In Abundance: How We Fell Behind and How to Build a Better Future, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson claim the US is not suffering from a lack of resources or imagination but from a crisis of complexity. After decades of promoting solutions for housing, local food systems, and clean energy, we sense truth in their…

In The Culture Code, author Daniel Coyle identifies two categories of skills workers possess – Skills of Proficiency and Skills of Creativity. He describes how these two skill sets help people solve different types of problems for organizations. If you are like me, you freely shift between these skill sets during a typical workday. Yet…

If you’re planning a nice dinner, would you ever go to the grocery store, buy appetizer ingredients, prepare the appetizer, clean up the kitchen, and then repeat the same dedicated steps for the main course and then the dessert? Probably not, since that process would involve three separate “mobilizations” and take much longer. No one…

You know the scenario. A young child is more captivated by a discarded box than the gift once inside, thoughtfully purchased by a now disappointed adult. Oblivious to intent, the curious child sees more open-ended possibilities in the box.  Playing, at this age, is learning. As we understand more about how children learn, research suggests…

Much of the average city’s infrastructure, including its transportation and information systems, is outdated, designed for “9–5” office workers or those in manufacturing and service industries. It is not suited to the needs of 21st-century higher education. College students’ schedules do not adhere to a typical workday. Students require breakout spaces and other gathering places…

There are many ways architecture can adapt to its environment: automation systems learn an occupant’s habits, moveable walls turn office spaces into event venues, and shades and solar arrays move to track the sun. But adaptability isn’t always—or ever, really—about technology. It is primarily about improving the occupant’s experience and purpose, which, though we may…

We like to say that an environment – for any building type – is not an innocent bystander.  The environment will either support your mission or frustrate it.  It won’t be neutral.  When applied to Blended Learning, the stakes are higher than normal because of the disproportionate scrutiny and demand for early results by those invested…