Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab
Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab
Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab
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Subsection121Physical Infrastructure“The Delegates all… walked to the CarpentersHall, where they took a View ofthe Room, and of the Chamber… TheGeneral Cry was, that this was a goodRoom.”—John Adams on September 5th, 1774 describing in hisdiary the very first decision at the first meeting of the ContinentalCongress of the United States. Be<strong>for</strong>e getting down tothe ‘small’ matters of bootstrapping a new government theyfirst made sure to identify the right room.PeopleProcessProblemPlaceWorking collaboratively in an integrated way does notalways come easily and working long hours can be emotionallyand physically draining. For these reasons, the environmentof the Studio is very important. Getting this right createsan atmosphere of hospitality that enables the Studio teamto focus on the quality of their work and their deliverablesinstead of being bothered by the lack of creature com<strong>for</strong>ts ormissing tools. If your participants are not happy and com<strong>for</strong>table,then they are not functioning at their highest levels.Too often this is overlooked by people who organise and hostevents, yet it is the most basic of considerations.To get the most out of a week together the Studio teammust be well cared <strong>for</strong> and well supported. Although creaturecom<strong>for</strong>ts might seem like a frivolous concern <strong>for</strong> a seriousStudio, a little bit of ef<strong>for</strong>t in this area goes a long way.Concern <strong>for</strong> the com<strong>for</strong>t of your team will come up againand again in the next two How-Tos, but here we are primarilyconcerned with the physical space.In the best cases you will have the ability to select a spacespecifically <strong>for</strong> your Studio, but even if you have to work withwhat is available in your own building it is necessary to spenda bit of time thinking about how to make the room com<strong>for</strong>tableand pleasant to be in <strong>for</strong> long stretches of time.The Studio will serve as a temporary office <strong>for</strong> the teamand should really feel like the kind of place that has beenlived in. We used the HDL Studio space as an office <strong>for</strong> amonth leading up to the first Studio as a way to ‘road test’ theexperience, ensuring that all of the little details were takencare of and that it already felt lived-in when the first team
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