Talk Matt Milan and I gave at Planner's Unite conference in Toronto on 9 April 2009

1. +

2. 3 stories

3. 2 keys

4. 1 formula

5. and a
hypothesis

6. STORY # 1

7. THE MANN GULCH
FIRE

8. MISSOULA
MOKEJUMPERS

9. REVERSAL OF
FORTUNE

10. WALL OF FLAME
50 FT HIGH
300 FT DEEP

11. FLASH OF
GENIUS

12. SAFETY

13. KEY # 1

14. CRISIS IS THE
CRUCIBLE OF
INSIGHT

15. Freedom’s just
another word for
nothin’ left to
lose

16. FREEDOM

17. Man is born free, but
everywhere he is in
chains

23. Routinized work
produces efficient and
predictable outcomes

24. What happens
when things
become
unpredictable?

26. How likely is it that
people will not panic in
such circumstances?

27. STORY # 2

28. PILOTS

29. 1983AC143
The Gimli Glider

33. 2009US1549

35. How did this happen?

37. Why didn’t Sully panic?

38. “The training provides pilots with important
technical skills -- they can practice flying
crippled planes -- but it also teaches them
something more important: how to draw on
an optimal blend of reason and emotion.
They learn how to ignore their fear when
fear isn't useful and how to make quick,
complicated decisions in the most fraught
situations.”

39. “Flight crews don't
panic because they've
practiced staying
calm.”

42. Conscious,Yet
Unconscious

43. 4 stages of
competence

44. Unconscious Incompetence
Conscious Incompetence
Conscious Competence
Unconscious Competence

45. SKILLS

46. What lies beyond
Unconscious
Competence?

47. MASTERY

48. How do you
master
strategy?

49. “ The Master leads by emptying
people's minds and filling their
cores, by weakening their
ambition and toughening their
resolve. He helps people lose
everything they know, everything
they desire, and creates
confusion in those who think that
they know.”
Lao Tzu

50. DEVOTION

51. I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity
Who uses a machete to cut through red tape
With fingernails that shine like justice
And a voice that is dark like tinted glass
She is fast, thorough, and sharp as a tack
She’s touring the facility and picking up slack

53. Tennis drills are
repetitive and
relentless. They teach
the body to think, so
the mind can do
strategy.

55. Tai Chi combines
discreet movements
and a flowing
sequence that
shapes the tranquil
mind.

57. There is nothing
secret about yoga.
The poses are well
established across
many styles. But it is
a bottomless
practice

59. These practices are
cognitive models
for developing a
prepared mind

60. FORMULA

61. flow+
repertoire
=insight

62. KEY # 2

63. Innovation favors
the prepared mind

64. Where do you do
your best thinking?

66. “How come I am
most creative when I
am listening to angry
music”?

68. What do warm
showers & Black
Flag have in
common

69. They help
us let go

70. What can you
learn from letting
go?

71. You can learn
how to know
what’s next

72. Context

73. STORY # 3

74. PARKOUR

76. The idea was to pick
what was best from
every martial art ad
create a brand new
one...which is free.

82. Parkour trains
the body to know
what’s next

83. INNOVATION

85. Ceci n’est pas un
innovation

87. Ceci n’est pas un
innovation

89. Ceci n’est pas un
innovateur

90. WHAT IS
INNOVATION?

91. Innovation is the
design of future value

92. Larry says we can
develop a science of
innovation

93. Saul says we need a
platform for
experimentation

94. Guy says, innovation is
about getting better
reality

95. How do we design
better realities?

96. HYPOTHESIS

97. Devotion can
make you free

98. NNOVATIONPARKOUR

99. A DISCIPLINE
FOR INNOVATION
MASTERY

100. UNFINISHED
BUSINESS
IS OPEN

101. A MANHATTAN
PROJECT
FOR BUSINESS

102. THE
UNFINISHED
KERNEL

103. AN OPEN
ARCHITECTURE
FOR
CAPABILITY

104. VISUALIZATION

105. TRANSPARENT &
RIDICULOUSLY EASY
TO SHARE

106. Teaching without
words, performing
without actions: that is
the Master’s way

107. PRACTICE
SEEING

108. COLLABORATION

109. Networked
Social
Production

110. If you do not trust the
people, you make
them untrustworthy

111. PRACTICE
TRUST

112. PARTICIPATION

113. Markets are
conversations

114. True mastery can be
gained only by letting
things go their own
way

115. PRACTICE
OPENNESS

116. INNOVATION

117. Innovation is
designing for
emergence.

118. The world is formed from the void,
like utensils from a block of wood.
The Master knows the utensils,
yet keeps to the block:
thus she can use all things.

119. PRACTICE
FREEDOM

120. STRATEGY:
DESIGN OF VALUE

121. The +
Future is
Unfinished

122. michael@torchpartnership.com
matthew@normativedesign.com