I’ve never really collected anything before. When I was young I tried most things; football cards, stickers, even stamps but I never really saw the point.
The launch of iOS4 on the iphone means that people can now arrange and classify their apps into folders and perhaps most importantly, name them. The ability to add wallpaper also allows people to express their individuality which again is interesting.
‘So what?’ you might think. At first thats what I thought. It wasn’t until I began organising and renaming folders that I began to realise that this process says something about a person. It’s a window into someone’s life and the things they are interested in. Does it also say something about how people compartmentalise their lives?
I decided to create a hashtag on Twitter called #sharemyscreen. I sent the following tweet;
‘I’m building a collection.. if you have iOS4 take a screenshot of your home screen and tweet it with #sharemyscreen hashtag. Pls RT!’
and shared my home screen below;
You’ll notice the way I classify folders isn’t a normal approach but it works for me! Since the, the lovely folk on Twitter have been retweeting my request and theres quite a selection growing. I’m going to share some below, with their owners twitter names so you can follow/sayhi/copy!
It’s not often I come across a product that really impresses me. For me to blog about it is ever rarer.
The Bobble is a simple, elegant and beautifully designed idea that reduces the environmental impact of millions of plastic mineral water bottles. In the UK alone there were 2.09 billion litres drunk last year (source: britishbottledwater.org). Thats a lot of money spent on water!
The bobble is a clear, PET bottle with a coloured carbon filter that filters tap water and can be used over 300 times before a new carbon filter is needed. That’s about two months worth.
Lets say you buy one bottle of mineral water a day. That’s gonna cost you at least £56 every two months compared to the £6.77 plus shipping the Bobble would cost you (and thats the initial cost, the refills cost even less).
But its not the cost that appeals to me, it’s the convenience. If I run out at work, I can just fill it up at a drinking water tap. Same for the gym.
The bottle looks good too, designed by the prolific and gifted designer Karim Rashid who designed, among other things, the Issey Miyake perfume bottle.
Its a cheap, convenient alternative to buying expensive bottled water. I’ve ordered a couple today and I’ll let you know how I get on via Twitter.
In case you missed it – you can watch the full live stream taken from last nights brilliantMedia140 event in Scotland. Hosted by Mark Jennings – @markofrespect, MD of D8 Digital, with guests including Pat Kane, Steve Berry and the brilliant Trey Pennington. Oh, and an introduction that starts about 9 1/2 minutes in from Mark that made me blush furiously… Thank you!
One of the areas I am studying as part of an MBA involves a look at how innovation and creativity manifest themselves in individuals and organisations.
Part of this considers the perception we have of intuition. Rather than it be a ‘magical’ ability that some possess and others do not, it is argued that intuition is more a matter of ‘expert recognition’ i.e. a ‘by-product of of training and experience that has been stored as knowledge’. (Simons, 1988).
Traditionally, in the West we have always sought to rationalise decision making, and this has implications upon the value placed upon both individuals in organisations, and the role they play. I have a friend who has little ‘formal’ education, but is an insightful people manager who always seems to know what to say and when to achieve the best out of people, in sometimes complex political environments. Luckily the organisation in which she works recognises this, and she holds a senior leadership position.
Similarily, our judgement is affected by patterns that might seem rational, are in fact a product of what we might expect to happen.
Try this test;
Which of the following birth orders is more likely?
BGBBGB
or
BBBBGB
Most people assume the first, in actual fact both are as likely to happen.The same would be true if we were to toss coins. This is what is called representativeness bias. (Thanks to the Open University for the exercise).
I’m interested in the impact this has not only on the individual, but also upon decision making in organisations. How do we reduce bias, but harness and leverage intuition?
Thoughts? Does your business/organisation place value upon tacit knowledge or ‘intuition’?
Here is a conversation I had with Mark Jennings, MD of D8 Digital, on the forthcoming Media140/Scotland event. Remember to follow @Scotland140 for info.
Welcome to Conversational UK. We help you to reach new and existing customers using social media. Want to understand what your customers really want? Need to communicate more effectively with your workforce? We'll help you do this and more.
