Last night Design Kompany had the pleasure of participating on a panel discussion on how to find solutions.
Here’s what it was about:
This month we’re talking about solutions. Not necessarily about specific answers to our problems, but about the nature of good solutions themselves. We’re looking for answers about answers, a way of thinking about how we solve our problems. —John Boylan, organizer
Very general, yes, and so was the group.
About 40 people tossed out some really insightful ideas during the two-hour open dialogue.
Some highlights:
Ecology. When we think about solutions, we tend to go right to what that means for Man. We forget to think through how what we do affects every living being, and every environment, on the planet.
Drivers of change. Sometimes there’s this thing that happens: the “disadoption” of technology. Not all people “buy into” new and now. Instead of buying a new clothes dryer, for example, some folks hang up clotheslines. Technology doesn’t always mean as much as we think it does.
Empathy vs. Ego. People who are able to listen with compassion and empathy tend to be better at coming upon good ideas than people who just want to insist on their point(s).
Design changes us. We make things. Then as we learn new ways to use them, we evolve. The point is, materials and ideas that are born act as stimulants to reshape their makers.
Guns and swords. John Boylan, the organizer, brought up the story about how people in Japan stopped using rifles because there was no honor in them. Someone who trained for a long time to become a warrior with a sword could be offed really fast with a shot. This made me think of the Seventh Samurai. And The Book of Five Rings.
The three other panelists with me were: sustainability consultant Corey Stoerker, urban planner Liz Birkholz, and architect Joel Egan. It was at Vermillion in Capitol Hill, the same place DK hosts Designers’ Korner.
A fabulous time. I recommend these “conversations” for anyone interested in open dialogue.
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