Planning to think, or thinking to plan?

Planning can become a stand-in for doing the actual work.

That work we’re avoiding might be active: We spend all day writing a list of things to take on holiday instead of actually packing our bags.

But a more likely scenario is that we’re using the process of planning to give (ourselves) the illusion of thinking. Using the example of list-writing in lieu of bag-packing: We're avoiding the work of thinking about what we really need to take on holiday and replacing it with the (apparently) productive process of writing a list of everything we think we could need.

Planning is a familiar word in the property industry.* Development plan. City plan. Resource plan. Project plan. Construction plan.

When we prepare these plans, how often are we simply following a pre-determined process deemed appropriate, correct or efficient, instead of doing the hard work of thinking things through and determining the best course of action?

It isn’t that planning isn’t valuable. Written down, actionable plans are needed to deliver a project. Rather, it’s more that experts in planning processes should support the development and implementation of creative ideas, rather than hold court over the process that takes an idea into action steps.

*You could also easily replace ‘planning’ with ‘design’ here and throughout this post, but my feeling is that designers enjoy the creative thinking process to much to defer to a pre-determined planning process.

Making soup

A friend of mine got distracted while caramelising onions. She was caught up in a conversation with her neighbour. The onions turned black.

The reason for caramelising the onions in the first place was to use up some leeks from the garden. And the only thing you can do with leeks is make soup*, so she was making soup. And caramelised onion makes all vegetable soups better.

It turns out, the onions weren’t burnt, they were just extremely well caramelised.

And it turns out, the soup was delicious.

There's not much of a point to this story, other than to say that the soup was delicious, and I’m really glad my friend decided to spend time with her friend instead of doing what she planned. Sometimes, perhaps always, that’s the most important thing.

Tomorrow, I might say hi to one of my neighbours.

* Please feel free to send in your non-soup uses of leeks.

Building bump spaces

Bump spaces have been around as a concept for a while, so if you're new to the idea, a quick google search should bring you up to speed. Or you can jump to this article I found written by a local public property genius.*

There's a general acceptance that micro-collisions between people and the connections that result are what makes up the 'net' in a community network.

Small, simple, spontaneous interactions are both a fruit of, and a creator of, connection. 

So in a community seeking to grow connection, we're caught in a catch-22: How to make bump spaces work without a culture of connection, while trying to use bump spaces to build the culture by creating connection.

The answer, as often happens with many organic people-systems, is to do it deliberately, intentionally, and with purpose, for a while. And eventually, it'll just be what we do around here.

Don't wait for the Council to redevelop the local park. Go and sit on the seat with a cup of tea every Sunday morning at 10am.

Don't wait for the local cafe to set up outdoor seating. Start buying fish and chips every Friday night at 6.30pm. And don't order over the phone.

We don't need to wait for the Council, the Urban Planners, or the Parks Department to make these spaces for use. We can use the ones that are there, and create our own on the dirt we can control.

Cut down a section of the front fence and make a bench seat. And sit on it sometimes.

Set up a book swap fridge next to the letterbox.

Set up a herb garden along the front fence. Or in front of the front fence.

Do any of these things at the local park. Or school.

And perhaps along the way we might figure out how to get bump spaces put into city planning public space design, or a requirement for new subdivisions.

*Disclaimer: This is my own definition based on judgements from a distance. I don't know the guy and I've never met him, although I'd like to.