Wentworth Institute & Creative Conflict

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking to a class at Wentworth Institute of Technology.  Mark Pasnik, one of the teachers, invited me to talk with a group of 60 architectural students about Seven Cycles.  The group is working on a project called, “Tectonic Implementation:  A Bicycle Production Center”.  Their directive is essentially to:

“…design an innovative center for the production of bicycles…focus on conceptual ideas and design methods… client culture… implications of a site and its context…”

A great project on which to work, no doubt.  Mark asked me to share some of the experiences, successes, and challenges Seven Cycles has had.  In particular, he asked that my primary focus to be on Seven’s:

• Culture
  
• Design
  
• Manufacturing
  

That’s a big set of topics.  Mark suggested that I spend 10 to 15-minutes on these topics and then another 15-minutes or so answering questions.  I got through my slide show in about 15 minutes; then we ended up spending about 45-minutes discussing all kinds of topics—from “creative conflict” to “line-of-sight culture”.  I’ll explain those topics, and others, in another post.

In order to hold the three topics together in such a cursory presentation, I realized that the subtext for the conversation was:

Opposing Forces & Creative Conflict

At Seven there is a strong dynamic tension between manufacturing, culture, and the design process.  We’ve been able to bring these three elements together in ways that are, I think, unusual and seem to produce good results.  One of the many examples I discussed is the natural conflict between classic manufacturing and bike culture.  This is a big topic so I’ll touch on it briefly today.

Technology & Art Juxtaposed with Mayhem & Counterculture

I used this slide to explain:

Technology & Art:  On the left is a bike we recently built for the Aldrich Museum.  This bike, in part, represents artistry—hence one of reasons it’s on display in an art museum.  It also represents some of the most contemporary technology in bicycles.

Mayhem & Counterculture:  On the right is a photo from an event at Seven Cycles; I can’t remember which event—I think it was the “Chin on the Rim” Race.  That second photo represents mayhem.

So, these two juxtaposed images are an example of creative conflict and opposing forces:  on the one hand a well respected art museum deemed Seven’s work to be art and cutting edge technology.  On the other hand, the culture within Seven does not necessarily appear to mirror technological precision and order.  Regardless, this conflict exists in a very innate way.  And, holding them both at the same time is very challenging. 

I’m sure some people at Seven will read this and think, “whatever”--often pronounced, "wateva".  And that’s an understandable response; when you live in it the culture is difficult to see--"trees blocking the view of the forest" and all that.  At the same time, I know a number of outsiders--consultants, business people, and industry folks--that have been stymied by the culture at Seven and how we make it work.  I’ve lost count of the number of times an outsider has initially recommended a “GE-like” management style and by the end of the tour or conversation realized those frameworks would be disastrous here.  Yes, I’m aware that the previous statement is a gross oversimplification. 

These opposing forces are not always perfect—you have to break systems to make them better—and it doesn’t always work the way we expect, but that’s all part of the Creative Conflict. 

Oops, I’m out of time—I have to go cause some mayhem.  I’ll explain more later.