The Organisation is dead! Welcome to the gig and gadfly economy

The organization is dead and this is why 

Competition in the same field will inevitably lead to organizational death for some

I sat at a conference recently listening to representatives from organisations trying to work out how to work together to save the planet and it's endangered species. It was painful, a bit like listening to dinosaurs trying to work out how to avoid extinction. The future of conservation organisations is dire. This is also reflected in the future of many other large institutions. 

The organisation is dead! you heard it here first. 

The point that they seem to have missed is that people are no longer joiners. They no longer want to be part of the grey horde that subscribes to, or works for some archaic behemoth. If you look at social media behaviour people are predominantly gadflies. Yes, the demographic that currently supports environmental organisations might well join them. But the generations following behind them flit from one issue or campaign to the next in the click of a mouse button. What those organisations need to ask is how should we work together within the emergent gig economy to capture the wave of clicktivism? They need to harness the enthusiasm of social movements, they need to be lean and agile in other words adaptable, they need to go where the action is. The modern workforce will abandoned the traditional organisation. More than a third of Americans are already freelance and loving it. They move happily from gig to gig, they do not spend a lifetime devoted to a one trick pony job. If you extrapolate this idea for the modern charity or trust, people do not choose one and stay with it for life. 

Do this now!

When I was a humble undergraduate I joined the green movement at University of Plymouth. It contained and was courted by many of the popular charities and trusts eager to harness the enthusiasm and idealism of youth. To their credit, what came to be known as 'Green Umbrella' took them all onboard, allied itself to none of them and instead campaigned on a new issue each month. Each organisation could put forward a topic, members of the umbrella would vote on which to take forward that month. Serious campaigns followed with a great deal of energy for the month. Students loved it, the variety and currency of issues keep the group fresh and excited.

Is this a way forward for the big organisations?

Maybe but I think they need to drop some old adversarial practices, stop competing and think about how they will work together. I think the big single issue organisations will die, just like Kodak was defeated by digital photography. In many respects this will be a good thing. Diversity is after all what many of them are campaigning for. Lets focus on the problems, prioritise them and then put all of our energy in to a month of serious campaign effort. Could this happen? I suspect not because at present they can't even agree who should be in the room, let alone the issues. RIP organisations, you're too stale, too big and faced with decisions you choose inertia. Stricken by fear of offending the current member demographic and obsessed with staying part of the establishment.

Where are the future creatives? And what are we doing about it?

Only 1% of people on the internet are creators!

Creative tools past

Its an odd paradox that in an age where we have the most powerful creative tools in our hands most of us use them to do passive tasks. At best we might take a selfie, add a filter and post it in the ether. That is the endless stream of social media. yes we might well look back nostalgically at our efforts. But I suggest there are less and less people able and willing to make a living out of creating. Why is this?

First of all I guess the notion of jobs like photographer, artist, poet, writer, musician. Considered the creative roles appear diluted by digital technology and means of distribution. When I was a teenager if you wanted to take a photograph (my obsession back then), you had to and first save up for a decent camera. Mine was a Zenit E, followed by Canon AE and many more. Also the accessories as you gradually learned the trade of using different lenses for different reasons and flash in the dark etc. If you were a fanatic like me, you but a darkroom with a Durst enlarger. Struggled to create a space of total blackout where you could develop and enlarge your masterpieces. I was told that good print could last a 100 years or more. I wonder what digital archives will be around in 100 years?

Ingrained in that crazy slow learning curve was a desire to capture images that endured and pleased others. And master the techniques of presenting them. To exhibit was to bare your soul. The great and good came from far and wide to see, and if you were lucky purchase your efforts. You would number them to make them even more desirable. Oddly I've noticed a resurgence of people using film recently that might one day return to this situation. But I doubt it.

Like music and writing, the art of photography died with the digital camera. Music struggles on but the means of distribution have rendered earning a living as a musician almost impossible. Art is the last bastion. Struggling in its own way to stand out in the crowded space where social sharing and advertising increasingly co-exist. One in 11 jobs or 8.8 per cent of all UK jobs now falls within the creative economy, and one in six of all UK graduate jobs are also creative economy positions. This is seen as good, but as work opportunities decline and the traditional notion of work disappears with the coming AI revolution. The percentage is going to have to be a lot bigger! 

http://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/media/286867/cic_jobs_update2015.pdf 

Part of developing and autonomous, think on your feet, adaptable workforce is going to be all about stimulating and encouraging creative skills beyond the odd selfie. 

My self with Prisma - 5 mins of effort!

But how? 

At the moment our education system and every other facet of society pushes people towards the traditional view of 9-5 treadmill jobs. The new breed of hamsters, apart from a small minority, seem happy to follow. Disruption is happening in many aspects of society, bitcoin, crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, AI, autonomous vehicles. But not in traditional education. According to many commentators it kills creativity. This is something we need to tackle quickly. Or we will hive our future creatives to mindless silos nose to the grind wheel.

The solution is opening things up, yes even schools and colleges. Oh the risks I hear you scream. But as long as we keep closed systems, closed institutions and closed thinking, we will not stimulate the 'autonomy economy' of future creatives. 

My vision is that the best things happen when strange worlds meet. Co working hubs around the world are demonstrating this almost daily. what we need is to do this earlier, faster and cheaper to enable worlds to collide more often. Creative hubs, freely available to all are the answer. When I was a kid the library was my education, but they are no where  near cool enough anymore. We need spaces that are the epitome of wow. Designed to attract and throw together the cleverest minds of all ages and social strata. No government will support this as this kind of autonomy terrifies them. It is for our generation, those who know how to make stuff, to provide them for the future. 

Some light is starting to appear, we have hubs coming out of our ears in Exeter and conferences too. The problem is they are disparate and not in the centre. There is no one centrally placed Loci, I propose a quiet takeover and I have a target place! Watch this space...

How much reality can we cope with?

 

There it was! One minute I was responding to a post about Pokemon Go suggesting that its a  stepping stone to full Virtual Reality and a way to get people interested in Augmented Reality (I'm totally surprised it doesn't yet have AR adverts. Then good old Google (speculation alert) are alleged to be working on, get this, a mixed reality version of Google glass!
Well I never. The question is how much reality can we take? It seems to me that people aren't yet ready for full on VR, unless they're queuing for a Japanese VR porn convention that is. So the middle ground is as ever to get people interested/addicted via a game. Well done Nintendo, you've certainly achieved that. Wish I'd had a few shares in the old Wii factory but alas I don't. Apparently it's been so successful it's outstripped Sony!
So what next? Well careful what you wish for, a number of commentators have been fixated about the internet of things, smart cities and augmented advertising. But they have taken their eye off the good old smart phone as the vehicle for this. Also of course the possibility of wearables if Google gets it's way.
TThis video from Hyper Reality thanks to Keiichi Matsuda (Above) gives a sneak preview of what might happen to your phone or indeed your glasses. Is it a case of glasses half empty or glasses left full? You tell me...

Hyper Reality 

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! 

Digital Exeter, meetups, places and things to do!

Exeter is on fire at the moment, so many digital events so little time! 
Tech Nation report highlighting the growth of digital sector in Exeter
The arrival of Hub@TechExeter  and the second Generator co-working space on the Quay,Exeter Science Park open for business, those Cosmic people offering digital leadership courses. I can hardly keep up! 
Slight problem is knowing when everything is on and where to find out! Yes you can follow Twitter and Facebook feeds and email lists, use meetup app,  but not definitive!

I've made a list of the initiatives I know of here:
Hang out and work
Innovation Centre & Cafe - Exeter University
Exeter Science Park
Generator - Co working space Exeter
Exeter Library Meeting Rooms for hire
Exeter Phoenix Arts Centre
RAMM Museum, Art gallery & Cafe Exeter
Devon Work Hubs - work hubs dotted around Devon
Tech Exeter, community, conference and co-working space (formerly Exeter Web)

Maker Space: 

FabLab Devon - Exeter Central Library
Raspberry Pi Jam

Go to events:

Exeter Castle Demos pitch your business
Exeter Startup Weekends - Start a business in 54 hours Twitter: @innovexeter
Digital Exeter - talks and networking Twitter: @DigitalExeter
TechExeter - community and conference
EXIST - Science and Tech talks and networking Twitter: @ExIST_Exeter 
ODI Devon - open data - talks and networking Twitter: @ODIDevon
GeekCampX - sporadic geek fun and games Twitter: @GeekCampX

Many of these are also on Meetup.com  Download the app if you have a smartphone

Please comment on this blog with any I've missed and I'll update and add to the post. Hopefully it'll become a useful source of reference.
Happy Geeking!

Punk's Alive - Generation Z, your time awaits!

I believe the punk ethos prevalent in the 70s is alive and kicking in 2015.

The 70s punk spirit has spilled over into  entrepreneurship characterised by current business startups. Energised by the go get em, multi million pound results of the efforts of Jobs, Zuckeberg and co everyone is at it now, or so it seems. 

How does the new wave of entrepreneurial effort compare to the diy punk efforts of the 70s and how does it differ?

The thing that differentiated the punk mentality from the prior decades was it's 'you can do it' DiY approach. This didn't just apply to the three chord guitar riffs. It was all about a lifestyle choice, taking control. As the eloquent Inspiral Carpets front man Clint Boon expressed it in a recent BBC6 interview. "[it was about] carving out your own destiny, doing things your way. Not always following things the establishment tells you to do". Whilst this applied mainly to having a good time playing and pogoing to raucous music for most people, others made a career out of it. 

Examples of entrepreneurial spirit emerged in the independent record labels that grew and flourished. For example Indie labels like Rough Trade Records took on the giants in the 70s. Also, fashion was heavily influenced by punk at the time. Then mass marketed by those clever enough to see the opportunities. Writers, journalists, film and documentary makers had a field day. 

So what in the hell has this got to do with the startup culture that is currently taking the business world by storm? 

Many people who were around at the end of the punk era have been influential in shaping the desires and markets of post punk consumers. This has led to innovations in many walks of life. The way we consume music, books, the rise of the internet. As well as shopping, film, photography and many other areas of our lives. The spawn of the post punk mentality have shaped these developments. Not as is often assumed millennials. The odd thing is that some of the ways in which companies still do business carries offshoots from the old world before punk. The old school manners, morals and ethics of business have evolved. But not completely disappeared and the legality certainly hasn't declined.

I believe these old school practices are about to undergo a culture shock. The rise of the millennials will bring a new generation of traders who have completely shed the post punk morality. I have heard it said many times by people I've spoken to from this generation that if they can't do things one way then they will find another. Don't expect them to play by your rules. Don't even expect them to hold the door open for you as you leave. They are creating a 'no rules' business culture focused on the individual and profit. Manifestations of this are clear in those pre-millenials  [born just before 80s - 2000]  Zuckerberg, Parker, Dorsey etc. Not a day goes by without we discover they've violated some right or other. They don't seem to acknowledge they've done anything wrong. 

SO how should we, the 'punk era' businesses prepare to deal with this generation? Entrepreneurs who see these emerging behaviours as the norm?

James Burke author of Connections, legend in science communication says. [digital] “fragmentation will move people further and further away from what used to be a  common culture. [in the short term] into which everybody subscribed”. he goes on to say, “we've had a limited way of expressing ourselves in society”. “Explosion in fragmentation, in the sense of [online] tools. Becoming rapidly more available for individuals to indulge themselves”.  “People realising, because of new technology, that It doesn't matter anymore that people don't subscribe to the 5 rules that society requires of them. Be brilliant, go to a good school, go to a good university, get a well paid job etc.” With new technology you can express yourself as well as anybody else”. In a sense you no longer feel that those old fashioned virtues have a value anymore”. “Common cultural infrastructure held us together and kept us safe”

Listen here; You are not so smart podcast 020 The Future.

So it seems that people are deciding to ignore existing processes. If they don't like them they adapt their skills and go around them.  For example cutting a record having been in the recording studio for several months is a long distant memory. The advent of home studio’s and digital editing tools has revolutionised this. Combined with self-publishing and marketing the old way is seriously under pressure.

Maker spaces, such as Exeter Library’s FabLab:  http://fablabdevon.org/. Or Digital work hubs like http://www.atworkhubs.co.uk/ becoming the norm. I expect that home working combined with access to these will become the work pattern of the future. In many rural communities home working is revitalising the communities and their economies. A recent Guardian article features a blistering range of new ideas from the ‘startup’ do it yourself culture.  And its not just work practices that are changing, the traditional funding economy is imploding too. Present and future businesses will turn not to the banks and pound sterling. But’ to crowdfunding and bitcoin. People voting with their purses will enable these new ‘cosmopolitans’ to develop their businesses without encountering the; 'dinosaur says no' culture. 
The revolution is about to hit us! look out for generation Z!

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.

Whatever happened to the music that changed your life?

Following the sad death of my childhood hero I’m reflecting on the picture in front of me. It's 12 inches square, bright orange background that looks like clouds on fire. Mapped against it is a head and shoulders. A sharp nosed redheaded figure facing the right edge. Nattily dressed in graphite grey hooded coat. It’s a stunning image and it’s on the cover of a seminal album for me, Low by David Bowie.

"Low profile" that was the pun intended by Bowie on the cover. For me a teenager at the time, the screenshot taken from the epic ‘Man who fell to Earth” (Link) was too striking to avoid. 

Not that I wanted to avoid it. I had avidly collected all the other Bowie LPs and their stunning iconic images adorn my walls to this day. 

Low was somehow different and it resonated with me in so many ways. Partially recorded in Berlin, according to legend the first of Bowie’s 'Berlin Trilogy', it caught the Cold War mood and emotion perfectly. Don’t forget in the West the USSR and the fear of nuclear attack terrified us. The electronic hard edge of Bowie’s music somehow reflected that fear. 

As a teenager I obsessed about nuclear attack and the space race between, in my opinion, the dominant USA and the belligerent USSR (2 years after Low they invaded Afghanistan). Like many others I rushed to collect and find likeminded authors and musicians that reinforced my world view.

 Space and mutually assured destruction filled my daydreams, along with the other more pressing needs that fill the minds of teenagers. Bowie’s lyrical excellence punctuated by the superb musicianship of Ricky Gardiner and others was awesome. Many myths arose around this album especially around the drum sound, which we now know was aided by an Eventide Harmoniser. Not to mention The electronic genius of Brian Eno, sporting an AKS synth that back in 1977 we’d have killed to get our hands on. Low inspired me too. It led me to rush out and form an electronica band, The Bermuda Triangle. Aptly we disappeared almost as quickly as things that enter that zone and for many so did Low.

In 77 Low was not at all popular, but retrospectively my awe at this album and it’s unique production has evolved to be a popular view. The lack of critical acclaim was surprising and did nothing to hold back the Bowie legend. Competing at the time with Roxy Music and influencing many many others such as Talking Heads, he continued apace. In 2003, the album was ranked number 249 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In my opinion completely justified. Let me know what you think, perhaps you have a seminal album you want to share with me?