We MANIAC's have known for some time that we are engaged in worthwhile efforts that can result in some truly amazing solutions to perplexing problems. But it's always nice to receive some external validation, and this came in the form of a recent report published by IBM, cited in a cover story on the "Creativity Crisis" in Newsweek magazine. The IBM Report, based upon a survey of over 1500 CEO's across 60 countries, concluded that skills in leading through complexity were required for the 21st Century, and that this meant inviting creativty throughout the organization to address changes in buisiness models, infusing 'disruptive innovations' into planning processes, and otherwise managing ambiguity, uncertainty, and complexity.
Sounds like what MANIAC is all about, doesn't it? I encourage you to read the Newsweek article as well, as it cites a number of other interesting aspects regarding our education system and how it is failing to teach these core competencies, as well as research on creativity and brain research that shows the links across creative processes in the arts and engineering. To me, this points to the benefits of more personalized, holistic, integral approaches to education, such as those championed by Sir Kenneth Robinson, Parker Palmer, Alfie Kohn, and others (whose talks and books I encourage you to peruse), as well as insights shared by W. Brian Arthur in his recent book, The Nature of Technology. Arthur painstakingly charts the processes of innovative change across domains and history, concluding that we must both become expert within specific fields and simultaneously lower the boundaries across fields so we can encourage intentional infusions of ideas and perspectives that may not mesh with our dominant conceptual paradigms and modes of inquiry.
Finally, I want to encourage you to view a recent Charlie Rose interview on public television, in which he spoke with one of the Newsweek reporters (Ashley Merryman), the editor of Science magazine (Bruce Alberts), and a Harvard professor doing research in this field (Aaron Berkowitz).
What do you think about these things?
Harry
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
New MANIAC Toolbox
Hello MANIACs!
I have developed a new resource tool for you to explore! I have collected the innovation and collaboration tools, exercises, articles, web links, and activities from past MANIAC events and posted them in a "Toolbox." Check it out here!
This reference tool will help you continue the learning from MANIAC café, soirée, and breakfast workshops in your everyday work.
If you have any additional links or resources you wish to share with the MANIAC community, please forward them to Sarah Hurley at shurley@ohr.wisc.edu
Happy toolbox browsing!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
UW Innovation Competition Yields Fabulous Fruit!
The recent UW-Madison innovation competition for students yielded a great tool for treating fruit trees: the Automated Pest Elimination (APEL) system was developed by mechanical engineering student Tom Gerold, offering "a smarter way to spray" that is safer and more environmentally friendly. The overall competition, an annual event, provided a number of exciting ideas that you should check out.
It also invites the question to the UW-MANIAC community: Is there a role for us in sponsoring events that encourage the development and submission of creative ideas that could improve the campus?
Harry
It also invites the question to the UW-MANIAC community: Is there a role for us in sponsoring events that encourage the development and submission of creative ideas that could improve the campus?
Harry
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Some of my Favorite Resources
Here's a quick list of some fabulous resources to inspire new thinking and actions for the new year:
1. Co-Intelligence Institute Toolbox
Describes all kinds of change processes, methods, and techniques -- and even provides the backstory, theory and additional resources if you want to go deeper.
http://www.co-intelligence.org/CIPol_ComunityProcesses.html
2. Human System Dynamics Institute
Chaos theory and complexity as applied to working with groups and organizations in meaningful and practical ways.
http://www.hsdinstitute.org/
3. Fostering Sustainable Behavior: Community Based Social Marketing
Contains articles, case studies, and strategies from social change practitioners (with an environmental lens); tools include: attitudes, branding, commitment, communication, convenience, education, feedback, framing, goal setting, incentives, norms, prompts, social diffusion.
http://www.cbsm.com/public/world.lasso
4. NuPolis: Scalable Innovations for Communities
Includes stories about what's working (and what isn't) to ramp up social innovation in the US; also has chapters of an online book called How Social Innovators are Transforming America's Communities.
http://www.cbsm.com/public/world.lasso
5. Social Innovation Exchange
More international in scope, lists case studies and articles in a variety of social change fields.
http://www.socialinnovationexchange.org/
6. UW School of Business: Business, Environment, and Social Responsibility program
This resource page contains all kinds of goodies -- "Books That Changed My Life", "UW Classes Not to be Missed," "Videos" which include lots of TED talk links, and "Things You Can Do To Live More Sustainably."
http://www.bus.wisc.edu/sustainability/resources/
May you be inspired!
Marian Farrior
1. Co-Intelligence Institute Toolbox
Describes all kinds of change processes, methods, and techniques -- and even provides the backstory, theory and additional resources if you want to go deeper.
http://www.co-intelligence.org/CIPol_ComunityProcesses.html
2. Human System Dynamics Institute
Chaos theory and complexity as applied to working with groups and organizations in meaningful and practical ways.
http://www.hsdinstitute.org/
3. Fostering Sustainable Behavior: Community Based Social Marketing
Contains articles, case studies, and strategies from social change practitioners (with an environmental lens); tools include: attitudes, branding, commitment, communication, convenience, education, feedback, framing, goal setting, incentives, norms, prompts, social diffusion.
http://www.cbsm.com/public/world.lasso
4. NuPolis: Scalable Innovations for Communities
Includes stories about what's working (and what isn't) to ramp up social innovation in the US; also has chapters of an online book called How Social Innovators are Transforming America's Communities.
http://www.cbsm.com/public/world.lasso
5. Social Innovation Exchange
More international in scope, lists case studies and articles in a variety of social change fields.
http://www.socialinnovationexchange.org/
6. UW School of Business: Business, Environment, and Social Responsibility program
This resource page contains all kinds of goodies -- "Books That Changed My Life", "UW Classes Not to be Missed," "Videos" which include lots of TED talk links, and "Things You Can Do To Live More Sustainably."
http://www.bus.wisc.edu/sustainability/resources/
May you be inspired!
Marian Farrior
Monday, January 4, 2010
12 Innovations of the '00s
As we turn the page on our recent decade, an article by Sarah Van Gelder of YES! Magazine has gotten me thinking... What were some of the most important innovations of the '00s? Let's start with Van Gelder's candidates, as she identified a dozen important innovations of the last decade:
1. People fell in love with local foods. There are now more than 5,000 farmers' markets in the U.S., up 13 percent in just one year, many new school vegetable gardens, and CSA. People turned their lawns into gardens, and asked grocery stores and restaurants to offer local foods.
2. A home-grown U.S. pro-democracy movement brought greater integrity to the elections process. This movement, built on the voting rights movement, began after the questionable election of 2000. Through public scrutiny, legal challenges, and mobilization of poll watchers, it was able to counter election manipulation, voter suppression, black box voting irregularities, and to begin restoring voting rights to felons who had served their terms.
3. Happiness got redefined. As people discovered that debt and overconsumption cause stress to families, the planet, and each of us, many turned instead to friends, family, good works, spirituality, and personal growth as the keys to a good life.
4. Media became radically decentralized and inclusive, with anyone able to report on events and to post video, tweets, photos, and commentary. Governments found secrecy much harder to come by. Fact checking became a participatory activity.
5. Prison overcrowding, budget shortfalls, and powerful advocacy turned the public against draconian prison terms and the drug war in favor of limited prison time for nonviolent offenses and alternatives like treatment and community service.
6. People went local to rebuild the economy. Instead of competing to get corporations to locate in their communities, they began building economies based on local strengths and local needs, striving to be green and to offer living wages and dignity to employees. Worker-owned cooperatives are at the leading edge of this movement, especially in abandoned rust-belt cities. The new focus is on sustainably meeting the needs of ordinary people, not the greed of Wall Street.
7. Populist resistance grew to corporate power and big government. This movement pushed back against bailed-out Wall Street banks, the domination of health insurance and Pharma in the health care debate, and the power of big coal and big oil. Right-wing think tanks and media tried to morph this populism into an anti-Obama movement, so far with limited success. (But if Obama continues to capitulate to a corporate agenda, he could be in trouble with populists across the political spectrum.)
8. The stage was set for nuclear abolition: A global consensus grew around the need to abolish nuclear weapons. In the United States, conservatives like George Shultz are advocates along with progressive leaders.
9. Indigenous people’s rights were recognized in an official United Nations declaration. Indigenous peoples began using their new-found clout to protect their ways of life and the biosphere, stewarding sources of invaluable cultural and biological diversity.
10. The United States elected an African-American president. While this didn't usher in a utopian post-racial society, it did show the power of multi-racial organizing. And it set the stage for long over-due remedies to racial disparities and segregation. But, as has been painfully clear, it does not guarantee progressive policies will come out of the White House.
11. A new guiding philosophy emerged based on respect for all people and all life. This approach is gaining power after both neoliberalism and neoconservatism proved themselves out of touch with the challenges faced by humanity – and out of ideas. The Earth Charter, formally launched in 2000, received endorsements of thousands of organizations representing millions of people during the ‘00s, revealing the potential for a new worldview to take hold based in environmental sustainability and social justice.
12. A “Survival” Movement swept the world; millions took action to confront the climate crisis, making changes at home and at work, greening cities, resisting coal and deforestation. Look to this movement to grow rapidly, post-Copenhagen.
While I think several of those identified in her article are important, and have potential to make significant innovations in the economic and political landscape, I think there are some other innovations that have vast potential worth noting. These include:
* Access to purified water through low tech solutions. These include the Kissi water filter, potter Tracy Hawkins Filter Pure system, and PlayPump International's great merry go 'round systems. The ramifications of these inventions and the not-for-profit movement supporting them can result in over 1 billion people having necessary access to clean water.
* Computer access through self-meshing systems: Mesh networks have the potential to link remote areas throughout the world and to decentralize internet service provision to hundreds of millions of people. When combined with educational programs and aid, such as through One Laptop Per Child, the impact can be leveraged in some amazing ways.
* The explosion of micro-lending programs: Starting with the work of organizations like Grameen Bank, for which Mohammed Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, a wide array of organizations has emerged over the past decade. These organizations tend to focus their efforts on small groups, especially women, in the most impoverished regions of the world, with the goal of breaking the cycle of poverty. These efforts result in extraordinary success stories and freedom from social and economic oppression. The multiplier effects of micro-credit are just beginning to be realized.
What innovations would you rate as most important this past decade? What do you think of the ideas offered by Sarah Van Gelder, or by me? Continue the conversation!
-Harry
1. People fell in love with local foods. There are now more than 5,000 farmers' markets in the U.S., up 13 percent in just one year, many new school vegetable gardens, and CSA. People turned their lawns into gardens, and asked grocery stores and restaurants to offer local foods.
2. A home-grown U.S. pro-democracy movement brought greater integrity to the elections process. This movement, built on the voting rights movement, began after the questionable election of 2000. Through public scrutiny, legal challenges, and mobilization of poll watchers, it was able to counter election manipulation, voter suppression, black box voting irregularities, and to begin restoring voting rights to felons who had served their terms.
3. Happiness got redefined. As people discovered that debt and overconsumption cause stress to families, the planet, and each of us, many turned instead to friends, family, good works, spirituality, and personal growth as the keys to a good life.
4. Media became radically decentralized and inclusive, with anyone able to report on events and to post video, tweets, photos, and commentary. Governments found secrecy much harder to come by. Fact checking became a participatory activity.
5. Prison overcrowding, budget shortfalls, and powerful advocacy turned the public against draconian prison terms and the drug war in favor of limited prison time for nonviolent offenses and alternatives like treatment and community service.
6. People went local to rebuild the economy. Instead of competing to get corporations to locate in their communities, they began building economies based on local strengths and local needs, striving to be green and to offer living wages and dignity to employees. Worker-owned cooperatives are at the leading edge of this movement, especially in abandoned rust-belt cities. The new focus is on sustainably meeting the needs of ordinary people, not the greed of Wall Street.
7. Populist resistance grew to corporate power and big government. This movement pushed back against bailed-out Wall Street banks, the domination of health insurance and Pharma in the health care debate, and the power of big coal and big oil. Right-wing think tanks and media tried to morph this populism into an anti-Obama movement, so far with limited success. (But if Obama continues to capitulate to a corporate agenda, he could be in trouble with populists across the political spectrum.)
8. The stage was set for nuclear abolition: A global consensus grew around the need to abolish nuclear weapons. In the United States, conservatives like George Shultz are advocates along with progressive leaders.
9. Indigenous people’s rights were recognized in an official United Nations declaration. Indigenous peoples began using their new-found clout to protect their ways of life and the biosphere, stewarding sources of invaluable cultural and biological diversity.
10. The United States elected an African-American president. While this didn't usher in a utopian post-racial society, it did show the power of multi-racial organizing. And it set the stage for long over-due remedies to racial disparities and segregation. But, as has been painfully clear, it does not guarantee progressive policies will come out of the White House.
11. A new guiding philosophy emerged based on respect for all people and all life. This approach is gaining power after both neoliberalism and neoconservatism proved themselves out of touch with the challenges faced by humanity – and out of ideas. The Earth Charter, formally launched in 2000, received endorsements of thousands of organizations representing millions of people during the ‘00s, revealing the potential for a new worldview to take hold based in environmental sustainability and social justice.
12. A “Survival” Movement swept the world; millions took action to confront the climate crisis, making changes at home and at work, greening cities, resisting coal and deforestation. Look to this movement to grow rapidly, post-Copenhagen.
While I think several of those identified in her article are important, and have potential to make significant innovations in the economic and political landscape, I think there are some other innovations that have vast potential worth noting. These include:
* Access to purified water through low tech solutions. These include the Kissi water filter, potter Tracy Hawkins Filter Pure system, and PlayPump International's great merry go 'round systems. The ramifications of these inventions and the not-for-profit movement supporting them can result in over 1 billion people having necessary access to clean water.
* Computer access through self-meshing systems: Mesh networks have the potential to link remote areas throughout the world and to decentralize internet service provision to hundreds of millions of people. When combined with educational programs and aid, such as through One Laptop Per Child, the impact can be leveraged in some amazing ways.
* The explosion of micro-lending programs: Starting with the work of organizations like Grameen Bank, for which Mohammed Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, a wide array of organizations has emerged over the past decade. These organizations tend to focus their efforts on small groups, especially women, in the most impoverished regions of the world, with the goal of breaking the cycle of poverty. These efforts result in extraordinary success stories and freedom from social and economic oppression. The multiplier effects of micro-credit are just beginning to be realized.
What innovations would you rate as most important this past decade? What do you think of the ideas offered by Sarah Van Gelder, or by me? Continue the conversation!
-Harry
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Hula Hooping and Change -- Exercising Our Minds and Our Brains
This morning's UW-MANIAC learning event was a real treat, as we first focused our energies on applying the Seven Levels of Change model to a real issue at the university, then totally shifted our gears (and bodies) to enter the world of hula hooping with Adam Grieve.
Last month, we learned Rolf Smith's "Seven Levels of Change" model and played with a few of its tools. The group was then challenged to step up and identify a real UW issue and see if we could apply Smith's approach to it. SOAR offered to engage us in this process, so that today we generated ideas related to how SOAR could engage its student employees in the process of improving its program. Using Smith's brainwriting tool, we generated dozens of ideas in 15 minutes! Hopefully, there will be some valuable 'nuggets' contained within, so the consulting team can pursue them with the SOAR staff. Stay tuned for updates as this process unfolds...
We then introduced "The Hoop Man," Adam Grieve, a PhD student in Ed Psych with a passion for hula hoops. Adam makes them, demonstrates them, shares his passion and gets others excited about trying them out -- which we did with gusto! Here is an example of one of Adam's hooping good times:
Watch this blog for additional video from the MANIAC experience!
Overall, not a bad way to start a snowy day...
Harry
Last month, we learned Rolf Smith's "Seven Levels of Change" model and played with a few of its tools. The group was then challenged to step up and identify a real UW issue and see if we could apply Smith's approach to it. SOAR offered to engage us in this process, so that today we generated ideas related to how SOAR could engage its student employees in the process of improving its program. Using Smith's brainwriting tool, we generated dozens of ideas in 15 minutes! Hopefully, there will be some valuable 'nuggets' contained within, so the consulting team can pursue them with the SOAR staff. Stay tuned for updates as this process unfolds...
We then introduced "The Hoop Man," Adam Grieve, a PhD student in Ed Psych with a passion for hula hoops. Adam makes them, demonstrates them, shares his passion and gets others excited about trying them out -- which we did with gusto! Here is an example of one of Adam's hooping good times:
Watch this blog for additional video from the MANIAC experience!
Overall, not a bad way to start a snowy day...
Harry
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