Guest poster Scott Belsky at Digital Nomads defines “Idea-to-Idea Syndrome” as the inefficient use or abandonment of ideas that can stem from the excitement of new ideas. This comes as a result of ignoring the process of feedback exchange which is impossible when working alone. Coworking can alleviate such idea overload by letting independents work together and garner the feedback included in the collaborative process.
I would add that ideation in the first place is fostered by coworking. Independent thinking and being able to claim solo credit for an idea may be ideal, but so many times it takes the nudging or perspective of another to get past the small stumbling blocks that keep us from actualizing an idea in its most efficient form. To me that is the genius of coworking and how it will innovate the way we work.
Proximity, and the frequent crossing of paths it creates, is a critical piece of getting an “idea” to an “innovation” or “invention”, and from there to “economic development”…Running into people is an underappreciated way to get a job, find funding, get connected to people working on similar projects, or just talk through what you’re working on to a fresh face and have the thought shift you were waiting for…There are a lot of reasons that I like downtowns and the dense neighborhoods that surround them…I think this is the most compelling reason, though. It’s these downtowns and dense urban neighborhoods where creativity finds fertile ground – where sub-idea particles are slammed together and bombarded with alternatives until life is sparked.
Crowdsourcing and coworking. Two words that sound similar and are indeed connected. Related to alternative work methods, coworking and crowdsourcing allow groups to join together to solve problems and create business value…Crowdsourcing and coworking provide tremendous benefits to the small business community. Under a coworking model, individuals who have complementary skills can work together to answer questions, provide different points of view and create value. As mentioned, the benefit of gaining different perspectives when faced with a problem are usually better than working in isolation. Crowdsourcing relates to coworking in that both groups (virtual and physical) are likely to produce more than if they where to work independently.
With the economy in a frightening spiral, the temptation is to put new product and new business development on the back burner. The better choice may be to figure out how to keep high-potential projects alive. One way may be to team up with outsiders and do less yourself.
“Collaborative innovation” is nothing new, of course, but doing it has long been a huge challenge. Yes, IT advances have made it easier to link up with others, thereby vastly increasing the options for collaborating.
Sure sub-prime lending and a wobbly Wall Street are the major players in our failing economy, but I have stumbled upon another important factor. Her name is Brooke…she is an Internet star (that’s Brooke above looking all, um, contemplative). This particular entry of her vlog showcases the obvious relative of Marty Feldman simply listening to a neighbor’s barking dog. For two and a half minutes. Seventeen thousand people have viewed this video. That is one solid month of wasted time. Time that could have been spent productively. It is easy to blame Wall Street or government for our financial problems; it is, after all, always someone else’s fault. The economy is not comprised solely of Excel spreadsheets, Harvard professors, traders, governmental regulatory agencies and arrows on a graph on the nightly news. It is based on real people doing real things.
There is no harm in wasting three minutes on Internet indulgences, but when I saw how many people had watched the video and how completely idiotic it was, I began to wonder just how much time is wasted on such inanity. Perhaps three minutes is all it would have taken someone to come up with the next great idea that could have created new jobs, or perhaps three minutes is all it would have taken for someone to question the validity of lending money with little hope of it being repaid, or perhaps three minutes of scrutiny would have kept the bumper from falling off that new car being manufactured in Detroit. So, Brooke is not directly at fault for the fall of the global economy, although I sure feel confident in her maturation and subsequent contribution to humanity. Woof! So waste the next 2:30 of your life and watch the video, then go back to being productive.
And if you are curious as to what I am doing for our fledgling economy…I am investing in YouTube.
Despite how magnificent it can be to work for yourself, there are some things about freelancing that just plain suck. And no matter where you specialize, these vicious drawbacks usually find a way of asserting themselves.
Recognition that the concept of the “office” is something that belongs to the previous millennium. All the office-typical work can now be done online. If you force people to come to the office every day, they will resent the lack of freedom. They will resent you for being overbearing and controlling. People who rub elbows with each other every day are bound to sometimes rub each other the wrong way, starting animosities, cliques and general sense of disgruntleness.
Lately, I’ve seen some tweets going back and forth about a co-work space possibly coming to downtown Phoenix. Living in Phoenix, and being on twitter, we’ve all heard of Gangplank Headquarters, Gangplank Studios, or just plain ol’ Gangplank. I’ve talked to some people, and I’ve also seen some innocuous tweets, where people suggested that they feel Gangplank is being challenged. Little ol’ non co-working worker me over here had some opinions. So read on and I’d be happy to share why I’m so excited about a co-working space downtown and why there is quite literally no competition between this place, and Gangplank.
As the economic crisis lingers, laid-off workers and small businesses in Brooklyn are turning to communal office spaces to save money and kick-start dream careers.
