Here are a few design and design thinking related articles that caught my attention recently. Enjoy.
From Fast Company’s Think.Design blog by Ken Musgrave:
Recently I was reading about the need to recruit I-shaped people and T-shaped people for innovation in these articles:
As I glanced over them, I suddenly had a flashback to e-leadership, EQ vs. IQ and managing knowledge-workers. These were the terms for leadership competencies that were tossed around back in 2001. And, as part of my Management of Technology course work, I wrote an article comparing these leadership competencies from Deming’s philosophy on management, first published in the 1950s.
Demming’s leadership fundamentals revolve around the concept of “Everything is a system, and we are part of it.” His new leadership competencies are outlined by Scholtes in The Leader’s Handbook: Making Things Happen, Getting Things Done. (more…)
We are all creative. But, we need inspiration and motivation to turn our creativity into action. Lately, I have been too focused on details, and as a result, I am starting to feel disconnected from my creative side. Here is a reminder, at least for me, of the many ways we can inspire our creativity. What works for you?
As with anything in life, showing up is the first step. You need to prioritize and schedule your creative time. This may not seem like an inspiration strategy, but what came first: the chicken or the egg?! With that said, you do want to tune into your natural creative rhythm to avoid swimming against the current. For me, trying to engage in anything before my morning coffee is a futile exercise (i.e., I am not a morning person). However, by mid-afternoon my creativity starts to flow and by early evening I feel intense focus. My challenge is to work my life around my creative rhythm; like weeding the garden, it’s never ending work…..
To discover your natural creative rhythm, you just need to pay attention. Pay attention to when you feel most creative, when ideas are flooding out and when you can tap into that energy with ease. Once you find that rhythm, figure ways to arrange your life around it, however you can. Your creativity and productivity will thank you.
For me, there is something about the college environment, college town, … The diversity, intensity, energy, … it draws me in. For the next few weeks, I will be hanging around the University of Washington campus and University District in Seattle. No, it is not for my PhD, though that is something I would like to do.
Though I been to the University Bookstore before, this is my first time at the campus. It is quite large and very pleasant. Since it is the summer break, campus is also quiet. However, you will see many middle school kids running around (10-14 year olds) — future Huskies — which one of them is mine.
As I discover more about the area, I plan to upload photos to my Flickr account in the University of Washington set.
A recent MIT Sloan Management Review has published a research article on How to Manage Virtual Teams (registration is required). The research highlights the fact that virtual teams, despite their challenges, can deliver significant performance and outperform their colocated counterparts. The article also points out that any distance can be a challenge when it comes to collaboration.
Don’t underestimate the significance of small distances. Our research shows that performance is noticeably lower for teams with people located in the same building but on different floors when compared with teams where all members are on the same floor.
practical ideas on innovation and technology management.
