Quite some time ago the lovely @amcunningham tweeted me a link to a post about why we are sometimes reluctant to share learning. The basic argument is that as we learn new things they become obvious to use and melt in to our background knowledge. As a result we don’t think it is special or worth sharing. It’s one of those little things that always stuck in the back of my mind.
As we’ve been setting up the mHealthHabitat programme I’ve been reminded (and reminded myself) of the importance of capturing learning before we forget. Learning quickly becomes the status quo and when that happens we forget the potential power of sharing it with others.
So this post captures a lovely learning point – about how innovation pops up in unexpected places and the importance of creating spaces for the unexpected to happen. It’s another way of celebrating the joy of serendipity which I’ve blogged about before.
This week I hooked up with @FranBurrows for a coffee and a chat about Mindfull – ostensibly a chance to find out a bit more about what they do and add it to my list of interesting mHealth initiatives out there in what sometimes seems to be a very crowded market.
But Francis surprised me. His passion and enthusiasm compelled me. The care and cleverness of Mindfull impressed me. The user-centred design and development chimed with our values and orientiation to support the creation of a flourishing #mhealthHabitat in Leeds.
And from our conversation exciting possibilities for collaboration emerged. The digital developments that Francis is curious about happen to align with those that we are curious about in Leeds. The possibilities for working together – sharing ideas, resources and focus – have the potential for greater impact than we could achieve on our own.
There’s a lot to be done from ideas to deployment. But innovations (digital or otherwise) come from those serendipitous moments when conversation illuminates common values and common vision and different but complementary expertise.
So my learning point is that it is vital to invest in connections and relationships (and not always the obvious ones) and that they are time well spent. I also recommend checking out Mindfull if you haven’t come across them before.
