I did a bit more writing (similar themes, slightly different context) about this topic on Quora if you're interested:
http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-similarities-and-differences-between-scouting-the-right-talent-for-the-needs-of-a-growing-startup-versus-finding-the-right-people-to-create-great-chemistry-at-a-coworking-space The MakeInnovation idea was my initial step in trying to bootstrap > a coworking space focused on innovation and incubation Every time I've seen a place that is "focused on innovation and incubation", it seems to be focused on tools and resources rather than what people are doing with the tools and resources they already have, which I find really interesting pattern. The focus on *making* innovation and incubation happen seems like a distraction from *letting it happen**.* * * I found a copy of Scenario Magazine a couple of months ago where the cover story was about* *a* *guy who was building homebrew manned rocketships in an old hangar outside of Copenhagan. The teaser for the article caught my eye: Kristian von Bengtson looks at me with a piercing gaze. He is the man who, > together with inventor Peter Madsen, is building a spaceship and a rocket > from scratch. I have just asked him what he thinks about today’s focus on > the experience economy, innovation and similar ideas, expressed in a > business world with many plans for progress and growth. The answer is > direct:“It’s nothing but post-it notes on whiteboards with arrows in > between. If you take a closer look, nothing gets done.” > He pauses briefly and elucidates: > “Yesterday I visited the old Carlsberg Bottling Halls, where one of my good > friends sits and works. He is a designer, and we sometimes sit together > working on our different things. Yesterday, we started talking about how > tired we are of all the bullshit we hear about. You know, from people > writing and talking about ‘innovation-driven design’ and that sort of stuff. > *They belong to a bullshit industry with offices filled with CAD drawings, > projects, paper and 360-degree design solutions. But I keep thinking: Make > something, produce something, do something! If not, you don’t get anywhere.” > * Emphasis mine. I'd say that there's far more value in providing spaces and experiences that get out of the way, than provide extra bells and whistles in the name of innovation. There's no shortage of incubators in the world - what there *is* a shortage of is places that let people do what they need to do in order to innovate. If you haven't already, pick up a copy the book of "Where good ideas come from" by Steven Johnson. Here's the 5 minute animated version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU And the 18 minute TED talk version of it: http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_johnson_where_good_ideas_come_from.html In it, Steven explores concepts like the "Slow Hunch", and how historically, during times of innovation and creativity there were places for slow hunches to mix and mingle. In the age of enlightenment, we had coffee houses. When modernism was sweeping the artistic communities, Salons were popular in Paris. I'd venture to say that Coworking spaces are our time's coffee houses, salons, etc. They're the places where people get the most out of them because they're NOT incubators, but instead because they're places where people mingle, ideas socialize, creativity evolves, and people do things with the raw materials and skills within arms reach. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 3:41 PM, Karl Long <[email protected]> wrote: > You're absolutely right about the benefits of working in a coworking > space being a great place to get to know potential collaborators. > Hiring at startups in particular can involve great risk and investment > by the startup and the employee so having a working relationship of > any sort would reduce that risk tremendously. For me one of the > benefits of coworking is the proximity to complementary businesses and > certainly one of the benefits of incubators, the challenge of course > is finding and developing relationships with complementary business > prior to moving in, so to speak. > > The MakeInnovation idea was my initial step in trying to bootstrap a > coworking space focused on innovation and incubation. I have some > ideas for some digital tools that could facilitate that process but > they are in the conversation stage right now. > > Apart from looking for work myself I'm also keen on the idea of > finding ways the concept of coworking/maker spaces can help provide > support and help to people who are at risk, long term unemployed, or > people who want to change jobs learn new technologies and about > entrepreneurship. > > Thanks for the advice, the work you've done with IndyHall is inspiring, > > Karl > > > > On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 7:10 PM, Alex Hillman > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Looking for work in a coworking space is like looking for love at the > > bar. If you walk in the door prowling, you're likely to go home alone. > > Instead, if you walk in the door friendly, charming, and interesting - > your > > chances start to go up. > > The first step to get work in a coworking space is to DO your work in a > > coworking space. > > > > There's no shortage of opportunities, of course. A statistically > significant > > percentage of Indy Hall members, for instance, have gotten work from > other > > Indy Hall members, shared work with other Indy Hall members, or even > gotten > > work simply by virtue of the fact that they are active Indy Hall members. > > But the key focus we've had is maintaining Indy Hall is a place to come > > do work, rather than a place to come get work. If you're doing your work > > from a coworking space, it's like the best job interview/portfolio piece > you > > can possibly have - people get to know your personality, observe your > work > > ethic, and see your work products. These are three of the hardest things > to > > get a grasp of when looking for talented people to work with, and I don't > > think it's any coincidence that the work exchange opportunities and > > experiences are higher at coworking spaces that make them easier for > their > > members to share. > > It's simple and almost too obvious to say, but the fact is that the > people > > who do work from Indy Hall also tend to get the most work from their > > experience at Indy Hall. > > From reading your MakeInnovation page, I'm curious where you see yourself > > fitting into this process? It sounds like you've got some ideas, but > they're > > not clear from that one-pager. > > -Alex > > > > > > /ah > > indyhall.org > > coworking in philadelphia > > > > > > On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 1:50 PM, Karl Long <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> I am working on a couple of projects related to coworking/comaking, > >> but am not generating much money at the moment > >> (http://makeinnovation.com). I wondered if there was an appropriate > >> source to look for work at coworking spaces or with startups in > >> coworking spaces themselves? > >> > >> Thanks, > >> > >> Karl > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> http://experiencecurve.com > >> @karllong > >> > >> -- > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups > >> "Coworking" group. > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >> [email protected]. > >> For more options, visit this group at > >> http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > >> > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Coworking" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > > > > > -- > @karllong > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
