Over the last few months, we’ve been hanging out with the lovely Louise Williamson on a project exploring feminity, purpose and personality…

Not only is she brilliant, but she’s got a load of great tips for fellow (learner-plate) foodies and manages to find fitting quotes for just about anything you might be working on. Oh, and she writes a mean guest post too – which feels particularly apt given the maelstrom of digital landfill that we’re now filling our lives with.

Have a read of this, and if you agree, turn your computer off and go for a walk. And let us know what happens….

Image props to http://ilovecharts.tumblr.com/page/15

I always thought I had it pretty much figured out.

When pondering on how the digital revolution has changed who we are and how we behave, my answer has always been that it hasn’t changed the fundamentals of us as humans, rather it has changed the ways and means we have of satisfying our human desires and motivations. So, for example, we’ve always been supremely sociable beasts, it’s just that the advent of social media has made our ability to connect and share greater than ever before. But at the heart of it, people are still people, technology hasn’t – and won’t change that.

Except maybe that’s not right after all. Maybe that was a bit short-sighted.

I read an essay One Hundred Fears of Solitude a few months ago by an American writer called Hal Crowther which has really stuck with me. It’s a far reaching essay but his central hypothesis is that technology is having a profound effect on the nature of humanity – it’s diminishing our ability to think creatively, intelligently and independently. This is largely driven by two things: the absence of silence in our lives and the increased exposure to the thoughts and opinions of others leading to an ever increasing ‘hive mind’.

“Not long ago, it was generally accepted that humanity’s most creative achievements, from art and poetry to major scientific discoveries, were the precious fruits of solitude. But in a single heartbeat on history’s timeline, this sacred, fecund privacy has become the unpardonable social sin for the generation of which our future creativity depends.”

Whilst I don’t fully subscribe to the bleak future that he describes in his essay (I’m a big fan and user of technology), I cannot disagree with the central premise. Deep down I know he’s right about the silence thing and about the threat to independent thought. In the past year the background noise in my life has become ever louder – think tweets, status updates, emails, RSS feeds etc. When listening to the news I have less and less time to figure out my own perspective before seeing the way the twitter-brigade are turning. My focus and concentrations levels are rubbish (even during the writing of this I’ve checked emails and twitter 8+ times, and looked up various recipes for supper). It was Einstein who (modestly) said “it’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer”. A sentiment rarely echoed in today’s turbo-charged world.

It’s not like going to work offers any respite from this technology-fuelled ADD.

“Modern workplaces are optimised for interruptions, not for work”.

That’s the conclusion of Jason Fried from 37 Signals when considering the impact of technology on our work lives.  He talks about how we all go to work during the day and then end up doing our real work after work (yup, I can relate to that).

His solution is to use technology to limit your exposure to technology. Watch his video, it’s great.

“Human beings aren’t designed to run like computers: at high speeds, continuously, for long periods of time. By mimicking them, they’re ending up running us. The problem is that demand is outstripping our capacity… we’re increasingly running on empty”

This is Tony Schwartz talking about the personal energy crisis, his point of view is that we humans are just not built for this. This chimes with Crowther (and many others), who believe that the joy and spirit of humanity doesn’t come from being plugged into the mains.

So, what’s to be done? Unlike many of the naysayers I don’t think its about rejection of technology. Not only is that virtually impossible but I also think it misses the value that technology has bought to the world. But I do think we need to start questioning when it’s adding value to our lives and when it’s eroding it.

Some have taken a drastic step to remind themselves what space and time to think actually feel like, such as Pipeline partner Dan Burgess who has de-camped to a tree house on the Costa Rican coast for 6 months with his family.

Which sounds like a pretty nice way to tackle it but arguably not hugely practical for the rest of us!

In the Gutenberg Elegies, Sven Birkerts talks about the loss of ‘soul’ that occurs through living in a digitally buzzing beehive.

“Soul is our inwardness, our self-reflectiveness, our orientation to the unknown.  Soul waxes in private, wanes in public..  Soul is private.  Solitary.’

Is it over-simplifying things to suggest that we aim for balance (I know, it’s hackneyed term) through greater awareness? When I check my email upon waking I know it’s a bit weird, when I start absorbing opinions I read on twitter I know it’s lazy thinking.  Could we start to impose more rigorous rules around our technology manners: ‘no, you can’t check you text messages whilst we’re having dinner’?

I’m going to give it a try.

This last few weeks, we’ve been mainly exploring the idea of ‘symbiosis’.

It’s all part of an exploration into nature to find a way to accelerate sustainable innovation.

Symbiosis is defined as the intimate living together of two or more kinds of organisms, especially if such association is of mutual advantage.

In human terms, it’s called collaboration, teamwork, co-operation. Putting the interests of others above your own.

We’re part of an emerging mission to build a symbiotic, or collaborative ecosystem that enables us to accelerate pace of change in sustainable innovation. To do more together than we could ever do on our own.

As we’ve started the next phase of this exciting journey, I’ve captured a few of our random twitterings below….and a nice piece from Dan in Costa Rica on his noticings blog

Watch this space for more news but in the meantime, here’s to the great big ‘we’!

Awe from The Pipeline Project on Vimeo.

This is something we mashed up last year. It’s not prescriptive or exhaustive but starts to express what matters to us, ideas and people we respect and admire in the work we are trying to do.
Grab yourself a cup of tea, put your headphones on and take a 10 min break.

We’d love to know your thoughts.

As summer seems to be coming to a crashing, damp end, the exam results are in and a new term’s nearly upon us.

In a rare pause for reflection and in the spirit of transparency, we figured it was worth revisiting some of the things we set out at the beginning of the year to see how we’ve been doing….

Overall

Fun had doing our own thing…….immeasurable

Number of businesses we’ve worked with……11

Time spent with family and friends…….loads more than before

Projects done or underway……18

Games of tennis……at least 20

Work from referrals…..91%

Team runs…..2 including this one on the coastal path (mental windy day in Dorset)

Repeat business……72%

Football games gone to…..3

Top 3 clients…..80% of what we’ve done

Post-work drinks……lost count

Views on blog…..8,253 from 51 countries

Serious mistakes made…..a few

Briefs we’ve had and said no thanks……3

Trips to the seaside……1

Blog posts….24

Conversations with normal (non-marketing) folk…. About 100 days worth

Boardroom conversations….8

Money spent on marketing…..£0

Holidays taken….some crackers, but like Netflix we don’t count

Tom R

1. Develop more great ideas that help make clients more successful

Yup, got some really good missions going. Now in the fortunate position of working those through to make them happen….

2. Find some more people to work with who are as bright, brave and committed as Tom F

Very pleased to have welcomed Dan Burgess on board in July and on the look out for more talented folk to join the team

3. Do some stuff that makes some positive change for people and the environment

Definite tick in the box here and something we will be able to talk about in time…

4. Find a cool office

We’ve got a great space that overlooks a park and that’s a stone’s throw from the culinary delights of Borough Market and the fantastic El Vergel café – what’s not to like?

5. Build a cool web site

Nope. Not done yet, but as we speak, we’re briefing it in armed with our coloured crayons….

6. Play better tennis

Not sure if I’m playing any better (‘he is’, sic Ed) – enjoying it though

7. Do some technology work

Yep. Been doing some very interesting stuff launching next year. Watch this space

8. Make some great films for clients

Made a few. Learning a lot about what it takes to make great films – next step is to become more self-sufficient (would welcome any tips)

9. Help pipeline have more fans and followers

We’ve all been blogging and tweeting away – feels like we’ve found a few like-minded souls, got a conversation going and been getting at least a little attention???

10. Listen, learn and learn some more

Definitely yes – learnt tons since we started Pipeline about purpose, about doing business the right way and about helping clients transform their organisations

Tom F

1. Find some more fellow ‘jedi knights’ with as much insight as Tom R has to build our ‘A-team’

Yep, you heard from Dan already. We’re chuffed he’s joined us and are on the look-out for some more similarly brilliant purposeful people join the Pipeline Project this autumn

2. Make the work we’ve already started with lead clients create a big impact

Not bad, a lot of what we do is behind the scenes but our first two clients have made big progress in bringing their purpose more clearly into the market. More soon

3. Get a car client to help create the next generation of cars

Nope, not yet but we are looking at some very exciting opportunities with electric vehicles so we may still get into this before the years’ out

4. Fly a lot less

Yep, very proud of this. Have lost my gold card membership (a pointless badge to be honest), and only flown 3 times all year (all short-haul to either Zurich or Munich). Means I’ve spent loads more time at home with the kids, and long may this continue!

5. Beat Tom R at tennis, even if just once

Nope. Have taken a set, but nothing more. He’s playing with me. Must try harder (and maybe sneak in some private lessons…..)

5. Beat the big guys to get work, hopefully more than once

Not sure . To be honest, not really concerned anymore about who we compete against.  I’m way more into why we do what we do and working on stuff that matters. Doing okay considering we’re just 3 people, so mustn’t grumble…..

6. Do the London marathon in 3hrs 30 or less and make some decent cash for charity

Aaargh. This became all consuming. Had to pull out of London with a nasty illness but didChester about 6 weeks later. Came close at just over 3hrs 45 mins and learnt a ton of stuff about distance running, and was proud to have raised over £3000 for NSPCC. Now we’ve got about 10 friends and family all signed up for the Cardiff Half Marathon in October, so all gearing up for that.

7. Build a brilliant network of like-minded partners who help clients and each other grow

This is coming together. We’ve found some great creatives, film-makers and agencies to help out on some of our missions including our friends Andy and Alec over at Splendid Communications, Tom at Cool Hill Productions, Tamar at Futureal, Laura at Laura Kidd, Molly and Rob at We All Need Words and Jim at Agitprop amongst others.

8. Run an event that creates something useful, and people have a laugh

Not yet, but got something cooking so watch this space in November

9. Decide which gaming console to have in our cool office

Nope. Gave up on this, prefer to get outside and run or play tennis.

10. Keep pushing the comfort zone, trying new stuff and seeing what happens

Absolutely. Have got way more into film, more into sustainable communities and cities, making our own content, way more into politics and have been exploring new ways to help people identify and act on purpose. Can’t stand still on this though, so hoping to learn more about all of this and more.