Eiffel Over

Tag: FutureInThePresent

  • Not leaving good ideas to chance

    If we are trying to make the world better, then we need a creative strategy. Design involves two modes of thought: divergent and convergent. The divergent part helps us figure out what might be possible. The convergent part turns that possibility into a plan for action.

    A bad idea well executed is still a bad idea. We need creative thinking in the divergent mode to generate new possibilities, so we can choose the best available idea in the circumstances. 

    Some ideas do come about by accident, but leaving the groundbreaking thinking to chance is not a plan for success. 

    If we don’t have a creative strategy for solving a client’s design brief, then we might lose a client. But if the problem we are trying to solve is much bigger, like how do we bend the construction industry into being an ecological force for good, then we have much more to lose if we don’t have a creative strategy. 

    Yesterday’s riff on beer brewing gives us some clues about what that strategy might involve: 

    • We need to understand the existing system.
      We need to connect to patterns of the past. Ways of doing things that have worked before. 
    • We need to connect to patterns of the future. As the expression goes, the future is not evenly distributed. If we look, we can find examples of the future already in the present.
    • We need to learn from patterns that work – for example, understanding how living systems thrive within their ecosystem limits. 

    Above all, we need to give structure to this creative work. Because if we don’t design our creative process, then we leave change to chance. 

  • Make hay while the wind blows

    Make hay while the wind blows. Riffing on yesterday’s theme of power, a few weeks ago as storm winds tore across the UK, I was kept awake by the sound of the plastic sheeting slapping against the scaffolding on the front of our house. 

    And I found myself wondering, what is the wind analogy to making hay while the sun shines? It’s an incantation to seize the moment and make the most of an opportunity while it lasts. And of course, we already harness wind power. I presume a lot more energy is generated on a stormy night.

    But like any abundance in nature, the wind doesn’t distribute its power evenly. It comes in surges. It’s a fleeting opportunity. 

    Storm’s blowing, quick—boil a kettle! Pump some water uphill! These were my middle-of-the-night musings.

    Eventually, my thoughts drifted to a memory from 2024: cycling along Loch Awe, near Oban. After a long day cycling in heavy winds, we reached a campsite in Dalavich that was attached to a well-equipped community centre. It had a restaurant and bar with a deck overlooking the lake, games rooms with pool and table tennis and excellent washing and cooking facilities.

    But it wasn’t just for tourists—the local community was in there too, enjoying the space. Curious, I wanted to know more about how this facility had been paid for, and it turns out that it gets funds from the community owned wind turbine at the top of the hill. 

    Brilliant, I thought: community energy, harvesting a local abundant resource—the wind—and reinvesting the money into the community.

    I suppose on gale-force nights, the drinks are on the house?