One of my favorite prototypes from the Macroscope Labs was a tool to organize all of the "activities" one engages in the workplace of the future.  Play. Projects. Ideas. Prototypes. Work. Creative.  The distinctions blur. 

Macroscope Labs Playhouse
~ producing the future, one play at a time ~

We tossed around the idea that Macroscope Labs would be a theatrical playhouse.  In our mL playhouse,  ideas and projects that we incubated would come to life similar to a play.  Each play has a particular stage of development (from open mike to post production).  Much like a summerstock playhouse, our role might vary on each play, from scriptwriter to actor to set designer to costumer to producer- depending upon what was needed to get the job done or to grow our learning edge.  Each activity requires something different and invites an unique blend of creative collaborators. 

7 steps:

     1.  Inventory ALL of your projects 
                  - one idea/project per post it
                  - sub-projects for one job = separate post-its
                  - suggestion: color code by theme or by paid/unpaid

     2. Organize the post-its according to the stage of development
                  - follow the stages noted above, I sometimes include an off broadway (between off-off and main stage)


     3. Notice where there is a high concentration of post-its 
                    - the distribution will help you see where you are spending time and energy 
                    - is this distribution congruent with your current needs or are you currently stressed
                    - if self-employed on project work, do you have an appropriate distribution of paid idea/projects
                    - if you have a lead role in more than 2-3 projects on the main stage, you might need a cardio stress test  

     4. Identify what is your role on the projects
                  - is it your idea? are you rallying the team?  are you a first follower? are you the broadcaster? 
                  - does the role play to your strengths? are you on your learning edge?
                  - how does the team on this project feel for you?

     5. Notice your roles
                  - are they always the same? do you feel more energized in some than others?
                  - are you building your craft/skills in each of the different roles?
                  - who do you want to be your mentor for each role?  

    6. Identify all of your current collaborators (cast & crew)
                  - put each by the respective project and identify their role on the project                 
                  - are all of the roles that need to be filled to complete the project full?
                  - is the team well aligned to deliver based on their skill strengths?
                  - what skills do you need to complement your role/skills to get this project to fly?
                  - where can you find people who are smarter than you are at this? do you know them already? 

     7. Fail often, early. Learn. Dive in or move ON!
                  - what is the next action step?  Put that onto whatever project software you use. i like wunderlist and asana*
                  - identify an end point for each stage, so that you know... when to stop and assess? 
                  - check out my 5*5 method posts for a systematic approach to move from idea incubation to explore/pilot 

Attract the Best Cast & Crew .... and enable excellence in their performance

• Hire people who are smarter than you are
• Communicate the vision 

               - on stage, that is a script & blocking,** what does your idea need?

• Allow the vision to live in dialogue with the creative genius of the team
• Trust the team to do their magic (you hired people who are smarter than you are)

IN ACTION: how it looks on the wall.  

You can create your own paper version for your wall.  A digital version,as below, is available for download as well.  You can play with this digital version in powerpoint: import the .png, create text boxes for each of your projects, lasso/copy the people and group each person with a name and move it around until it works for you.  If you have photoshop, it'll be even easier. 

Most of all, have fun! 

*these are two services that i have used and liked. i have no financial, professional or personal connection to either company. people are very particular about their project management software, enjoy whatever one works best for you to get things done!

** Ingmar Bergman and Creative Leadership by Bo Gyllenpalm, the most influential book I read in 2011. (apologies, I know that it is out of print and have asked Bo to consider republishing it as I find it more relevant than ever).

Dedicated to all those on the journey to be the change through creative lifestyle design, particularly the lovely Joep Kuijper,  Seb Paquet on a 100 day journey into creative economy and Jean Russell, life explorer of creative engagement.  May your project management always allow room for passionate play, creative inspiration and hacking!  

Thought Contributors: Idea developed in collaboration with the enchanting creative  Eddie Harran at a time when I was fascinated by Bo Gyllenpalm's book on the stage leadership of creative director, Ingmar Bergman: what better role model than someone who pulled career best performances from cast/crew night after night for years and imagine, he never returned to the theater after the curtain went up on opening night.).  The creative innovator and the person who turned me onto the power of Mastermind ever-inspiring Do More Great Work guru Michael Bungay Stanier of Box of Crayons.  Digital to wall/post-its thanks to the effervescent creative Loretta Rae. 

Have you ever experienced the confusion or frustration of having someone else define your identity for you?  Well, Global Culture Kids is a playground for you. 

Vision 
a playground for global culture kids! 
a place to play, learn, celebrate, explore...
a place to champion the awesome work by global culture kids!
... and whatever else emerges... 


It might unfold to look like a digital version of this... 

Some ideas could be....
Sandbox for community building sandcastles... 
Slides to champion projects by GCKs...
Swings to see a gallery of GCK work and projects... 
Teeter-totter for tips...
Picnic tables for parties ... 
......

The domain is bought... www.globalculturekids.org  ... would be great to get a real graphic artist on the team early, right?!  Who's on board to build a playground? 

Attribution this idea is a lifetime in the making, with countless people along the way who touched, inspired, healed and shared the journey... special shout out to my grandpa, Peter Maker, Eduardo Gonzalez, E Nathaniel Gates, Rhonda Magee, Marnie Keator, Sheila McKibben, Megumi Nishikura and the Hafu Film Project team, Edward Harren, Daniela Franchi, the poc community, the Plum Village community & Clarissa/Reika & the Hapa-Hafu Kitchen Project crew....  special kudos to awesomeness amplifier and web designer Morgan Sully for the nudge to action on this initiative. 

This series of posts introduce a 5*5 systematic approach to pilot/prototype projects.  

From Idea to Pilot: A 5x5 Approach

From Pilot to Reflection: A 5=5 Method

From Reflection to Report: A 5<5 Report


 Keep an eye out for the 5*5 icon to find posts on pilot/prototype projects on this blog.

Attribution: this approach reflects a mashup from brilliant mentoring, modeling, discussions with many people... including Bruce Ettinger, Nancy Dubler, E. Nathaniel Gates, David Karshmer, Rachel Remen, Edward Harran, Andrew Lyon, Ian Page, and many more.

Snapshot: Systematic Approach to Pilots
 From Idea to Pilot: A 5x5 Approach [1 of 3]
 From Pilot to Reflection: A 5=5 Method [2 of 3]

I like to "do,"  which generally takes an action learning form described previously, From Idea to Pilot. By the time I learn through a pilot, it grows into something, pivots or gets abandoned under the ethos of fail often, early.  Whichever direction, I stop for reflective learning as described, From Pilot to Reflection, but rarely stop to write up what I learned because a new opportunity for learning already beckons. 

If you have seen previous efforts to document learnings... something akin to tomes turned blah-blah posts, it may be clear why I resist the report stage.  That said, I have experimented with an iterative design in hacking life and on the off chance, that might accelerate someone else's journey, it seems worthwhile.  So this month, I challenge myself to a new report format.  Simple. Short. Sweet. and whenever possible visual.    

The "report" formula will be a 5<5*:  

Keep an eye out for the 5*5 icon to find pilot/prototype posts. 





*Thanks to Ian Page for the idea for the 5<5 report format. 

Snapshot: Systematic Approach to Pilots
From Idea to Pilot: A 5x5 Approach [1 of 3]
From Reflection to Report: A 5<5 Report [3 of 3]

When a pilot reaches a juncture... for recommit, pivot or abandon.  Here is a method that I use for learning and reflection.

1. Brainstorm 

• Brainstorm 5 successes 
• Brainstorm 5 failures
  
• For each, what was one personal ingredient that contributed to that success/failure
  
• For each, what was one external variable that contributed to that success/failure
  
• For each, what is one thing to experiment with differently next time
  

2. What surprised me?
3. What touched me?
4. How is my understanding different?
5. Based on the experience, what question will I ask before I start next time?
 
I find that the list of successes/failures tends to be longer on one side than the other and that difference can help determine whether to recommit, pivot or abandon. 

The = symbol is a reminder that the reflection happens twice.  Once through the 5 questions related to the pilot/prototype project and a second time round for the personal/professional development.


Attribution: this approach reflects a mashup from brilliant mentoring, modeling, discussions with many people... including Bruce Ettinger, Nancy Dubler, E. Nathaniel Gates, David Karshmer, Rachel Remen, Steve Rosenberg, Andrew Lyon, Edward Harran and many more.

What questions do you ask for reflective learning?

Snapshot: Systematic Approach to Pilots
From Pilot to Reflection: A 5=5 Method [2 of 3]
From Reflection to Report: A 5<5 Report [3 of 3] 

A pilot design needs to match the project.  Each project is unique. When prototyping ideas in small projects is that there is no common design structure to report what was tried, whether it worked, learnings from failures, how a next step was tinkered and final learnings.  We do, observe, reflect, iterate, do... and it turns into something concrete or we move on. 

Here is a 5x5 approach to move from idea to pilot/prototype:

Attribution: this approach reflects a mashup from brilliant mentoring, modeling, discussions with many people... including Bruce Ettinger, Nancy Dubler, E. Nathaniel Gates, David Karshmer, Rachel Remen, Edward Harran, Andrew Lyon, Ian Page, and many more.

Special thanks to social impact catalyst Amy Chou for keeping SocEnt 101 Resources on Ideas that Impact up to date as of Jan 1, 2014.

Over the past few years, I started many blogs.  Each had an unique focus, different purpose and varying communities. 

Key learnings: 

• Blogs are like gardens; they require tending if you want them to flourish.
• Generate short posts.  
• Post at consistent time intervals so that readers/visitors know what to expect.  Here is a rough guide: daily or at least one post every 4-6 days (build following), 2 weeks (create community), once a month (stay connected) or once in awhile (personal). 
• Be on the channel of your desired audience.  Share your blog post on Twitter/FB/G+ with an interest/location hashtags to reach new people. Requiring people to get out of their regular routine to engage decreases likelihood of engagement.  
• Engage others and build a community to coproduce a blog is ideal to keep content fresh, dynamic, diverse, frequent.
• If you want people to see your blog, you need to help them find you.  Include links to others blogs/people on your blog, share your posts on other channels (G+, FB, LinkedIn, etc) and make it easy for other people to share your posts.
• Invite guest bloggers.
• Link a post to G+ for comments can be an effective way  to enable comments on your post while concurrently extending its reach. (HT @ZenMoments)
• Blog writing is different. See post: Rapid Fire for details.
• Keep the interface clean and simple. Turn off the noise, let the reader focus.
• There are color schemes that make reading easier, use them. 
• Don't plan too much up front.  Let it emerge.  See how the traction goes with readers/public.
• Discussion of sensitive topics may be challenging given the text nature of the blogosphere, where nuance can be lost. 

Blog Technical Assessments:

• Blogger was easy when there were no alternatives.
• Squarespace features/tools were fantastic, but it is expensive per site.  Provided sophisticated entry for novice.  Not sure that tools/widgets are keeping up with the times and their customer service/support was dodgy considering how expensive it was/is. 
• Posterous is a simple, clean interface. 
• Tumblr makes blogging/posting fun, though navigating setting up themes/adding comment capability via disqus takes extra time/expertise.
• WordPress, tried three times to use this platform and find it a fail for my own sites.  However, I have participated on multiple projects that use WordPress effectively, and as a writer on those efforts, I have found it easy to use.  Getting over the set up, design/plugin process and maintenance is key barrier to entry.
• Weebly, use it to host both sites and blog and find it useful.  I fear the day that I ever try to leave, since it is all drag/drop widgets, I am not sure how portable it is, but for now, it'll work.
• Ning could have been great, but required people to be on it and if it's not already part of their work flow, it's not likely to gain traction and traffic.
• Google Sites is OK for projects, not flexible for website portal and not 'sticky' for community engagement.

It seems that I have 23 draft posts in the queue and 15 ideas notes as yet to turn into posts.  Most of the time, I prefer a chat so that the ideas stay dynamic and I learn from others what words resonate and how an idea might evolve.  Written words feel clunky and sticky- a bit heavy.  Perhaps, this is a chance to delve into the light, ephemeral way of words for the interwebs. 

In addition, it has come to my attention that I could be better at documenting projects and sharing learnings from adventures.  As an action oriented experience designer that doesn't necessarily come as easily as snapping a picture at the end of the day to say, "hey, look at what I made." These project accounts run high risk for getting boggy in details... what one thinks about to create an experience is often quite different from the experience created.  Design challenge for effective blog presentation. 

After a few failed blogs, I learned that blog writing is different. Writing for the web is its own genre. I'm a novice.

• Simple. 
• Tight sentences. 
• One thought per post. 
• Preferably laced with a visual hook or bullet points.
• Personal insights, observations, ideas more than dissertations and research.
  

For now, I will pick up where I left off in March and practice the art of blog posts.  That means, it may not be pretty, but hopefully, as with most things that one practices, time will reflect improvement.  

Ready. Set. Here we GO!