We-Think: Mass Innovation, Not Mass Production by Charles W. Leadbeater

We-Think: Mass Innovation, Not Mass Production by Charles W. Leadbeater

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


An interesting read about new economy model that sums up to "you are what you share" conclusion. Though the author leans to the optimistic approach to sharing ideas (mostly through web), he still manages to include some criticism to his own ideas into the book, which gives it a bit more depth. Unfortunately, the author almost misses the point that sharing an idea, patent, copyright and so forth should be the decision of the author - an individual - not the faceless mass of activists surrounding the author. And this, in my opinion, is the biggest weakness of the book - it focuses only on mass power and misses the role of individual authorship, individual responsibility and an individual him/herself in this new shared economy.



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Innovation: The Missing Dimension by Richard K. Lester

Innovation--The Missing Dimension by Richard K. Lester

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Read it only because it was in a literature list for my MA course, but it is a decent read, especially if you have nothing to do on an airplane.
The upside of the book:
• Not too overly-positive or overly-optimistic (as most of such books are).
• Case-study based: focuses on innovations in different sectors - from jeans to high-tech industry.
• Investigates universities role in innovating (my favorite chapter), though only in the context of the US.
The downside:
• Some of the cases studies seemed a bit old (e.g. the birth of mobile phone technology).
• Case studies didn't seem to lead to a larger conclusion.


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(NOT) TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL

Oi folks,

I've realized I haven't been updating my blog properly for a while now, with a few exceptions of "new editorial illustration" or "book review" updates, so I decided to drop few things from my life in here.

The biggest news is I'm back to school, and not any school - it's UAL's Central Saint Martins (CSM) college in London! Something that seemed beyond my wildest dreams has happened: having a typical life-crisis of a 29-year old, I made a somewhat emotional decision to apply to MA Arts & Cultural Enterprise (something I have never thought of doing before!) the very last minute before the deadline, passed IELTS exam (can't believe they still made me take it, as I have a BA degree from Kingston University!!), and got in! The whole experience was happening around Christmas, and at some points I felt like Forrest Gump in a chain of happy accidents.

And oh my god, it's so good. My brain got absolutely re-charged and worldview expanded during the first intensive study weekend. The best part, apart the amazing building, interesting program, and fantastic tutors / guest speakers, is my course mates - the best thing in best universities is that you get surrounded by people better than you, and in my case - smarter and more established international bunch of people: some of them, like me, fly in to face to face weekends (we do the rest of the work and lectures online in between those weekends) from the furthest angles of the world. Everyone's life and professional experiences are so different, so it's almost a separate degree course just to know them!

Reading lists are amazing, and I'll be updating them (and my reviews of the literature) on my Goodreads page – of course, you are welcome to follow it. You can also explore how amazing the renovated Granary building is (the new home of the CSM) in this DeZeen article, and here are some pictures (from the same article, by Hufton + Crow to start with):

Yes, I did sit in that glass room! (photo by by Hufton + Crow)

You can se bits of the old Granary building incorporated into the new architecture (photo by by Hufton + Crow)

Also, in case you're interested, I've found this amazing architectural communication piece about the building here (includes very creative videos, interviews, etc) - beautiful work by Owen W. Lee:

Besides the new academic adventure, I'm still doing tons of editorial work (www.kata-illustration.com) and managing my small-biz (www.katakiosk.etsy.com), and of course - learning new ways to plan my time, something I'm still struggling with.

But it's such a good feeling to have your hands full (instead of staring into the mirror and recycling old thoughts) before the big 30.

More updates coming soon. Hopefully I'm back to London on time to see that amazing Hockney's exhibition!