Required viewing
May 26, 2008Watched a couple of really good talks over the weekend. I enjoyed both of them a lot.
Clay Shirky at Web 2.0 Expo SF 2008: Clay’s talk centers on the notion that in today’s modern society, there is a massive cognitive surplus, or untapped source of brain power. He tries to debunk the often heard phrase aimed at technophiles and ‘geeks’ — “where do people find the time?”
In his presentation he cites some staggering statistics, which are not only compelling on their own, but support his argument well. He calculated the amount of time American’s watch TV to be in the vicinity of 200 billion hours per year, which is equal to 200 wikipedia projects per year. Imagine what we could achieve if we re-directed this type of energy — use this surplus in a more positive way? A thought provoking presentation.
Paul Graham at Startup School 08: Paul’s presentation is an interesting look at why start-ups should not worry about the money too much, and act more like a not-for-profit in the early stages. He argues that being benevolent improves moral; helps you to be decisive and makes other people want to help you.
He recommends the adoption of Google’s “don’t be evil” model, and concludes by urging not to be satisfied with simply ‘not being evil’, but to be good! I found one of the best takeaways was the advice: “Cheap to run = Hard to kill”, sage advice for a start-up, even a micro-one like my own.
Anyhow, go see for yourself.
Seth Godin on meetings and conferences
May 21, 2008Seth Godin writes an interesting piece: The new standard for meetings and conferences. In it he argues that the standards, along with people’s expectations of face-to-face meetings and conferences have changed significantly.
“if you think a great conference is one where the presenters read a script whole showing the audience bullet points, you’re wrong”.
I couldn’t agree more with what he is saying. The standards have changed, and people should expect more from organisers. This is one of the reasons I started etching out a career as a facilitator. Let me tell you how it all started …
Early in 2005, I was asked to host the technology stream of a software user group conference. I had attended a number of preceding conferences, and felt that they were staid and boring, and followed a far too ‘traditional’ format which focused on sales and marketing. They didn’t really provide the opportunity for dialogue or the type of engagement that customers were seeking. So, knowing that customers were going to sit through three days of powerpoint slides, I decided to go out on a limb and try something a little more dynamic and engaging. I ran a session based on Edward De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats method. I had never done this before, and did so with some caution. However, my instincts proved to be correct. The session was lots of fun and we had some great conversations. Afterwards the participants thanked me for trying something that was, for them, so different and unexpected.
This was a moment of clarity for me about just how important it is that we discover more productive, creative and innovative ways for people to work together — ways that engage people, that ignite their passions and harness the collective wisdom of the assembled group.
There’s a bunch of passionate and committed people out there doing lots of good work to improve the way conferences and meetings are run. It’s often underestimated, but it truly is important work.
Want to go to Japan?
May 14, 2008My friend Gill has spent many years living in and visiting Japan on business. In October she is guiding a small-scale personalised Japan Autumn Tour. She describes her tours as an exercise in small group facilitation — enabling relaxed, stimulating, enjoyable and interesting interactions with the Japanese people and culture and between participants i.e. they have lots of fun! Interested? Contact Gill at gillian [at] artsinspire [dot] com [dot] au.
The Answer is 42
May 13, 2008Sometimes, it’s not explicitly asked and sometimes it is, but I’ve lost count the number of times when working with clients I hear “so, what’s the answer?”. I confess that most times I’ve had to bite my tongue to stop lashing out with a cynical and stern reply of “42″, or “what’s the question?”
In most cases consultants or facilitators are called in to help organisations to solve a problem(s). They often do so in the hope that someone ‘external’ will have the right information and is able to give them the right answer. The old ’silver bullet’. Invariably, this approach isn’t very effective. That’s because it’s a cop out. It’s too easy to put someone on a pedestal — a guru who says that the answer is in this or that.
In the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy a giant computer is able to calculate the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything. The answer was 42. Easy. But this answer is on its own is meaningless. What was needed was a proper question.
It seems that some people are reluctant to take a more holistic approach where they ask questions, explore, and make their own meaning through dialogue and the stories they tell both themselves and others. Why is this?
Lies, lies and statistics
May 9, 2008I loved this Dilbert cartoon today. It points to the danger of taking a purely qualitative approach to problem solving. It also reminds me of some of my own very funny stories presenting data in planning sessions.
