Finds

№ 10 | Collaboration, the Futures Bazaar, Ladders of Participation, Level Design, and… a POEM?!

Stephen P. Anderson

21 Oct 2022 — 2 min read

Demystifying collaboration…

Collaboration is such a Rich and nuanced topic. I love posts like this one “Demystifying collaboration (pt 1): Decisions” that explore “emerging and evolving reflections on better ways of working together.” Lots of good conversation starters in this short post: Collective vs collaborative. Decision making vs problem-solving. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series…

Host a futures bazaar?

I recall reading about “The Futures Bazaar” when I was researching the ‘Four Futures’ method, a few years ago. Fast forward: Stuart Candy is offering the Futures Bazaar as a free downloadable toolkit so anyone can now host a Futures Bazaar. What is it? It's “an event designed for creative teams, communities and classes everywhere to explore alternative futures collaboratively and playfully together.”

And, because we're all about critical thinking, here's a dissenting voice to challenge some of the fundamental assumptions baked into this activity.

Ladders—or petals?—of participation

I love a good curation article—it's the precursor work to synthesis, analysis, and the evolution of interesting ideas. This time, it’s a really long roundup of various 'ladder of participation' models, essentially “moving from consultation to co-design and ideally devolving power to citizens.” But it gets better: The twitter thread where I came across this article adds an interesting level of discourse about ladders of participation, with some critique of the ladder framing, suggesting instead something more like flower petals.

“Growth, Monetization, or Engagement?”

Gibson Biddle asks people in the audience, “If you were on the executive team of Netflix, how would you prioritize [these] three goals?” Uh, wow. I think this simple classification explains a LOT about how most businesses operate. I might even map these three priorities to the evolutionary stages common to most organizations. [source]

Learning level design via twitter

Last week, I discovered Tommy Norberg (@the_Norberg) via Pinterest, of all places. He teaches—and freely shares—some really great nuggets of wisdom about game level design, all in succinct visual cards, like this one:

Here's a few more such tips/threads:

AND THIS WEEK, A RARE 'EXTRA' FIND…

[POETRY] “Letter to Bruce Wayne” by Matthew Olzmann

Every now and then, a poem just hits me between the eyes, and leaves me pouring again and again over the words. Here's one such poem: “Letter to Bruce Wayne”

№ 85 | Wardley Mapping, “Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?”, Project Zero’s Thinking Routine Toolbox, Art Therapy Card Deck, The 100-Year Lab, and Seeds of Renewal

This will be the last newsletter until next year. I normally publish Thinking Things every two weeks, which means the next issue would fall on December 29th, except—I’m going to take off some time off over the holidays🎄. Next issue will go out (checking the calendar) Jan 12th.

№ 84 | The StoryTelling Leader, Content Patterns, Defining Transdisciplinary Research, the Serious Games Idea Deck, the Map of Board Games, and Andrew Garfield and Elmo on Grief

The StoryTelling Leader I recently started following David Hutchens on LinkedIn. As it turns out… I already I own two of his books (Circle of the 9 Muses and Outlearning the Wolves) and his card deck (below) 🤪. Anyway, when it comes to narratives—specifically leadership stories—he knows his stuff!

№ 83 | Stop Project 2025 Comics, Future for All: A vision for 2048, eyeConnect Cards, The Rule Book, and the Effects of Geography on Voting

This edition of the newsletter comes a couple days later than usual, but for a wonderful reason—I spent 5 days last week playing board games with my friends at BGG Con. 🎲 🤩 Next issue will resume the normal Sunday schedule! 🥸Reminder: If you're participating in the Create A

№ 82 | Pebble Talk, The Mood Meter, 3 Styles of Play, A Convection Simulation, an Electoral College Simulation, and What If America Had 6 Political Parties?

📍In case you missed it… Throughout November, I’m hosting another Creative Challenge: Create A Real Life Character Sheet. About 15 people have signed up so far, and there’s space for a few more folks—you should join us! Pebble Talk Here’s a way to avoid awkward small