creativity – ɔimoɈɒ

Forcing Serendipity: not the oxymoron you might imagine

13 years ago, while the economy was in the grips of the inexorable slide into recession, I wrote a short article about them need for entrepreneurship in the face of adversity. In this current world, restricted by pandemic conditions, this is probably needed more than ever.

Here’s a sub quote by John F Kennedy (the journalist, not the President):

Enterprise and entrepreneurship are the antidote for unemployment and recession. Encourage people to use computers and broadband to beat the recession, they can work for anyone from anywhere. They can create businesses based on anything from selling stuff on eBay to using their intelligence to write, provide consultancy services or develop technology. This is the way out. Failure to provide them with the tools is economic sabotage. Let’s hope intelligence prevails.

In a Covid-restricted world, none of this is surprising. We have had the technology, if not the means to provide everything that’s been asked for and with business leaders claiming that productivity is up when workers are working from home, this could be a rare opportunity.

But it’s not all roses.

One of the things I’ve noticed from working and studying from home exclusively for nearly a year is that there is a noticeable decimation of serendipity. Those moments which can be inspirational are not happening. The water cooler moments. The flashes of inspiration when two workers collide. We can do our best to emulate these however through direct intervention, even when the only facetime we get is over a videoconferencing call.

My solution when working with startups and larger companies is that serendipity can be forced. This isn’t like trying to force creativity – and yes – I’ve been in the room when a senior manager has walked in and demanded everyone be creative for the next two hours, as they’ve just brought in the sandwiches. You can’t force creativity (it’s a muscle, just like every other muscle, you need to exercise it regularly), but we can force….or engineer serendipity.

We can provide the grist for the mill of creativity by making sure everyone has the opportunity to mix up with everyone. That includes reducing the enforcement of unreasonable company policies about being “online all the time or forcing everyone to turn their cameras on for the company Zoom meeting. It is absolutely about engaging people when they’re in their comfort zone to speak and helping realise that their discomforts are the engine of change.

Innovation Island?

From Slugger O’Toole It seems we in Northern Ireland aren’t doing so well when it comes to innovation, at least according to InterTrade Ireland. Simon Hamilton tweeted this announcement from one of his fellow ministers yesterday: “Arlene Foster reveals only 1 of 18 nominations in InterTradeIreland awards from NI & this is a trend. Does … Continue reading “Innovation Island?”

From Slugger O’Toole

It seems we in Northern Ireland aren’t doing so well when it comes to innovation, at least according to InterTrade Ireland. Simon Hamilton tweeted this announcement from one of his fellow ministers yesterday:

“Arlene Foster reveals only 1 of 18 nominations in InterTradeIreland awards from NI & this is a trend. Does ROI have monopoly on innovation?”

I do wonder what “innovation” has to do being represented in an awards show. Does a panel from IntertradeIreland actively search for innovation and inspiration or is this yet another nomination exercise? Someone, maybe even the MD of the business, fills in a form, tells a story and enters a dog’n’pony show?

And shame on our ministers for making a big deal of it. Obviously we’d all love to win an award, parade around with a few suits, have my picture taken (obviously proffering an iPad or laptop towards the camera) and get our pictures into a local advertising aggregator web site. That would be a real measure of innovation in our region.

According to the Technology Strategy Board, Northern Ireland companies do not respond to their competitions as much as they should (based on population). NESTA say that Northern Ireland has a poor rate of response to their programmes. Channel 4 “4IP” told me that they got very few applications from Northern Ireland, much lower than expected. Is it just that we don’t play well with others?

Looking south of the border, they have their own sovereign nation which is an advantage as they have their own controls over corporation tax and other economic drivers. While they were holding out their hands to Europe for a national bailout, they were spending like mad to encourage enterprise. They realised that you have to invest your way out of a recession. We initiate a game development pilot, they copy it but boost the numbers by 10. We have been arguing for a publicly supported incubator, they have about ten of them. We’re playing catchup, yes, but it’s not the private sector who needs to wake up and smell the coffee.

All my life has been in a divided nation. As a vaguely union-supporting post-graduate professional from a middle class catholic background, I have very little national identity of any form and quite literally I am not involved in the politics of the region; I have not voted in years. I feel no loyalty to our political parties because I don’t feel like any of them have any loyalty to me.

Northern Ireland is the most isolated region in the British Isles. We’re the only region of the UK which shares a land border with another sovereign nation; a nation which uses a different currency, offers extremely competitive corporation tax rates and didn’t really suffer thirty years of civil war. We’re separated from the rest of the UK by one of the most expensive stretches of water in the world and due to decades of mismanagement, our pointless little country can only survive in handouts from the UK government. When the block grant goes (and it will), we will have to deal with some very hard questions. Either that or revitalise our previously successful crime and terrorism industry.

It aggravates me when Invest Northern Ireland hands back £50m of their budget to the DFP and blames the private sector for not investing. It makes me ask questions about their ability to forecast when a third of their budget goes unspent. It makes me wonder if they are even aware of recession economics – most businesses I talk to are unable to spend days filling out forms for grants because they are paying the bills and when they’re not working their butts off to pay the bills, they’re trying to build the next big thing on their own time; time, according to Invest Northern Ireland, is worthless.

I have started three businesses in Northern Ireland and I am currently working on starting my fourth. I have never taken a single penny of grant aid from Invest Northern Ireland. The job I’m currently doing means I am supping from the public teat and it can be argued whether or not I would be better off doing my own thing or continuing in this line. I feel that I signed up to a duty of care for the digital sector in Northern Ireland when I took this job and right now I wonder whether I’ve taken on too much responsibility and whether I care too much about the outcomes. Being part of the process of helping our startups has somewhat overtaken my life.

So, in short, no, obviously, the ROI does not have a monopoly on innovation. And yes, our programmes in place are not adequately supporting our startups. And no, it’s not the startups fault.

The Creative Industries Innovation Fund

I attended the Creative Industries Innovation Fund breakfast briefing with Kate Keys (Sectoral Business Development Manager at the Arts Council) this morning at The Presidents Club in Belfast. It was hosted by The Creative Entrepreneurs Club, a networking group funded by Belfast City Council. The CIIF provides access to funding for many who would not … Continue reading “The Creative Industries Innovation Fund”

The CIIF provides access to funding for many who would not normally be able to access funding. For one thing, it covers:

services
content
events
originals

– a lot of which cannot be covered by InvestNI’s funding charter due to the type of work (content, services, events) or the expectations (forecasting of Â£100K revenues). The CIIF is therefore an important part of the framework – and for this reason, existing INI clients may not be eligible. This has to be taken with a pinch of reason – someone who attended the Start A Business programme 7 years ago is an INI client but would not be restricted from applying for this grant but someone who is in receipt of an InvestNI grant in the last three years may not be eligible – in all cases, talking to your client executive is important (and even dragging him or her to the discussion with the Arts Council might be useful).

The subject of ‘not being eligible’ drew some fire from the crowd but there are very good reasons for it.

This fund is for people and companies who cannot normally avail of InvestNI funding for whatever reason. InvestNI cannot normally invest in content creation or fund the running of an event highlighting creative work – this attempts to cover that.
EC Regulations regulate the amount of support that a company can receive in three fiscal years to â‚¬200 000. There’s a detailed page at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which explains this fully.
There’s degrees of interpretation here. Again, if you received the Â£400 marketing grant as a startup, you may indeed be eligible. If your company is a new startup based around a “Collaborative Special Purpose Vehicle” then it may be fine even if some of the collaborators were previous recipients.

There are two calls remaining for CIIF applications. One started on the 5th January and ends on the 5th February. The last call starts on the 7th September and ends on the 8th October. Applications will take approximately 8 weeks to process and feedback will be given if your application is unsuccessful – the guidance was to speak to them first, apply in the first call and if unsuccessful, obtain the feedback ad re-apply for the second calls.

The judging panel for these applications will have input from the Arts Council, InvestNI, the Department of Employment and Learning, The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Industry and the Department of Culture, Arts and Learning.

The CIIF is a part of the funding ecosystem of the Northern Ireland marketplace. It fits around the funding available from InvestNI, NIScreen, the Arts Council and other funding bodies.

I found it incredibly encouraging to be in a room which had run out of seating, where I was sitting beside an award-winning clothes designer and someone from an award-winning design and branding company. There were a few familiar faces as well – all keen to find out how their next great project can be turned into a reality.

60% of the fund will be going to fund 143 individual projects over the next two-and-a-bit years to March 2011. The remaining 40% will be distributed to Sectoral Bodies ( councils, universities, sector leads ) to run projects which will help focus on the themes of innovation, creativity, collaboration and entrepreneurship. The Arts Council are urging individuals to apply early and apply often. The demand received for this fund will help indicate a further and/or extended funding requirement for the future.

Looking East Across the Irish Sea….

One of the opportunities for 38minutes and the whole ‘ning-based’ network is the shortening of these distances – isn’t that what the internet is all about (apparently it’s not just about porn and advertising). When I look at a map, I like to draw a line circle from where I am to around 75 miles… … Continue reading “Looking East Across the Irish Sea….”

When I look at a map, I like to draw a line circle from where I am to around 75 miles…

and I find myself wondering what is across the Irish Sea, what new counties and towns exist over here and is it simply the cost of the ferry which stops us working together more? I’m looking to look and learn, eastwards over towards Glasgow – what are my cousins over there doing?

Over the last twelve months I have been in Scotland twice – both times passing through – past the towns which, to me are simply legends of my heritage (apparently my family is from Annan) and having no real concept of the life and people who toil and live there. Even Glasgow, not much further from me than Dublin, is seemingly distant due to the tyranny of around 26 miles of sea.

So where should I ask? Here? What’s going on in Lochaber and Skye, in the Western Isles, Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway?

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