recap of 2009 - forecast 2010
Wow... WOW!! We are in the game now! It's 2010. 2009 was a very interesting year for me personally, and 2010 looks like things are not going to slow down, in-fact I see things ramping up and getting even the more vibrant. I am indeed excited.
Recap of 2009 - Forecast 2010
While I sat at my desk this morning looking back over the artifacts of 2009, I quickly realized the enormity of what really happened. In 2009 we shifted from the industrial age right into the creative age and it was almost a blur. Archivist will have a history of this switch, but what's amazing, is that we are all living right in the center of one of the most critical shift in economic history. So look at it as a "recession"... I look at it as a "progression" into something much bigger than we have ever had the opportunity to experience in OUR life time. Is something receding? Yes! An old paradigm is receding, and I am happy about this. Industrial thinking is being ripped away from us, and rightfully so... We were not giving it up willingly. Sometimes things have to be taken away for new things to come forward... Welcome to the creative economy, where thinking is required, creativity is an asset, and design is at the center of everything that we do. I am moved by this.
2009 was a very hard year for many of us... Designers were charged with the idea of thinking bigger, Mousetrap Builders were charged with becoming Disruptors, and Industrial Thinkers are slowly being choked to death, while Design Thinkers take the reigns. The role of Chief Design Officer was born (came into maturation) and the board rooms of the major players all over the country started seeing Designers in the midst... THIS was a clear sign of reformation and change. A lot happened.
Individuals started losing the chains of corporate structure and decided to dig deeper and find themselves - small businesses started popping up all over the place, it was glorious ... It IS glorious. VERY glorious. 2009 revealed to us that Social Interaction at an intimate, up-close, level is the new marketing, and advertising got real again, it got personal, I have never received so many "one on one" invites to join a movement before. Banners are dead, handshakes are back... I love that.
We have entered an economic structure where "agile thinkers" will survive and serial copy cats will die, and they will die quick. Recession? No. Progression? Yes. We should all be compelled to dig deep, find OUR inner genius, and bring it to the world. This is the new face of business. Human centered solutions, BIG problem solving, empathy, and help... These are the new business terms. Leaders becoming Builders, and collaboration is no longer an option, it's business stimulus. Creativity and design are paramount.
2010 (Twenty Ten)
What will 2010 bring? I have NO CLUE... But I have a hunch that it will bring more of what 2009 bought to the table. Disruption will happen in every market as things start to take a new shape. Seth Godin talked about "Permission Marketing" - he warned us. Tom Peters talked about "Dreamarketing" - He warned us too (2002), Tim Brown, told us about Design Thinking... The writing is on the wall. I am inspired.
This I do know... I WANT IN!! I am shifting my personal/professional focus from being a "cog" in the "creative wheel" to becoming a creator of deeper creation. I am starting a new journey, an new manifesto - Ethos. This economy needs new insight, it needs a new framework for thinking, it needs a deeper level of creativity, I want to be a part of bringing that to the table. I want to help people and the organizations they empower to become more creative, innovative. As a Designer of over 17 years, I am convinced that what Tim Brown speaks of is indeed the next evolutional process of design. Tim Brown, in his recent book, Change by Design talks about Designers designing big again. He talks about a culture of design manifested by the collective creativity of all parties involved in any creative/design process - where the design center is + human and the results are disruptive at the least, and world impacting at the height. I am in... ALL IN.
In conclusion... Let's explore in 2010. Let's play again. Let's dream bigger than we have ever dreamed before, and let's be flat-out- fearless. Let's see what markets we can change. Let's get back to our inner genus as individuals and collectively. Heck, how about making a difference? Let's do that too!!
Let's Go!!! 2010 is waiting on us!


