Social media is any networked information technology, tool or platform that derives its content and principal value from user engagement and permits those users to interact with that content. But last time I checked (in), the content stream being produced through my media stream was becoming a lot less social (Web 2.0) and more of […]
Too Much Social Media, Not Enough Social Message
by Cameron D. Norman • July 30th, 2012
How Serious Are We About Learning?
by Cameron D. Norman • July 26th, 2012
When journalist and book author Daniel Pink tweeted the above image the other day it provoked thinking about what real learning means and what it takes to achieve it. We produce enormous amounts of knowledge, yet struggle to put it into use, but we also teach much and learn little because the systems we’ve designed […]
The Complex Consequences of Simple and Easy
by Cameron D. Norman • July 9th, 2012
For any marketing of complexity to work, the risk in creating a false guru is high, but so too is the risk of installing overly simplistic filters. In both cases we need to address complexity with a complex response and doing so with one that doesn’t exacerbate the problem by adding too much extraneous information to our media ecology, getting us back into trouble elsewhere. 
Wet and Dry Design for Social Innovation
by Cameron D. Norman • May 28th, 2012
Create systems that are too bounded (dry) and we risk sucking the moisture from the human elements (the wet) that make real social innovation happen. Our challenge is finding the right balance between the controlled, stable environments that these new technologies afford and the self-organized, emergent and innovative environments needed to implement and scale our initiatives more effectively. 
Advice for a Scholar Seeking a Life in Academia
by Cameron D. Norman • December 18th, 2011
The need to train professionals, educate citizens and advance knowledge of our world has never been less, yet the academic environment where this takes place is changing at a pace where its easy to question what one is to do to contribute to its mission. In this continuing series on life in academia, I offer […]
The Alien Shores of Academia: Requiem for A Dream
by Cameron D. Norman • December 15th, 2011
Aside from the church, the university remains among the oldest continuous institutions in our society. Like the church, universities are facing challenges from massive changes in the way society views knowledge, authority and the role of the credentialed leader. This post begins a series of personal reflections looking back on a career in academia and […]
Design Thinking and the Metaphors of Science
by Cameron D. Norman • August 28th, 2011
Metaphors for design thinking provide us with a means of taking the messiness of the language, something discussed in previous posts, to a new place until we can find the language that is most appropriate. Until that time, science might offer one of the better means of conveying design, complexity and the creativity that comes when we apply them both to generating products and services.
The Complexity Challenge
by Cameron D. Norman • June 30th, 2011
Addressing the challenge of complexity is, ironically or perhaps appropriately, complex. But the challenge of dealing with the negative outcomes resulting from overly simple approaches to dealing with complexity will ultimately be far more so. 
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