Designed Collaboration

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Designed Collaboration

One of the grievances I had with my last role (as a grants manager at a large Pharmaceutical company) was the physical space in which I worked.  We were lucky not to work in cubicles, but had our own offices each with their own door.  The hallway that I worked was comprised of a lengthy row of these closed off spaces where people tended to shut themselves in for most of the day…Sometimes I wouldn’t see my coworkers unless it was in a public space.  We mostly all worked on our own projects, and with teams literally in buildings across the street.  There are many things wrong with this scene but here I’d like to focus on collaboration and knowledge sharing.

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Finding Daily Inspiration

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Let’s be honest, tackling a career change can be daunting and it’s easy to lose sight of why you are doing this at all.  I find it extremely important to spend some time each day reading regularly updated industry news and blogs that have industry tidbits, tips, company showcases and feature interesting and innovative products produced from the types of firms I want to work for.

Of everything I read in this specific area, my favorite place to cull inspiration and ideas is Fast Company (http://www.fastcompany.com/).  These guys focus on everything from innovation to technology to productivity to business and entrepreneurship and more.  I find the reads to be succinct, informative and they get my day going.

I also like to read the blogs of companies that I admire.   A few of these are:

frog:  http://designmind.frogdesign.com/

Ideo:  http://designthinking.ideo.com/

Method:  http://method.com/#/about/10x10

I will frequently post pieces of inspiration I come across that are specific to the knowledge areas I’m pursuing.  These posts will be specific or related to the design industry.