Sometimes all you want is a cuppa. Cups of tea are the English (and Welsh) way of dealing with problems, breaking down social barriers, opening up chit chats with strangers, and waking up in the morning. And boy, was the tea good at Do! We had all different flavours of Teapigs, my favourite was the Rooibos with Creme Caramel (though I have to say I passed on the tea with chocolate for now).
After my first cuppa of the morning, we sat down to listen to Uffe Elbæk, who's the founder and former principal of the KaosPilots, International School of New Business Design & Social Innovation. Isn't that the coolest name ever? I've known about these guys for a while, and think they do great stuff. This is what education SHOULD look like! I was very excited to finally be able to hear Uffe speak and he didn't disappoint. He talked about two related topics 'Can we hear the future?' and 'how can we say yes to opportunities and really say yes to them'.
On the future: how well are we prepared to hear the weak signs in our society that show what the future will be like? How well are we (as humans) organised to do this? What's the tipping point of those weak signs?
Uffe went on to talk about how he became the Principal of Kaospilots, a beautiful story about how powerful it is to feel that fire in your belly, that feeling that you know you're doing the right thing, and that it's going to be one hell of a ride, but you wouldn't miss it for the world.
In the Q&A he explained how one time the consulting team attached to the Kaospilots had their client (all in suits) come in and explain the problem to a group of 5 year olds. Now there's an idea. All people thinking about handing their problem to a consultant should do this before they hand it to the 'experts'.
Also, he said to find playful ways to solve problems. Don't make everything so serious. And I totally agree. There aren't many things which are so much fun than having fun.
Every speaker was asked about their Big Do and Little Do. Big Do's are the things that will need to be done to make the world a better place, little do's are the small things we can all do day to day. I love Uffe's small do: 'start to dance with your partner'. Excellent advice. In fact, I'll go ahead and do that right now. I hope you are too.
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