I hope to do more video updates and discussions, both live and recorded. Here’s the first of what will probably be a series. It introduces the Shared Situations website, as well as a couple workshops and two new versions of the Shared Situations Guide (Sleek plus Sleek & Flipped). It’s an HD video, so you can read all the text if you view it full screen.
Tag Archives: problem-solving
Shared Situation? Try This!
You probably have some shared situations with friends, family, coworkers, neighbors or others. This video shows you how to access and start using the Shared Situation Guide on your desktop or mobile. Your shared situation can be whatever your group is dealing with or considering. A shared situation might be a problem, challenge, opportunity, place, set of circumstances, something you’re managing or working on together, and so on. With smartphones, we have new possibilities. For more, see http://ss.proxthink.com.
No Fill Marks? … New video intro to previous post about my French press.
In a previous post, I talked about my French press coffee maker which has no fill level marks to help me add water to the same place every time. This short video introduces that post, and shows you my current French press. It is for people who own French press coffee makers AS WELL AS designers and anyone interested in innovation and creativity. It also shows the mind map you can explore while learning some proximity thinking at the same time!
Proximity Thinking about the California Drought
How can proximity thinking be used to think about, and relate to, the current California drought?
The mind map below should be pretty self-explanatory. Click the image to open it full-size. Once open, you can zoom it even larger.
NOTE — THE REST OF THIS PAGE IS BASICALLY JUST FOR SEARCH ENGINES.
Since search engines can’t index the text in an image, I’m including the text from the graphic below. However, I’d recommend only looking at the graphic, as it will make a lot more sense. Also, WordPress is adding some blank lines in the outline below, and I can’t fix it. So please imagine there are no blank lines!
• A proximity thinking example, including a few basic definitions. To learn more, visit proxthink.com.
• Situation – A “situation” is whatever you are dealing with or considering.
• Element – Loosely, an “element” can be anything. Any person, place, thing, idea, feeling, time, group, relationship, situation, proximity, etc.
• Proximity – The “proximity” consists of elements related or potentially related to a situation, in physical, mental and other ways.
- SITUATION
California Drought
—
Elements in
the proximity of this
situation.- Need for water
savings. - A challenge shared by
everyone in the region.- Consequences of failing to
reduce water use.
- Consequences of failing to
- How much water are
we saving? - Incentives to save water.
- Save money.
- Avoid penalties.
- To help yourself as
well as others. - What other kinds of
rewards might there be?
- What are ideas for saving water,
and how do we share them? - Lack of enough rain
for many years. - Water sources and
related resources. - People, organizations, equipment
and infrastructure in the region. - To what extent are our
efforts coordinated?- How could this be improved?
- Weather and forecasts.
- Related technology,
tools and processes. - How can proximity thinking be used for this situation?
- The ProxThink Growth Model, for people who share a proximity, has four main parts:
- Vadi Agreements
- Vadi Agreements
acknowledge valuable
differences and provide
ways to sustain them. - Enough water to meet
or exceed needs is a
valuable difference. - This water vadi helps
support many things, like
survival, sustainability,
stability, health, happiness
and vibrant communities. - Vadi Agreements can be
explicit (legal, contractual),
or informal, as well as the
general agreement that
we’re in this together. - Agreements can also include
goals for water savings, which
ProxMonitors can help track.
- Vadi Agreements
- ProxMonitors
- A way to monitor and track
water savings and other
related information at different
levels (personal,
organizational, local, regional). - Proximity monitors increase
proximity awareness, which can
help many kinds of relationships. - Can be both technological
monitors and people
reporting current conditions.
- A way to monitor and track
- Proxri
- Sharing an idea for saving
water is also a proxri. - Proxri are rewards which relate elements
in the proximity. So such rewards are
often made with the proximity in mind.- Water you save is a proxri
to yourself and others in
the proximity.
- Water you save is a proxri
- Proxri can be money, or result in
money, but the idea is much broader
than money, and acknowledges the
need for a wide variety of rewards. - Water savings may or may not
result in money but these proxri can
benefit multiple levels (personal,
organizational, local, regional). - People may see proxri
made by others, or needed
proxri, at RelatePoints.
- Sharing an idea for saving
- RelatePoints
- Ideas for saving water can be
shared via RelatePoints. - A primary place for coordinating
relationships in this proximity. - A place to connect and access
ProxMonitors, Vadi
Agreements, Proxri (made and
needed), and other related info. - Could be a website
and/or a mobile app.
- Ideas for saving water can be
- Are there other benefits to the ProxThink Growth Model approach?
- We may develop new ways of
managing shared challenges. - Since it enables people to see and relate to proximities in a wider
variety of ways, it can lead to more variety in our lives, one of the
keys to health, happiness, sustainability and vibrant communities. - It may help us realize how
many proximties we share.
- We may develop new ways of
- Vadi Agreements
- The ProxThink Growth Model, for people who share a proximity, has four main parts:
- Need for water
• Questions? Contact us via proxthink.com.
• Created by David Loughry.
• As you find this rewarding, please proxri with the proximity in mind via proxthink.com.
ProxThink Webinars Added September 15 and 16
Two ProxThink That webinars have been added for September 15 and 16! Learn more and register here: proxthink.eventbrite.com.
“How to ProxThink That” Webinar Series Launched
We’ve launched a new webinar series, our first! Combining a conference call and online work, this interactive intro webinar will help you learn How to ProxThink That. Limited to 24 people, this interactive session may fill up quickly. It will be hosted by David Loughry, creator of proximity thinking. The first sessions will be August 25th and 26th.
You can find links to current webinars via our Eventbrite page at:
http://proxthink.eventbrite.com
As of today, here are the key event details.
What we’ll do:
1. Introduce you to the ProxThink framework and tour the site.
2. Practice generating ideas using ProxPatterns and the Growth Model. To relate to your life, we’ll practice generating ideas for social, business and community situations.
3. Q&A (Questions and Answers)
What’s included (after the session):
1. You’ll have a post-session call with David, any time within a year, for further questions or discussion (up to 15 minutes).
2. You’ll get a ProxThink website membership, which includes the power to turn off ads, space for saving ideas, and a way to track your learning.
3. You’ll be sent a printable PDF of the ProxPatterns formatted to cut out for your wallet or purse. Feel free to share this with others.
What you’ll get:
1. New perspective, new framework, mental stimulation and a quicker onramp: You’ll gain a new way of looking at the world and a new framework that gives you more options for thinking, creating, innovating, solving problems, boosting sustainability, and living. Plus there’s the mental stimulation, and a quicker onramp to learning about proximity thinking than learning it on your own.
2. New ideas and the satisfaction of helping others: We’ll develop ideas during the session for some situations you and others may face. You may benefit and possibly help others too.
3. Possibility of proxri for you: We may make public some ideas we develop, via the ProxThink River blog. For both the public ideas, and ideas only the session participants can access, you’ll have the possibility of getting proxri for them from a session participant or someone out there in the wide world.
What you’ll need:
1. A phone or a way to make voice calls via Skype. Either will do.
2. A computer. You will want at least two browser windows open at once, so the bigger the screen the better.
3. A Google account, so you can access the shared Google Doc we’ll be working on. Please know the email associated with your Google account BEFORE registering. (You can get a Google account without getting Gmail, if you want, using your existing email account.)
For current suggested pricing, and to find a date that works for you and to register, please visit:
http://proxthink.eventbrite.com
