Why not? Part II

September 22nd, 2010 • dee studio (486j)

I’ve been going over the video from my previous post in my head with respect to a particular problem I have been facing since I moved on campus this summer.

The Problem

Residents of Acadia Park (student family housing, where I live with my wife and our son) are constantly taking their garbage and leaving it outside in common (usually green) spaces. People leave everything from large pieces of furniture (including mattresses, refrigerators, and sofas) to smaller items like old pots, cans of paint, and electronic equipment. A popular dumping ground for the residents who live in my “cluster” is a space under 3 tall pine trees. This is a central area, and is in plain view of every home in the cluster. Every few days or so, the UBC Plant Operations people come by and haul out the old junk, and the cycle continues.

Aside from it being terribly depressing to have your neighbourhood also function as a garbage dump part time, this practice is extremely unsafe for the young children who live here. Old mattresses propped up against trees and tall shelves sitting on uneven ground are two examples of hazards which appear quite frequently. Further, the garbage attracts pests and can serve to worsen the bed bug problem at UBC, should anyone take furniture that was left outside.

WWTD? (What Would Trump Do?)

Trump might pay someone to remove the furniture and dispose of it entirely. This is not practical for student families as most do not have the resources to call a junk removal company to remove their things. Especially since UBC Plant Operations is willing to remove the junk for free every few days.

Perhaps if we organized a specific day each month where residents of Acadia Park could bring their old furniture and things to a specific location to be picked up by Plant Operations that very same day, we could reduce the amount of casual dumping which occurs. UBC may also save money by reducing the amount of time spent by employees driving around Acadia Park picking up trash. Acadia Park would be a cleaner, safer place to live.

Why not?

By no means a rhetorical question.

Why not?

September 20th, 2010 • dee studio (486j)

This is quite an interesting lecture from Barry Nalebuff of the Yale School of Management. In his talk he discusses a number of different ways to look at problems in order to find innovative solutions – a sort of design approach. If you do not have time to watch the video, I highly suggest listening to the audio version (iTunes link). There is also an accompanying site which serves as an idea exchange for creative solutions to problems.

Introduction

September 15th, 2010 • dee studio (486j)

Why I took this course

What I want most out of my degree is a strong ability to solve complex business problems. I hope by being a part of the D-Studio I will learn how to develop better, more innovative solutions to the same types of “wicked” problems  I will encounter later on in my career.

I like that this course is instructed in a hands-on and collaborative environment, because that is precisely the dynamic in which most projects  are completed. As Ron said, not once has he worked on a project by himself. I believe the D-Studio will nicely compliment the more analytics-centered decision making which the bulk of our degree focuses on.

Background in design-thinking

I have always been interested in design: from graphic design, to architecture, to industrial design, to the design of environmental and public spaces.  Over the past couple of years I have taken an interest in the design approach to business and have been following a number of sources I would categorize as using design-thinking. I would suggest following Seth Godin for anyone interested in marketing and entrepreneurship, and Tina Seelig who is the Executive Director of Stanford’s STVP and is a part of the d.school which we have mentioned in class.