Connection& Disconnection
by Lou Weis
One of the critical issues of our time is the ever increasing speed at which innovations are expected. Exponenetial economic growth puts pressure on more than just the environment - it also requires more and more ideas. In a culture that encourages ‘checking in’ constantly via email and any number of other communication platforms, how do you find ways to reflect and seek inspiration?
These three clips suggest the need to find inspiration in an indeterminate fashion - to step back after a project’s completion and put aside the analytics and outcomes. Having the ability to disconnect from the immediate job at hand (writing the next book, designing a faucet or car) can be an indispensable skill.
Carolyn Steel turned her book tour for Hungry City into a series of dialogues with people who provided lateral perspectives on the topic she had written about.
Mark Bickerstaffe talks about the need for companies to understand that their staff require time and space to simply reflect. Like Steel, Bickerstaffe talks about his own need to go on exploratory journeys that are not driven by quantitative outcomes, but are about open dialogues.
Chris Bangle talks about the need for everyone to be connected to the actual outcome - not existing within a silo of engineering, marketing, business strategy or design - but all within arms-reach of the final result of their work.
Each clip shows that being specialised is only one part of making innovative contributions. The second crucial element is having the ability to absorb other ways of thinking about the situation at hand. For these three, disconnecting from their immediate circles was the best way to avoid going around in them.