If you happened to be on FastCompany.com a couple weeks ago, you likely saw an article called “Why In-Person Socializing Is A Mandatory To-Do Item.” In it, Kevin Purdy, a young writer that works from home, says that the most idea-generating part of his week is his time spent in a knitting circle. But instead of knitting threads and fibers, his knitting circle weaves ideas and opportunities. Continue reading
MAKING THE VEGGIES TASTE LIKE CANDY
“Eat your vegetables!” has been the stern demand of moms throughout history as kids push the green stuff around their plates but rarely around their palates. Working off of the hilarious and hard-to-argue-against tag line, “The more you know, the more you know,” BrainPOP is doing to education what we should be doing with our veggies: making it taste much better. BrainPOP is a free, curriculum-based website for youngsters who like to surf the web and play games. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
CIVIC DESIGN GONE AWRY
When you hear the term “design,” you likely think of things like logos, Photoshop and well-oiled machines. What you likely do not think of is government. But, whether it’s good or bad, our government is a design. We know the blueprint of our government as the Constitution and Bill of Rights of course. And lately it would seem that, like so many other institutions in our country, our government is failing us. But what if it isn’t the design of government, but rather the design of our politics that is to blame? We’re not used to thinking of politics as separate and apart from our governmental institutions, but separating the two just may lead to a better ability to redesign and make what’s wrong, right while not messing with what’s actually working. Continue reading
Filed under Naked Civics
BREAKING IT DOWN SO WE CAN BUILD ANEW
Filed under Uncategorized
SOMETIMES THE BEST GIFT IS TO ALLOW SOMEONE TO MAKE ONE FOR YOU
Last week I came across an article by Leo Babauta called The No New Gifts Challenge. I posted it on the Naked Civics Facebook page to see what opinions people had on not buying anything new this holiday season, but rather spend their energies making gifts and purchasing used goods instead. Continue reading
Filed under Naked Civics
BOYS AND GIRLS
If you haven’t read Daniel Pink’s 2005 book, A Whole New Mind, you’re really missing some top tier thinking … thinking that’s got me thinking again.
Dan points out that in our emerging and ever dynamic world, it’s going to take both right and left brain thinking in order to thrive. The fact of the matter is you better show up with both sides of your brain ready to perform these days. Continue reading
Filed under Naked Civics
HEADING DOWN THE PATH TO COMMON GOOD
There is a point on the path to great change in which an inspired idea merges with good design. When the fusion of these two concepts occurs, public policy results can come into fruition without the sometimes-messy inclusion of the government.
GOOD Magazine is one of the greatest resources out there for all things awesome, and while getting my last fix of culture, I came across this fantastic article by Sarah Laskow. Continue reading
Filed under Naked Civics
MAXIMIZING YOUR LUCK
Did you know it’s not a matter of if you’re lucky or not – it’s what you do with your luck that counts? In this intriguing article in the Harvard Business Review, Morten T. Hansen discusses the premise of his book, Great by Choice. The method behind is madness is that, while anyone can be the recipient of great luck, it takes someone who wants it to make something happen. Continue reading
Filed under Naked Civics
TARGET – A BIG FISH IN THE SUSTAINABLE SEA
Here’s a great example of a highly influential business creating public policy results by self-regulation. Target Corporation, who is no stranger to the idea of designing better public outcomes through its practices, recently declared it is committed to selling only sustainable seafood by 2015, including all fresh and frozen seafood products. Continue reading
Filed under Naked Civics
THE NEW (AND OLDEST) KID ON THE BLOCK
How’s this for a paradox? One of the oldest publishing houses in the world just came out with the newest and most cutting-edge textbook. The Nature Publishing Group was founded in England in 1869 and has been producing scientific and medical information ever since. In those 140 years of practice, NPG has perfected the art of textbook writing. They really threw a curveball at us, however, when they introduced the very first fully interactive textbook. Continue reading
Filed under Naked Civics
