livingbrands

Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation

Good talk from TED, highlighting the issues with 'if...then' rewards and their ability to undermine creativity and performance. Because, for all but the most mechanical tasks, in turns out that the bigger the incentive the worse the performance.

Instead, what really drives performance (and what businesses need to nurture) is a sense of autonomy, mastery and purpose (see Wikipedia vs. Incarta...if you remember it!)

 

The Big Society Revenue & Customs

Nice to see that Dave's Big Society can also be used for social protest (that's the whole point surely), as UK Uncut takes a pop at corporate tax avoiders (shame em!).

And nice to see students sheding the apathy (and champagne lifestyle) of the last decade or so and hitting the streets once more (about time)...

 

Get on the up cycle

I have ranted and raved many times about how our rampant materialism will be the death of us (rediscovered this one recently), and how brand owners and comms professionals need to be promoting a different model of consumption.

And one model which seems to be getting a lot of love at the moment is upcycling. Not a particularly new phenomenon (the term was first coined back in '94, and the act itself has been happening far longer at a micro level), upcycling bridges the gap between the last 2 steps in the reduce-reuse-recycle mantra.

When something can't literally be reused, upcycling is all about seeing new possibilities and repurposing with added value, whereas conventional recycling is all smash it up and start again (and as I suggested a couple of years ago, something of an environmental 'get out of jail free' card, which makes it OK to continue consuming in the first place).

Upcycling only really got on my radar earlier this yes when THTC, one of our clients, produced a limited edition line of 'remade' clothes in conjunction with upcycling specialist My Only One.

 

But then started coming across some other interesting stuff.

 First up, WiTHiNTENT, who scour the post-festival wasteland for rejected tents, that they then turn into waterproof coats and bags...

And I also really like what Do The Green Thing are up to, both with their Saved t-shirts (which adds a new badge of cool to unwanted Ts)...

 

 And their Glove Love (which finds a home for single gloves)...

Last up, of things I've come across recently, is Rejigged, who rustle up rather nifty kidswear out of old clothes...

 

 

So in a world of limited but limitless imagination, maybe it's time for us to think how we can get on the up cycle, rather than just chuck (or even recycle) and move on.