October 2010

A Brief Case for Face-to-Face Collaborative Work Sessions

Submitted by Geoff Amidei on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 9:45am
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First, let me state for the record that I am not a Luddite. I am in fact a proponent of the nascent but rapidly evolving practice of virtual collaboration. I like technology, and innovation. And I believe that eventually, when the technology and available bandwidth catches up, there will be truly extraordinary power and value in virtual collaboration. Take advantage of the 24-hour clock. Keep costs down. Save the planet.

How to Disagree

Submitted by Geoff Amidei on Tue, 10/26/2010 - 8:55am
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As we enter into the online conversation in a more deliberate way, it’s possible, nay, likely, someone out there will disagree with something we put in here. I like a good argument as much as the next person, but let’s face it, we want to keep things civil.

Origins of Collaboration: Matt

Submitted by Matt Saiia on Fri, 10/22/2010 - 9:07am
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One of my favorite assignments from college came in an advanced drawing class. We were asked to work in pairs and create a series of images that represented both of us. Most pairs produced visual mash-ups of their individual styles, but something curious happened with our work. My partner and I created a set of images that were not only stylistically departures from our personal sensibilities, but they also could not be deconstructed into either of our individual hands. What we produced was a true co-creation, what today I would  recognize as an act of genuine collaboration.

“Collaborative consumption” | Collaboration might be closer to home than you think...like right next door

Submitted by Kate Dwyer on Tue, 10/19/2010 - 10:04am
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Clive Thompson highlights the evolution of peer-to-peer renting and sharing in his September article “Other People’s Property” in Wired. Peer renting isn’t a new concept but the Internet and social media have provided a platform that makes it a very plausible reality. The benefits of this type of collaboration are infinite. It’s convenient and efficient, environmentally responsible and economically viable…just to name a few.

Out of the Box?

Submitted by Mary Choi-Smith on Fri, 10/15/2010 - 8:00am
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How many times in a week do you hear the phrase “out of the box thinking”? And how many times do you actually see evidence of its application?

You only get out of the box if you get out of your box. For example, if you’re interested in innovative ideas to expand your customer base using social media, don’t just read the latest HBR article on why Twitter is or isn’t here to stay or browse the business books section at Barnes and Noble. Step out of your box. Explore. Here are some ways to get started:

Boston Design Talk: Brief Event Insights

Submitted by Mike LaRhette on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 6:11pm
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October seems to be the month of meetings in the Boston design scene. I managed to attend two of them last week, and while they were very different in nature they did share some common themes about design and design thinking: it is a discipline, a process, a field of study, a term going mainstream, and above all a business imperative.

On October 5th AIGA Boston hosted an evening discussion titled Design 2014: Harnessing the Power of Design Thinking Now.

Cool Collaboration in Action

Submitted by Geoff Amidei on Fri, 10/08/2010 - 8:57am
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Missouri entomologists team up with the military to solve the mystery of how honeybees are dying

In a sustained act of applied collaboration that harkens back to some of the great collaborations of our time, e.g., Watson and Crick collaborating to solve the structure of DNA, entomologists in Montana teamed up with military biologists in Maryland to make a real breakthrough in solving the epidemic of honeybee colonies collapsing in the United States.

Scribe Nugget: Implementation

Submitted by Kathy Clemons on Fri, 10/01/2010 - 11:24am
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Periodically we share our hand-drawn icons that emerge from our scribing work with our clients, not just because we think they're cool but so they may be re-used in some way in another form.