For one week ONE Workplace in Silicon Valley hosted an event designed to re-ignite the importance of collaboration – when shaken and stirred with artists and thought leaders from around the world: ONEder.
The event was conceived by Mark Anderson, industrial designer by trade and graphic designer best known for his work with Apple, and Julie Jarvis, executive vice president of ONE Workplace. Mr. Anderson refers to the massive ONE Workplace showroom and warehouse (a former printing plant that was artfully redesigned for the Steelcase dealer several years ago), as the “d. Haus”, in a clever wink to the Stanford d. (Design) School and the Bauhaus movement. The idea was to gather stimulating people and innovative products in an environment that was not a furniture show, but more an atmosphere of surprise and delight, to share stories and inspire designers and end users.
As Ms. Jarvis put it, “Our goal was to demonstrate the power that creativity and design can hold in the workplace while re-imagining how we can continue to spark change and innovation.” It succeeded.
In the interest of full disclosure I should mention here that I work for ONE Workplace, and was a tad hesitant about how well this concept could be pulled off. But, I came away feeling captivated and engaged by the brilliant selection of speakers, and can report that the designers and end users who I spoke with felt the same way.
What would bringing world-class thinkers together create?
John Sherpa was the opening speaker at the event. He wrote a book called “Link,” that talks about the importance of connecting people, and their potential. His background in the bio-tech industry led to insights about the brain’s limbic system, and the importance of fostering a fully informed and engaged workforce, as opposed to having “mushrooms” who work for you, fed manure and kept in the dark. “Involve your tribes” was his mantra, along with the 1920s German term “Gemeinschaft”: Everything I do is to benefit others.
Gregg Buchbinder, the savior of Emeco (manufacturer of the classic Navy Chair) recounted his story of saving the classic Navy Chair and how, through working with designers like Frank Gehry, Norman Foster and Phillipe Stark, the company was able to design and develop a whole new line of classic chairs, in some cases using disparate materials, such as re-using Coca Cola bottles.
And then there was David Kelly, founder of IDEO as well as the Stanford “D” School.
Mr. Kelly recently completed a book, “Creative Confidence,” and you get the sense that he, as a creative, feels somewhat vindicated to see that creativity is finally being recognized as a vital corporate function.
The conversation with Mr. Kelly was led by Mike Drez, executive sales director of ONE Workplace. Mr. Kelly began by recounting how in corporate America it used to be that designers were seated at the “kids table,” and weren’t allowed access to the big conversations taking place at the “adult” table. This changed when there was a seminal study conducted by IBM in which a few hundred CEOs were asked what the number one thing they wanted on their strategic agendas. The response: creativity.
At the same time, IDEO started winning some very large jobs, and Mr. Kelly asked one of the CEOs whose project they’d won why they had selected IDEO over a prominent business consulting firm. The CEO answered that, although he and his team could probably figure out what the other business school graduates (at the business consulting firm) might do in certain situations, they had absolutely no idea what IDEO would come up with. They needed a new perspective.
“Design Thinking” took off as a concept. It’s used as a business tool; people trust it. Enlightened companies recognize that the ability to routinely innovate is crucial to their success. When Design Thinking is brought to the table, the dynamic of everything improves. With rapid change being the new norm in, not only Silicon Valley, but the world, rapid innovation is key.
Mr. Kelly then delved into what and how they teach Design Thinking at the “d.” School (this term, he explained, was his teasing take off of the “B” (Business) School at Stanford- which receives so much money in donations, as opposed to the Design School, which Mr. Kelly started with a $40 million gift from Hasso Plattner, a co-founder of SAP).
It starts with “Creative Confidence.” How do you build creative confidence? Through a series of guided processes, or “Guided Mastery.”
“Fear of being judged by others keeps people from being more creative,” Mr. Kelly believes. He uses examples such as learning how to juggle. Your brain fears dropping the object, but if you start by practicing with sand bags and do it over and over, gradually your brain absorbs the repeated successes and allows you to be successful. Building on creative successes stokes confidence over time and lessens fear.
Mr. Kelly is currently working with the president of Stanford to help build Creative Confidence into the undergraduate curriculum. As forward thinking companies realize the importance of having a growth mindset, they’ll need workers who can comfortably think outside the box.
So, how does IDEO help companies? They don’t merely “define a problem.” Management teams may have their own ideas about the stress points and issues they face; some are spot on, and some are way off base. Mr. Kelly and his team start by framing the problem, and figuring out how to design a methodology to solve it. “How might we…” becomes the beginning introduction to a problem they work on. For example, how might you reframe an issue to solve it using human centered design?
And how do you address a problem when an existing management team is convinced that they know what the problem is, but the IDEO team, after researching all angles, concludes that the problem they have is actually something else entirely? Through double delivery: give the management team an answer for what they perceive as the issue needing to be addressed, along with another answer – based upon what IDEO has uncovered through their rigorous processes.
Perhaps all of this is why, at Stanford today, the second fastest growing major is Design, behind Computer Sciences.
So what are some of the other key messages imparted by Mr. Kelly?
>Empathy – understanding what’s meaningful to the people you serve.
>Story telling – paint a picture of the future, with your product in it, and show how it will affect the client. (IDEO often makes short story telling videos)
In response to a question raised by Mr. Drez regarding what changes he’s seen in the past decade, and where he thinks things might go, Mr. Kelly demurred.
“You can’t expect things not to change,” he stated.
Innovation is being thought of in different ways now. There is a huge need to understand – broadly – what’s going on. This is a great time for companies like IDEO.
ONEderland
Past the vineyard and the Airstream, down a ramp-like rabbit hole, (and into a corner of the warehouse) was ONEderland.
In addition to two afternoons and evenings of inspirational speakers, food and drinks, ONEder showcased products specially gathered from across Europe as well as from unique Bay Area artists and artisans.
Although Pablo Pardo of Pablo Lighting has been around for 23 years, he continues to delight and amaze. He integrates a wide range of materials into his lighting creations, from felt to veneer, and his products showcase how lighting is becoming more systematized. He works with designers and the tech industry, to create unusual solutions. What’s next? Speakers in lights?
Architect and now furniture designer Daniel Krivens exhibited tables and mobile conference pods. He salvaged timber from the site of the Trans Bay terminal along with steel trusses (stamped by the Carnegie Steel Mill) from the Oakland Bay Bridge (the portion that collapsed in the 1989 earthquake) to build beautiful items with historic significance.
Other speakers who appeared at the event and inspired attendees were: Rob Forbes, founder of Design Within Reach, and now Public Bicycle, a company he founded to increase bicycle use in cities for all the best reasons. Mr. Forbes engaged us by talking about his business story as well as through his photos of common items illustrating patterns and geometry.
Gerard Taylor and Jim Taylour of Orangebox imparted some of their research about humans in the current and future workplace. Coming from both the product design and application/ergonomic sides of the equation, it was both eye opening and somewhat terrifying.
James Ludwig, VP of global design at Steelcase, had an interesting conversation with Joe Brown, executive editor at Wired magazine. “Looking for Thinkers and Makers” was the focus for talent recruitment for an innovation center being put together by Steelcase in Munich. Creative thinking (again) and “quirky” people were sought to build synthesis out of connections that others might not see. Wired sees itself as a “flash light” for translating what’s happening now to make it tangible for people. Distraction was cited as one of the biggest challenges in the workplace today; so was separating ourselves from our technology albatrosses. The notion of being able to focus and rejuvenate is key to health and brain function. Upshot? There are more connoisseurs today than ever before. So be relevant and meaningful!
Finally, Andrew Gordon, directing animator at Pixar, spoke. He told a wonderful story, punctuated by short videos and photos of how he discovered an air duct door in his office and turned it into a secret room at Pixar. Many cocktails were enjoyed there. Steve Jobs loved it and often held meetings there, despite having to crawl through the air duct to reach it. But that was part of the experience, and the reward as well. Mr. Gordon showed us the outer reaches of creativity and how it stoked the animators’ wild imaginations.
“It’s always so inspiring to get out and see what the creative folks are doing,” said ONEder event attendee Don Lam, managing principal at IA Interior Architects. “It shows the passion they have for what they do.”