“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 initiative, championed by the Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation (BEF), is just one in a range of programmes to make the country the world’s entrepreneurial hub by 2020, and a very significant one.

We met with Chris Harper, Programme Manager of the BEF a while back, who explained that the provision of free education in Barbados has contributed to its 99.7% literacy rate and now it’s time to translate that to digital literacy. The aim is to encourage companies and other public spaces to open up their Wi-Fi so that anyone, anywhere on the island can get onto the web at any time, including in outdoor spaces. The initiative catchphrase “From Rum Shop to Bus Stop” is reflective of Barbados’ culture, but doesn’t mean there is any less focus on achieving what can be gained with island-wide free Wi-Fi access.

Map from WifiSpottr showing Wi-Fi spots in Barbados. Many of the spots also cover their surrounding areas.

Considering how relatively easy and low-cost it can now be to set up an online presence, and participate in conversations online, free Wi-Fi access will mean that previously untapped entrepreneurial talent can be exposed to a global knowledge bank and market providing them with many opportunities for staying up-to-date, connecting and collaborating with those across the world. The digital divide will become narrower as more people, regardless of economic background will be able to get online to do business, which for many will be through their mobile devices.  And Barbados also becomes a more attractive place internationally, as both a holiday and business destination.

The initiative has meant that Barbados has moved from about 1% free wireless access to almost 75% 60% within a year. Most of this success has been dependant on the great culture of sharing, together with support from Government, the public and private sectors and telecommunications providers. The Free Wi-Fi Barbados? Wi-Not? campaign is run entirely by volunteers, and includes the WiFiSpottr app which maps Wi-Fi spots across the island.

Although the project is still in relatively early stages, the map shows the great progress that has been made, and the campaign has attracted support from over 16000+ people on Facebook – but this only shows those that already have some kind of access to the web.  The Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation is now working with public organisations such as community centres, demonstrating that making people aware of the possibilities provided by digital literacy and internet access is just as important as the actual connectivity.

Read the official press release here

Hydar has been a freelance photographer since April 2010 (although he started practicing in 2002), when he left his job as a technical support engineer at Microsoft.  But he hasn’t left his technology background behind him completely, it’s still very much a part of his practice, and it’s provided him with a unique take on collaboration.

Hydar in Paris. Photo by Thomas Crossman

 “We can’t only justify being individuals because we all need to do something together”. Hydar Dewachi

On inspiration

“When it comes to creativity, I enjoy working with other people.  Not just with other artists, but a group of people with different skills that can each add something to the mix”.  Recently, Hydar was commissioned to photograph the WAKE exhibition by Arts Admin at Dilston Grove – a six-week project where artists were invited to undertake a mini-residency, each picking up where the previous left off.  Although as photographer, Hydar was more of an observer, the act of being in an evolving collaborative environment like this enabled him to draw inspiration from the work that developed. Collaborations and conversations are most valuable when they bring people together with different expertise.

On ‘minglism’

Together with his friend Xavier Pick – a painter who mixes his work with digital photography – they developed the term “minglism” when they had the idea to combine their work and mediums. They preferred to let the collaboration develop organically rather than forcing it. “When we first met, we didn’t know how we were going to work with each other, so each time we had a conversation, we would record it.  A lot of conversations get lost if you don’t record them.”

On skills

“It used to be ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ but now I believe being a jack of all trades is mastery in itself” says Hydar. “You don’t need to be perfect in one thing, but you do need to have a wide range of skills, for example, if you’re taking pictures to be shown on a website, your knowledge of technology will help you to know what works in that medium”. Artists should reconsider how they define their skills.  Those that say they only do one thing are limiting themselves, as now you’re expected to have a range of skills just to practice your art – e.g. a photographer might use film but will still need to know how to scan them for digital use. Just as important is the ability to define those skills, and talk about them, so that others’ know your capabilities for potential collaborations.

On combining creativity, technology and identities

Hydar has always been sure to talk about all sides of his work – whether he’s someone that works in IT doing photography (when he was at Microsoft), or a photographer that used to work in IT (currently) – and these multiple identities regularly make an appearance in his practice.  A recent project explored the use of Google Earth for showing work.  Not a new thing, but Hydar used his comfortable relationship with technology to show that an art doesn’t always have to be in an exhibition – it can be online too.  “The project is to show my journey to become a British Citizen, and the distance I’ve travelled. After a year, I realised I didn’t need to be either Iraqi or British, I could be both nationalities together”.

This mingling and fusing is clearly demonstrated through Hydar’s website, which he has designed and developed himself to showcase his work – an online photographic gallery, a digital flick-through of his journals containing notes, sketches and collages; and PDF downloads of text pieces reflecting on his Iraqi heritage and dual nationality.   Hydar has developed an approach which means that he happily combines disciplines, skills and experiences, and has an openness to working with others to learn and develop his practice.

More info and examples of Hydar’s work at www.dewachi.com

Image courtesy Mindful Maps

Visual facilitation is one of the most the most interactive ways of working visually. It essentially combines facilitation with graphic harvesting (sometimes known as graphic recording or graphic facilitation) The two roles of facilitator and harvester can be played by a team or two or more people, or by one person playing both roles. In our experience, it works best when the graphic harvester is co-facilitating or interacting with another facilitator. This emergent mode of practice is used in various settings; meetings, conferences, vision-building activities, one-to-one, in groups and in communities.

Effective collaboration makes the most of the ideas and skills of all of those that are involved,  and good communication is integral to this.  Visual facilitation can be seen as a process to support collaborative and co-creative working. This post explores the relationship between the two.

At the beginning of a collaborative project or during creative brainstorming, great discussions come from diverse, unformed ideas.  Although a text document is a good record of what was said, it doesn’t capture the links, tangents or organic development that the conversation takes, as well as the energy and excitement in the group. Cue visual facilitation…

A group working next to a visualisation of their conversation; they can use the image to illustrate their points. Image courtesy of Mindful Maps.

• Visual facilitation captures relevant or interesting information that might otherwise get lost in communication. By using the power of illustration, we can help emergent ideas to materialise through the simple act of getting things down on paper. This then gives the group something to talk around which enhances the quality of the conversation, rather than going into ‘cycles’ where people repeat themselves and the communication gets stuck. Visual representation can also help spark more ideas and keep creativity flowing.

• The act of visualising something in a live setting improves the group memory. 80% of what we learn, we process visually – seeing something articulated and expressed as it happens gives a more lasting memory and learning of the event. Whereas a text document provides a record of the conversation after it has taken place, visual facilitation creates good reference points during the conversation.  Allowing people to see the discussion as it develops helps to create an instant memory and deepens its quality.

• When we visualise something as it’s happening, we enable people to have their voices heard. Documenting what someone says means it is taken more seriously, and visual facilitation can certainly be used as a tool to give people a voice regardless of their position, age, race or gender within the group.  A visual facilitator can pick on the quieter but equally valuable points and include them in the conversation.  Seeing something you’ve said being written or drawn in front of a group is empowering, giving you the confidence to contribute even more.

• Visual facilitation can help a new group to find a shared language. Sometimes when discussing new ideas and concepts, it can be difficult to articulate what we’re thinking.  Visual expression can often help us to move forward by communicating things in images when we don’t quite have the words.

• Working collaboratively can enhance the visual facilitator’s role. Although the graphic harvesting process is valuable to collaborative working in itself, when a visual practitioner works collaboratively to make images they can help people visualise things themselves. If people can make images themselves the process is more powerful. Working in this interactive way, the visual facilitator can help other to explore their creativity. By sharing these skills we can enable others to make images and think visually.

Our 5 top tips for making the most of visual facilitation

1. Ensure that the meeting is well-organised in the first place. Ask the right questions, have the right people there, keep on track, and ensure everyone gets a say.

2. Don’t leave the visual at the meeting or stick it in a cupboard. Transfer it to a shared online space to remind everyone throughout the project, of where it started. Take good quality photographs and share them.

3. Keep the physical object up for a few days – to further enhance memory and spark new thoughts about the process.

4. Use the visuals as tools to do further work from – bring them out in meetings and workgroups and to help write documents.

5. There is still a place for linear, text documents. They provide a good record of the discussion and can be used to clarify points.  Use both visualisation and text documents alongside each other to enhance the process.

Thanks to Emily Wilkinson of Mindful Maps for co-writing this post.

Time for a technology slow down?

Image by dogbomb on Flickr

Aleks Krotoski (Technology writer and broadcaster) explained how the web has provided exceptional opportunities for social interaction. The ability to make new connections and collaborate with speed is a positive development.  Our technology keeps us connected to the greatest archive that the world has ever seen.  But Krotoski also noted that as humans, we don’t always have the capacity to deal with this, particularly in terms of synthesising information.  As Nick Tyler (Chadwick Professor of Civil Engineering) stated, the rate of human evolution is much slower than the rate of technological evolution, so engineers need to start developing solutions that place the human first.

Perhaps this explains the discomfort that many individuals experience in trying to surf this wave  – they feel constantly behind, they don’t feel ready.  One audience member commented how she feels ‘forced’ to engage. Is it all moving too fast for us all to comprehend?

Sherry Turkle, author of the book “Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other”, brings together 15 years of research on the impact of technology on our relationships.   Turkle says that it’s time for us to reassess how we’re using the web in line with the effect that it’s having on our behaviour, social etiquette and ability to communicate.  The answer is not to refer to it as an ‘addiction’ – technology is not going away.  But, we do need to look at issues such as privacy and how the ‘always-on’ culture is affecting our (and particularly young people’s) ability to be alone and to communicate effectively with others.  In one piece of research she found that business students prefer texting to real-time interaction.

Re-connecting with real-time communication

So it’s interesting that some technology being developed is focussing on how to enhance real-time visual interaction, as opposed to text-based.  Something that could have a major impact on the way that dispersed teams collaborate.  At the NESTA event, Richard Harper (Microsoft) explained that a reason that video conferencing hasn’t taken off in the workplace as yet, is that people prefer text-based communication to real-time as it gives them time to edit – it’s a performance issue.  He noted that on a basic level, people don’t like leaving voice mail messages because they don’t trust themselves to get it right first time.

At the same time, the technology capabilities are now improving.  Previously there were issues with quality and connectivity.  Now, as Nick Sheppard (CISCO) described, it’s almost impossible to buy a new communication device that doesn’t have video capabilities.  It’s something that we’re being increasingly exposed to, and it’s changing the face of communication, literally.

The future of video communications

Image by axel.voitier on Flickr

At NESTA’s Digital You event we heard from two companies at the forefront of video conferencing.  Gostai describe their Jazz Robot (pictured) as a “skype on wheels”, providing a two-way live video link to a location, but is mobile, enables interaction with colleagues and can be used to observe surroundings.    So for example, rather than cutting off the virtual communications at the end of a meeting, the robot enables an individual to maintain their presence.  Even though the image of interacting with a robot raised a few giggles at the event, Gostai have made it a reality.

body>data>space have been researching the area of telepresence which they describe as “realtime performance or connections using the internet to link two or more remote spaces”. This includes how technology can portray gesture development and body movement, particularly in the skills that young people will need for their future social and professional interactions.  They have a range of fascinating projects which explore the use of technology to enhance collaborative practice, one of which is the NESTA-funded Robots and Avatars.  Ghislaine Boddington (Creative Director, body>data>space) mentioned however, that when they run their projects they develop a timeline which integrates both physical and virtual meeting points.  This method of hybrid communication, she says, is vital in terms of building trust.

Virtual communication over physical?

And this is a key point in that ongoing question: will virtual replace physical?  In a word, no.  It was clear from all of the speakers, and in fact both events, that these tools are not a replacement, but are providing us with a wider choice in how we communicate.  What’s important is that future development takes human needs and psychology into account, and in turn we become better at recognising when it’s more appropriate to meet in person or when it’s relevant to use digital communications.  As one speaker remarked, “video is better than e-mail, but not better than face-to-face” and we often need an in-person meeting to kick-off effective virtual communication in a project.

Furthermore, it’s important for us to not blame online tools for unsuccessful collaboration.  People collaborate, not technology – it’s just there to make the process easier.  The team has to be right in the first place, have the willingness to work together and the skills to ultimately get the job done.

Although the web is allowing people to connect with others despite time and their location, many companies still seem to be sticking to the notion of the ‘nine-to-five’ office.  The event looked to explore this and whether real opportunities for enhancing collaboration through online tools were being utilised.

DEGW, an architectural firm, and co-authors of “Working Beyond Walls” hosted the event, with contributions from Arup.  Discussion focussed on how workspaces and buildings have developed through the decades, with design mainly being based around synchronicity – everyone starts work at the same time and works in the same space.  They concluded that work spaces will always exist as offices give individuals a sense of identity, people to connect with and a culture to grow within.

However, in contrast, we have a wave of mobile/freelance workers that travel around, work when it suits them and connect flexibly with others using online tools.  We can’t ignore the fact that the nature of work, particularly knowledge-based work, is changing dramatically.  Furthermore, we have a generation of people growing up with social media and the culture that it brings, expecting that to be reflected in the workplace.    So, how are organisations going to respond to this?

Physical spaces are important, even for the individual entrepreneur.  Co-working spaces such as The Hub (for social entrepreneurs) and THECUBE (for creative entrepreneurs) have shown this.  They provide a sense of identity and social connections, but they are more fluid than the traditional office.  However, although people come and go as they please they are fertile environments for collaboration and connections.  There is a great energy and buzz as people from different areas meet and generate new ideas together.

It would be great to see more organisations adopting some this culture – beginning to encourage employees to connect around interests and motivations (some of which can be facilitated by online tools), rather than the fact that they happen to be located in the same space:

-          Encourage staff across departments to share best practice and working practices on areas of common interest, by using a wiki.  This can make up-to-date information easy to find and reduce duplication in output.

-          Develop a project-based culture, where staff work according to the tasks they need to complete as opposed to time they spend in the office.  Using online project management tools, teams communicate effectively with each other outlining what tasks they need to complete and by when.  Open and transparent communication can lead to greater personal responsibility and motivation.

-          Find ways of enabling staff to share bits of information and pose questions with a wide range of people quickly and easily (e.g. a micro-blogging tool such as Yammer) helping them to find answers quickly and increasing productivity.

-          Enable people to make connections, based on their interests, outside of their department, perhaps using an internal social network.  These conversations can encourage sparking of new ideas and innovation and potentially create new projects.

Then the role of the physical workspace begins to change – becoming more about supporting collaboration and connections – which could be reflected in its design and layout (see Bene’s trend report New Work Spaces on the changing office and work environments) but most certainly in its culture – a change in thinking, mindset and approach by the organisation, its managers and its staff to how work is carried out.  And that could be the most challenging part.

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.

Last month, on 8^th June, the first RewireLondon event took place, at Rich Mix in Shoreditch – a collaboration between Bracket and 8Fold.  RewireLondon was an unconference for the creative sector, an interactive and flexible event where the attendees were the driving force.  This meant that rather than curating the schedule completely with invited speakers, it was mostly left open for artists, writers, designers and other creatives to suggest and run their own sessions.

We started the day with Araceli Carmargo-Kilpatrick of THECUBE presenting her concept of “Ideas Engineering” and David Rowan, editor of WiredUK, discussing the iPad and the future of publishing.  As attendees got inspired by what they heard on the main stage, the schedule slowly filled up with a range of diverse and innovative sessions.  There were project showcases, collaborative problem solving, informal discussions and even meditation! The full list of sessions that took place is here.

What people commented on most throughout the day was the number of connections they were able to make with others across all creative sectors.  We’d intentionally set out to create a mix, as we know that the most innovative ideas can come from multi-disciplinary collaboration. And that was a key theme throughout the day – many sessions touched on this topic with in-depth discussions on how to kick-start creative ideas.

Everyone was keen to continue the conversations after the schedule had ended, so we were lucky to be able to do this over the delicious punch provided by the Courvoisier The Future 500.  As the cocktails flowed, so did the business cards – it was a great ending to a fantastic day!

Thanks to all involved – we’ve already had many requests to keep the event going, so watch this space.

www.rewirelondon.org