Asset Management rather than the S word

While watching a cool  video called “The Business Guide to Sustainability”, starring Bob Willard, he talks about people wanting to shove sustainability down business-people's throat. And of course the S word becomes a sore instead of a competitive advantage. Rather, he says, we should change the way in which we present this and start to call it asset management which is more fundamental and hits straight into economics - which is basically the same as sustainability.

My big question, however, is how can we help companies visualize and better manage all of their assets to not only help them make their assets more efficient but also more resilient to future change? How can we make this a tool to help leaders visualize their future?

Have you heard of any tools like this one? Let me know!

Using facebook prompts as research

So to experiment. 

I've decided to prompt my facebook community throughout a couple of weeks with pushy questions that could hopefully uncover patterns and create conversations. I'm still trying to figure out what the best way would be and would love your feedback. When is the best time to prompt? What type of questions should I post? To which answers should we listen to? How can we make people participate more? How can we create a bigger pool of participants?


As a first pass, I'm planning on stuff like this:
- Are you on facebook while you're at work? Why are you bored? What's missing?
- Is the owner of your business happy? Why do you think so?
- What is the most efficient part of your job?


The list isn't long yet. What could be other questions and prompts that could uncover insights for this project? Help me out and comment!

NYT blog: How I saved my company

There is a new section launching in the New York Times Business section called "How I Saved My Company". It will feature interviews with small business owners describing near-death business experiences and how they survived. The first video is up now and you can find the column at: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/how-i-saved-my-company/

So what saved the guy in the first video? I got the sense that he knew he had been successful before and realized that if the economy would come back he would be fine so he analyzed his costs and decided to kill his biggest one: office rent. He moved his company into his apartment with employees and all.

I guess even a small business like his can benefit from being more nimble.

Thanks to Elizabeth Glenewinkel for showing me such cool stuff! 

Why I care.

To get my head around what this project really means, I've jotted down the quick main theory here:


 THE BIG PROBLEM:
Only half of new businesses survive more than five years.
Most young businesses have leaders who pour their life into it.
Growth often leads to compromise the values that lead them to success.

CORE DESIGN CHALLENGE:
We need to drive toward solutions that improve the ability to own, manage, and engage in maturing organizations to help their leaders focus on sustaining and polishing their purpose.

________________________________________________________________

Acknowledging that this is a very complex problem and that this project is secondary to my work life, I want to push the boundaries by experimenting with new networks and tools which might help me gather insights, ideas and feedback. Let’s see what happens.

Please take a look at the doc and let me know of any people you'd think would be cool for me to talk to. And of course if you'd like to join we can create a project plan that suits our collective needs.

This is a fun challenge and a cool learning opportunity to push the boundaries of design thinking. Let´s work together, let’s create a partnership and build a system that will impact the most passionate people in today’s and tomorrow’s workforce.

How might you help out?

Your Organization's Mindful Maturing

 The name is set! The project is now called: YOUR ORGANIZATION'S MINDFUL MATURING.

Other thoughts were something to do with puberty or growing pains or even corporate acne but I went with something less visually disturbing and hopefully something that feels much more purposeful. What do you think? Should I go back to funky names? Or should I be able to say it in public without chuckling?

First Brain Dump

As I prepare an 'elevator pitch' for this project, the wall in my dining room has become the post-it jungle and I'm starting to get into this! Already I'm hoping to push methods complimentary and extra of what I would normally use at IDEO to push myself.

The post-it's explore names for the project, stories to inspire, why I believe this is a big deal, what's already out there, what if questions to start exploring the potential, and people to start observing. More details on that to come so stay tuned!

Well, hello there!

And so this project about your organization's maturing starts.

I'll be journaling all of the happenings of my CCA Leading By Design fellowship program here. It'll mostlty be just like a huricane: fast and dirty. Hopefully though, it will have some cool insights and visuals to share with y'all - whoever wants to see the process of design thinking live in action trying to figure out a hairy system-level need.

Please comment on anything!!! I'd love to hear about your methods and your ways of the world, and especially if you hate something! I love hate mail.