Last night I saw Joi Ito, current Director of the MIT Media Lab (I have been obsessed with that place since forever!) and renown venture capitalist, give the keynote for the Ideas City conference.

He explained how he sees the world as BI (before internet) and AI (after internet) because the Internet presented such a radically different production system.

Here are things he believes are needed to thrive in the AI world, with my own loose paraphrasing of what they mean. They are great statements, to which anyone can draw on, apply their own examples, meanings and critiques.

Practice over Theory

Innovation = now. Do something now and if it works go back and develop the theory. The cost of innovation is low, so you can afford to work this way. The theory first method is a necessity of the BI system in which it was very expensive to take such chances.

An obsession with measuring, is a sign that you might be out of touch, because it means you have a probably have a theory to prove, which means you feel you are smarter than the person in the trenches doing the practice.

Systems over Objects

Focus on making the system work and the rest falls into place.

Disobedience over Compliance

 “You don’t win a nobel prize for doing what you are told”.

In BI production, you need people to function as part of the machine being out of sync or otherwise different would cause break down of the entire system would break. With computers doing most of the menial labor in the workplace you now need everyone to be a creative worker.

 Emergence over Authority

 This is another way of saying grass-roots or bottom up instead of top down.

Risk over Safety

Remember, the cost of innovation is low financially. You can try lots of things fairly cheaply now. The only risk is fear of personal failures. Get over it!

If you plan everything you are not leaving room for the serendipity crucial to innovation.

Over-mitigating risk has a major downside, it limits learning and doesn’t build resilience.

Resilience over Strength

Developing an ability to keep going after set backs and perceived failures is what allows you to learn and develop the confidence to do new, bold, brilliant things.

Pull over Push

Work to draw what you need/want towards you don’t push yourself into it.

Compasses over Maps

It is more important for everyone on a team have the same general vision than be forced along the same path to get there. And also another way of implying that the map is not the destination.

If you are too focused and do not consider the periphery you will not be open to the pattern-recognition necessary for break-through thinking (or mushroom hunting!)

 Learning over Education

“Learning is something you do for yourself, education is what is done to you.”

 Encouraging people to be passionate and creative and discover things for themselves should be simple because is in our nature, all you have to do is NOT stamp it out.

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What excited me most about this list is that what it ultimately outlines is the creative practice. And it echoes exactly the leadership through arts, approach we use at  ALT Speakers . What is needed to be successful today and in the future? A creative practice, something everyone has the ability to develop and put to use in their personal and professional lives.

It’s all input. And every- and anything can tell you something essential about the species.

-George Saunders 

(Read the entire Paris Review interview)

This week I got choked up over the Village Voice's cover article, a truely moving story about the power of the arts. Written in the first-person by Roman Baca, an Iraq war veteran who re-ignited his passion for dance to help heal from PTSD and connect to others damaged by the experience of war.

His company Exit12 began by addressing issues close to home, like his mother's anxiety but has now extended to work with children in Iraq.

Their mission is to "inspire conversations about worldly differences and the lasting effects of violence and conflict on communities, families, and individuals. Through movement, we educate audiences about the reality of war, advocate diversity and mutual understanding through cultural exchange, and champion the humanity and dignity of all persons."

Link to read the article.

A determined soul will do more with a rusty monkey wrench than a loafer will accomplish with all the tools in a machine shop.

-Robert Hughes

The past few days I have been obsessed with change. Not the exciting CHANGE of political campaigns and social justice, but the humble change of our pockets. The various containers on my bedside table where such coinage gets dumped, were over full and I am too lazy/cheap to take it to a bank/coinstar machine for bills. Also, I get satisfaction from spending coins. I love having a few pennies on hand so I can give exact change. When relinquishing all my quarters nightly in one little tin, conveniently adds up to just enough, on laundry day, I feel pride that I don't have to "buy" a roll of quarters from the bodega on the corner (and this feeling is the only thing that keeps me from being irate that our laundry room is oddly devoid of coin changer machines).

I certainly have an appreciation for the monetary value of coins. There was even a semester in college where I lived off of the "couch change" from a roommate who, at the time, was making so much cash as a waiter that he didn't care to even pick up the quarters that practically rained from his pockets when passed out on the couch. And although this weekend, I only had a few instances to use my loot, all of them were so successful on a couple of levels that I have started to value coins for more than their ability to make coffee appear. Here's what happened

Maybe I am a little OCD about the change because, when I clean it from my bag at the end of a day, I immediately sort it into different containers. As I said, quarters have a special place as do pennies and for some reason nickles and dimes hang out together in another jar. I counted and sorted the N&D jar, about 10bux! Still, I went out feeling a little nervous about the responses I would get here and there when I paid by counting out my change at the register. Presumably this would annoy the person behind the counter and at best I'd get groans from people behind me in line, and as this is nyc I wouldn't have been surprised if this enraged someone beyond that. Alas, I was determined to move ahead with my plan and I needed the satisfaction of having emptied the N&D jar.

The first time I pay entirely in dimes. I am at a coffee shop in my neighborhood which is the border between Bushwick and Bed-Stuy. It doesn't get me a second look when I count and place two neat one dollar piles of dimes the bar. Server just says "thanks." and I sit down and enjoy my caffeine. I come here often but not enough to say I am a regular so I don't expect to be known. The folks are pretty friendly but I have to say I have never before gotten a cheery "thanks, see you later!" yelled at me from across the room as I exited from this server or any other, as I did on this day. The only thing I could think of that I did differently, was pay in change. Maybe it endeared me or made me stand out in some way subconsciously.  Hm.

That evening I am running late to a party and I need to pick up a bottle of ginger ale on the way. I run into the only place I see open, a Walgreens, and as I get to the register remember the sack of nickels that is all I brought with me. Shit, this lady is going to kill me. I wish there was a bodega open, I feel instinctually they might be cooler about this. I sheepishly tell the 20-something woman across the counter from me, "sorry its going to be a minute just have all this change to count out." She smiles big and says with genuine excitement in her tone "I love doing that!" Whew. We have a brief discussion about how much we both like giving exact change and collecting the change from the bottom of your bag and seeing it add up to dollars. I pay her in nickels and tell her I am so glad she was working tonight. I walk out with my head high, I feel like I am particularly clever and in cool kids club with this Walgreens employee.

Next day, I need to kill time between meetings and stop into a cute little cafe place that appears to serve primarily the college kids from the school buildings directly across the street. I pull out my satchel of change, it is a mix of nickles and dimes. Before I can even apologize for the time it will take me to count it out, the man behind this counter gets super excited and says "YES!". I look up from my task, perplexed but then I realize he commenting on the silver in my palm. "This is what I like to see!" He is absolutely thrilled I randomly stumbled into his cafe and am gifting him with all the nickles and dimes he will need to make change the rest of the afternoon. I am a godsend. His over-the-top response has me laughing. I hand him the sum I owe and say something like "I think its right but you might want to double check". He tells me he doesn't care, as he excitedly transfers the coins into his register drawer. We are both smiling big.

It turns out paying with change can not only buy you a coffee but it can also make you stand out, as a consumer, create a connection over an otherwise anonymous interaction and provide a real service for a small business. Next time I decide (or need) to nickel and dime it, I will do so with pride!

It is that which penetrates into the unseen worlds around us, the worlds of Science. It is that which feels & discovers what is, the real which we see not, which exists not for our senses. Those who have learned to walk the threshold of the unknown worlds… may then with the fair white wings of Imagination hope to soar further into the unexplored amidst which we live.

- Ada Lovelace on imagination

If you have been around me in the past 12 months, it is likely that I mentioned one of these books in our conversation. Since then, you have probably scratched your head, thinking "what was that book Mica was ranting about?"

I am old school. I still read paper books.

Here is a list of the books I found myself talking (to you) about most this past year.

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

This book immediately changed the way I think and act. For real! Don't be put off by the size of this tome. It is divided into short chapters with very clearly outlined take-aways from each. This book explains how our brains naturally have certain biases for handing information and proves that if we make an effort to be aware of them we will heighten our perception, be truely open-minded and make better overall decisions. Kahneman's aproach is neither condescending nor preechy and it's his humility that I think, makes this book so effecting, as he explains in an interview in The Guardian:

 My main work has concerned judgment and decision-making. But I never felt I was studying the stupidity of mankind in the third person. I always felt I was studying my own mistakes.

 

Alone Together by Sherry Turkle

This book is the culmination of a two massive research undertakings by this MIT professor who studies the social aspects of technology as a trained psychologist. However, you won't feel put off by the writing and full of relatable anecdotal stories. The first section is devoted to her observations of interactions between humans and social robots (primarily children and elderly) and the second, dedicacted to obervation of how people communicate through technology.

You would never confuse her for a luddite however, Turkle calls for a serious questioning of what we expect from our relationships with technology at this very crucual moment.  Here's her TED talk on the subject. 

The American Way of Eating Tracie McMillan

This is a great addtion to the food culture/justic bookshelf. The author does the invetigative journalist thing to reveal the real cost of food in America. You may think you know, but there are plenty of eye opening surprises in here.

Monkey Mind by Daniel Smith

Daniel Smith is not making fun of anxiety but he did make me snort-laugh a lot reading this book about his on going struggle with it. Well, humor heals or at least is a great coping mechanism. I think this little book will help a lot of people.

Every Leader is an Artist by Michael O'Malley, Ph.D and William F. Baker, Ph.D

Since developing The Alternative Speakers Bureau I have have been reading a lot of books about inspiration and innovation and creativity and leadership. This one stands out for me because it so eloquently explains the value of artists' work. Each chapter starts with a specific work of art, Mondrian painting, a Bruce Nauman neon sign, a passage from Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Wolf, and then uses that to exemplify a particular crucical aspect of good leadership in any field. For me, none of this is news but it was just so refreshing to see a book directed at a business audience that fosters deep thinking rather than over simplification. It is clear that O'Malley and Baker truely respect artists and that we share a misson of elevating their status in our culture.

You Must Go and Win by Alina Simone

Alina Simone is a great storyteller. I read this book cover to cover during one 5 hour bus ride. It was refreshing to read a book of memoir-y essays by a woman without any being about her terrible dating choices. It is truely a book about an artist finding her way. I had so many LOL moments reading this, that it allowed me to overlook a sorta slow chapter devoted entirely to her obsesion with singing eunuchs (OK, that seems pretty funny now that I am writing this.)

Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre

This is the amazing true story about how a street saavy, yet totally sketchy, criminal becomes a double agent during WWII and even becomes the only non-German to be awared the Iron Cross, while he is actually working for the other side! Reading this made me realize that I had not actually understood espionage before, despite all the James Bond movies I've seen. I love when the truth is stranger and more wonderful than ficiton and this is a great example.

The Big Payback by Dan Charnas

This book is great because it isn't just those well told tales about stars and industry big wigs, it gets into the nitty grity of promoters, marketers, interns, record store and club owners, cousins, friends and influencers of any sort who helped push forward the colorful and quite often unbelievable story of Hip Hop.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

What is there to say that hasn't already been said about this book? Not just for Jobs obsessed/Mac heads.  It's real good; fascinating, infuriating, enlightening and gossip-y!

What's on your most talked about list? I could use some recomendations for 2013!

As dreams that were momentus by night seem simply silly in the light of day, so the poet and prophet can find themselves playing the idiot before a jury of sober eyes.

-Joseph Campbell

Touch lights by paperJAM

"In these challenging economic times, it is important that artists devise new ways to create, share, think, and dream about what is possible."  -  FIGMENT website

Figment, an anual event held in NYC (and several other cities across the country), is a festival of art that is interactive and participatory. "You touch it, smell it, write on it, talk to it, dance with it, play with it, learn from it. Interactive art creates a dynamic collaboration between the artist, the audience and their environment." (via figment.com)

What you end up is a pretty wild, and I mean untamed. Works range from whimsical or silly to amazing and even, quite possibly dangerous. But ultimately, it offers visitors a chance to consider the idea of engagement from a lot of perspectives.

A colorful, splashy enterance to an oversized tree house is a fun invitiation to investigate. Others presented a pathway or a mysterious opening encouraging curiousity. Still others ask a question or leave a mad-lib a fill in the blank to say "what's missing here? YOU!"

Anyone involved in communications, marketing, media etc. can learn a lot from artists who are experimenting with such interactivity.

Live! by Asha Ganpat

Face of Liberty by Zaq Landsberg