Reflection about the future of innovation
A reflection about the future of innovation
The system is us
The above ideogram resulted when we asked our communication design team to create a way to help people see themselves as part of a system. And become aware how much the structure of that system determines both the quality of their lives and the effects and the value of their work. The original version of this image was animated.
So imagine a system as a large machine, comprising technology and people. Think of its role as taking everyone's daily work as input, and producing socially useful results as output. How well is it performing in this all-important task? How suitable is its structure? How much could its performance be improved by modifying its structure?
Take a look at your smartphone, and think about the fascinating amount of technological dexterity that has been packed into such a tiny thing. Then take a look at those much larger things, and consider the much more fascinating neglect by which those 'mega-machines' have been treated.
How could this be possible?