what if...you could be champion of the world

Just a quick post on an even quicker idea.

What with all the user generated content, 2.0, participation of the peoples going on in the world I have an idea:

What if we create the WCEF: World Championship of Everything (u like) Federation.

U got an activity, hybrid of old stuff or something u do with friends: sign up to the website, pick a date for regional preliminaries etc and (most importantly) declare yourself world champeen and allow people to challenge you.

Who does not want to be able to say he is world champion at something, anything??

the Role of the WCEF is the following:

1. to give you tools to plan your own world championship;
2. to look for sponsors (local to international) to help you out with any and all costs;
3. help you quickly determine whether the current format is ok, or needs some adjustment to make it spread;
4. fighting indifference and cynisme by promoting the cause of doing something/anything to world champion standard, instead of doing nothing;
5. buying every world champion a cold beer;
6. to make sure that the broadcasting rights are fairly distributed amongst all the championships;
7. to facilitate the breakaway of succesfull championships on their own (as with everything; money changes stuff, so why not make the split amicable)

just an idea (or a widget; or tv show; or nothing)

What...did I hear anybody say Innocent ;)

month of may

So here in Holland the month of May is the month we remember the Second World War, the liberation of Holland and the loss of so much life.

So in memory of those passed away, those who survided and those who chose to fight; some chilling, uplifting and spot on quotes to give us (wannabe) planners that much sought after insight in to humans, and perspective on this thing of ours.


* We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

* "Nietzsche's words, 'He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.'"

* "When we are no longer able to change a situation—just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer—we are challenged to change ourselves"

* "Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him - mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp."

* "We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing a something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering."

* "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual."

* "Man is capable of changing the world for the better if possible, and of changing himself for the better if necessary

* "We have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips."

Viktor Frankl

TD library: sound princess

Here is a nice example of transformation design. It deals with Japanse toilet culture.

In Japan it is considered rude for woman to be heard while they go to the bathroom. This has some longstanding cultural issues. So what do the Japanese women do? they keep flushing the toilet. Up to 20 liters a time is used.

So instead of a great awareness campaign (there was some communication), there was a design centric look at the problem and it's possible solution. Toto created the Sound Princess. A machine installed in bathroom that recreates the sound of a toilet flushing.

The whole article can be read here.

A practical way of changing culture to more positive values. A great way of reframing ancient culture with respect and adapting it to modern constraints (money, eco issues) and tech possibilities.

TD library: reducing sick leave

Here is a example of transformation design, whereby action is deliberately made difficult in order to achieve new behaviour.


Hema, a dutch department store, has halved the sickness absence. Employees must nowadays "call in sick" online, where they must fill out a questionnaire directly. Online "calling in sick" raises the psychological threshold according to the inventor of the system. From six up to sixty questions are asked online and the employee must still ring his boss. The boss does not get to see the answers given in the questionnaire, but he does build op files so that patterns can be detected.

The reason I find this example interesting is that it is not about making something easy with regards to changing behaviour, but making stuff more difficult in order to be better. Complexity actually is intended, much like a bank vault, or the way casino's are designed to keep players in house.

TD library: green wave

Driving home this morning was a joy; the sun rising in my face, some good tunes and better company made the ride home nice. But that was not what was so special about the
trip home (sorry Martina..:-) .

What was, was the fact that I hit 7 straight green lights. In...a....row. But I nearly missed two of them.

Why? Because once I was driving below 50 km an hour, once because I was going to fast (about 75 km).

Now off course this could have been a coincidence, like beating the spread on a full matchday, but some searching on the net proved that in fact it was not.

I had caught a perfect wave; the green wave to be precise.

To quote:

A green wave is an intentionally induced phenomenon, in which a series of traffic lights (usually three or more) are coordinated to allow continuous traffic flow over several intersections in one main direction.

Any vehicle travelling along with the green wave (at an approximate speed decided upon by the traffic engineers) will see a progressive cascade of green lights, and not have to stop at intersections. This allows higher traffic loads, and reduces noise and energy use (because less acceleration and braking is needed). In practical use, only a group of cars (the size is defined by the signal times) can use the green wave before the time band is interrupted to give way to other traffic flows.

What this achieves is that drivers are indirectly made to choose between a great ride or a ride with start and stops. It alters behaviour to a more favorable type. better for the enviroment, better for the engines, better all around.

But the kicker for me is the human element. You drive to fast, u will not hit the green lights. This will cause agro for your fellow drivers who do keep tot the preffered speed. Social controle will occur and the herd will sort out the extremes.

Simple, understated, effective planning and execution. Huraa for Holland... (and Denmark, but since I don't live there, who cares)

what if...you could create a classic?

So Lil' Wayne has been planning the release of his latest album. As far as hip hop goes, it is one of the most anticipated albums of the year. However there has been a lot of talk on blogs regarding the album and the artist . It's one thing to call yourself the best rapper alive, but the knock on Wayne is that he has not yet produced a classic. That ready to die, reasonable doubt non-disputed, across the board, certified classic type album. Tha CarterIII is suppose to be thát one.

How to achieve such an album? Well there is off course no mathematical formula; it depends on talent, zeitgeist, reviews, sales, etc... stuff that Wayne has and in getting... but still...

Wayne has been doing what every musician has been doing; going in the studio and recording material to the best of his ability. Putting some of it free online, some of it on mixtapes and holding some of it back for the album. All the while having very little control over the process of making a classic. He just controls the process of making an album. Nothing more.

But what if he flipped the process? What if he released control of making an album in order to gain more control over making a classic??

See.. Wayne is a southern rapper (he is from New Orleans, Louisiana), so his style will always have strong southern influences.

Enter Scarface. Undisputed O.G., with kilo's of street cred (enough so, to ruin Lil'Flip career when he would not vouch for Flips credentials in a beef with T.I), musical success and more importantly classic material to his name. Not to mention the guy has a good ear (he was the one who signed Ludacris to def Jam South). Scarface should executive produce Wayne's album.

On three conditions which would have to be told at a live press conference:

1) the album will only be released if 'Face approves;

2) if it drops he has to back it with his full reputation;

3) it has to be released by a certain date.

What would this accomplish? Firstly the album will get a huge boost in quality. Scarface has a lot riding on it, he is the king of the south with a undisputed reputation, as does Wayne (imaging not dropping the album, because 'face says it's not good enough). So the A game will be brought to the table.

Secondly it will eliminate meaningless marketing expenses, which can go into the recording budget. Hip hop will listen when these two state their intentions, and the buzz will be big enough come the last couple of weeks before release (it's like a time relaease capsule).

Thirdly it wil set the bar higher for the rest of the indusrty. Hip Hop is dying (if not commercialy, then certainly creatively). Self imposed control via (still highly relevant) powers that be, will separate the platinum from the bronze. Still no garantuee for a classic. But definite steps towards it? Yes indeed..

It would also be an interesting model for much of business:

What if undisputed reputations were attached to projects?

What if Jobs executive produced products with public right to veto?

What if the Nakeds, Cynics, W+K's, KesselsKramers, CP+B's of the world refused to release their campaigns if the products were not up to par? Would that force companies to better themselves? Or would the hacks just take over??

What if...is as far as it will most likely go, because Lil'Wayne will do his thing, Scarface and Jobs are not that altruistic (but perhaps enough of an egomaniac), business will be as usual, the consumer has bills to pay/other worries and the above thinking has a lot of flaws in it..

Stat quo is popular for a reason...but still I am left wondering.......what if?

Strawberries in January: part 2 hidden in plain site

The Japanese tea ceremony cha-no-yu is an ancient tradition; it's most famous practicioner went by the name Sen no Rikyu.

Amongst many things he became emporer Hideyoshi's favorite tea master, and part adviser on matters of politics and culture.

On a certain day emporer Hideyoshi decided to pay Sen no Rikyu a visit at his house. This news came to the tea master. On the eve of the emporers visit Sen yo Rikyu noticed something; it had started to snow.

Quickly the tea master grabbed all his pillows and placed them on top of the stepstones in his front garden; thus covering them from the snow.

The next day he got up very early and removed the pillows, forming a simple, natural and beautifully clear path for the emporer to take from the gate to the tea masters house. The emporer could not help but smile and appriciate the beauty of nature.

More and more I have come to believe that the coming years will be a time of interaction-design led marketing, with the primary task of making the known/local/mundane/obvious, unknown/exiting/re-valueable, and put back in to the right context for consumers and people in general.

Various books, blogs, thoughts, causes (such as the ecology, economy, human population and health) lead me to this thinking.

So in a series of posts, called Strawberries in January, I will try to explain my views, the origins of them, possible applications for people and also catalogue the thinking of others who do and think along these lines.

A lot of this may be known already to those who read it, so feel free to correct and add something to the posts as they are posted, that will assist and help me in my thinking and writing.

Transformation Design Library: Slate magazine

image courtesy Time magazine

transformation design is a human-centered, interdisciplinary process that seeks to create desirable and sustainable changes in behavior and form – of individuals, systems and organizations – often for socially progressive ends.

Mr Maschmeyer, over at his new blog has been trying to get an example library started.

So here is an example that I would like to add to the list: Slate's list of the 60 most generous.

The List came about, when in 1996 Ted Turner wondered about the influence the Forbers Richest List had on corporate America. "What if we could make charity as sexy as the Forbes list ?" (in a nutshell) was his idea.

Slate Magazine took up the challenge to find out. with some success. Althought I will admit that their is no evidence that is 100% waterproof.

"Whether by coincidence or not, philanthropy has blossomed since Slate's list was created. In 1996 the top donor gave away $100 million, or $121 million in 2005 dollars. But last year's top donor, Cordelia Scaife May, gave away $404 million, and the list (with 63 donors, counting ties) totaled $4.3 billion". (read the rest of a great article here)

So in the grand tradition of Michelline Guide, Guiness Book of Records, Slate has managed to create (lasting) change in the behaviour of the über-wealthy of America, kinda, sorta.

I guess greed is good, just depends what you lust for...

Salute Slate..