Sappy? Me? No!
Well, okay it's true. I am a sappy gal.
This a non-blog, about just selfishly mentioning the beauty of finding joy in the simple things in life. I wish my friends who actually read my blog, that I wish you the joy and happiness I found this year.
Happy Holidays!
Love and Hugs,
Shilpa
Here's to a wondeful new year, 2009!
During a recent dinner event my boyfriend, Rich, and I found ourselves seated at a round table in an elegant restaurant where the acoustics made it challenging for us to hear any conversation. We smiled at each other and joked about how we could at least hear each other. Just then we heard laughter breakout from across the large table and we picked up on the word “infertility” followed by laughter and the word “Bush”!
Our evening progressed with slightly more amusement as the lady to the left of Rich tried to engage Rich into the conversation sparked when someone said “Bush”. I suppose the topic of politics around this election season is to be expected. But what was odd were the non-sequesters being thrown out and intertwined into the evening’s conversation. So not only could we not hear, but we were also about to find our selves talking to someone who brought up out-of-context topics. (This same individual is hard of hearing and spoke with a monotone voice.)
Fast forward an hour and we continue to politely try to show through facial expressions and verbal cues that we are interested in the topics and following (or trying to follow) the mind numbing conversation. Rich later admitted that he would have left (or ran out) without word, but he said as I was with him he chose to stay.
The bizarre breakdown in communication can leave one feeling they are in some psychedelic twilight zone. This holds true even for all social situations ranging from work to personal life. So the moral of the story is that we need to generally rely on multiple senses when engaging in most social situations to decrease ambiguity.
Last night I saw Billy Idol live in concert here in San Diego! I found the experience inspiring. What struck with me the most was the energy level and sheer passion with which the music resonated a feeling that anything is possible.
We all need that little boost, as designers and artists to be reminded that it’s okay to express your individuality without judgment.
Practicing design in a cooperate world has often required more than creative passion. It requires playing by rules that are dominated by old school structure, put in place to manage chaos, manage people and create a sense of order. But as artists we all know that creativity requires its own process defined by a designer who starts with a spark of inspiration and sets on fire a process to create something that initially only existed as a seed of thought in the artist's mind.
During this creative journey that slowly unfolds a designer is forced to fight inner battles of self doubt.
Last night my own self doubt disappeared for at least 
an hour. Like the Phoenix raising from the ashes of frustration, I felt a surge of creative inspiration. I was reminded the reason why I am a designer.
So, for those of you designers or artists who face some bumpy roads I ask you to hold true to yourself. Find inspiration or be your own inspiration. Feed the fuel of inspiration to your soul to create the best you.
What is it about humans that make us want to create an eco-system like environment? What drives humans to be a part of an eco-system? What are we innately seeking that an eco-system provides? Everyone seems to be on the Web 2.0 bandwagon and seeking means to create social networks and communities. Can we design the perfect eco-system by simply using Web 2.0 tools? Or do we need to borrow our "tools" from additional sources to effectively create an eco-system. Well, I don't have the silver bullet on how an IT company can create the perfect eco-system. But I do have some passionate thoughts about how we can learn from nature, evolutionary biologist, and from ecological efforts by some “Bioneers†in their efforts to create a sustainable eco-system for humanity. And I believe we have lessons we can learn from Apple’s existing eco-system, and social net-works do sustain in sustainable eco-systems.
I've been doing a tremendous amount of soul searching on the concept of designing an Information Technology Company's Eco-system. The first time I heard the term "eco-system" be thrown out in a conversation I thought that this is yet another effort by someone in marketing to latch on to a buzz word that has not yet been truly understood. According to dictionary.com the definition of eco-system is "An ecological community together with its environment, functioning as a unit." That definition makes sense to me especially since I am somewhat of a champion for "Ecology Green" causes. However, the reality of what I have seen in IT Companies is that the concept eludes us as organization dynamics shift and molds constantly. So perhaps someone, somewhere had a vision of the goal states of this "eco-system", but now what we have a blueprints of ideas left of the floor from previous architects.
My peers and I working in the IT field have recently witnessed efforts around creating an organizational eco-system. With shifts in organization structure often the design of this eco-system appears to be a scaled down version of an "original vision". But do we really have a vision, and have we cohesively as an organization understood what an eco-system means and how we plan on sustaining this system? Perhaps its time to step back and see what we can learn from nature. There is a more meta-physical aspect as to why any system or organization seeks to create harmony, or in case "an eco-system". This motivation stems in the idea that as humans we are innately seeking to create a system in which we can survive. Chaos is constant. Yet, harmony is what we are all seeking. According to Elisabet Sahtouris an Evolutionary Biologist, who is a leading advocate for the idea that the natural world is based on principles that have a lot to teach us about governing and greeting society. Nature, she says "demonstrates that harmonious co-operation strikes closer to the heart of natural processes than the frequently cited examples of conflict and domination. The modern world economy violates the fundamental organizational principles of all living systems...Our economy is a hierarchical system in which one level stays alive at the exponse of the other. You never see this hierarchical approach in healthy biological systems...We should be teaching the politics, economy and science of living sytems. Most scientists understand nothing of life and nature's increadible intelligence. That is why we are encumbered with the win/loose model we see everwhere in society" (Ref Letting Solution come Naturally, Ode Magazine, July 2007). So, amidst the internal chaos - from the outside viewing into an organization - the ability to create at least the illusion of harmony and keeping people engaged in essence is a means for organization to sustain. This is especially appealing to those (e.g. a potential customer) that are considering becoming a member of your community. After all, what can be more enticing than to join or engage in a community with a harmonious eco-system? I personally get that feeling each time I engage in the Apple eco-system. The experience of becoming a member is transparent, and the "system" is ubiquitous, pervasive, and consistent as you transcend mentally and physiologically from their on-line, off-line, physical devices to even visiting an Apple store. Apple has essentially created the ultimate eco-system. Sure, they may have internal chaos within the organization, but they have intelligently tapped into that innate human desire we all are seeking, that is a sense of peace through harmony which you feel both emotionally and viscerally regardless of what "space" you are in within the Apple eco-system. In delving deeper in the concept of sustainability of an eco-system I borrow my understanding of what an eco-system means from actual "bioneers". Ideally, I’d like to see a renaissance in thinking, so to speak where we, as members of an IT organization, take time to more spiritually reflect on what we can learn from nature, and perhaps model a eco-system that is based on lessons we have learned from nature. According to one bioneer (author Fritjof Capra, Ph.D and founding director of Center for Ecoliteracy), in his discussion on creating a sustainable ecological system for humanity, "A sustainable community is usually defined as one that is able to satisfy its needs without diminishing the chances of future generation. That's the traditional definition that was introduced by Lester Brown in the early 1980's. Its an important moral exhortation. It reminds us of our responsibility to pass to our children and grandchildren a world with as many opportunities as the ones we inherited. However, this definition does not tell us anything about how to build a sustainable community..." This bioneer goes on to discuss the need for an operational definition of sustainability, and advocates for the need to learn from nature rather than try and invent sustainable communities from scratch. According to Dr. Capra "Ecosystems are communities of plants, animals and microorganisms that have evolved over billions of years so as to maximize their long term survival and sustainability. So a sustainable human community must be designed in such a manner that its way of life, business, economy, physical structures and social institutions do not interfere with nature's ability to sustain life. That is, in my view, the key. And we need to realize that this does not mean maintaining the status quo. Nature's ability to sustain life is not a static state but a dynamic process, a continuing process of change, evolution, adaptation, creativity. This definition implies that the first step in our endeavor to build sustainable communities must be to become literate. This is to understand the principles of organization that ecosystems have evolved to sustain the web of life." The web of IT Company's life is analogous to those same elements found in nature. Metaphorically speaking we have the same elements that must co-exist and sustain. And survival requires that members of the IT Company's organization must understand the principles of our organization, and be willing to co-exist in a community that works or at least appear from the outside as a harmonious eco-system. Before we leep to create an eco-system perhaps it time reflect on the social ecology of the future while factoring in history of development and design. Keeping in mind that anything that will have significant impact in 10 years will already be 10 years old or behind. We need to ask what will happen in five years. So, what will happen in five years if an IT company attempts to create an Version 1.0 of an eco-system? How will that impact social networking and long term sustainability and adoption?
