Category: #function

Empty shelf syndrome is when those things we’ve been looking forward to – have become attached to – are suddenly made uncertain. I need a holiday. It feels like we’re in uncharted territory, and decisions are hard to make. Did I mention I need a holiday? But come on now, Bryan, you’ve got this –…

Sometimes, a slip of the tongue presents itself as an opportunity to join things together that should never be joined together. You’re welcome. This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.

In any problem space, there’s the stuff you know you know (I know the parts we need to make this work). Then there’s the stuff you know you don’t know (hey – let’s find out about that and work it into our plans before we start building!). But the reason why a tech project is…

As the Smiths once sang, “Some systems are bigger than others, some systems’ mothers are bigger than other systems’ mothers”. Ok maybe not, but following on from this and that it’s worthwhile showing that some parts dominate the ecosystem. In my experience, the more embedded a component is, the more difficult it is to change…

Following on from the need to draw out an ecosystem, it’s sometimes helpful to think about the different categories of elements. So for a technology solution there might be elements to the client facing, elements that are stand alone tools, and then internal communications to join the two together… This Thinkery was captured live during…

“It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It is that they can’t see the problem…” wrote G.K. Chesterton. An ecosystem is a tricky thing to draw because every ecosystem is different. I guess it’s a borrowed term that points to a bunch of things that are related to each other and therefore impact each…

Do your projects ever feel like you’re wading through treacle? One problem just leads to another problem and that you’re slowly sinking? You’re not alone! (And did anyone else in the days of their youth enjoy Shredded Wheat with treacle and hot milk? Maybe that was just a rural Irish thing…) This Thinkery was captured…

Following on from the Double Diamond approach, here’s what it might look like at the start of the journey. But what parts do you already know about? Where are the pitfalls? Where are the deeper marshes of despair, and can you avoid them? How can you find out more about the uncharted undergrowth of the…

I wish I’d known about the Double Diamond design approach when I started building things. It’s deeply embedded in the Visual Thinkery 10 ideas process. Realising the need for an ideation or discovery process and that your first idea is usually not the best idea (just the most obvious). Only by going in multiple directions…