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Oodles of Noodling: Brainstorming from Here to the Sun
I've been nonstop brainstorming the last couple of weeks -- and man, am I tired.
Two weeks ago, it was the Aspen Ideas Festival, about which I've previously written. Those brainiac-intensive five days alone should have been enough. But they were only the start.
A few days later, I participated in a brainstorming strategy about the Th!nk automobile, a two-seater electric car that is being revived by a group of investors. Th!nk Motors was launched in Europe in the mid-1990s, purchased by Ford, which invested more than $100 million in the technology before selling the company back to some Europeans, who went bankrupt earlier this year. In March, a small group of Norwegian investors purchased the remnants of the company in a fire sale.
About a week after the acquisition, I met with one of the company's new owners, Norwegian entrepreneur and venture capitalist Jan-Olaf Willums. We discussed what the new Th!nk company could look like -- how one would create a car company for the 21st century from the ground up. We agreed that the company would embrace such things as open-source technology, mass customization, viral marketing, sustainable design, social enterprise, and other innovations. Our hour-long conversation was so stimulating that we decided to bring together a group of experts in each of these areas to brainstorm further.
That brainstorm session took place this past week, at Google headquarters in Silicon Valley. It was a stimulating seven hours, to say the least. A group of 44 of us used the World Cafe method of facilitated dialogue to explore such questions as how to create small locally based manufacturing centers, but still rely on economies of scale; how to establish innovative marketing and sales networks without having to build showrooms; and how to create a brand and product design that would epitomize the best of both "cool" and "green."
The World Cafe dialogue can be risky: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This time it did. The spirited group -- entrepreneurs, designers, engineers, artists, transportation experts, systems thinkers, government officials, and others -- managed to fill entire walls with ideas about how this company might work: its business model, ownership, marketing style, partnerships, sustainability strategy, and more.
A day later, it was back to Colorado for Solar Circle. This small, closed, virtual organization was first convened in 2003 by Susan Davis, whose Capital Missions Company has created a score of "business leadership networks" aimed at creating a more sustainable society. Two of her better known groups are Social Venture Network and Investors Circle.
Solar Circle (there's no Web site or online presence) was launched with 30 "key influencers deeply committed to catalyzing the rapid growth of solar energy around the world," as one of the organizing document puts it. Its members represent leaders in business, government, finance, and nonprofit groups; most are founders or CEO-level leaders in their respective organizations. The group has since expanded to about 50 members. We meet twice a year to discuss big ideas for accelerating global uptake of solar technology and to incubate projects.
It's not just self-indulgent chatter. The self-organized, self-governed group of solar advocates and entrepreneurs -- I've dubbed this band of revolutionaries "sundinistas" -- has spawned several noteworthy projects, among them: an initiative to rapidly increase solar installations in rural areas of developing countries; a "solar bank" that will provide financial and technical resources to lenders around the world; and a soon-to-launch Solar Nation campaign to engage and mobilize voters around renewable energy. And probably a dozen or more other ad hoc partnerships and schemes spawned by smaller groups of members. It's more than a little chaordic, and more than a little fun.
Solar Circle represents a shining example of what can happen outside conventional organizational structures when a group of passionate, committed souls come together not just to brainstorm, but to work toward bold, sometimes audacious goals for a more sustainable world.
All good stuff, but, as I said, I'm tired from all this noodling. It's time to take a week off -- to unplug (more or less) and enjoy a week in the Pacific Northwest. A time to relax and recharge. And maybe to think -- but only a little.
July 16, 2006 in State of the Art | Permalink
Comments
As always, really fascinating to hear what is going on in Makower world and the high-level discussions on sustainability and the trends that are making it happen.
In line with a previous post on electric cars, I wonder if the enthusiast market might not ignite excitement over these vehicles in a way that such automotive non-events as the GEM have failed to do.
Small city electric cars are a practical and worthwhile purpose for the technology at this juncture in time, but the potential for fast, fun electric roadsters opens up a new world and marketplace for these vehicles to take the mainstream.
Clearly cost is a major issue here. The Tango is still a very expensive proposition except for the very wealthy early adopters, and the Fetish is as off the charts expensive as it is blazingly fast.
It is ironic that GM might be in a good position to pursue electric cars again (if they didn't shred all their documentation when they destroyed the cars).
After brainstorming this for days, I'm sure none of this is new to Joel, but I think more market research into the understanding and possible acceptance of various vehcile classes, cost, range, and performance characteristics could be enormously useful.
Posted by: Lance Funston | Jul 18, 2006 10:46:46 AM
I had actually not heard about the Th!nk automobile before stumbling upon this site. With gas and oil prices shooting through the roof, this sounds like exactly the sort of technology that we need to be advocating!
Posted by: thebizofknowledge | Aug 28, 2006 11:20:53 AM
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