#leyla acaroglu

“Words have power, and in systems thinking, we use some very specific words that intentionally define a different set of actions to mainstream thinking. Words like ‘synthesis,’ ‘emergence,’ ‘interconnectedness,’ and ‘feedback loops’ can be overwhelming for some people. Since they have very specific meanings in relation to systems, allow me to start off with the exploration of six key themes.”

Leyla Acaroglu — It’s an experimental knowledge lab that I set up three years ago to help overcome what I call the knowledge-action gap, the difference between people knowing that there are problems in the world, feeling that they want to address them, but not knowing how to take action. I really struggled a lot with the mainstream structural system of education, I did a lot of research in pedagogy and the way in which we teach and the way in which the brain works, how a lot of the experiences we have in life educate us, and how actually a lot of those experiences de-educate us.

(via What Is Disruptive Innovation?)

This idea is cool and all but it results in products being designed to fail and the driver is economics rather than what the people need.

Instead we should be aiming for disruptive DESIGN:

“So why do I think we should be talking more about disruptive design and not disruptive innovation? Because innovation alone will not solve the problems that externalities bring, such as climate change, poverty and inequity.

To disrupt by design requires one to firstly have intent to make change, and then to creatively discover nuanced and agile ways of intervening in system to leverage positive change outcomes. You need to be hyper sensitive to the system dynamics you are intervening in and create products and services that minimize the negative externalities and maximize the ability for the system to be regenerative, not destructive.”

Shout out to one of my favorite TED Talks. Hoping to attend Leyla’s unschool in New Zealand!!