Designing Connections and Cultures
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A presentation, originally given to designers at TEDxPhx, about intentionally designing our cultures and the connections we have with each other.
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Designing Connections and Cultures
- 5. design principles emphasis rhythm balance unity contrast energy resonance intuition presence openness
- 6. energy
- 8. resonance
- 9. ripples
- 11. intuition
- 13. presence
- 14. openness
- 15. scaling it up?
- 18. memes and genes memes ideosphere social intercourse persuasion critical thinking “A-ha” moment ideas & innovation genes biosphere sexual intercourse seduction safe sex / condom orgasim children
- 22. small shifts can create monumental change
Editor's Notes
- So here we are…. A the design community…. In this gorgeous space…. having conversations about being urban catalysts.Which seems like a perfect environment for to start an open conversation about some questions I’ve been wrestling with, like…Can we intentionally design our connections and cultures?
- WHAT:So before we talk about designing connections, lets just celebrate them first. Think about all the connections in your life… your friends… and family… your colleagues…. The people who have inspired you (whether its your teachers and mentors…. or people you have never personally met but their ideas have had an impacted on you…. even people who have lived and died hundreds of years ago, but have left us their ideas and creativity… they still inspire us…. And teach us….Its amazing to me that we have this intellectual/emotional connection with each other…
- HOW:And what I think is going on is that this connection has a lot to do with the fact that our mind needs fuel.The same way our body needs food for fuel, our mind also needs energy (intellectually, socially, emotionally)Don’t you find this especially true as a creative? That we are almost always hungry…. To learn and be inspired….Story about drying up creatively and the creative environments class.But its also important to realize that we also broadcast energy (creatively, socially, intellectually)So what I want to talk about is being Intentional…..Choosing what we absorb…. And broadcast
- WHY:So if our minds need to both intake and output energy (intellectually, socially and creatively),maybe its that energy that we pass back and forth this is creating the connections between us??Maybe the kind of energy we pass back and forth is also detemining what kind of connection it is…. (how close or distant… if its inspiring or toxic)?The interesting part is that the energy passed back and forth is not only affecting the connectionIts also has a measurable effect on us… (even physiologically)Here’s just one example: Kory Floyd (one of ASU’s professors in Communications) has done some great research on the effects that the communication of affection hs on us.He gatheredcolleagues in kinesiology, psychology, and nursing to develop a lab experiment.Floyd induced a stress on subjects - raised in blood pressure, heart rate, stress hormone cortisol. divided his subjects into three groups. One group wrote an affectionate letter to a loved one. Another simply thought about people they love and why they love them without expressing anything. The final group just sat quietly.Stress levels among the letter-writing group dropped sharply compared to the other groups. In fact, the thinking group showed a slight increase in stress levels."It's not just thinking about the person, but conveying feelings that produces a response.In sitters - men showed a small reduction in stress, but the women's stress continued to increase.Floyd asked the subjects to rate themselves on a scale he uses to determine how affectionate people are. He found that people's overall affection level didn't make a difference in the stress response. Even people who aren't naturally affectionate can reap the health benefits of affectionate communication.So this is important. It affects us (mentally and physically) Its affects our connections with other people as well as the energy and environment in a community or culture (which we’ll talk about later)So lets shine a spotlight on it…. And ask some questions together….
- So as designers, we have a set of design principles that we have learned.(shown on the left)And the skillful handling of these principals of design create better work.But what if there are also design principals that are related to connections?And if we are aware of them and are more intentional about using themMaybe we can create better individual connections between us…. and co-create better communities and cultures ?
- Ok… so lets talk about energy first.Now I need to preface this with the fact that I am just a graphic designer (even though I secretly wish I was smart enough to be a quantum physicist)…. So the illustrations I’m going to show your aren’t scientific by any means…. Just a visual representations of the ideas…But what the scientists tell us is that when it comes to energy (like light and sound) its all based on vibrations and wavelengthsSo what does the intellectually/emotionally/creatively energy we pass back and forth look like?
- Maybe something like this? Colors? Flavors?Well, probably not exactly…But for conversation sake lets say it does, I know we all can read/feel the energy the people around us broadcast.They don’t even have to say anything sometimes… right? Like we all know when our roommate or our boss is miffed…Just by reading their body language.Now Joy.Now joy is one of my favorite flavorsWe all know people who all they have to do is walk in the room and the room changes.We are all magnetized to funny.It feeds…. Stimulates us…. Right?This was probably the first lesson I learned about being intentional abou the energy we are broadcasting.Story about defaulting to stress, learning to choose joy – I still have to constant focus on what I’m broadcastingor leading frustration on the team – We all live in the entire spectrum of energy…. But maybe can can be more intentional about what we want to both take in And broadcast
- There also something happening with the energy between us that I think is a lot like resonanceThis isnt as much like a flavor, as it is different ideas or values vibrating at different wavelengths.And when you find those ideas or energies that you resonate with… it not only feels like you fit together, but your energy can combine to create more energyExample - listening to Bruce Mau or Michael CrowAnd when it doesn’t’ fit…. You can feel it…. It create dissonanceINTAKE - so what can we learn from that idea?If we happen into a connection where the energy we are absorbing isn’t resonating (or is altering ours into something we don’t like) We have the power to change it.For example:Being around negative people who complain about other peopleStory about being young married and friend that would complain about her hubWhen I noticed what was happening inside of myself, I had to distance that connection because I didn’t want to receive that energySo we do have control of what we absorb….As well as broadcast….
- Sometimes (maybe even most of the time) we don’t even realize how many people are being affected by what we are broadcasting- whistler on the bus….
- And we can broadcast farther than we ever have been able to before….And you really get a sense of people personalities even in the digital world…Looking up twitter account of someone who was leading up the professional community that I was joining to attend a conference in a different state…. Their tweets were nothing but bitter and complaining…But I worry that we are loosing face time with each other….and our skills at intuition is diminishing….Between time I need to be on the computer for work, for long distance socializing, for personal time to feed my own mind I’m on the computer for 10-14hrs a day….What is the long term affects of that relationally…
- Which is actually one of the reasons I decided to switch to mass transit…Story about practicing intuition on the bus - More observant we are, the closer we listen, and the more we empathize
- Stories about Jeff the dog whisperer….And now he’sreally good at reading peopleEven the bank teller.Just watching that happen to him has made me a huge believer that we have the power to increase our intuitionEveryone has it…. Its just dormant in some of us….
- Presence is also a design principal we need to factor in.I have a funny story about presence actually…Story about Madison - Ah…. Talk about co-creating. Parenthood is the ultimate… (I’ll stop myself there because I’ll just go on and on… I love it so much)
- Openness is something I learned on the bus… two different kinds.Openness to others and Openness to the moment –Which I have so many great stories to tell about interesting people I connected with randomly on the bus…. Story about Ivan the Navaho at the bus stopSo many people that I have learned from…. Their stories have shown me life from a completely different perspective, shown me insights I haven’t noticed before… have increased my empathy….. People like a brilliant nuclear physcist bound to a wheelchair (but completely unbound in mind)…. Someone who made the intentionally decided to live on the streets for ten years to be able to help the people who didn’t choose that…. A couple new friends who are sight impaired (one who came and sat down next to me as I was mentally making plans on how to improve the accessability of one of are websites)… talk about a sudden spike in empathy at just the right time….So just in practicing openness for the last two years people, I can say II’m the richer for it… I have learned so much.
- Ok… so if that’s the way the design principals are working with individual connections, what about with groups of peopleHow can we be intentional in our communities and cultures
- Because the truth is we all live in multiple communities and cultures (the one we live in, work in, play and create in)….Can we apply though same principals on a larger scale?Can we intentionally co-create the culture we want?Story about creating an environment like Carla’s neighborhoodThat experience alone tells me yes…. we can co-create neighborhoods that are not only friendlier, but safer?Example of negative coming into a community and the community defined what they wanted together Can we co-create work environments where we are not only happier, but are creating better products together. Lets intentionally create spaces where people feel safe to explore new ideas….Its especially important for the work environment because when you do….
- This happens.ideas can have sex….They combine, and mutate, and reproduce….Some people call it cerebral sex or memetic sex. The term “meme” comes from an analogy….
- Memes combine, mutate and reproduce faster than genes doAvoid incest - ideas are going to be stronger if your share your ideas with people of different backgrounds, profession, biasesOvercome fear of sharing ideas (because of ridicule or theft) to produce stronger solutions and ideas….Einstein understood this and often collaborated because he knew ideas could grow exponetially with frequent exchanges of ideas.How to Think like Einstein (Scott Thorpe) – “cerebial sex”Oreilly book by Ron Hale-Evan – Mind Performance Hacks
- This is the age of collaboration…. You can hear that idea/meme reproducing itself and rippling out….The day of the silos are gone…. (or as my dad says “we used to do that back in the 1900s)Its exciting for me because I experienced in my professional community over the last 3 years… You could see all of us (even the high-level decision makers) see better products coming out of this thinking….What are the best ways to do that?It looks messy….Brainstorming….. It great for brainstorming but who wants to be part of Design by committee…
- Explain collective creative intelligence …and tell stories - have to embrace the negative/disagreements – - letting disagreers have a voice and speak logically about their ideas“we can accomplish anything if we don’t care who gets the credit” -Have to check egos and personal preferrences at the doorOnly be focused on 2 things: your users, yours/their business objectivesUsability, testing, data (data driven decisions)Benevolent dictator (Originally got the idea from Mike Beltzer (Mozilla’s “Phenomenologist”)
- So these are something of the questions I’m left with:What would our culture look like if we were more intentional about co-creating together?What would this city feel like if we were more open…. The the stranger we haven’t met you… and to the moment