An HS Alumni Newsletter!
Events this weekend and next; a textbook; apology; seeking partnerships
I will only use this a few times a year. I don’t want to fill your inboxes with garbage. But since the HS Slack is mostly dead, I thought it prudent to let y’all know about a few things.
We have events this week, a new program, and I wrote a textbook.
We’re working on a community newsletter.
I sent an apology, which you might have missed.
We’re looking for help with partnerships and a social network.
New program & textbook
The new HS training is completely different, and based around a new textbook. Andy M made a lovely tweet thread about the new structure, and I’ve made youtube videos and gathered testimonials. The new program does more to extend your design imagination and to support your current projects.
Bring a friend
We now have trial events for people to test the waters with the new program. Bring a friend to one of our “gateway events”. There’s one this Sunday May 2, and next Sunday May 9, both at 9pm CET. (Click for the zoom registration links.)
Here’s the description:
Considering the School for Social Design, but unsure? See if it's right for you—come try exercises that are part of our "Quest 1". (Usually people find them fun and really insightful.) You can also meet interested social designers, people who've been through the program, and some people who run it.
About the exercises. In our design program, values are the criteria we judge our designs by. So we learn to see past others' goals and feelings, to their values and what's meaningful to them.
In one exercise, we guess each other's motivations in different contexts—when they're motivated by values, and when by other motives. In another, we focus on what we do to *set expectations* or to *fulfill expectations*. And who we'd be if we dropped those behaviors, and found the values underneath.
These exercises are personal, but they also help with design. First, they help you get clear about values you might want to design for. Second, they show how social systems often set up expectations and incentives that block values, and how to avoid this problem.
About the event. It's 90 minutes. Please come on time, and ensure that—if you like it—you can stay for the whole thing. There will be some personal sharing, but everything will be confidential, and you can decide how much to share.
Newsletter
Jakob Wolski, one of our guides in the new program, is gathering art and design work from the Human Systems diaspora. He sends this invitation:
We're making a community newsletter for Human Systems. There are so many brilliant and sweet people in our community, making so many things—games, processes, art, services, etc. Sadly, most remain unknown. Have something you'd like to share? Or are there past students you shared intimate zoom moments with, you’d like to hear from? Reach out to jakob.wolski@gmail.com to help kickstart. It is overdue, really.
Apology
I’ve put this a few places, but you might not have seen it.
The new program is much better, but I think I still have a karmic debt to pay. If you have an idea how to settle the score, send a note.
Help Us with Partnerships & Social Network
As we grow the new School for Social Design, a next step is to build partnerships at design schools, accelerators, universities, and other orgs, and to have a better team for marketing, sales, and business development.
I'm also building a social network about trying and rating social practices and apps. That project could use product and business leadership, and an advisory board.
And I have some papers I’d like coauthors for. Especially a philosopher who specializes in the theory of choice/theory of action.
Write me, or just schedule time on my calendar.
That’s all! 😅
Cheers,
Joe