I actually created these earlier this year but decided to do some slight Photoshop modification to convey a digital, yet organic feel. The organism possesses energy but it is unclear whether this is potential energy or kinetic within a harsh environment. Is the system shutting down or in its infancy?
The concept of an operating framework is to organize your time and effort into specific areas of focus. In theory, and with appropriate discipline, an operating framework can accelerate one’s development in one or multiple areas. The very nature of writing down one’s goals (or visually representing them) can plant these ideas and objectives into one’s subconscious, and this becomes a very powerful motivator even if you aren’t explicitly thinking of the framework on a daily basis (you shouldn’t be).
For example, here is an example of a partial framework from 2007 (Plane 6 – “Foundation”):
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While I listed electronics and software development within this framework, I didn’t end up spending a lot of time in these specific areas. And that’s where the evolution of an operating framework becomes relevant; where are you focusing your energy? And if you aren’t spending your time in certain areas, is this necessarily a problem?
In the Immersion (Plane 10) framework shown below, there is now a clear separation of what I’ve focused on in the past and what I ultimately need to focus on in the future. This is a radical shift given that I’ve typically had to justify and take on multiple, parallel tracks that had little relationship to one another – other than the fact that one path was for survival, and the other more aspirational. By logically separating these skills from the “core”, they will eventually become dormant and by default, the skills that I want to develop will have developed due to this increased focus (i.e. a self-fulfilling prophecy).
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Layered above these “dormant” skills are multiple layers of activity – all leading to a radically advanced portfolio along with an increased level of interaction weighted more heavily in the real-world than in the digital realm. What’s truly important here is that this increased interaction ultimately stems from a broader range of experiences. Not surprisingly, this has a dual purpose; the greater one’s experiences, the greater one’s ability to learn, identify challenges and design solutions to those challenges. Experiences represent a designer’s playground.
Finally, one concept that perhaps serves as the basis for this framework is John Maeda’s concept of “post digital”:
[Post Digital] is a term that I created as a way to acknowledge a distinction between those that are passed their fascination with computers, and are now driven by the ideas instead of the technology. […] the “post digital” generation refers to the growing few that have already been digital, and are now more interested in Being Human.
Ultimately, this is exactly what Immersion is all about – I’m less interested in the technology for technology’s sake. Rather I am interested in using technology to increase idea generation to make people’s lives better.
I stumbled again upon the Wordle site by Jonathan Feinberg and thought it would be interesting to see what visualizations came about from both Incubator and Big Generator. Here’s what it came up with:
Incubator (November 2, 2010)
Big Generator (November 2, 2010)
Visualizations such as these can be extremely useful in situations where you aren’t certain of the content as it can highlight key themes that may remain “hidden” within the text.
In the movie Total Recall, Arnold Schwartznegger is faced with an interesting dilemma – he doesn’t know who he is.
“[…] While evading his assailants, he receives a phone call from someone claiming to be a former friend of his who had been asked to deliver a briefcase if he ever disappeared. The briefcase contains false IDs, money, weapons, devices, and a video player, containing a video disk he left to himself beforehand. Watching it, Quaid starts piecing together his past on Mars as a secret agent. […]” (Wikipedia, “Total Recall“)
When I saw the movie – now nineteen years ago! – I was intrigued with the concept of recording video for the sole purpose of watching it in the future. It’s only recently where I’ve found a real purpose to employ this concept in real-life.
In the book “Blink“, Malcolm Gladwell focuses on the concept of “thin slicing” – gathering just enough data / information to accelerate decision-making, while still ensuring the decision is “sound”.
Interestingly enough, one of the examples presented in the text shows the downside of “thin slicing” – making rapid (but unconscious) decisions when faced with a life-threatening situation. From the text:
“Our mind, faced with a life-threatening situation, drastically limits the range and amount of information that we have to deal with. Sound and memory and broader social understanding are sacrificed in favor of heightened awareness of the threat directly in front of us.
“The optimal state of “arousal” – the range in which stress improves performance – is when our heart rate is between 115 and 145 beats per minute. After 145, “bad things start to happen”. Complex motor skills start to break down. Doing something with one hand and not the other becomes very difficult. At 175, we begin to see an absolute break-down of cognitive processing.”
From this excerpt alone, it would appear that making quality decisions in these types of situations is next to impossible. Fortunately, with training and experience, we have the ability to improve our decision-making skills even when time is very limited. From the text:
“Every moment – every blink – is composed of a series of discrete moving parts, and every one of those parts offers an opportunity for intervention, for reform, and for correction.”
What if, however, we took a reverse approach and conceptually accelerated time even further – i.e. providing a glimpse into the future? This is where the Total Recall concept comes into play – i.e. recording video in the past for use in the future.
Let’s say that your house has been burglarized or that someone in your family has died unexpectedly. In all likelihood, you are going to experience a sense of shock that such an event could happen. The sheer disbelief may leave you somewhat paralyzed wondering what to do next. Your ability to make effective decisions is going to be very poor. Even if there are people there to help, you may find it difficult to comprehend what they are telling you.
One solution is to record instructions to yourself in advance of the actual event.
By accelerating time, you now have introduced a dimension of guidance that was previously unavailable. You are, through the video, a digital representation into your subconscious. By listening to the instructions presented in the video, you may be able to make better decisions to help you move forward and “survive” that particular event. Providing guidance, encouragement and empathy in the video is also critical.
When you accelerate time, you have the power to develop effective “recovery models” to allow for enhanced decision-making in situations where one’s judgment and decision-making ability is impaired.
While the examples presented suggest the use of pre-recorded video for “life-altering” circumstances, this concept may also apply to situations where feelings of confidence loss or self-worth become at the forefront – the videos provide a temporary boost and represent perhaps the purest form of self-encouragement.
Many years ago, a teacher shared a powerful concept with the class that has real-world meaning even today.
The story goes like this: In a high-school cafeteria, you will almost always see teachers or assistants responsible for “monitoring” student activity (behavior, actions, etc.). Students are well aware of this, and at a subconscious level they assume they “need” this level of supervision because (apparently) they are not mature enough to “monitor” themselves. In turn, behavioral problems are almost certain to occur in this environment.
If you remove the monitors from the cafeteria (or playground, etc.), the students’ maturity level automatically rises and they start to “police” themselves and those around them. The number of behavior-related problems is less.
I believe this story has applicability to the workplace.
How much trust you place in reports and co-workers can make a world of difference in the working relationship and the end deliverable / result. If you start off by placing little trust in the relationship and subsequently give them little responsibility (or freedom to self-direct), they in turn will rely more heavily upon your direction and their overall performance will be limited.
In contrast, by placing complete trust in the individual and his/her abilities, the working relationship will grow considerably in a very short period of time. The individual will have greater confidence from the experience and this confidence will build upon itself, resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy of “success” for all involved.
Of course, there are exceptions to both the classroom and the workplace. Some students are simply not mature enough to “police” themselves, and some workers do not have the knowledge or experience to operate independently.
However, as a general guideline I believe it’s beneficial to keep this general principle in mind not only in the workplace, but in personal relationships as well.