Lulan Artisans Launches Textile Design Competition

Sustainable textiles innovator Lulan™ Artisans is announcing its first-ever 11˚/17˚ Textile Competition on May 18 during the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). Eve Blossom, Founder and CEO of Lulan, will announce it during her presentation at the Metropolis Magazine conference at ICFF entitled, "Design Entrepreneurs: Innovate" on Monday, May 18 between 3:00 and 4:00. The competition will run from June 1 to October 15, 2009 and it is open to anyone 18 years or older. The winning designs will become part of the 2010 Lulan collection and a cash prize of $1,500 will be awarded to each of the winners. Winners will be credited for the designs and promoted online at Lulan.com. Sponsors include Pentagram and Creative Commons, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Charleston, S.C., Lulan produces high-quality, hand-woven, hand-dyed natural textiles in a unique collaboration between U.S. designers and groups of gifted artisans in Southeast Asia. ("11˚/17˚" is the approximate latitude and longitude of Vietnam where Blossom was first inspired to start the business). Their work elegantly merges original contemporary designs with centuries-old Asian weaving traditions and is sold by the yard or as home and fashion accessories through designer showrooms, specialty retailers and now online at Lulan's e-commerce Web site. Lulan is also a front runner as an international for-profit social venture, emphasizing artistry and exquisite design while enhancing the economic development and sustainable livelihoods of its 650 weavers, dyers, spinners and finishers in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and India.

"Over the years, thousands of textile designers inspired by Lulan's commitment to craft and design have inquired as to how to get involved with us," said Blossom. "This competition allows us to celebrate craftsmanship, promote talent and provide opportunities for textile artists who are perhaps as yet undiscovered. In addition to the competition, designers will have the option of participating in our "No Design Gets Left Behind" Creative Commons initiative where any design they submit, with their permission, will be made available for artisans around the world to use, forging global connections."

Entries will be in linen and cotton and highlight the weavers' skills by focusing on the "woven by hand" aspect of production while still incorporating the contemporary modern aesthetic so as to complement the existing Lulan 11˚/17˚ offering.

The distinguished panel of judges includes renowned designers Ted Boerner, Agnes Bourne, Laura Guido-Clark, who collaborated on Lulan's first two collections, Laura Kirar, Mary Jo Miller, Diane Paparo, Mark Pollack and Cameron Sinclair as well as Susan Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis and a noted design authority.

For more about the competition, visit www.lulan.com.

I'm nearly speechless after reading the LA Times article, Apple without Steve Jobs at the helm? Some investors think it's time.

In it, two different investment advisors, Michael Obuchowski, the chief investment
officer for First Empire Asset Management Inc., and Richard Klugman, director of consumer technology for Majestic Research, don't seem to understand much about innovation. They claim that since Apple has done just fine for the past 6 months without Steve at the helm, there's really no reason why he should return. Or, if he does, he should be an innovation advisor to the firm.

It's difficult to know where to start in describing how misguided and ill-informed this advice is. To start with, Steve has been involved with the company throughout this period. He's been on campus occasionally and in contact with all of the senior managers at the company. So, Apple isn't thriving without him at all, though it is in the very capable hands of the company while he doesn't focus on the minutia of day-to-day operations.

Second, the products Apple creates takes a lot longer than six months to conceive, develop, test, and deploy. To think that those launched were within the last six months without Steve's involvement is simply ignorant. Most have been in development for over a year and longer. The vast bulk of their innovative development are based on platforms and systems developed long before Steve took a leave of absence.

Furthermore, while some people still think that retirement means a life of leisure, golf, and cruises, for creative people like entrepreneurs, that is probably the quickest way to death. For sure, Steve Jobs needs to focus on his health but innovation work isn't "work" to entrepreneurs--it's the reason they get up in the morning. It's what keeps their minds sharp and off any problems in their lives. I would bet that if Steve Jobs stopped coming into Apple regularly, his health would actually deteriorate--either that or he'd be quickly focused on NeXT 2.0.

Innovation isn't a process to be managed like other business processes. It's not turned-on and off like staffing a factory or call center. Innovation is a way of approaching the world and there are no boundaries to say when you've innovated enough or not. Apple's approach to innovation is also fairly unique. To think that someone could innovate successfully "behind the scenes" as "the person who drives everyone else insane" is exactly why US businesses are in such desperate shape today and find it so difficult to innovate. If innovation isn't supported and understood from the very top of the company it can only be successful by accident. Plus, innovation isn't the "wacky" process most managers and finance-types think it is. It's methodical and relentless and exhilarating and it needs to pervade an organization.

So many companies around the world are trying to develop the "iPod" of their industry in order to duplicate the success Apple has had and they're failing because they think it's something that can be done by anyone who's seen the Nightline video on IDEO and contained and controlled by more "rational" types for calculate ROI and IRR from the safety of their desks. It can't. The only way companies are successful with this approach is when they buy other companies who have innovated with a completely different perspective.

That some investors think that they're investments in Apple are going to continue to grow by handing the reins over to capable managers but in the absence of a visionary innovator with the authority to drive his vision at all levels of the company's operations contradicts exactly how Apple has achieved that growth over the last 10 years. Someday, Apple will have to live without Steve Jobs and, then, it will need to carefully navigate the urges and advice to "settle down" and run itself like everyone else. Until then, if I had investments in First Empire or anyone else who thinks that Apple would be better off right now without Steve Jobs (I don't), I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable keeping my money with them.

Sitting through the second day of the DMI Re:Thinking Design conference this past week, it occurred to me that for all of the talk on innovation, the companies most often held-up as the shining examples are nearly impossible for others to follow. While that's a great competitive differentiator for these few companies, it doesn't give others much to gone on when they finally decide they need to jump or perish.

Companies like Apple and Nike are aberrations. For different reasons, their innovation thrives because of unique cultures. Apple has Steve Job's relentlessly demanding vision. Without someone like Steve, lessor companies can't follow this example (it's known as Genius Design and it's incredibly risky). Nike's culture is incredibly focused and their strength is in messaging throughout the entire company--every employee, partner, and (probably) customers--what they stand for, where they're going, and what is "Nike"--and not. That's a little easier to follow for other companies but not much--and it's not terribly reliable over the long term without incredible amounts of internal work.

So what are the innovation models other companies can follow, then? What's GM to do if they can't find another innovation-prodigy to take over the leadership of the company?

There are several different innovation cultures common in organization. From the book, Making Meaning (I co-authored this), this include:
• Structured innovators (about 18% of all companies)
• Creative Innovators (nearly 26%)
• Dynamic Innovators (the majority at 39%)
• Ad Hoc Innovators (10%)
• Innovative Outsourcers (8%)

Only the Creative Innovators led the process from the top. That leaves over two-thirds of the rest to innovate accidentally, or with little collaboration. The outsources, for the most part, give up altogether and just look for innovations to buy-up from others.

There are, however, models evolving that other companies can look to. Google's internal crowd-sourcing is an interesting development to explore. Proctor & Gamble's structural partnerships is another (though, technically, this too was led from the top). Anyone who is lucky enough to see into Intuit (yes, Intuit) will see an amazing model of innovation growing within the company, though it isn't yet so apparent in the products and services visible to the outside. Undoubtedly, there are more models to watch but these aren't easy to teach since the cases for these haven't yet been written (and the current ones available leave a lot to be desired in understanding innovation culture and models).

That doesn't mean that GM is completely out of luck if it desires to innovate. However, it means that it will likely have to innovate its entire culture along the way and, very likely, have to invent its own model to do so, something I doubt is on the restructuring To Do list.

One of our, now, second-year students is speaking at IDEO this Thursday. Ingrid Dragotta is a member of our pioneering cohort.

Know How Talks at IDEO
Thursday, 6/25/09 5:00 pm
IDEO Cafe*
Free and open to the public

Nick and Ingrid Dragotta (hosted by Brendan Boyle)

Nick is the artist and co-creator of Howtoons, the educational comic book and website for kids, inspiring them to build things from everyday household goods. In 2006 Howtoons was included in the Cooper-Hewitt's National Design Triennial, recognized for it's inventive way of integrating instructions into storytelling. Nick is also a freelance comic book artist, having done work for Marvel Comics, Vertigo, and the Cartoon Network.

Ingrid is the lead designer of the Howtoons projects. Having gotten her start at New Balance as a kids shoe designer and then joining Hasbro creating toys, she plays an integral role in connecting to users, be it thru comics, outreach, or the next avenue of expression.

Here's our PROGRAM for Thursday (see attached poster):
5:00 - A thought starter from Brendan Boyle, a Partner at IDEO who focuses on entrepreneurship and toy invention.
5:15 - The Possibilities are Endless - Join the Howtoons creative team of Nick and Ingrid as they explain their process and thoughts on designing informative comics for kids. Members of the audience will be invited to break up into teams and create their own Howtoons.
5:55 - Shareback - Nick and Ingrid will moderate, as members of the audience share the Howtoons that they have created.

*The Know How Talks are usually held on Thursdays at 5:00,
in IDEO's Palo Alto cafe next to our lobby at 100 Forest.
Enter from the alley between Alma St and High St.

The talks are open to the public. No need to RSVP.

To join the announcement list, please add yourself to the IDEO Know How Talks group:
http://groups.google.com/group/IdeoKnowHowTalks