The Next One

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During a Sponsor Session for a recent event, a Sponsor challenged us to make ‘this one’—the one for his organization—'the best.'

The comment provoked Matt to recall something Frank Lloyd Wright said a half-century ago. Matt shared the memory this way:

“It was in an interview in the mid 50s with Hugh Downs, I believe. Asked which was his best building, Wright said, ‘my dear boy (anyone under 60 was a boy to FLW), the NEXT one.’"

Wright’s comment captures the essence of why both collecting and using feedback is of such importance. From a design sense, feedback is what links the past to the future in a meaningful way. Yet, it seems all too rare that we treat the collection and offering of feedback seriously, let alone systemically.

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Who are the Tomorow Makers?

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The creative process includes the entire method by which ideas are discovered and translated into useful tools, products, and services and used in the “marketplace”.
-Matt and Gail Taylor 1981

Years ago, during my experiences with the Learning Exchange in Kansas City, I learned how to perturb the process so that people and teams became aware of their own ability to consciously create tomorrows of their choice.

With a few simple rules, design teams rich in diversity - inner city teachers, kids, parents, suburban teachers, business executives, professors - were able to step up to challenges well beyond what was assumed possible...
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