The day after, I ran my own workshop in the Children’s Museum of the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam. Together with the participants, we experimented with design thinking for the Golden Rule, one of the guiding principles of the museum. It was a perfect workshop, with highly engaged participants, smart kids to validate ideas as our client, and an inspirational space full of musical instruments, a bed and other things that added energy to the event.

Talking with participants afterwards, they mentioned being amazed by the amount of solutions they came up with, and their own creativity in solving a tough problem.

My response (a cliche):

1. People tend to underestimate their own creativity and problem-solving capabilities.
2. The tools we use traditionally to solve problems, are often the wrong once for the challenge. There’s nothing more ill-equipped for the task than a corporate brainstorm.
3. Creative ways of working together make our innate creativity more accessible and help us solve everyday problems. Even something as simple as singing in a ‘serious’ environment (my favourite warming up exercise at the moment) helps.
4. At the heart of these creative ways of working together are making, doing, moving… Anything rather than talking.
5. This works anywhere, with anyone, for all possible problems and challenges. No exceptions.

(It can be scary, I agree. I’m always insecure about asking people to do more than write ideas on post-its, but never disappointed when I did.)

Paul Clifford called ‘making’ the biggest global phenomenon you’ve never heard of. People all over the world, all the time, make stuff. We prepare food, tend our gardens or create a poster for a party. When we do, we use our creativity. And when we start using our creativity, nothing is impossible.

Earlier this week, together with Erik Schilp, I launched the kickstarter campaign for Cards for Culture. It’s a creative, playful approach to helping you help your organisations develop better strategies, respond to trends, etc. etc. From our pilots we know it can help teams solve their own problems in a way that is, as we like to say ‘more action-driven than a management book, more long-term than a conference and less expensive than a consultant.’ All by making people work together creatively, and tapping into their own creativity.

An interesting fact I like to talk about in my future audiences sessions is how people in the past few years generally seem to read less books. Generally, there is a decline, apart from the cohort of avid readers (21+ books annually), which is growing. Binge-reading is on the rise; a literary divide in the making. And, as reading is attributed with positive side-effects ranging from increased empathy to having more to talk about with the strangers you now care about, lots of other divides as well.

I think there is a trick to reading more 5-star books, and the trick is twofold.

Part one of the trick echoes through Mark Vanhoenacker’s magnificent Skyfaring (5 stars): we appreciate what we recognise. If you read more, you recognise more, and will appreciate what you read more. Skyfaring is a case in point. A wonderfully written homage to air travel, it doesn’t worry about spending a chapter on the poetry of way finding in the air. The book is not elitist – not at all! – but such a chapter needs more practice than, say, the latest vampire novel.

Part two of the trick is context. Although I would go to the end of the world to defend H is for Hawk as a modern classic, before I started reading the book I wondered ‘why?’. I’m not interested in hawking, usually don’t care about autobiographies and am currently not particularly interested in books from the old, developed world. For me, the book lacked context. The book was saved by being utterly brilliant. Ari Shavit’s My Promised Land, a history of Israel that I can only compare in scale and emotion to Amos Oz’s A Tale of Love and Darkness, for me was the exact opposite. Of course I had to read this book to prepare for my upcoming journey. The context was super clear.

A while back I spent some time at an airport bookshop with a friend. We recommended books to each other. Have you read this? What do you recommend while we wait for The Mirror and the Light? What’s your favourite political biography? We were creating context.

I’ve been toying with the idea of this trick for a while. If books get better when you read more books, and when you read them in context, wouldn’t it be wonderful to develop a context creating machine that encourages people to read, like books better, read more, etc.?

For now this machine is called Book Play Club, and I hope to launch near the end of this year. Until then, you’ll have to do with the trick to read only 5-star books.

The Consumer (Decision) Journey is a framework that explains how people make decisions about products and services in a world where they are constantly exposed to a multitude of media channels. There are many variations to the framework, and companies like Google and Forrester use it in slightly different ways to explain the same thing: people don’t (just) buy whatever you have to offer because you’re able to buy most TV ads; their decisions are based on the interplay of many channels and marketing messages.

That’s the theory. In practice, the consumer journey is mostly a really useful tool to think about audiences. To introduce the tool, some of its core concepts and the idea of consumer centered marketing, over the past months I’ve developed the Consumer Journey Boardgame, a game in which you ‘Dominate the media channels, convince consumers, always [are] closing and crush the competition’ as the rule book reads.

I developed the game drawing inspiration from my work for Philips and the Consumer Journey concept as presented by McKinsey.

The objective of the game is to complete 3 purchases. To do so, you have to convince consumers of your brand, engage them and make them loyal by spending your marketing budget wisely. But consumers are fickle and quickly change their preference, so you’ll have to use your business acumen to succeed. In an atmosphere of unforgiving competition you’ll have to use specials such as big data and consumer insights to gain a competitive advantage.

I’ve been developing games and game-like environments for most of my life, but the last physical board game must have been 25 years ago (Crocodile Adventures, I recently found the box). A lot has changed since then, such as that I can now buy a logo on Fiverr and use an algorithm to help me balance the gameplay.

Apart from such digital luxuries, most of the game is made by hand, in a limited edition of 50 copies. I didn’t develop the game as a product, but if you want one to play with the concept of the consumer journey in your organization, email me. They cost about 50 euros to make.

Alternatively, you can enjoy the photos or find me at any of the conferences I’ll be speaking at in the coming months to try to beat me at my own game!

Later the same day, speculative designer and researcher Lisa Ma explored a similar idea. The projects Ma presented are hard to summarise in a few words, and all looked at the point where people become activists, and what this means for society. For instance, in the world’s vegetarian capital Ghent, she worked on the vegetarians’ role in keeping invasive species such as Canadian geese under control. A conclusion: sometimes it’s better for a vegetarian to put a bird on the table and explore new forms of animal activism.

Ma’s call to action made a lot of sense: we need to teach people to be critical activists. Rather than distract them with click bait and turn them into slacktivists, encourage them to really reflect on their ideas, ideals and the impact they can have on society. A good cause doesn’t need a million clicks on Facebook.

And of course all of this works the other way around as well. A million clicks doesn’t make something a good cause. Leaderboards don’t make a boring product fun. Gimmicks don’t make a weak idea relevant, they just distract.

To drive the point home, here’s what I got when I went to purchase an image for this post. I don’t really need a badge to be a loyal customer, rather give me better search options!

This question has been on my mind recently as I’ve been asked to look for possible answers. It’s also a question that resonates with me and combines my interests in tech, innovation and constructive social change. To understand what is happening, what’s hot and not and what are the key challenges and opportunities I decided to take a deep dive into the topic, starting with an (excellent) TechChange course on the topic.

As it turns out, there’s a considerable community of ‘peace innovators’, smart people looking at ways to use ICTs for peace. They’re fun to follow on Twitter, go to exciting conferences and ask very good questions. Few of these questions, I found during my deep dive, have answers set in stone. I haven’t discovered the dogmas yet, just great questions asked multiple times. Refreshing.

The digital world as we know it has much of its roots in people who saw computers and networks as tools for peace and community. It’s hard to imagine if you consider the current state of the web with its warmongering and misogyny, but the internet was founded by some to prevent the world from collapsing in nuclear wars, while others even rejected such violent beginnings for the tool. (Isaacson’s The Innovators proves a wonderful portrait of many of these people.)

So, what kind of projects are the contemporary ICT and peace community involved in?

The probably most famous project is the Satellite Sentinel Project not in the least because, uhm, well… George Clooney. Newsweek’s Alex Perry recently wrote an eye-opening long-read about the project and the conflict it addresses in (South) Sudan: Clooney’s War, an absolute must-read. The project uses satellite images to uncover and document atrocities so they cannot be denied, which is pretty successful as can be seen by the quote below from the article above:

Clooney laughed. “I love the ‘It’s not fair’ thing,” he said. “Literally stomping their feet. ‘It’s not fair!’ The Defence Minister [of Sudan] came out and said: ‘How would Mr Clooney like it if every time he left his house there were people watching him with cameras?’”

Using ICTs and digital media to document and share information about events that would otherwise go unnoticed even in this hyperconnected world is fairly common. Another project that gained wider awareness, Ushahidi, is based on a similar approach, as are project that were new to me. This wonderful resource map from the eastern DRC for example, or the data treasure trove of the GDELT project.

The challenge here, of course, is that ICTs come after the fact. Atrocities need to be committed before they can be reported. Another branch of projects aims to move closer to the project and actually prevent violence from happening. For instance, Una Hakika which uses mobile phones to counter misinformation and misleading rumours that may cause violence. Again, there is a range of technologies to choose from, many of them SMS based because mobile phones are way more ubiquitous than wired connections.

Sometimes, social media is used to de-escalate violence and prevent violence, although the cases are few and far between and it is hard to find reliable research showing a clear, positive connection between (specific) social media use and peace building. Again, all such efforts are limited to people using social media, which billions still aren’t doing. (Which is why it is ridiculous to talk about social media revolutions. They’re people revolutions in which selected individuals use social media.)

Many of the projects we heard about in the course were great and brave and had a positive impact on the world we live in. Personally, however, I’d like to go one step further back in the conflict timeline with digital media and technology: prevent tensions from arising in the first place by building stronger and more respectful ties between (different) people. Fortunately, I don’t live in a war zone or post-conflict area – and I like to keep it that way. That doesn’t mean all’s well in my country, especially if you’re not a member of the traditional majority. The tension in Amsterdam is almost tangible, especially now ISIS is seen as a bigger threat than inequality and Black Pete still has avid supporters.

What can social media and technology do to fix this? Or, again, how can they contribute to a more peaceful and respectful society?

Maybe we should borrow (/steal) from the founders of much of the digital revolution and once again use technology to celebrate and learn to understand diversity, question authority and dogmas and generally create a more open and connected world. When the internet was first founded, the concept of MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction – assured world peace, maybe now we can have MAR – Mutually Assured Respect or Reason. Not just ‘do no evil’, but use tech and digital media so we can always ‘assume no evil’.

An introduction deserves a follow-up and I’d like to make this an hands-on journey. So yes, I’ll sign up for more TechChange and Coursera courses (I do have a paper to write), but I especially propose to use some of my time in the coming months to find a way to answer the leading question of this post. If you’ve read until here I’m guessing you’re at least somewhat interested in similar topics so I’d love to hear your thoughts, challenges or pointers for where to look. I do have a project idea up my sleeve in cooperation with some local partners, but it’s still too immature to share openly. I hope I will, soon. Another lesson learned from the passionate peace innovators: the stakes are too high to procrastinate any more than absolutely necessary. Writing alone doesn’t do the trick.

Header image by Faris Algosaibi.

After the keynote we used the Digital Engagement Framework and the ideas of the attending Scandinavians to build four institutions that embraced these ideas and created value by involving & activating the creativity of their audience. One of these: The International Institute of Colour Dancing, a schoolbook example of a social organisation.

The IIoCD as a clear, audience-centred vision: ‘Yes, we think you can dance!’ It’s energising, inclusive, optimistic. As a true social institution, it engages both staff and audience in fulfilling their vision and sharing the joy of dancing.

The IIoCD taps into existing energy and networks related to dancing such as the rich YouTube archive of dance tutorials. To these existing resources it adds its unique knowledge about dancing styles and the historical context of dance. If you’re great at one style, they may introduce another that helps you grow as a dancer. The IIoCD is a place for learning, experimentation, connecting with others and – most of all – dancing. The institute is a real platform; always pushing people to go further, discover more, grow the audience’s love for dance and their ability to express this.

Of course, the IIoCD doesn’t exist. It was developed in just under an hour, complete with encouraging videos of dancing staff to show that yes: everybody can dance. If we had taken more time, the organisation would have proven even stronger, more social, inclusive and solid.

What I took away from the experience with the IIoCD is that it is incredibly simple to future-prove parts of an organisation. In the same workshop, we created 3 more organisations – one for each reading, coffee and ABBA – one of which I would have funded had it been presented to a committee I’m on. What it takes is the recognition that every audience has value to add and that in a future where Ken Robinson is right, this opens up a whole new playing field to do so: engagement, activism, learning. Let’s go!

Currently I’m at project #25: Developing a toolkit and approach for consumer-centric innovation at a large multinational. Of the previous projects, I remember some better than others:

#5: Advising a village in rural Sudan on its agriculture (fictional but fun).
#11: Organising a study and sports trip to Tanzania.
#15: The National Vending Machine.

Project #25. Only seventy-five left, 100 projects is not a lot. The number pales in comparison with the 3,000 books I expect to read in my life. It’s my firm belief that one of these projects will make me a millionaire. If not, I will never be able to finance projects like #41: Learn to speak Arabic, preferably in the region. Seventy-five shots left.

The number 100 is arbitrary. I just happen to be an easily enthused person with a wide range of interests. Other people do one or two projects all their life and do them well: build a company or liberate a country. Others again do thousands of smaller projects, each of them valuable.

100 projects, give or take. It kind of makes me want to do the next bunch. And, considering the first batch brought me to over twenty different countries and took me from teaching English to learning about big data and a whole range of different topics, I’m also looking forward to the journey ahead.

Free space is costly.
A square metre in the heart of London easily sets you back 15k. One hour of brainstorming with your team probably somewhere around 500 euros (or much, much more). A company like Intel spends over 10 billion dollars per year on R&D, which is comparable with the GDP of a country like Nicaragua. (And I wonder which of these two has more free space.)

Free space is valuable.
Imagine you’d have unlimited of physical free space, to grow your own vegetables in the heart of a city. Or financial free space, to spend weeks on getting a proposal just right. Intellectual free space, to read a book or do a MOOC entirely unrelated to your day-to-day. And free space in your schedule, to pursue a project or experiment into the unknown.

Last year, Jim and I used some free space (summer) to write a book. Free space well spent! This weekend, however, I lost 245 minutes of free space playing A Dark Room (don’t click the link!). It’s easy to waste free space, or use it to make ends meet rather than make an impact.

Many of the best projects I’ve worked on happened in the free space between meetings, tight budgets and strict regulations. The book, but also the National Vending Machine, Van Gogh in 3D, last year’s workshops in the Balkans. De gulle ekster – the art and design subscription startup I’m involved in – too. They wouldn’t have happened, well… without the space to experiment and pursue curiosity.

Bottom-line: When spent well, the value of free space is significant, and it’s worth everything. Work on creating free space, and if you have it, grasp it.

Over the past weeks I’ve worked with the most digital printer of NL (their words) and they did an amazing job at making a very physical book. We’ve identified at least 7 ways to use the PDF, but hardcopy (from the company printer or elsewhere) easily adds 3 more. GREATER!

So, how to use the book:

1. As a toolbox to design your organisation’s digital engagement strategy.
2. As an instigator for a discussion with your colleagues about more social institutions. (Pro tip: buy or print a physical copy and leave it next to the coffee machine.)
3. As inspiration for the design of an audience-centred project or campaign.
4. As ammunition in your ongoing discussion with peers and colleagues about digital media.
5. As a tour behind the scenes of organisations like yours. (The book is based on practice, not theory, so all examples come from real life.)
6. As the basis for an internal training programme on modern communication, media and technology.
7. As a starting point for your own research or theory about digital engagement.
8. PRINT ONLY: As a very physical reminder to leave on somebody’s desk that the world has changed and maybe, just maybe you’re organisation should explore the digital.
9. PRINT ONLY: As a notebook for your team. Pass it around and let everybody make notes in the book. You’ll end up with a strong basis for digital engagement strategy.
10. PRINT ONLY: As a gift to people you care to give some digital inspiration.

Although we’re a big fan of the free PDF (trees! clean desk policies!), a printed version has some advantages over bits and bytes. We encourage you to print the book yourself on the company printer, but if you want a really nice edition send me an email and we’ll work something out. Expect to pay 30 euros plus postage for all the benefits of PDF and PRINT. GREATEST!

(I should probably point out the 30 euros are to cover the most digital printer of NL. No profits. If you buy in bulk (a box or more) you’ll pay less.)

In my workshops people often take a narrow view of which assets are useful as digital content. They limit themselves to assets that are already digital (press releases, photos, audio files) or that have very clear digital counterparts (paper archives, analog photos, CDs). With a bit of creativity, however, much more of your assets can be turned into digital content. Some examples:

• The asset good coffee can be turned into positive reviews on sites such as Tripadvisor, in addition to the occasional latte art photography for your social networks,
• Clean toilets mostly avoid content creation (complaints). They can also be a place to disseminate content, e.g. with a screen for waiting visitors.
• Search engine traffic to a specific keyword helps you distinguish popular content and can help you improve all your other content.
• Friendly front desk staff are content generators. Their anecdotes, experiences and the feedback they receive can be turned into blogposts, videos and updates.
• Shelter from the rain gives you a reason to be listed on websites describing indoor activities. I’ve also used this specific asset in Google advertising campaigns.
• A night out as an event is content for your social networks and helps you get on listing websites.
• The sense of community is something tricky to translate into content, but think of photo galleries of events, videos and interviews with visitors.
• Tours are one of my favourite starting places to find digital content. Tour guides usually know the best anecdotes and stories, which can be digitised. A good tour itself tells a story, which can be made available for download as PDF for people visiting on their own or on Google Streetview.
• Magazines themselves are a collection of content. When available digitally (and what magazine content isn’t nowadays?) this content can be shared elsewhere as well, maybe as a blog, a series of newsletters or by linking to it from social media.
• Productions in the sense of plays, exhibitions, lectures, concerts, etc. are one of your main sources of content. Take pictures, make videos, interview visitors and turn the press release into lively social media updates.

I believe that the best way to find all the possible digital content your organisation’s assets can create is to make this a collaborative effort. Invite your colleagues to a session where you walk through your physical and digital spaces and write down all the things that are special on a post-it. Then, in a room, together you try to transform each post-it (asset) into digital content. Use different colour post-its for assets and content and put them on a wall. What you get is a cloud of post-its full of creative ideas for your digital content!

If you want to learn more about using the Digital Engagement Framework as a tool to develop your digital engagement strategy, download the free e-book Digital engagement for culture, heritage and the arts.