To infinity and beyond: what astronauts can teach us about authority.

Marketing and Innovation is life and death, right?

Well, not really … but it can feel like that when you’re in a mission critical situation. Before you feel like you’re running out of oxygen, take a minute or two to do like astronauts do.

I’ve become obsessed recently with the BBC series Astronauts where Chris Hadfield puts highly qualified hopefuls through their paces before recommending them to the European Space Agency. I love it partly because, I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid, but also because of what you can learn about team work

Crew Resource Management, is a way of working as a team developed for professions like astronauts and pilots, who face life and death choices on a daily basis. 

In marketing and innovation we rarely find ourselves in a situation where a loss of life is remotely possible...however what can we learn from the practice?

Three Principles to take away from CRM for Innovation Leaders

1. Situational Awareness

To put it simply this is all about context of a situation. It’s easy to lose grasp of context if, for example, you are fixated on a problem or have become complacent because you have done something a million times before. Try to keep your eyes open. It's the job of everyone on the team, no matter what level they are to highlight when they think there has been a loss of situational awareness, by clearly signalling and reminding the team.

2. Effective Communication                                               

“The biggest enemy of effective communication is the illusion of it.”

Communication errors are one of the biggest causes of fatal accidents in the air - and it could be said that in innovation teams a lack of communication is often the biggest cause of a project derailing. Clear communication of a task as well as a clear acknowledgement that one has understood the task is key to successful project management.

Some top tips for effective communication according to CRM:     

• Convey information clearly
• Use commonly understood phrases
• Advocate concerns
• Acknowledge receipt of all communications
• Provide information as required
• Repeat information only if necessary
• Ask for clarification when needed
• Resolve conflicts of opinion in a timely fashion

Raising concerns effectively

Raising concerns effectively is especially important. One famous case of a failure of CRM which led to a fatal accident was the crash of a Korean Cargo Plane at Stansted Airport.  South Korea at the time was a traditionally hierarchical society. In this case the Co-Pilot had noticed that something was wrong, however failed to clearly raise it as it would go against the authority of the much older and more experienced Pilot.

Here is how to raise a concern, no matter what your position, according to CRM:

State your concern: ‘I am concerned’

Describe why you are concerned: ‘The barrier is still up’

Offer solution: ‘We should stay at stand’

Obtain agreement; ‘Do you agree’?

3. Group Dynamics

Good leadership is at the heart of CRM

Three leadership principles to follow according to CRM are as follows:
 

1. Authority with Participation

A leader should not interject at random or ‘seagull’, they should actively be involved in groups workflows and advise when and where needed

2. Advocacy through inquiry

A good leader should ask questions and get all the facts before offering a solution

3. Assertiveness with respect

A good leader should treat others with respect and courtesy no matter what rank. Assertiveness is not rudeness.

So remember, next time you are in the midst of a critical innovation project which you suspect is going awry - take a step back and think like an astronaut.

Are you understanding the full context?

Are you communicating effectively as a team?

Has your leader established effective group dynamics?

Further Reading:

Air Traffic Control Training, CRM Basic Concepts, Rutgers

Image credit: NASA

Why projects fail: how to make sure you have the right people in the room.

Forming groups to make important decisions and develop ideas is a part of most of our lives. How can you be sure you have the right people in the room?

The first Citizens Assembly took place in Ireland recently to discuss important social issues ranging from how best to respond to the challenges of an ageing population, to abortion. The 99 citizens have been chosen by a polling agency to represent a wide range of views of the nation. This got me thinking about how important the right people are to a project’s chance of success.

#1 Diversity

The Enigma code wasn’t solved by mathematicians alone. Artists, linguists, writers, philosophers AND mathematicians all came together to solve the problem. By bringing diverse perspectives into a project you ensure that you will have solutions  as diverse as the people at the table.

#2 Debate

Don’t just invite people to join your team who you agree with. It’s those with differing views that will often inspire the most fruitful ideas. Tension CAN be productive.

#3 What’s in a number?

This is all about the size of your group and depends on what is the goal of your project. If you want to be expansive to, for example. develop lots of ideas then safety in numbers might be the way to go. However the more people at a meeting,  the more facilitators you need.  If you need to be more reductive - you might want to have less people involved, especially useful for when hard decisions need to be made.

#4 Someone needs to be in charge

Although this is about collaboration and participation, someone still needs to be the leader of the group - however this leader should not be dictatorial - they should act as a guide. When recruiting people for your project think about what kind of leader you'll need to be to ensure the group makes the best decisions.

#5 Take your time

Don’t recruit for your project in a hurry. Getting the right people on board requires time, effort and research. Having the best people in the room is key for the success of a project so it is worth taking time over it. 

The Big Blue Sign: Did years of miscommunication mean a Leave vote was inevitable?

It has been six days since the United Kingdom suffered one of the biggest political upheavals since Thatcher became prime minister in 1979. Our Twitter feeds, Facebook pages and news websites are filled with articles filled with #BREGRET. Amid the noise, one post stood out: Town showered with EU cash votes to leave EU. This is the tale of a small Welsh ex-mining town called Ebbw Vale. It has very little immigration and has received millions in EU funding.

The Guardian picture editor made an obvious choice for the leading photo, one designed to inspire a slow hand clap from us liberal, educated types - a picture of the big blue sign EU funds: Investing in Wales. If you live in a well off area of Britain you probably don’t see this very often. Maybe that’s part of the problem?

I grew up in Wexford, Ireland, a four hour ferry from Wales. My first years of life were not lived during the Celtic Tiger. Until 1995 all I remember are pot holes, butter vouchers and unemployment. I’m all too familiar with the Big Blue Sign. In fact, in Ireland they were even bigger and bluer. The first message most visitors saw when they got off the ferry was a 10 x 20 ft blue sign saying the EU had paid for the very road they were driving on. I hope my Dad will forgive me if I tell you, that he often swore under his breath as we drove by.

So this brings me back to the story: Town showered with EU cash votes to leave EU. The journalist was perplexed as to why the voters they spoke to didn’t seem to be aware of how much the EU had invested in Ebbw Vale. The reality, of course, was that if you probed further, they new exactly what the EU had done for their town. It was written in massive 120pt Helvetica all over it in fact. So why vote to leave?

I’m no expert on politics, however I do know something about how you communicate with people. You can understand these signs in two ways: a detached semiotic examination, or a more empathetic position, understanding the viewer and their feelings.

Based on my knowledge of semiotics (a six week seminar course as part of my BA in Visual Communication), you can see that these signs use the visual language of authority. All the symbols are there - the lack of imagery, the sans-serif 100% black text on white, the copy devoid of any emotion. In fact these signs don’t seem to want to inspire at all.  Facts not opinions being the name of the game. In terms of copy, EU goes first, in the lead: ‘EU funds: investing in Wales’. The small but proud nation is represented by a cursory white outlined drawing of a dragon. Where’s the fire? Where’s the Tom Jones level of passion? Where’s Richard Burton? Shirley Bassey? Catherine Zeta Jones? It seems in an effort to be European, we’ve taken away any personality at all. The design of the Euro note anyone?

Now let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the viewer. Andy Warhol believed that if you saw the same image repeated over and over that this could only add to its power. Repetition therefore magnifies the feeling of the viewer. If you are bombarded with detached, authoritative Big Blue SIgns does this not only strengthen the feeling of being let down by the home country's government? Confirm feelings of abandonment? Extinguish any feeling of national pride you once had?

I believe we’re better connected, we’re better with free movement and we’re better without borders, however The Big Blue Signs which have been a reality for any community that has been deemed deserving of European Regional Funding (read poor) have potentially become symbolic of three things: abandonment, patronisation and powerlessness.  Are we now seeing the results of years of miscommunication?

Why do all insight decks look rubbish?

I've written a piece for The Latest, C Space's newsletter. We all know insight decks don't need to look bad...

Why do all insight decks look rubbish?

by Isolde Jennings

Picture the scene: you’re 24 years old, you’ve been tasked with producing the cover of a prize publication, working with a trendy design agency. That was me, a few years ago. And the challenge that stood between me and print was design, and budget. There wasn’t enough money for the type of design and finish they wanted for the cover story.

Our editor said ‘Just tell them we’ll run without it’. So I did… The next day I got a call from my contact at the agency, a man renowned in the design world.  He told me the cover design was integral and couldn’t understand why we didn’t see that. Without it, things didn’t make as much sense.

This has stayed with me throughout my career. I’m more often found crafting presentations than magazine covers now. But the challenge remains - when you’re up against the clock, it’s tempting to put design to one side.

In my evenings, I teach at Central Saint Martins, working with professionals who want to present their work in more interesting and innovative ways.  There I met Michael Cooke, Strategic Development Director at Marie Curie. He works tirelessly to spread design thinking throughout the organisation, and is seeing the effects. We spoke recently on this topic and he reminded me that

‘We all get used to seeing the same old charts and going round the same arguments in a well-worn groove. Applying design thinking combined with good presentation helps us to come up with new ways of getting people involved in the discussion, and coming up with better solutions.’

Cooke has recently applied this mindset to a workshop with the executive team.

‘We put data visualisations and quotes up on the wall, organised thematically. We also had a four-foot high diagram that we drew by hand. The ends of people’s lives are inherently unpredictable, but it's difficult to get across what that means for us as a provider of nursing care in people's homes. So we visualized the granular data we had in relation to visit requests: the visits that nurses actually made, cancelled appointments etc. This very quickly showed how random the patterns are, and how often they change,…(displayed) in a way that we couldn’t have with a simple sentence or data table.’

Cooke is part of a group convened by Marie Curie, the Design for Care Collaborative, which includes doctors, designers and members of Marie Curie's Expert Voices group, who have experience of end of life care services. As professionals concerned with developing insight and strategy thinking, Michael and his team are paving a compelling way of bringing our stories to life.   

You can read about the great work they are involved in here.

And more information on the the course I teach is here.

Finance: Russia asks 248,000 citizens to vote on a symbol for the Ruble

A currency is a brand and just like any other brand it needs a good logo. Up until now there has been no official symbol for the Russian Currency, unlike it’s counterparts the Dollar and the Pound. Inspired by the design of the new Euro back in the 90’s the Russian Central Bank embarked on a branding strategy. It’s been a bumpy ride, with Russia defaulting in 1998 however the new symbol is designed to represent stability and reliability. The winning entry with 61% of the votes? The Cyrillic letter for R which has often been used as the unofficial symbol. You can read more about the branding process here from the Washington Post.

Fashion: & Other Stories co-creates their SS 13 Campaign

I love everything this brand does. Please stop being so awesome so I can save some cash and NOT spend it all in your store. 

Digital: American Multinational General Electric will 3d print your Christmas gift.

GE has been doing some interesting things lately with their campaigns - switching from more trade focused marketing to consumer focused advertising. Click here to see how people could order pen holders & iPhone speakers on the 3rd of December which General Electric has designated 3D printing day. What would Edison think? 

Design: Seamus Heaney inspired graffiti in Dublin gives people hope.

Type Tutor at Central Saint Martin's Catherine Dixon tweeted this powerful images of some Dublin graffiti by Maser Art. Irish poet Seamus Heaney 's last words to his wife were the latin phrase 'Noli Timere' - Don't be Afraid. Here its been painted on the side of a pub to give Dubliners hope. 

“Don’t be Afraid”

Tsutaya's Daikanyama Project

Like many my age I worked in HMV during my formative years. Literally just off the boat (Ryanair flight) from Ireland, I wandered to the only part of London I knew - Covent Garden and dive bombed the various retail outlets with my CV. The lovely Paul took me on, just 2 days after I arrived. At that stage I hadn't worked in retail for almost two years and already had a years work experience as a graphic designer under my belt - however I’d decided to return to Uni and complete an MA at Central Saint Martins. I needed a reasonably well paid and interesting Saturday job fast. Before I knew it three of my fellow Irish MA students were working there too. We complained about the endless bouts if Rihanna we were force fed over the official HMV radio, groaned when forced to do replenishments (ever looked beneath the shelves at HMV to see the rows of extra stock? I was the one who got down on my knees and replaced EVERY missing CD), but all in all it was a good place to work. My fellow employees were in bands, were studying to be the next Spielberg or scribbling away to be writers. Having a well paid job somewhere relatively interesting was important to us. And we really did care that people listened to good music. Many risked a rather soft telling off from management by changing the weeks assigned cds (usually Rihanna) for something a bit more 'choice'. Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Radiohead - they're not the most left field artists ever but represent the best type of commercial music and we tried to put them on as often as we could. 

Lots of people have been critical of HMV In the past few weeks. I dont want to contribute to that conversation. However I will look East to the likes of Japan where bookstores and 'downloadable media' stores are thriving. The T-site Daikanyama is just one example of how retailer Tsutsaya is successfully adapting to the new world order.

Klein Dytham won the commission to develop a new type of retail and leisure space in the Daikanyama district of Tokyo. The development is in the shape of a T representing the brands logo and is devided into distinct zones. The book store is compartmentalised- the literature section for example is tightly packed mirroring the famous second hand bookstores of Tokyo. Although the bookstore is beautiful it's the level of service that stands out. Each section of the bookstore has its resident expert known as a concierge and like the target customer they are over 50 - drawing on the life experience and knowledge learnt over time. Not just shop assistants they are experts in their field. 

​It's the people that make the retail experience and perhaps it was the people that kept HMV afloat for as long as it did. 

50 Shades of Full Colour: Peacock feathers inspire coloured ereader screens

This week I gave the students on the Connecting Design night class at Central Saint Martins a taxing piece of homework - to design a book cover using type alone. A challenge indeed. Despite the phrase ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ the opposite is almost always the case. An arresting cover can make a book. The outstanding success of E.L James’ Fifty Shades of Grey can be attributed to the new jacket style it heralded for erotic fiction...It’s subtle, bereft of busty women and immediately recognisable. However the dawn of the ereader has made us question the relevance of the book jacket. Consumers are often driven to purchase by the tiny thumbnail that appears on Amazon. In years to come what will the book jacket look like?

The majority of ereaders deliver a black and white experience. The digital ink that allows for a comfortable reading experience can so far only be read in black and white. Covers exist in (and excuse the pun) 50 shades of grey - stripped of CMYK. They look dull, dull, dull and somewhat pointless. However nanofabication researchers at the Univeristy of Michigan have come up with an ereader screen that mimics the iridescence of a peacocks feather. By incorporating refined hairline grooves Professor Jay Guo and his team have created a prototype on silver plated glass.

The days of monochrome may soon be over for the ereader. Long live the book cover design!

You can read more here: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/06/peacock-feathers-form-basis-for-reflective-displays-color-ereaders/

Naive is Evian spelt backwards: Microsoft's new advert and the nostalgia complex

Microsoft's new ad aimed at Generation Y romanticizes our Tamagotchi's, our Nike Trainers and our bowl cuts - the stalwarts of our youth.

Nostalgia has been a top trend in advertising since the recession broke in 2007 with Asda reporting an increase in sales of the like of Bisto Gravy and Birds Custard Powder. It's no surprise that during an economic downturn consumers turn to trusted heritage brands - keep calm and carry on as Anthony Burrill would say. 

However it's usually represented by a yearning for 50's home comforts or the innocence of 60's psychedelia - not a hankering for wallet chains and (gulp) dial up Internet. 

The term nostalgia was first coined in the 1600's and referred to Swiss mercenaries who were homesick for their motherland. Nostalgia is often more associated with right wing modes of thought then left (referred to in Fredric Jameson’s book Marxism and Form) however Yugo-Nostalgia is a specific form of nostalgia experienced by those inhabitants of ex Yugoslav nations harking back to Communist times. 

I digress - are members of Gen Y homesick for their youth? Are we longing for a simpler time when things were slower, less stressful, economies healthier... hang on a minute the early nineties was rife with recession, things were just as stressful. The nineties is not a by-word for naivety - it was a time of war, a time of disease and saw economic crisis after economic crisis.

What we really miss is being young. Will this make the adults of the millennium download the new Internet Explorer? Well I certainly won't be but I will be watching Reality Bites later.

Do you really want to know what's in your Maccydees?

What's in our food has been at the top of the agenda this week with equine matter found in some supermarket burgers. In a move towards transparency McDonalds will now make all nutritional information available to the consumer through a scanable QR code. What's most interesting about this is that the info will be available in 18 different languages taking full advantage of the much maligned matrix barcode. The new packaging rolled out in the US last week and will be gradually introduced to the rest of the world in the coming months. 

The London Library after the Blitz

This photo amazes me. A bombed out library in the center of London during the blitz. Now libraries have to provide free wifi, automated check in and check out and gaming stations to entice customers. I must admit I can't remember the last time I borrowed a book from a library. Working in publishing means I have books readily available but if I ever have kids I will certainly be bringing them to my local library for story time and readings. 

Top 5 sits in London: No. 5

As my some time flat mate Dave always says: there's nothing like a good sit. In honour of these words of wisdom (and to mark Dave's departure to Cardiff), I am doing a run down of THE top 5 sits in London city. Starting fittingly at no. 5 we have the W5, the best bus route and certainly one of the top 'sits' North of the river. The W5 runs from Archway to Harringay Superstores, traversing the palatial hills and wooded avenues of Crouch End and includes a rather thrilling descent down a hill of San Franciscan proportions (not recommended on a hangover day). Travelling by bus really is the best mode of transport one can get, Safer then a bike (unless one is taking the 29 past mignight through Camden), much more intersting then Tube and greener then the car, what more could you ask for? I urge you all to top up that Oyster and see the world/crouch end on the W5 and pop into Hot Pepper Jelly for one of their famous sandwiches on the way.

Wedding Shoe?

These beauties from good 'ol KG would look lovely with my wedding attire. Anyone fancy buying them for me? No?

Wedding Attire

Having longed to be invited to a wedding on my own since I was about 6, 2 have suddenly come along all at once. Insert cliched weddings are like buses etc sentence here. Now I have the two pronged issue of 1. what to wear and 2. who to bring. Is it still an executable offence to wear white (even if it is really cream and is terribly short. And has tassles. Oh and is slightly see through). Does this apply if it is a civil partnership and involves 2 grooms? This refers to wedding numero uno between fellow CSM alumni Kevin and his lovely Dr. lee. Finally does it apply when wedding reception is in an East End warehouse? I know, my 2 weddings are terribly modern. Regarding date I have decided that finding a man who looks good in a suit and is willing to spend 2 hours in my company is more probable then me ever getting married so I have instead settled on a much more attractive option of flat mate and all round good time girl Ursula. She looks good in a dress and won't drink all the champers. Oh and if somebody would like to buy me these clodhoppers I would really appreciate it. x

http://www.aldoshoes.com/uk/women/sandals/platforms/85710684-seppanen/62

Bank Holiday mark 2 – weddings, canal boats and Grandmaster Flash

Bank Holiday part Deux was eclectic to say the least. Beginning with the celebrations on the 29th, our household of non-brits decided to cast our patriotism (and republican views) aside for one day and party like true royalists. Emily got the ball rolling with heart shaped American pancakes that went down a storm. In the afternoon, we held a garden party in our little patch of wasteland, but first watched the ceremony at one of our friend’s warehouse around the corner. Verdict on the dress: a little safe me-thinks but will age gracefully, like Kate…sorry erm Catherine herself. The weather pleasantly surprised us all and a bunch of our favourite friends came back to our place for a traditional British knees up of cucumber sandwiches, Pimms and Gin, LOTS of Gin. The party was rounded off by an acoustic performance by More Like Trees, an up and coming band, that to my ears manages to mix Flamenco and Drum and Bass quite beautifully. Just on a side note, we are not accustomed to having bands play in our garden often but shall be taking bookings from now on. Next day I soothed my hangover by walking with friend and all round great person Ruth along the canal to Little Venice. Here we fraternized with the west London folk at a festival of canal boats. Unfortunatly we did find locating a pub to be a bit of a task, but eventually managed to procure a pint. Finally Sunday involved braving the Camden Crawl festival to see Graham Coxon, my teenage Crush number 1. He hasn’t lost any of his magic and managed to be both confident and self deprecating, nerdy and self knowing. We danced the rest of the night away, being shouted at by secret DJ Grandmaster Flash and then finally succumbed to tiredness when Delphic approached the DJ booth at 3am. Queue to leave was when one of the band left said DJ booth to snog random blonde girl up against the wall. All in all, I felt like a teenager all over again.

BrightON

This Easter Weekend us girlies decided to take a jaunt down to Brighton. Having to fill as much food and drink into the few short hours we were there proved to be some what of a task, but one that we did not shy away from.

Brighton in the sun really is beautiful and seeing the sea again was refreshing and reminded us of home. Sniff. Some would indeed say Wexford was the Brighton of Ireland. Without the pier, cool shops, windy lanes and hip gay scene. Actually not like Brighton at all really but nonetheless the fishy aroma did spark a few memories.

Amongst the many meals we ate that day kipper sandwiches and rasberry bellinis were the highlight (We do like to mix it up).

I wonder if Brighton in the winter would hold the same appeal? Next time I play to don some Fred Perry and live out my Quadrophenia Fantasies. Brighton Rock anyone?

Antwerp & Brussels

I know, I know, what is the point of having a blog if one never posts things to it? How do regular bloggers do it I ask? Sadly I never seem to have anything worth noting in my life but for once I actually have managed to get enough content together to get one meaty (well…rather pescatarian) post written.

Last week I was lucky enough to find myself in Belgium on a research trip with work. Between meeting with various inspirational design agencies in Antwerp and Brussels I got to see some sights and partake in a wee bit of shopping (please do not tell the manager of Halifax, Bloomsbury S’il vous plait).

As I finished the book I was reading on the Eurostar on my outbound journey (an awful thing to happen to the single traveling lady) I spent much of my time off wandering on my own and taking snaps with the trusty Crackberry.

Antwerp city is about the size of Dublin and best explored on foot. I took the map in –hand that my wonderful hotel supplied and set off bravely to put a days work in. Walking the city was the best thing I could have done. I especially loved the harbour area around the new Strom Museum where I sampled one of the best coffees I have ever had at a place called Breor Bretel. Here the helpful owner also directed me to the best shopping area Kammenstraat and this is where I found myself at 5.30 once I had finished my last meeting. With half an hour of unadulturated shopping to fit in I did what every self respecting girl would do and bought a pair of shoes in the 1st shop I stepped into. Then it was onto sample some of the many vintage stores dotted along the street. PSSSSSSSST London Vintage Stores such as Rokit et Al…Antwerpian Vintage stores CLEAN their merchandise. Yes CLEAN them – that equates to no horrible vintagy smells, no moth ball odours and no scarves that smell like they have been used as bedding for my long departed terrier/jack Russell cross Sooty (Yes I do mean used by her after she was long-departed). Here I purchased a super soft silk polka dotty beige top for a purse friendly 11 yoyos. I will never buy vintage in London again.

Next day I found myself in Brussels where mum was meeting me to spend the weekend. Brussels is the ideal place to bring your mother. It has just the right balance of beautiful architecture and beautiful beer to keep both mum and daught sufficiently happy. We spent Saturday and Sunday wandering the quaint streets, having coffee, cakes , ice cream and arguments. They weren't awful arguments mind, just cute arguments involving my mothers refusal to admit to her blindness whilst map reading and my refusal to admit to having to map read at all. We made up over a chocalat chaud in the very 1st Le Pain Quotidian (I know unfort I didn’t take a photo) and all was fine and dandy.

One of the highlights of the trip was going to the Horta Museum – it’s tough to get to but well worth the trek. This museum isn’t actually really a museum but the Art Nouveau Architects family home. Growing up in this space must have been like growing up in a fairy tale, it really is the most enchanting house I have ever had the pleasure to be in.

The Go! Team Buy Nothing Day.

I really like this. Go Team one of the best bands I've ever scene live. I was wearing a bright red wig at the time also...Good times.