I’ve not come across the political science thing used to describe “…the range of policies politically acceptable to the mainstream population at a given time” and called The Overton window. The coiner of the phrase (one Joseph Overton) had that all ideas in the political space success depended not on the politician’s belief they could […]
It’s hard having to submit that occasionally, you just need to let some things go. We form amazing attachments to all kinds of stuff. Take the current storm in an Oxford Street teacup, the plan to demolish the old Marks & Spencer (or as my Mum would say ‘Marks n Sparks’. I have no idea […]
Stumbled on the great meme of this thread’s hero image when I was having a particularly difficult time getting my shit together a while back. Somehow things just kept circling the drain and left me with empty spaces which were proving a bit of a struggle to fill. Then today I realised that that empty […]
Was struck today by an observation – one of the type that when pointed out, seems so mind-numbingly obvious that it leaves you (me) feeling rather stupid. It’s that the reason good ideas always seem to come from the margins is, well duh, that there’s A LOT of margin out there. It seems self-evident (now, […]
Was drawn by an online discussion about timesheets and how some record extra hours as ‘Toil’ (to which someone close to me would lean in and say ‘well, it’s called work for a reason’.) And if you’re reading this, employers, I was engaged in some important R&D at the time. Anyway, all distractions are welcome […]
Funny how we always talk about how important it is to have a point of view. Something singular. Specific. Fixed. When in fact all of our thinking life is a duality. Of a restless, constant combination of two or many things. In this shiftlessness it’s no wonder things can be hard to pin down and […]
How often do you find yourself having to explain that the thing you’re trying to create ‘isn’t’? As in ‘it’s not a timeshare, it’s a not-hotel’ (which is a real thing, or a not real thing. Possibly. I’m not sure.) The criteria for ’not-ness’ is an important part of the design process; it could hardly […]
Knowledge (experience, if you prefer) I’d argue is a luxury commodity all of its own. The luxury of knowledge – of knowing the meaning behind and importance of culture, and not simply cultural goods (whether actual of non-fungible) is a great treasure. At least it should be. Unfortunately it’s not an idea that seems universally […]
Have been reading a few things about the dreaded ‘a’ word (algorithms), in light of various SoMoBro’s rolling back promises on what they scrape from the encounters we have with its various products (backtracking on tracking if you like) and stumbled on a piece in the New Yorker on ‘Algorithmic anxiety’ (captured beautifully by one […]
You’d be forgiven for thinking that a job that demands you spend a good deal of time casting around for ideas isn’t really a job at all. You might as well be recompensed for daydreaming; it could easily be mistaken for a very similar vocation. But let me say right here, it’s really rather demanding. […]
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