Daniel Pink: Abundance, Asia and Automation

Roger Martin on How Business Unwittingly Stifles New Ideas

“Cultivating communities of practice”

gordongroup certainly is an example of such a community. Clients become part of a larger community once they've engaged with us. Typically they become accustomed to our proactive response that we provide to delivery of design solutions, creative writing, technology for online platforms, media development and outreach. All of these skills performed by people who demonstrate pride, empathy and years of practical experience extending their capability.

As we evolve along the technology path and witness the emergent online sphere, some things stay constant while new developments are evident quarterly.  Operating in the media space on major documentary production has extended the notion of multi disciplinary capability to our clients in a formidable way.

Where media was and where it is today specifically the broadcast format has changed for good. All these changes are storming ahead. This has organizations asking questions about how to prioritize their brand building and market outreach.

The transition to broadcast media online puts new tools in the hands of organizations that otherwise couldn’t be conceived just a few years back. In retrospect, our experience dealing in organizational brand building over the last two decades has been steeped with practice in each unique transition along the curve of growth from telephone and print to international skype calls and full-length documentary production.


The Internet of course has made this all possible.

Design and related extensions including managing knowledge, innovation, prototyping, creative thinking and right brain analysis today is at the forefront of leadership. The designer's role is integral to all these competencies.

The movie “Helvetica” ends with a high priest from the design world commenting on how the web has democratized communications and the brand business so anyone with an interest today can essentially create highly personalized and differentiated outreach tools to promote their cause.

“Design Thinking “ underscores a new approach to competitive advantage for organizations. While change continues to march ahead Design Thinking today is embraced by leading companies in the market.  Design Thinking is one bet an organization can place with confidence knowing it will drive momentum forward and cultivate communities of practice.

Elements of Storytelling

Storytelling is often a core differentiator apparent in the places we enter, experience and explore. This is evident from my recent trip to Montreal where I was among friends who shared with me opportunity to visit two distinct places within their great city. The shared sensory experience between the places I visited were unique. Both experiences introduced clearly defined stories. The enterprise level global management conference that utilized the latest in multi disciplinary media forms with a core offering in the form of a book fair. That experience and related thematic stories compared to a facility for people who travel vast distances south from Northern Canada to Montreal for medical care. Their stories painted on concrete barriers. The primal elements either textual or visual of stories bring meaning and reference relevant to people from all backgrounds. This is the subject of the post. 

Back in Montreal a week or so ago I was at the Academy of Management conference with my Doctoral supervisor. The conference had all the top academic publishers displaying books at the event.

We spent some time strolling among leading publishing house’s checking out the latest editions and catalogues. Some items made it into my AOM branded tote bag. The book fair was a lesson on the emergent trends popular within business culture today.

Corporate Social Responsibility echoed throughout the conference the movement is a central story and theme today. Design thinking is also a dominant topic of conversation and text. Much theory was being offered about the Internet and the online universe. An extensive selection of texts from academia about management theory and practical reference guides were available in abundance for the delegates to choose from.

Corporate Social Responsibility uses similar themes to our Amerindian cultures including constructs such as conservation, spirituality, sharing, preservation and other beliefs and traditions. Spirituality is now a management process that is being promoted among top thinkers. This is evidence the corporate world is moving toward more balanced systems and interested in making a positive sustainable difference around the individual organization's sphere of influence.

Inuit paintings shot with iphone

The weekend also included time spent at Nunavik House. This place provides lodging for Quebec’s Inuit people who travel to the south for medical care. They arrive in Montreal from a remarkable place known as the Ungava Peninsula. Their home is located at the far reaches of Northern Quebec close to the Artic. The period map below depicts the geographic region under former Labrador boundaries.


My experience at Nunavik House included a brief lesson in pronunciation with proper emphasis and accent from an Inuk women. She darted away abruptly after saying the community names in her unique language. She pronounced her people's community names  along the northern coast. 


I was also offered on loan a book about the people of Nunavik. The book provides northern perspective of earlier times authored by Dorothy Mesher's, Kuujjuaq.

Map illustrating the Ungava Penninsula before Quebec assumed the territories

The tour included walking about Nunavik House’s outdoor patio area. I was struck by the magnificent artwork that was painted along the concrete walls. The paintings transformed the space into a vibrant art gallery.These images and illustrated representations are fully exposed to the outdoor weather yet they retain a remarkable bright illuminated cast of colours; full of meaning. This backdrop in a setting where the inhabitants are impacted by modernization and cultural transformation within their society. Care facilities exhibit first hand the difficult aspects of life. The individuals within these places who provide for and intervene for people in need are exemplars of what's good about humanity.

The contrast between the two places I experienced made the time in Montreal a memorable occasion. Elements of storytelling were evident and core to both places I visited.  The experience among top management theorists leveraging the beliefs and practices of ancient civilizations. The patients of Nunavik house rendering visual images within their temporary living quarters. These works produced perhaps for others who may find meaning and understanding in the icons and shapes and stories rendered along the concrete wall.

Elements of storytelling in both surroundings were integrated to enhance the inhabitant’s experience. People use stories to help "package" environments and extend meaning and context. Stories bound in book form among the management crowd. Murals painted on concrete surfaces meaningful to the people who benefit from learning and understanding the artists themes. 

A renewed focus on "design thinking" as central to Business Leadership

During the last three decades I have made my career as an owner operator of an organization that provides strategic design centric services in the marketing and communications field. My passion for design was crystallized during college years in the early 1980’s; at that time I entered a diploma level college design program in Kingston Ontario Canada. Validating the role of the designer has been a critical aspect of my thinking throughout my career.

The ideas that design contributes to understanding and making information meaningful or accessible has been central to me and in turn my organization’s approach. We have integrated this philosophy into the solutions we develop in support of our client’s aspirations, goals and objectives. The central function design plays has also been a core focus relating to competitive advantage and how investment in design can differentiate the organization’s offering and drive new opportunities and awareness.

During the early eighties I was employed as an intern at small boutique studios and consultancies.

As an advocate of design I was naturally led into the marketing and sales activities in the interest of the organizations where I was employed. This experience provided me a grasp of all functions of the design studio from frontline sales cycles activities across the value chain to creation of product and delivery of innovative solutions to clients. The experience garnered from the internship during the first years within the workforce combined with the three-year college diploma provided the foundation for me to found my organization.

I have managed that for twenty-three years starting from a two-person organization and growing the business into a fifty-person leading multi disciplinary enterprise. During the course of operating my organization I have been brought under engagement with Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples. We have developed designed products for public and private sector accounts. Our clients the James Bay Northern Quebec Crees have turned to my organization for over two decades in support of the development of their communications and outreach programs.

Design has been an integral activity in support of their communications and now representative of their unique brand. The Aboriginal clients where we‘ve had the benefit of partnering have mandated my organization for communications and outreach activities. They have granted my team access to a rich and vibrant culture in Canada’s north. By extension I have been immersed in unique circumstances including educational programs, public relations, documenting history, referendum fulfillment, storytelling of legends, Sweat Lodge rituals, festivals among multi generational family members and many other experiences.

These relationships afforded me tremendous privilege and perspective on ancient civilization that has emerged in Canada and how that civilization has transformed as a modern society. 

Current trends in design an innovation have led to a renewed focus on design thinking as central to business leadership and global competitiveness. Leadership in growth companies recognize that design is central to organizational dynamic and a core factor contributing to areas such as sustainable development programs, corporate responsibility, planning and prototyping, organizational structure and other  functions of business.

Design thinking is used to determine new and innovative systems that drive opportunities and contribute to differentiating organizations. An argument exists that organizations today are forced to move away from reliability factors such as scientific analysis and traditional business systems to more intuitive factors. Right brain analysis and creativity need be embraced to address the challenges organizations face and to the extent leadership is tasked with overcoming these challenges they need to embrace design thinking as a central approach to achieving their goal.

Aboriginal Culture in many parts of the world remain under threat of extinction this is validated by encroachment on their territories, aging populations with elders passing on along with their languages, knowledge and legends, impacts from modern society engulfing and extinguishing traditions and values. These societies have been marginalized by their nation states and for centuries oppressed or overrun, their lands have had natural resources extracted, clear cut or harvested beyond recovery.

My motivation for study is to embrace design thinking in support of the preservation of indigenous culture. I hope to contribute to asserting change in support of preservation of Canadian Aboriginal Culture or other cultures in different parts of the globe. This will require an understanding of the complexity of the problem in a more holistic framework. Understanding will contribute to inventive designed solutions that will perhaps support capturing elements of cultures that otherwise will be lost..

From my practical experience in business management and organizational dynamic I believe I can enrich my experience and deliver solutions more broadly. I will achieve this either in advocacy or practicing in the field. I believe a commitment to research and investment in understanding and knowledge on this subject is priority. At this stage in my career and life this is my desire for learning.