2 songs are included such as Vertigo, Where the Streets Have No Name, With or Without You and many more.

Before it started, we were told to put on our big funny glasses and turn off our mobile phones. We were also informed that taking pictures were not allowed. However, in the film during one of the ballads, Bono encourages the audience to use their mobile phones as “lighters” and during the whole concert the panoramic camera flows through heaps of youngsters recording their experience on camera and sharing it with friends. Hmm. There seems to be a clash of perception of how money is made here.

I’m in a discussion right now with some friends regarding pricing an educational dvd we have produced. Although it will be filled with lots of interesting videos and texts, I think it will be difficult to get people to pay that much for it. Instead I view it as marketing material, and that earnings will come from conferences, subscriptions and advertising. But it’s hard to think that way when you put a lot of work into your production.

The Horizon Report from The New Media Consortium talks about trends in use of technology in education. One of their observations is that “grass root video” is catching on. Since it is so inexpensive to make a video and put it on the Internet and young people often prefer looking at a video instead of reading a thick book, this will probably have an impact on teaching. If your students can choose between listening to you doing a live lecture or look at videos from all over the world, perhaps including several of the top researchers/teachers in the world, you are up for some competition! However, turning teachers into video stars might have the positive effect that more young people might become interested in a career in education…