Being not only American but also having worked for NASA, I, on more than one occasion, encountered the rallying cry of, “Failure is not an option” – never having really spent too much time thinking about it as the meaning and weight of that phrase were clear to me. While this sentiment aims to inspire determination and perseverance, it…
Even if you are at the forefront of your industry, sometimes it can still be hard to break out of a context that is as old as time. This is what the Winbib Team is trying to do. They want to imagine the library of the future housed within a historic neighborhood building. A place where the old meets…
Why should the big cities have all the fun? Communities win when people ideate, invest, and grow initiatives locally, while the potential is lost when people must flock to big cities to find inspiration and the support they need to explore their ideas. Since amplilabs calls Aarau its home, it was clear that we wanted to actively support and…
Design thinking is a human-centered problem-solving approach that has been around for years and gaining significant popularity in recent years. The process allows organizations to identify problems, generate new ideas, and create solutions that meet the needs of their users or customers. While it is often referred to as a process, we see it as in fact much more.…
Have you ever lost the feeling for the big picture while trying to puzzle out a process detail or a challenging bit of planning? Being able to take a step back in the middle of a strategy process to regain the perspective for the whole picture can be difficult – if not nearly impossible. That is why ISS Canal…
All of us have, at least once in our lives (if not more), somehow felt stuck and unable to make the next move. There can be any number of reasons for this: out of fear, being overwhelmed by a situation, or simply (as often is by me) being stubborn. Regardless of why, it is difficult to take the…
Taking the next BIG leap into the unknown is daunting for most of us. What if, instead of putting so much pressure on ourselves to make big changes, we simply did what was necessary to take the ONE first step? And only once we are ready, the step after that? And by doing so, amplifying ourselves along the way?…