Bristol wins, Douglas McWilliams was right, and why Exeter isn't quite it!

Bristol recognised as the fourth most inspiring City in the World ahead of London, New York and Paris. Take a moment to allow that to sink in. 

A lot of chat has gone on recently about Exeter's potential to achieve and get world recognition for great things. Part of that debate is about how to attract and keep skilled folk, particularly techie's in the city. Many organisations are scratching their heads. Sometimes together and sometimes alone to try and answer this question. In his book the Flat White Economy Douglas McWilliams lays out criteria based on economic data, to create the potential for tech City growth to happen. What surprises me is that some of the key criteria are mostly ignored. This is particularly noticeable here in Exeter. The criteria that attract and keeps techies in a given place include a large element of fun. Yes thats right, fun. Bristol won its award based not on it's ability to provide jobs or cheap housing. It won because it is fun, and has a large and active creative community. Who are recognisable in many cases on the World cultural scene. 

check out the criteria

 Where is Exeter's Banksy, Tricky, Roni Size or Massive Attack? (even these examples are out of date). Where are the cultural centres that would allow such creative talents to flourish? For all it's glitzy shopping arcades Exeter does not have even one 'cool' venue. Or even a decent hangout. The wealthy populate the few places in Exeter that are worth a visit. Not the struggling creatives. Even live music venues have  decreased. The few that remain are overcrowded.  Come on Exeter if you want to attract and keep skilled tech staff and other workers you need to be a lot more Bristol. That means creating serious cultural centres. Cool work hubs for artists and musicians. Theatres, galleries, multiple venues for new bands and much much more. The best things happen where strange worlds collide. Where 'not the usual suspects' meet and discuss and create. Right now in Exeter the same old people are talking to themselves and each other. Then patting themselves on their collective backs. This will change nothing! Exeter needs to be less superficial and much more inspiring. Check out the awards criteria in the link below.

Bristol Award
The Criteria: Here

Cool Brittania - not anymore it isn't

Everyone's going to Brexit! 

Everywhere I go since Brexit I hear people discussing their desire to leave Britain. this is particularly evident among young people. I was in my favourite coffee shop and as always earwigging conversation. The young and interested who would have or voted remain are discussing Brexit. Not in the way you might imagine. Far from the infighting, xenophobia of politics.  They are discussing the exciting opportunities and sense of cool offered by big European cities. 

The primary target of this discussion is Berlin, itself the target of unrest lately due to gentrification. The young and the interested are rebelling. Cool Britannia, a tardy phrase coined by Blair and his cronies. When they'd finally, all too late woken up to the value of our creative industries, is dead in the water. Despite the best efforts of our film, music and creative arts industries worth £10 million an hour to the UK.  Britain is about to leech it's best creative minds. Selfish class ridden UK will become a desert wasteland of disaffected youth. Because those with the skills and abilities will realise that Shoreditch isn't it. Just take a tour of any major European city and you will sense the confidence of youth. Not for them the hang ups of class barriers for start ups. Not for them the labels of immigrant if you attempt to put yourself forward. Its a badge of honour to be well read, well dressed and entrepreneurial in the most happening cities in Europe. 

Check out wired magazine's hottest 100 startups and you will see the diversity of ideas and experience. It may be the baby boomers that built stuff, but it is generation Z who are using the tools to greatest effect. 

 It will be generation K who will be the test of Britain's ability to retain a skilled   society. Able to compete as independent individuals against the best in Europe. Douglas McWilliams 'Flat White Economy' describes how skilled immigrants saved London from going under in the last recession. Now Brexit has done it's worst, who will save London and the UK in the next one? The talented immigrants will leave, chased out by xenophobia and hatred. The skilled and independent generation K's from the UK will flee in their droves. I for one will mourn the loss of both. The creative youth that make our society so special. And the brilliant migrants I've met who've enriched my life and the life of our cities so much. Cool is elsewhere, just take a look at football, clothing, bikes, music, clubs, film, science, design and art if you don't agree! 

Making an impact - Back to the future of work

So back to the subject 'future of work'. 
Why you might well ask am I so obsessed with this topic?

After all for some the future of work is already happening. Coworking, sharing apps, digital tech and home businesses are all right now.

Innovation Centre Cafe Exeter University

Well in a nutshell I want people to benefit from my experience and that of my father and peers. Lets start with Dad, I loved my dad but like many kids I knew I didn't see him much during the week. He drove lorries, he did it well, but the hours were long and arduous. Basically 6 o'clock start every morning and never home before 6 in the evening or later if the traffic was bad. Dad provided well for the family and the net result was that I grew up able and landed a job to help out with the family income at 16. The trouble was that I worked a similar pattern, shifts for a print shop. Got paid exceptionally well and was in a hamster wheel type honey trap that I couldn't get off. Strangely subsequent redundancy gave me the oxygen I needed and resulted in my gaining an MA. Following that I got a job in comms for the Govt. Sadly this isn't satisfying me either! the problem is that 9-5 5 days a week is a treadmill! Not one that I'm prepared to accept any longer, and not one I want for anyone else either. That's why I halved my working week.
Why is it a treadmill?
Treadmill, the word itself describes it all to well. How many of us go to an office or factory, head down, same routine every day? Don't get me wrong this possibly works for some people. If you're one of them fine carry on. But for me the monotony of routine work, routine location and same old faces is a killer. In fact I can't really sit still for more than 5 minutes!

What is the solution?
The antidote for me is variety.
The good news is digital technology has enabled this. Anywhere with a decent internet connection (or indeed a phone connection) is fair game as a workspace. I'm writing this right now from my favourite 'Boston Tea Party' cafe in Exeter. Accompanied by fab coffee and a bap! Awesome!

The advent of coworking hubs such as the Generator in Exeter have facilitated a boom in happy accidents. People coming together by chance to produce amazing things.
This connectivity and co creation is a by product of escaping the 9-5.  But also it's a bonus for home workers. As I've learned homeworking isn't all it's cut out to be. I find if I start at 9 I'm climbing the walls through lack of human contact by 2pm. This has truly confirmed for me that coworking hubs are the future. Especially if they have good coffee and state of the art wireless, both de rigeur in a digital society.
Coworking, alongside the new penchant among hipsters to desire experience over material things is well documented. Douglas McWilliams book 'The Flat White Economy', a must read for anyone as fascinated by this topic as I am. It confirms what I already predicted using nothing but guesses and instinct. The Flat White Economy.  Highly skilled young tech people, living out of tiny rooms. Driven by desire for experiences not possessions. Many of whom are well trained digitally savvy immigrants (in my opinion a huge positive).  Is driving London's and therefore Britain's economic recovery. Hurrah, but not just London.

What can people do about it?
Hey yep, I've got a plan people! Right here in Exeter. I intend to bring an 'Impact Hub' to the city. Yes big and brave, it may have to start small but I've signed up here! Create an Impact Hub in your City.

You can join me! 
In a few weeks I'm going to blog from Impact Hubs in London and Berlin. You'll be able to see what they are and how they offer so much more than just a coworking space. Don't get me wrong I'm not knocking or disparaging existing coworking efforts. The are fab. Nope, I  just want to go further. An all singing, all dancing space for the community. Where artists, entrepreneurs, musos, architects, students and just about anyone can come. Pitch their ideas, run an event, launch a product, cowork, rent offices, make art, make music. And hopefully all of the above.
Wouldn't it be amazing to have such a space? Together we could fill it with events, all designed to support and nurture creators and entrepreneurs. All designed to facilitate future working in a way that is. Spontaneous, not time bound, not anchored to one place, not associated with the same old faces. Just really inspirational. Somewhere that makes you want to go running off to work in the morning with real joy!

Come to the revolution!
You've heard the expression come the revolution? Well now is your chance to come to the revolution! Sign up for the Impact Hub journey. Set your location as Exeter and I'll find you. We'll work together to change the future of Exeter and possibly the world! Well our world that is. At least if nothing else you'll escape the hamster wheel of 9-5. Are you with me? Join now here.

Also read this Blog! Thanks Chris Lorimer for some great insight!.

Will work really be the same in the future?

Lately I've been pondering the future of work . I've asked myself four questions; Where will I work? How will I work? How long will I work each day? Will I have just one job?

Where will I work? I've read many things this year about creativity and location. Among the best was a blog  that suggested coffee shops were the best locations. The article makes a good case and is interesting. I also enjoyed the article in Wired talking about Liam Casey setting up business in China. At no point was it suggested that expensive offices and the overheads they carry were the way forward. Cue the growth of co working spaces like the Generator in Exeter or Thinqtank in Plymouth. Like Google's hub in London you can hire workspace and meeting space. It's a great place to meet people and a godsend for those who would normally work from home. Home working can be soul destroying hubs can provide the answer to break the monotony.

How will I work? It's no surprise that with the growth of collaborative spaces has come the growth of collaborative tools. There are many variants, my fave being Google docs. That allow collaboration across project members and outside the project too. It's a brilliant experience to sit and co create a document and watch as colleagues contribute from wherever they are. The time saved and the pain of email chains and tracked changes received is brilliant. I cannot for the life of me understand why these tools are not the norm. Others are taking advantage of crowd sourcing their designs. They have benefited from critique and positive additions, for example the Tesla electric car.

Of course once your product is ready you can share it with the manufacturer even if they are on the other side of the planet. I use Google hangouts to great effect. I've hosted meetings with colleagues from around the UK and find it easy and convenient. It reduces my travel time and cost too!

How long will I work each day? I think the days of Monday to Friday eight hours a day are on their way out. I've met so many people who are now prepared to adjust their lifestyle to work less hours.  This is really encouraging. flexible working taken to extreme can be really productive, we are not designed to sit in an office eight hours or more. Working when we are happiest and most productive judged by results not 'presenteeism' must be the future. Serious writers like Anna Coote of the New Economics Foundation have described how this can work. She suggests a 21 hour working week  . The benefits in terms of sustainability and personal well being would be immense.

Will I have just one job? Good question, again I think the notion of working for just one employer on just one task is fast disappearing. Portfolio working is on the increase and can be immensely rewarding. There's no secure jobs anymore and no loyalty. Moving from project to project developing and demonstrating your skills will help to keep you working and current. Stagnating in a so called career can actually damage your prospects. Many in the human resources world advocate never spending more than 3 years in a post. The added benefit is networking with a myriad of potential collaborators who you can call on in the future should you need to.

I’m writing a whole other piece on the ‘maker revolution’ embracing new ways of producing things that don't need armies of people. A recent Guardian article features a blistering range of new ideas from the ‘startup’ do it yourself culture.

When I floated similar ideas to a major employer for a management discussion they'd freaked out. What they don't realise is that just like the dated products they produce new businesses will supersede them.  Their hierarchical organisational structure will be out of date too. Like Kodak and film, old businesses will lose their place.  Lost in the deluge of clever collaborations and startups that no longer play by their rules. Already many organisations are beginning to change working practices to accommodate millenials Not to mention generation Z.

Wake up to the work revolution, change now. Less hours, greater flexibility, less formality, creative working location and environment.  For me it can't come soon enough.

Since writing this the Financial Times has cited Exeter as a top location for work life balance in an article. They mention many of the same thing as I have in this blog. I'm flattered.