“Although the case has been argued for many years that enterprise skills should be embedded into curriculum at all levels – our next generation is entering a very different work environment – fast-paced, flexible and high levels of connectivity. Wi-Fi and smart phones mean that new entrepreneurs will (and in fact, already) have the global marketplace at their fingertips. A collaborative mindset, networking know-how and creative thinking is now just as important as traditional business skills such as finance and strategy.”

Image by KTVee on Flickr

1. Academic excellence no longer translates to job security. There are simply not enough jobs for the high calibre graduates that are we developing. Young people, from all walks of life, will need to find ways to differentiating themselves in the marketplace. Part of this requires a dedication to learning outside of the classroom and pursuing personal interests. With the abundance of online content available for learning, knowledge exchange and engagement (e.g. TED talks) there are ample opportunities for this.

Young people will need to develop their individual and unique skills to build their careers. Professor Steven Gold of Babson College, Massachusetts, who also sat on the panel, described this as the entrepreneurial process of effectuation. Rather than identifying a goal and finding the resources to achieve it (causation), entrepreneurs identify their resources and build their enterprise around what they have available.

2. Digital tools and literacy need to be integrated into all learning, not seen as a separate subject.  An article from John Naughton covers this brilliantly (HT Neil Perkins), where he argues that we need to move from ICT (information and communication technology) training to ICT education – making the transition from technology ‘how-to’ more to enabling a digital mindset and encouraging exploration.

As it’s possible to set up a website and gain an online presence at very little or no cost, particularly with the intention of 100% free Wi-Fi in Barbados, there is a real opportunity to naturally prepare young people for enterprise. Granted, the next generation are growing up with digital more integrated into their lives, but let’s not forget the interpersonal and creative thinking skills that can help them use these tools to their full potential.

3. Re-define what business looks like. You don’t need a massive amount of capital to get a knowledge-based business going. Business doesn’t have to mean a fancy office and expensive suits. It’s increasingly becoming one person on their laptop working from co-working spaces and cafes, engaging in regular pop-up businesses and projects with other entrepreneurs.

It’s no longer about hierarchy and sitting at the top of the pyramid, but about your networks and the quality of connections you have. People operating in this environment need flexibility, agility, ability to work with different types of people and collaborate (and we do believe effective collaboration is a skill!), good communication and project management, creative thinking and problem solving, as well as clearly being able to articulate their knowledge and expertise.  Let’s introduce young people to the notion of ‘portfolio working’ early.

4.  The role of teaching and learning. A young person now has access to a bank of (online) knowledge that is far greater than any single teacher can provide. So, teachers also become facilitators of learning (another term from Babson College). Their role is just as important in encouraging students to develop the lifelong skills and tools that will help them to operate in the 21st century workplace – something we aim to do with our INCUBE8 project.

The think-tank Demos held an event a few months back where 21st century work was described as that which involves: multiple job changes, working in smaller companies, people just as likely to be employers as employees, and many working in industries that don’t currently exist. It’s impossible to base current and future education on how we experienced ours, as much of the material will be out-of-date by the time the next generation are ready to start work.

In addition, the event described how employers are increasingly looking for soft skills alongside technical ones: resourcefulness, adaptability, creativity, communication, people skills, self-management, team-working, problem-soving and critical thinking. Sounds a lot like an entrepreneur to us, and demonstrates that entrepreneurial skills aren’t just of relevance to those that want to work for themselves, but for anyone that wants to operate successfully in a professional environment.

Preparing young people for 21^st century entrepreneurship means preparing them for an unpredictable journey during which they will continue to learn and develop, and will need to adapt to a variety of challenges.

More reading:

10 skills you need to survive the job market (Guardian). With links to:

• Future Work Skills 2020 (PDF)
• The Start-up of You (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times)

The talk brought up lots of questions on how we decide who to collaborate with.  We really liked the point that Celine Condorelli and Ulla-Maaria Engeström were making – that we choose who to work with based on our values, but those values develop the more we work with others.  So essentially, the more we collaborate, the better we get at knowing who we will work with best.

So perhaps we should practice collaborating, and find ways to make those practice runs non-monetary and playful, so that the main aim is to learn a bit more about how we work.  Perhaps we also shouldn’t get put off if our first attempt at collaborating doesn’t go so well.  Collaboration is a skill so the more we do it, the easier it becomes.

Photo: Guy Archard.  From the OK Talk event organised by OK Do.

One of the breakout sessions was Developing Successful Partnerships, run by Red Ochre’s own Penny Daly.  The aim of the session was to help social enterprises start thinking about how they might form consortiums in order to access projects.  It was even suggested that forming partnerships to respond to tenders might soon no longer be an option but a necessity.

As well as the advantages of collaboration (efficiency, improved thinking, diversity, wider reach), the session looked at the ways people form partnerships – sometimes because it feels right, sometimes because they’ve been forced upon us.  But either way they can be both chaotic and powerful. If you get the right people and processes in place, partnership working can be successful, but it takes trust and preparation at the early stages.    Attendees were advised to start thinking now about who they might like to partner up with and start networking to develop those contacts.  To help with this, Red Ochre has developed a Cultural Diagnostic which asks 100 questions around 9 key dimensions (such as communication practices, vision/mission/values, and decision processes) to help identify an organisation’s culture and suggest who they should be working with.

The session also covered the different structures that partnerships might work under – from setting up a separate legal entity to give the collaboration it’s own identity, to having a lead contractor, or even an external non-delivering organisation that manages the partnership.  But overall, the workshop emphasised the importance of understanding the ‘people’ element of collaboration, as this is where most problems arise.

For more information on Red Ochre, visit www.redochre.org.uk

Maybe the reason we avoid collaborating with those with different views is because of potential disagreements.  But in most partnerships, there’s likely to be some kind of conflict at some stage, which can often be very fruitful in generating ideas.  So it’s not that we should always avoid conflict in collaboration, but we should ensure that we have strategies for moving on from it and leveraging the productive parts.

So how about this for a strategy for getting over conflict?  Agree on the points that you disagree on, and then discuss the potential areas of development around those points.  Perhaps this is where the most interesting and innovative things will happen.

This post is the first of two inspired by the discussion at the OK Do talk on ‘Strategies for Participation’ as part of the London Design Festival.

Photo: Guy Archard.  The collaborative breakfast served at the OK Talk events organised by OK Do.

Creative Boom London kindly wrote a fantastic review of the workshop which covers all of these points (and more) in detail.

Thanks to Andrew for the link!

Delivered in Beta from KS12 on Vimeo.

We spent the weekend in the fab offices of Wieden+Kennedy for the equally excellent Culture Hack Day 2011.

The question “Can you play nicely with other creative minds?” was painted in huge letters across one of the walls.

It’s a good one to ask ourselves from time to time.  It’s not always as easy as we think.

Photo from Culture Hack Day on Flickr.

On first impressions, the pieces in the exhibition seem to be un-related.  There are no visual or obvious themes running throughout.  But with a little time, the connection becomes more apparent.  There is a real depth and mystique to each piece, created by knowing that there was more than one individual behind it.  You find yourself stopping to imagine the conversations, the disagreements and the laughter that put each piece together.

And for the creatives, the final product is just a small part of a larger process.  They’ve had the opportunity to think about what they can do, and how much further they can stretch their practice by getting together with someone else.  They’ve been encouraged to be critical of themselves and each other, and think outside their usual realm of what is creatively possible.

Calligraffiti: Craig Ward/Sean Freeman/Alison Carmichael

There are the collaborations which provide a solution: Fred Butler/No Days Off’s campaign for an 8-day week, BCMH/Smith & Weightman’s alternative currency, and Praline/The Model Shop’s new font based on architectural shapes.  There’s the conceptual and abstract, where you’re keen to be let in on the ‘secret’ between the collaborators, or at least part of the conversation – when did Job Wouters/Roel Wouters decide what to wear for their film about numbers and the Rainbow spray-painting machine?!

Some collaborations are more practical, where artists chose to combine their specific technical skills: the illustrative Rob Ryan/Michael Marriott chair, Sam Messenger/Bart Long’s abstract canvas in vinyl and timber, and Jim Stoten/Andy Rementer’s series of illustrations.  And then there are the collaborations where it looks like a whole lot of fun was had developing the ideas: With Associates/Anthony Dickens interactive timepiece, Chrissie MacDonald/Marie O’Connor playful figures in wood and scrap material, and Karlssonwilkier/FrankDeRose music track (this is BRILLIANT!).  Details of all 33 collaborations can be found here.

The exhibition catalogue (available for £15) includes interviews with all the creatives and looks at the collaboration processes in detail (interesting to know that the most common challenge for the collaborators was managing their time).  The exhibition runs until 23 January, and it’s an essential visit if you want clear examples of the potential of creative collaboration.

www.ifyoucould.co.uk/collaborate

Before you start

Two things to bear in mind when using online networks:

1. Don’t just see social media as a way of broadcasting your message.  Although online networks provide a quick and easy way of getting your news out, remember another use is to enable conversations (hence the ‘social’ part of its label!).  Social media tools allow you to build relationships and connect with people you might not have had the opportunity to before – e.g. those outside of your usual network, in other industries or countries.
2. Don’t just view social networking as a way of increasing direct sales*.  In the same way you might go to a private view, swap a few business cards and perhaps find a way of working with your new contacts a few months later, it also takes time to build relationships online.  Simply see it as an web-based version of face-to-face networking.

* Social media can be used to engage your direct customers/clients, but here we’re talking about how you can use online tools to connect with other creatives and access new business opportunities.

Building your online profile

Think about what potential collaborators might find interesting about you and your work.  At a most basic level it’s an extension of your brand – the creative work that you produce, your specialist talents and previous experience.  But on a deeper level it’s also about establishing trust, and helping others to identify that they want to work with you.  It might even be that who you’re already connected to helps them to decide this (LinkedIn is great for this, and tools like The Collabregator map existing connections in London).

Highlighting your skills

Being open to collaboration also means being open to what you might actually bring to a project.   Although you might be a product designer, it doesn’t mean the only thing that you can contribute is product design.  There will be other skills that might be of use – e.g. your approach to creative briefs, your knowledge of a particular material, or your inside knowledge about an area of the industry. Think broadly about what makes you unique, identify it, then put it out there!  As well as the usual networks mentioned above that enable you to create online profiles, there are also sites specifically set-up for creative individuals to showcase their skills for potential projects.  One example is Skillbasket which aims to be an online marketplace to buy, sell or trade creative skills and services.

Finally…
Choose to get involved with collaborations that are going to contribute to your brand and practice – not detract from it.  Keep your online profile up-to-date by adding new collaborations and connections.     Don’t forget to keep an eye on what your online profile says – consider all the places potential collaborators might have access to information on you – do you Google yourself or your business regularly to find out?!

A large part of effective collaboration is developing and maintaining an online identity to attract potential collaborators – and you can also use the principles above to find people that you might want to work with.

What are the risks in collaborating?
The risks of collaborating for an individual creative practitioner /business include:
1. Damage to reputation – the quality of the outcome may be lower than independently-produced creative work
2. Creative ideas being ‘stolen’
3. Losing money, time or other resources
4. Efforts go unrecognised/undervalued/un-credited (thanks Bruno for this one!)

(remember these – they’re re-visited at the end of this post!)

Establishing trust
Trust can take a long time to develop, so what happens when you’re collaborating with someone you don’t know, or a collaborative project needs to be delivered quickly?  Is there a way of fast-tracking trust?

When working with someone for the first time, one way of minimising the above risks is to have a written agreement, which covers what happens if something goes wrong. Contracts exist to protect those involved, but they can sometimes be a contentious issue. Mairin Murray (@mairinmurray) said to me via twitter: “NDAs [non-disclosure agreements] jinx embryonic collaborations a bit like prenups – so we need alternatives”. Formats such as ‘manifestos’ tend to be morally-binding rather than legally-binding, but rely on the goodwill of others, potentially opening up the risk all over again.

Trust-worthiness
Some of the elements that make someone trustworthy are:
- Clarity of purpose – they state clearly what they want to get out of it
- Consistency – they do what they say they are going to do
- Reputation – they have a track record of delivering

Not only do we need to look for these qualities in others, we also need to make sure we have these ourselves so that we are also attractive potential collaborators.

Assessing the ‘risk’
When entering into a new collaboration, it’s important to keep all the above factors in mind to minimise the risk to your own creative practice.  But remember that the risks listed above can also easily be flipped around to make them opportunities!:
1. Reputation – the quality of the outcome may be even better than independently-produced creative work
2. Creative ideas could be developed further or more solutions generated
3. Costs and time can be reduced, and access provided to new resources
4. Being recognised as part of the collaboration can valuable for profile and business development

These ideas were developed during/after the ‘Achtung Baby: Trust – is it a good thing?’ session delivered by Islay Consulting at the Shine Unconference 2009.