NLab: creativity and collaboration

Andrea Saveri on Amplified Individuals and the Future of Work

Download saveri_future_of_work_seminar_18june08_ioct.ppt 23mb

At this seminar held on Wed 18 June 2008 at the Institute of Creative Technologies, DMU, Andrea Saveri described an emerging landscape of change that will shape the future of work–including disruptive shifts brought about by amplified workers, ubiquitous transparency, a redefinition of diversity, the “scientification” of work, strategic sustainability, and health as a strategic asset. Together, these shifts challenge traditional business strategy and organizational roles and functions. Several new kinds of roles will emerge that embody the opportunities presented by these six driving forces of change. The seminar presented these ideas and gave participants an opportunity to re-imagine their own roles in the context of the future of work.

Andrea Saveri was at DMU at the invitation of NLab and the IOCT to speak at the NLab Social Networks Conference 19 June 2008. She is a senior director at the Institute for the Future Palo Alto, and has worked closely with Howard Rheingold for several years. Her focus is on understanding how individuals, families, organizations, and communities make sense of the diffusion and re-invention of new technologies and media, and create new social, cultural, civic, and economic institutions. Andrea leads IFTF’s practice area in the Future of Cooperative Strategy. The cooperation research examines the principles and underlying technologies of cooperation and collective action, and their potential to transform society. She has applied this research to domains such as innovation in health, public education, and business strategy.

Success Factors for CreativeCoffee Club

CreativeCoffee Club has been going for about a year now. Local groups have met in London, Leicester, Liverpool, Bangor, Palo Alto and New York. The Leicester group has been especially successful, meeting consistently over the year with steady participation from local small businesses and visitors from further afield.

One of the great things about CreativeCoffee Club is that it doesn’t cost any money. It’s about finding a convivial, accessible spot in a local coffee bar or similar, arranging a time and date and letting people know about it – and Facebook has worked really well for that. I like the variation of the different groups – some meeting now and then, others, like Leicester, meeting more frequently.

I guess that, ideally, CreativeCoffee Clubs need to meet fairly regularly to enable relationships to grow over time, and to provide frequent opportunities for members to engage – not everyone is going to be able to make every time. Here are some of the factors that have influenced the success of the Leicester CreativeCoffee Club:

- Pre-posted events going forward for 2-3 months
We’ve gone further this year, and planned events for the whole season. My reasoning is that people know just where they are and can plan CreativeCoffee Club around other things. Posting the events well in advance means that members can add themselves to the guest list for a later event, even if they can’t make this one.

- Invites sent out at least 2 weeks before
This has probably been the most complex aspect of organising local chapters of a global Facebook group. Even with the introduction of mailing lists, we still haven’t got this quite right. However, what does seem to be important is the regular rhythm of invites for people to take or leave as they wish.

- Close proximity to/links with a large institution (De Montfort University)
Meeting within the DMU campus has certainly brought added value for CreativeCoffee Club Leicester. Members become aware of other resources available through DMU, and project managers have an informal, easily accessible way of connecting with local small businesses.

- Central location
It works in Leicester – people can travel into the City Centre easily, there’s local parking, and no one is making out of the way journeys. In a big city like London, I suspect it’s more complex and more difficult to find a focus. Wi-fi would be nice.

- Core of 4-6 active local members
There are different roles that need to be shared: organising events, getting the word out, encouraging people to come, meeting and greeting, introducing people to each other, and having enough people around to engage in conversations. Four to six people can share the work nicely and, hey, you look like a group already!

I’d be really interested to hear other people’s ideas and experiences, and especially, how the members of CreativeCoffee Club globally could get more value from each other.