The value of letting go, allowing for ideas to emerge, listening to many different perspectives, hearing and asking for help …
All of these have formed part of how I have approached the WHAT NEXT/ SO WHAT/ WHAT IS PURPLEBEACH?
It does not come naturally to me and in a world, which measures delivery and places value on action, consciously making the time and space for this approach (and sticking to it), is challenging and can be daunting. I however strongly feel that congruence with what PurpleBeach challenges others to do, needs to be at the core of how the WHAT emerges, how it OPERATES and what it BECOMES.
WHAT has emerged is:
PurpleBeach brings together diverse business leaders, thinkers and conversation partners to share EXPERIENCES that transform thinking, shift paradigms and ultimately lead to new ways of doing business and achieving results.
At PurpleBeach, DIVERSITY is the core driver for transformation, paradigm shift and action.
PurpleBeach creates the SPACE for surfacing diverse ideas and for evolving new perspectives and insights. To ensure this happens, it needs a diverse participatory audience / community.
Whilst acknowledging that time is precious, PurpleBeach is about creating “you have to be there” experiences for people so that ‘AHA’ MOMENTS happen.
Coming along to PurpleBeach requires ACTIVE PARTICIPATION.
From all the feedback and discussions it is clear that, within the overall PurpleBeach Community, there are initially 3 SPACES for people to gather.
The MAIN BEACH, which is the space where the whole diverse PurpleBeach Community meets and gathers.
The CONVERSATION PARTNER SPACE where conversation partners, diverse experts/practitioners come together to interact and share ideas covering a wide range of fields.
The BUSINESS SPACE where diverse business leaders (type of business, experiences, sector, stage of growth etc.) come together. Experts / practitioners can be invited along on an ad hoc basis.
(Membership to the main beach and other spaces needs to be further defined, including funding and/ membership…more on this below).
Becoming part of PurpleBeach, provides:
Access to PurpleBeach latest thinking and content.
This happens at the in person experiences and / or on the website through: constant website updates, blogs, updates from everyone, who is part of PurpleBeach etc.
Monthly Talking Heads Sessions, which are virtual, global in reach, open discussions around our core themes.
PurpleBeach itself and/or its community members will conduct ongoing Research and run Living Laboratories and/ or other PurpleBeach Experiences
Initial Research Projects
During June-July, the PurpleBeach Innovation Garden (in partnership with Silverman Research) uses social media and crowdsourcing to research key blockers to Innovation in organisations. Open-source report to be published in Sep 2013.
Further research into organisational attitudes and approaches to GenY will be kicked-off in June, with results available and shared at a Charity Lunch in Aug. We are partnering with Blue Stag to make this happen.
PurpleBeach Living Laboratories
3 month living laboratory experiences to be offered by PurpleBeach in one of our core areas of focus. Insights to be documented and impact to be measured.
Other experiences offered could include
- Mini-PurpleBeaches
- Bespoke PurpleBeaches
PurpleBeach has the potential to be positively subversive and help drive towards paradigm shift. One of the biggest challenges for me has been around monetization. Whilst membership is always an option, as is consulting and even running events…these as conventionally defined, do not feel congruent with PurpleBeach.
I want PurpleBeach to have an impact, to be a real living example of People Innovation in Action. Conscious of its responsibility and potential impact, I am keen to define alternatives to the options above. (If you want to be part of this piece of People Innovation in Action… simply drop me an email!)
So, in conclusion – there now is clarity around our initial core themes:
- The humanization of business
- (Exploring alternative ways of running businesses. Lessons from across the globe.
- Redefining success
- Alternative perspectives on inclusivity
- Unlocking sustainable innovation
- GenY, Digital Talent, Entrepreneurship … or an Analog Future?
- People Innovation – mindset, fad or substance?
(Engagement with these themes might be phased depending on need / appetite/ interest. The themes will clearly evolve over time to reflect complexity and the external changing world). In fact, PurpleBeach itself will consciously be pushed to evolve and be an example of – what solved challenges today, more often than not, might not solve them tomorrow.
There is clarity about the WHAT of PurpleBeach. It is anchored in diversity, experiences and spaces where people come together to share transformation, paradigm shifts and “AHA’s. Active participation in PurpleBeach can take on many guises from: participation in research, living laboratories, mini-PurpleBeaches and Talking Heads, to name but a few activities.
In conclusion, as I have said above: I want PurpleBeach to have an impact, to be a real living example of People Innovation in Action and this requires a redefinition of the how it OPERATES.
Feel free to join that discussion! For now … I am going to let emergence take over to see what happens with this too.