by dbward | Jul 5, 2022 | Tutorials
Last week’s post was about how to make videos. So I figured this week I’d let you in on my secret technique for writing blog posts!
It’s pretty simple, actually. I open my Outlook calendar, find an open 30-minute slot, and create an appointment with myself titled “Write a blog post.”
When the appointed time arrives, I briefly panic because I have no ideas whatsoever. This is apparently an essential part of the process, because I hardly ever skip it.
Then I take a deep breath and think about things I’ve done, read, heard, or thought during the past week. Is there a question I’ve been pondering, a book or article I enjoyed, an experiment I can report on, a thing I’ve made that I can share, or an experience I can recount? If the answer to all those questions is “Nope,” then I take a moment to regret my life choices and make a point to do better next week.
But most weeks there’s something I’ve read, wondered, created, or lived through which can serve as fodder for a blog post. So I get some paper and my favorite green pen, then start laying down an utterly unpublishable stream-of-consciousness jumble. I notice how much time is left in my 30-minute appointment (not much!!). And then I rework that jumbled-up mess into something resembling a point, a question, a recommendation, or an observation. This generally involves crossing out big chunks of text to uncover the one idea, phrase, or concept that might be worth sharing.
When the time is up, I press the appropriate button that schedules the post to be published… and I block another 30 minutes on my calendar for next week.
by dbward | Jun 27, 2022 | Tutorials, Uncategorized
Several years ago, a really smart buddy of mine suggested we are moving into a “post-text” world. He made a pretty compelling case that the rise of emojis, memes, videos, and other graphic-based communication products represented a fundamental shift in how humans communicate with each other.
Of course, text hasn’t exactly gone away yet (you are reading this blog post, for example), so “post-text” might be a bit of a misnomer. Still, I think he was on to something. In earlier eras we all used text for 90% of our communications (letters, memos, emails, reports, etc), with an occasional sketch or graph thrown in. But today our communication options are not limited to text on a page. Text as a medium isn’t gone entirely, but it’s also not the only game in town, and in many cases, it’s no longer the default mode.
Which brings me to this little explainer video I made. It’s about two and a half minutes long, and it shows you how to record a video using PowerPoint. Not to get too meta, but it’s a non-text-based message about how to make non-text-based messages. I hope you find it helpful and I’d love to see what videos you might make!
by dbward | Jun 20, 2022 | Misc Awesomeness
Here at ITK, we define innovation as “novelty with impact.” Just last week, it occurred to me to turn that definition into a graph, with Novelty along one axis and Impact along the other (seriously, how did I not think of this sooner?). At the low end of the Novelty axis, we find things that are Kinda Familiar, while at the high end things are Utterly Unique. Similarly, things at the low end of the Impact axis are Kinda Helpful, while the high end is full of products and services that SAVE THE WORLD.
So, the lower left quadrant might be minor innovations, things that are both kinda familiar and kinda helpful. The upper right quadrant is mega innovations. Both quadrants are innovative, just to different degrees. So far, so good, right?
OK, the really interesting thing isn’t in either of those quadrants. Instead, it’s this arrow that points down and to the right. I call it the Innovation Maturity Slope, and it shows what happens when an innovative product or service becomes… popular (so maybe we should call it the popularity slope?).
Here’s what’s happening along this slope: popularity leads to familiarity, which reduces novelty. People see the thing and respond “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of that.” But popularity also means more people benefit from the thing, which means impact increases.
The net result: popularity moves us down and to the right.
Think of what happens to an iPod, a cool new app, or the latest software development method. At first, a small number of early adopters use the thing, so it is relatively uncommon (high-N) and its impact is constrained to a relatively small group (low-I). It sits in the upper left quadrant. But later, everyone gets an iPod, discovers the app, or adopts Agile software methods. As more people use the thing and benefit from it, it becomes less novel but more impactful.
The reason I’m sharing this is to point out: this change can feel like a loss to the person behind the innovation. It might even feel like a failure, as if they “aren’t innovative anymore,” because their creation is less novel than it was before. It’s super easy to mistake a drop in novelty for a lack of innovation, even when impact is increasing. But the thing to remember is that novelty is not the point. For that matter, innovation isn’t the point either. Impact is the point – doing something that matters, solving a problem, creating value, helping people, making things better.
So if you are fortunate enough to see your project move to the right along the Impact axis, remember to count that as a sign of maturity and progress. It’s definitely a win.
by dbward | Jun 16, 2022 | Facilitation Tips, Misc Awesomeness
Team Toolkit is excited to announce that WE WROTE ANOTHER BOOK!!
It’s titled The Innovation Toolkit Handbook. In this book, several members of Team Toolkit share our specific practices and processes as clearly and directly as we can, along with some reflections on why we do what we do the way we do it. It’s not exactly a sequel to our first book. Instead, we think the characters from our first book would have wanted to read this one. Basically, this handbook takes you behind the scenes and fills in some gaps the website and first book don’t cover. You’ll find chapters about Team Toolkit’s culture, our certification process for new facilitators, and our method for developing new tools. We also share tips on how to use the tools, perspectives on failure, and commentary on a collection of adjacent topics that don’t quite have a home on our website.
You can get the PDF version for free right here. It’s also available as a paperback for $8.35 (plus shipping).
by dbward | Jun 6, 2022 | Facilitation Tips, Misc Awesomeness
This week’s post is by Manya Kapikian and Bill Donaldson
Eyes sparkling, front paws down, stick in mouth, a tail that’s wagging like a helicopter propeller at warp speed. That’s what my dog does when he indicates he’s ready to play. At 7, he’s a mature adult dog with a sense of curiosity, wit, and zest for life.
Associated as a part of childhood, human adults seemed to forget what their animal counterparts have not. Play is an activity that is never to be outgrown. Stuart Brown, author of Play, talks about how play helps children develop as individuals and members of a society. For children, play offers the opportunity to learn and grow, while having a bit of fun along the way. Many adults, on the other hand, are missing out on that benefit.
Brendan Boyle, Founder, IDEO Play Lab wrote: “Work doesn’t have to be serious to be impactful. In fact, we tend to get our best ideas when we break out of the usual routine and have a little fun.”
And so, play became a topic of conversation during a recent Lunch and Learn. The ITK facilitator asked the group: how do you increase play and playfulness during a meeting to increase innovation?
There were many activities that came up during the discussion. Some could be done virtually while others required everyone be in the same room. Here are a few of our activities that were successfully used as captured from the meeting that we’d like to pass along to you:
Rock, Paper, Scissors. If you are looking for an in-person activity, nothing brings out the best of a competitive spirit than Rock, Paper, Scissors. To learn how to play, visit The Official Rules of Rock Paper Scissors. Tip: Whoever loses, becomes the winner’s best friend. By the time you get to the end there’s two people in the room with a fan base behind them. (Warning: This can get loud!)
Group Thumb War. (Yes, this is exactly as it sounds and we can’t wait to try it!). Another in-person group activity. It is based on Jane McGonigal’s book Reality is Broken and to get a sense of what a room full of people thumb wrestling is like, check out the TED video Massive Multiplayer Thumb Wrestling
Animal Sketch Competition. This can be done either in-person or virtual. An excellent energizer, especially before activities like a design studio. It requires a pencil/pen and some paper. A moderator picks out an animal for participants to sketch. There are 3 rounds of sketching the same animal. Each round gets faster and faster – 1 minute, 30 seconds, 10 seconds. The group picks the winning sketch. The artist of the winning sketch gets to pick the animal for the next round.
Music Playlist. This can be done either in-person or virtual. Have a playlist or theme of the day and associate it with music. Play at the beginning as people are coming into the room and close the meeting with a song or two once business is done.
Why were these activities a success?
They were successful because they helped people relax and get into their creative zone. Let’s take the animal sketch competition. Our colleague Jordan uses that often when he starts a design session. He explained,
“You ask them to draw out a cat and it’s amazing how creative people get quickly. By the time they hit round 3, where it’s 10 seconds, people are fired up. They’re laughing. They’re playful. It’s a quick way to get a group in a more fun headspace. It’s a little bit like warming up before exercising right like you’re stretching you know the creative muscles and flexing a little bit and that when you so when you do go into an activity. You are over that hurdle of ‘I can’t sketch anything’ because everybody clearly did 3 rounds of sketching.”
Try it out!
To inject a little bit of play at work requires a little bit of thought and foresight. It could depend on the group, the topic at hand, how much time do you have. An activity can take a few minutes, or even seconds. The examples we gave may take a few minutes. It can also take a few seconds by simply asking everyone picking to pick an emoji or a picture that best describes their mood.
There’s a world of play waiting to be discovered. Below are additional resources. Leave a comment, we’d love to hear about what’s worked for you!
Additional Resources:
Photo credit: Takashi Hososhima
