In July 2012, Paul Omerod spoke at the RSA on network effects. He described this as positive linking – but not because the effects of networks are all positive. His contention is that – especially in economics – we tend to be subject to (but over look) network effects. Better attention to this trend could lead to a revolution in our…
Roman Krznaric is a cultural thinker and writer on the art of living. He is a founding faculty member of The School of Life in London, which offers instruction and inspiration on the important questions of everyday life, and advises organisations including Oxfam and the United Nations on using empathy and conversation to create social change. He has developed the concept of outrospection – the…
In June 2013, I worked with some colleagues, the Health Foundation and 80 staff and patients from hospitals in England – we wanted to get to grips with the idea of return-on-investment. We were working in the Wallace Space – where they attend to every detail, care for you as you think. We were inspired by several impulses and observations:…
The immersive entertainments’ industry puts me in mind of a way of innovating that has some of the qualities of an intimate dynamic, but without the grit and pushback of the face to face. In this version of events reader and viewer participate in the involved narrative – they get lost in the plot there is a blurring of the…
When thinking about roles at work, maybe it is worth thinking about fantasy. Indeed, the idea of ‘what role do you play’ implies something about imaginary drama – about the play- within-the play. At a conference in Elsinore in Denmark, I attended a socio drama workshop. The session was led by Ron Weiner. He described us to each other as ‘each…
One of the interesting features of immersion technology is the blurring of the ‘role of the author’ – and this takes me to the idea of linking ‘authoring’ with ‘authority’. So… who has instigated this? who is in charge of the outcome? who has the ending in mind? who knows what to include and what to leave out? who knows…
In his Art of Immersion, Frank Rose speaks of the characteristics of ‘immersive experience’ – in the entertainment industry. His book is about the re-invention of Hollywood. I think the a astonishing parallels – metaphorically speaking – between his account of immersion in multi platform entertainment and the intimate experience of leading, following, and innovating. I am aware that I…
A few months ago I heard a radio programme about ‘marble hornets‘ and their protagonist, slender man. I was doing something else at the time – but something about the ideas and the language stuck with me. I heard tell of trans media story telling – where stories get told across many many different platforms, all at the same time…
Radical Efficiency: different, better, lower cost public services (Research Paper by NESTA, 2008) Report that argues for a radical approach to public service design and delivery. Principles include: Make true partnerships the best choice for everyone Enable committed, passionate and open-minded leaders to emerge from anywhere Start with people’s quality of life not the quality of your service Work with…
Adam Phillips writes in Equals (Faber & Faber 2002): ‘In 1945, just after the end of the War, Lacan came to London as a French psychiatrist to find out about the effect of the War on British psychiatry. His report on his visit, British Psychiatry in the War, was published early in 1947. What Lacan is evidently most impressed by…
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