I took this picture of the men's room in a Persian restaurant. I find that amusing that they optimize every inch of space with ads. I have not seen a public washroom like this, I was told they serve different ads everyday. Funny.
I can name dozens of organizations or non-profit agencies which I have no idea what they do and what are their missions. Here's one that has a clear mission. The Bureau of Workplace Interruptions is a time-stealing agency who work with employees to interrupt the flow of their workday. Yes, from interruption to innovation, you wonder what's the connection. The purpose is to invigorate some of the time people spend at work in order to create new experiences and possibilities outside the flow of capital.
Let's say if you're an employee who needs a break from the your boring routines you can apply for an interruption at the bureau's website. Go fill out a form and subsequently, they will do their best to find the right interruption for you. When planning the event, they'll take your occupation, work hours, and the means by which they can contact you into consideration. The interruption can take place via mail, email, telephone or, if you're lucky, a workplace visit by real people that you don't know.
If you worry that your boss finds out, the Bureau of Workplace Interruptions will strive to keep their actions invisible to your employer. They have a strict privacy policy and the service is free.
If you think this service is cool, how about this one?
If you have recently failed a project, here; an interesting idea. You can now consider joining the Failure Support Group. You will get five minutes to present your failure (no power point needed) to present your failure. Any innovative and artistic projects fail a lot, particularly those that are participatory, public and/or social. They fail for different reasons and cause myriad revelations. Nevertheless, the structures that we use to talk about these works and contexts where they are presented often don’t leave room for discussing the failures plainly and objectively.
The Failure Support Group is an evening survey of failed processes and failed projects They explore questions such as 1/ Is there, actually, a recipe for failure? 2/ Are certain methodologies more prone to failure than others? 3/ How? What is at stake in acknowledging failure – in one’s process, one’s community, or one’s career?
Most people associate failure with defeat, but it shouldn't. How do you view failure? Do you see it as something negative that you don't want to be associated with or do you see it as something positive? Most people in the world don't like failure. And the fear of failure is the main reason why more than 80% of people in the world are not prepared to change their circumstances. Why do people fear failure so much? The reason for this is because people don't understand the dynamics involved in success and failure. VCs are the people who understand failures and part of their job is to manage them.
Everything we do in life has either a right way of doing it and a wrong way of doing it. When we do it the right way we meet with success. Needless to say that when we do it the wrong way we are unsuccessful. Understanding this is important because it puts failure in its proper perspective and removes the fear around it. When someone who doesn't understand this dynamic meets with temporary failure he gives up thinking that he or she is not good enough or that he or she will never make it. But is this really what it is? The fear of failing is worst than the failure itself.
Does the fact that you didn't make it the first time mean that you are not good enough? Does it mean that you'll never make it? Not at all! All it means is You did not have all the right elements yet. As the late Mr. Leo Burnett once said "When you reach for the stars, you won't find yourself getting a handful of mud." In this case, you will get a Certificate of Failure.
The Failure Support Group holds their meetings at the Democracy Center just off Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA) See you there soon.
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