Crafting the Ultimate Experience (AKA "The Linkery Method")

I must say I have been thoroughly empty of writing ideas over the last week or so. Apparently much has been percolating, but alas, nothing is coming out… nope, there’s no visible “deliverable” happening this week. Apparently being in “mid-stream” of a process of insight and realization can result in nothing tangible created on the surface. That said, quite often there is MUCH happening down below! 

While on recent journeys, I had the unique opportunity to experience some local life from a new point of view. I love feeling like a true “local” when I travel, as opposed to feeling like a tourist. It seems to be something I enjoy passionately. I also LOVE it when people come up to me on the trails in the desert, or even in Europe (speaking in foreign languages)… I guess it’s sometimes fun to just shrug or shoulders and stay stuck in my English tongue.

My trip to the southwest started and ended in San Diego. And on both ends of the trip, I went to a place called “The Linkery,” a fabulous restaurant for farm-to-table, somewhat untraditional cuisine, paired with some amazing brew and vino opportunities to boot! Everything was about supporting local farmers, growers, brewers and vineyards.

On one of the brick walls were 5 words, all alone on a banner along the far side of the restaurant. The words simply read:

"Gather"

"Grow"

"Cook"

"Craft"

"Savor"

See the words on the wall... in the upper left? And that's Chelsea behind the bar!

I couldn’t help but think about these words, and apply them to a wider context than perhaps they were initially intended. Effective design solutions need some kind of methodology. Formal or informal, they give us more precise amounts of considering all aspects of the problem at hand. 

Whether it’s developing training with “ADDIE,” using “ISD” (Instructional System Design) approaches, or grasping for the work of Alex Osborn (the “Father of Creativity”) and his description of the steps of brainstorming in the creative process, you have to have a strategy or method to achieve your goals. Even if you stray from using the same exact approach or exact steps every time, it keeps you on track, and develops a much more sustainable, comprehensive, thoughtful solution for you and your stakeholders.

Wow... now THERE are some fabulous beer choices!

So back to the "Linkery Method," as it will now be called.

Here goes:

Gather: Explore the landscape of ideas, and learn everything you can about your client and their competitors.

Grow: Cultivate the unique qualities of each idea.

Cook: Harmonize their combinations.

Craft: Bring them into resonance as a true and unique solution: one that addresses, and/or exceeds the requirements and realities of the need, desire or strategy.

Savor: Relish the results in the here and now, remember the results, be present to their full fruition (if possible), and look forward to their presence in future strategy and solution way-finding. Savor this time of the success, examine what worked well, what you can improve, and imagine future possibilities to build on.

Just remember… there’s no single process that works every time. Many work most of the time, but none work for everything ALL of the time. The main message here: have some processes (you’ll slowly see which ones work for which situations), but be prepared to mix it up… and try things, have fun with it and make creativity enjoyable!

Ok, I’ll try to not take so long to write next time. I have written two other posts, (yet to be published) just coming up with this one… GHEESH!

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