Nathan Shedroff has just written what is likely to become the sustainability manual for designers. Design Is The Problem is a thorough and informative survey of just about every aspect of sustainable design. It covers important frameworks, schools of thought and specific tools. It's interspersed wit...

Following the G20 summit this week, it seems as though we are in one of the most significant periods of new rule making we have seen for a long time. Our government leaders were promoting all kinds of new regulation to control hedge funds and banks. Similarly this year we expect to see new regulatio...

There is quite a debate going on around IDEO at the moment about the merits of the Tata Nano. On the one hand some are concerned about the increased emissions and congestion a conversion to cars will cause in India and other poorer economies. Others worry that it sets off yet another round of unsust...

I have been a bit slow to mention the publication of a wonderful new book by Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of the Acumen Fund. The Blue Sweater is the story of the work that Jacqueline has been doing for the last twenty years in Africa, India and Pakistan. There are many messages that the book has ...

I came across a lovely example of unintentional experience design when I was back in the UK last week. Apologies to those of you who reside in the UK and discovered this some time ago but for those of us living in the desert of commercial radio in the US this quirky accident is delightful. If you t...

Consulting firm McKinsey has just launched a new website, called What Matters, that is an extensive collection of essays and interviews with opinion formers around the world. The content is categorized into ten big topics: Biotechnology, Climate Change, Credit Crisis, Energy, Geopolitics, Globalizat...

Apologies in advance to anyone who actually understands economics who might be reading this. I don't, and so much of what follows is probably incredibly naive. I have been thinking quite a bit recently about the failure of the economy and whether we want it to recover to its pre-bust state. As I li...

Sir William Beveridge initiated the creation of Great Britain's welfare state with his first report in 1942. He defined an approach to public services that was intended to create an active collaboration between citizen and state. By the time of his third report in 1948 he expressed the concern that ...

First off. Apologies for the intermission in service. I have spent the last two weeks in Davos at the World Economic Forum conference and then in Long Beach at TED. I know the idea is to be on-line 24X7 but I really don't understand how my blogging colleagues manage to immerse themselves in the cont...

One of the most optimistic and exciting sessions at Davos was named The Girl Effect. After much effort by the Nike Foundation, run by Maria Eitel, and the UN Foundation the folks at Davos were pursuaded to have a plenary focused on how unlocking the potential of adolescant girls in all parts of the ...