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Channel / Source:
TEDx Talks
Published: 2017-09-05
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMh731MIPsQ
when I was younger I did what I think a lot of people do I look to my heroes to define who I was going to be released to us gonna tell others I was going to be a and when I was sixteen I wanted to be a sixties rock star I remember one day I went to a thrift store and I got a neighbor jacket I
think the album cover sergeant pepper's only my jacket with Paisley and it swirled with pink and gold and purple and black it was incredible just like any teenager I couldn't wait to wear my new jacket I remember what's right around Easter and I decided to debut my new look at an Easter egg hunt that I was going to with my little brother I stood by the
sidelines filled with pride just knowing that everyone would know that I was a sixteen year old rock god and just like my heroes I would change the world I remember just standing there taking it all in when a woman walked up to me put her arm around and said I'm so proud of you you dress like an Easter egg for the little kids you're such a
good boy was a really tough moment for my teenage pride but at the same time it was an incredible moment in my life because it was the first time I began to think about context culture and a shared vision context was the first thing that I learned from my E. straight jacket moment the idea that things have to be relevant in order to be believable I
haven't created any relevance for my jacket I hadn't written songs that would change a generation I hadn't played amazing guitar I'd simply purchase something and put it on this idea reemerged recently when I decided to move across the United States after fifteen years of working creative agencies in Portland Oregon my wife and I packed up the truck and Dr drove to central Florida along the way
we stopped in a number of cities and in each city I heard a very similar statement our community is growing we are gonna be the next somewhere else and not only were they planning on being somewhere else but the value of that other place were the things in it buildings social our activities sustainability initiatives walkability the idea that these solutions were not being designed for the
people who lived in the community but for other people in other places at other times amazed me as a designer when I arrived at my new home on the space coast in Florida down our east of Orlando I began to hear the same kinds of stories you're so lucky to be here it's the perfect time our community is growing and we're going to be the next
somewhere else I also heard about initiatives build new things in the area innovation centers maker spaces even better bars the difference between the stories that I heard on the space coast and all the other cities were only that I had time to ask for context I began to learn that fifteen point five percent of the people on the space coast work in high tech industry that
makes it the fifth largest tech center in the United States the fact that not many people now even on the space coast I also learned that people in this community have invented and create it and belts amazing things rockets the took a man to the moon and back all the way to critical components on smart phones that we use everyday but the area also has a
challenge in some companies as much as seventy percent of new employees leave within the first three years and that fact costs the community tens of millions of dollars every year not just for the companies who are bringing in new employees and training them but for the government yeah and community itself as they try to build new initiatives in order to retain people and make the area
more desirable as a designer I believe that we need to understand these journeys and so I began to ask people what their experience was like coming to the space coast and one story it was incredibly meaningful to me it was the story of my friend power Palin's India he's an engineer and an innovator and power one dream of coming to the United States one day he
receives a job offer and he gets that opportunity I asked Paul want to walk me through his experience and what he told me was that he began by researching his new home and what he found was that there were articles about the history of the space program there were stories about tourist attractions and beaches but what was missing where the actual stories of the people who
lived in that community their hopes their dreams their aspirations as a community and really for palm what was missing was how he fit into his new home power began his journey with a flight halfway across the world and when he arrives in Orlando International Airport he walks off the jet way and it hits them he's alone he's just another face in the crowd he makes his
way through the busy building and gets to a cap begin the trip to the hotel and power and told me that in that moment his anxiety was at an all time high who was he gonna me what would the community be like how would he contribute woody fit and he arrives at his hotel room puts down his back and begins to watch TV I can only
imagine that this was a hard night a power pollen eventually starts his new job he meets new people and everything's pretty good but he doesn't feel like he belongs to this community he doesn't feel any sense of home power begins to explore other places in the country that he might be a better fit and just by chance during the same time he finds a startup incubator
call ground swell an in ground swell he finds a community of people dedicated a growing new businesses they're interested in finding innovative ways to work and new solutions to problems Powell on finds a home and he attributes this home with a sense of belonging and retaining him with in the community it brings me to the second point I learned during my E. straight jacket moment shared
vision when people believe they can contribute and so I began to ask power one what a vision of the future would look like how that experience could be different for other people coming to the space coast and in just a couple of hours power one and I co created a vision of what could be we began to ask questions like what if what if one power
and had started to research his new home instead of just seeing the beaches and tourist attractions he saw stories unmoderated of the challenges and the triumphs of the people who live in this community what if Paul on could start to picture what it would be like to live in that community and how he might contribute to it what if when power one had arrived at the
airport there was a sign that said the space coast welcomes all innovators and showed a powerful picture of disruptors of the past and innovators of the present what if when Paul one had gotten into the cab he had seen a display that said space coast is the fifth largest tax center in the United States and we invite you to become part of our innovative future what
if when power one had gotten to his hotel room he had had a personalized invitation from his new employer to participate in community activities not just work related but art and sports and culture and innovation I believe that Powell on would have been able to plug into the community much sooner begin to contribute much sooner it brings me to the last point that I learned during
my E. straitjacket moment context an understanding of what people's real needs are plus a shared vision co created by many different groups creates a culture and those cultures are able to adapt and change and react to the world around us it much greater speed than any one group or one person can so what does this all mean simple things are great my neighbor jacket was incredible
but things are just containers for our culture once we have context and a shared vision we can fill our containers with cultures that can change adapt and continue to meet the needs of our communities in better and better ways so ask designers of our community I hope we will all ask questions co create shared visions of the future with diverse groups and begin to build containers
