A Manifesto for the UK Creative Economy
"The UK's creative economy is one of its great national strengths, historically deeply rooted and accounting for around one-tenth of the whole economy. It provides jobs for 2.5 million people - more than in financial services, advanced manufacturing or construction - and in recent years, this creative workforce has grown four times faster than the workforce as a whole.
But behind this success lies much disruption and business uncertainty, associated with digital technologies. Previously profitable business models have been swept away, young companies from outside the UK have dominated new internet markets, and some UK creative businesses have struggled to compete.
UK policymakers too have failed to keep pace with developments in North America and parts of Asia. But it is not too late to refresh tired policies. This manifesto sets out our 10-point plan to bolster one of the UK's fastest growing sectors."
(Hasan Bakhshi, Ian Hargreaves and Juan Mateos-Garcia, April 2013, NESTA)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
The Invisible Bicycle Helmet
"Fredrik Gertten profiles two idealistic young female entrepreneurs who created a revolutionary 21st-century design object everyone told them would be impossible to fashion."
(Focus Forward Films, 2012)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Prototyping in Public Services
"Prototyping in Public Services describes an approach that can be used to help develop new and innovative services by testing ideas out early in the development cycle.
NESTA has produced a guide for policymakers, strategy leads, heads of service, commissioners and anyone else in a public service looking for new methodologies that can help them to better meet the needs of their communities. It sits alongside the Prototyping Framework: A guide to prototyping new ideas which provides examples of activities that can happen at different stages of a prototyping project.
The guide and toolkit are early outputs from our prototyping work and are based on work NESTA and its partners have been doing with several local authorities and third sector organisations. We will continue to learn about prototyping as an approach that can be used to develop public services, through our practical programmes."
(NESTA, UK)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Younger Workers Need a Career Narrative
"In recent years, much has been written about the importance of career narratives for mid-career and senior professionals, particularly those making a career transition. But, we'd argue, they're even more important for younger professionals who don't yet have a multipage CV or a high-powered headhunter in their corner. What, then, makes for an effective narrative?
First, it should be easy to remember and retell. The whole point is to give your colleagues a narrative that quickly comes to mind whenever they're asked about you, preventing them from making assumptions and drawing conclusions on their own. Two or four sentences, maximum.
Second, it should meaningfully link your past successes to your near and long-term development needs and suggest the kinds of assignments that would help to achieve those objectives. Those goals might certainly be developmental (to test a particular skill; gain experience with a certain tool or methodology; explore a specific industry). But they can also be more personal (limit travel to spend time with family, for instance).Think of it as a 'sound-bite resume' - on hearing it, senior professionals should have two reactions. First, they should be interested in working with you. Second, they should know if it makes sense for you to work with them.
Third, your narrative needs to hang together with the right combination of honesty, humility, and personal flavor. Doing so creates an authentic and compelling career narrative. Narratives that just articulate a string of successes are not credible and are not likely to be repeated. Similarly, boilerplate chronicles without any personal flair rarely get traction."
(Heidi K. Gardner and Adam Zalisk, 15 February 2013, Harvard Business Review)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Ericsson: the future of learning in a networked society
"We are on the brink of an extraordinary revolution that will change our world forever. In this new world everyone, everything and everywhere will be connected in real time. We call this the Networked Society, and it will fundamentally change the way we innovate, collaborate, produce, govern and sustain. When one person connects their life changes. With everything connected our world changes."
(Ericsson Limited, 2012)
Fig.1 Published on YouTube 19 October 2012 by Ericsson
CONTRIBUTOR
David ReidSHARE
