Alex: After more than 5 years of experience in IDEO, we identified six principles to build environments that create innovation

1. “It’s about how we learn, not about how much we gain financially.” Not to do but to learn. The return should be learning, not economic performance.

And we try explain it to ourselves that it´s marketing, tribe marketing. And same time happily admitting that we get very exited about these “side track purchaces”. It just feels good! And as you can see – last diktator of Finland, U.K.K – Urkki – Kekkonen, clearly shares the message. Year 2011 theme for Monkeys is U.K.K – stubborness and relentless. Thanks to Sanna for these ultimate kool coasters. And thanks to Asier and Funky Projects for giving us tape back in May 2007. It took allmost four years to implement it in MB…

You get what you measure – they say. So we have started to measure quality and free thinking time spent in hammock. Every 15 minuts gives you a credit. Hammock is electicity free zone, no lab tops etc. According Jussi T. Koski we should spent weekly two times two hours only focusing on thinking, slowing down. If you want to be creative. If you want to follow task list given by your boss – just keep on performing. So how do you explain this Hang Loose – measure to a logical engineer? Luckily I don´t have to. And results after 21st days in Hammock are that first podium place is shared between Johanna, Ville and Tatu. With only four credits/pp, only one hour in 21st days. How mutch is that? What is it? What are doeing? Are we thinking? Are we monkeys?

Human energy is the thing we need to increase. Sun really gives it at this time of year. And hammock. And all the little things I manage to live present. Those are the only things I can remember.

Activboy Tatu learning Zen Riding

ps. Want some tape? Come and get it.

What would an organisation from future be like? Why is business so serious? What does mother Earth say to that? What is the best misunderstanding of my life? For me it´s Monkey Business – when people were talking about Funky Business. It was something we had been seeking out. Can´t be taken too seriously, yellow and playful. Travelling was meaningfull, ideas came through conversations with new people and surfing in new cultures. Bananashaped businesscard, logo and core message.

What is the tribe I want to join? Whose truth do I believe? Who/What leads me? After what I am running for? Is it possible? What inspires me? What keeps me moving? Dream? What is the cartoon I want to create?

Juha-Matti Kinnunen aka Tupsu has drawn these cartoons. And by serendipity we have started to use it as a tool for running interactive workshops. By telling our stories and raising questions and then throwing them to participants. And sharing our story is something that inspires me. No logic. Just attitude. Yellow spirit. And a lot of actions&Dialogue. Love me or hate me. Do the newer!

Lifestyle company. With Impact. Like organic plant. Maybe?

Well it´s all in finnish, chaotic and so on. The thing is that you newer know who will read an article like this. And what it will cause in the head of the reader. Neither did we. About three weeks ago I got an telephone call. It was Tiina. She wanted to come and see us. So I ansvered YES. Tiina came and started telling:” last spring I saw that article and decided that I´want to work in a place like that. And here I am. Ready to rock.” So here she is, photo taken this morning. And she brought some liqourice to us also, yellow, in the front of the picture.

Well you can see Tiina´s work here. She is a professional illustrator. (the one who can draw cool pictures, creative and so on.) And we have encouraged her to use that ability. And she has taken it into the action. She has contacted BusinessArena to co-operate in graphical facilitation. And she has been visiting local center for starting entrepreneurs(Luotsi). And said that it was depressing:” they told me to came back with countings and numbers. Not very enthuastic. Are they trying to kill the entreprenial spark in me?” On the other side of the table was sitting Hans, old team mate of Johannas&mine. Hans had got samekind of experiment with Luotsi. So here you can see how Hans normally protects himself against idea killers. (Hans is the humanbeing at the right side of the picture. On the left is a Sunflower brought from Villes homeyard at Paltamo.) Anyway, yellow both.

So what I am thinking is that how do we really help others to be at their best on what they do? And I am really happy that Tiina came to visit us. By Matti Nykänen:” Give chance a break “. Let´s aim for enriching each other. For little things. Let´s listen our hearts and numbers will follow. It´s not about the idea – it´s about the attitude.

Tantourist – always on travel

Since Oman we have been creating more action here and there. And despite that we are still smiling. We see the world as we look at it. Yellow, sunny and bright. As that photo taken yesterday in our office upstairs. Or this one taken in our hoods today morning when cyckling here.

We made our record revenue in August. But we still must improve to keep our enterprise sustainable. Yellow man has got company, friends to work with us. We have been doeing right things right. Maybe. And information board downstairs is updated too!

Hey! I am happy. Life is good. Love. (Iphone still blackout.)

Thanks Monkeys & All. Wouldn´t be here alone.

Tantourist.

1.) Dialogue. Well obviously it´s the key element in cocreation. There can´t be shared undestanding without dialogue. And in Monkey Business we have learned to do “dialogue on the spot”. Short sessions between coaches- what´s happening and what do we want to happen next. Then we know what is the next move. When we know what we are aiming to – it´s easier to improvise. -> Goal!

2.) Culture. Or system. From the aspect of interaction. Someone has to lead in the beginning to make people interact. And then take care about culture througout the process. And this is something that separates TeamAcademy from many places. And this is something that will have a big role in DesignFactorys future. Team Academy is very down to earth and pragmatic, learning by doeing. Design Factorys comes to the same play-yard from different aspect, knowledge focused. And strongest tool in TeamAcademy are Leading Thoughts and yearly process of checking them.

3.)Braveness. We only become exellent by following our passion. We know who we are and how monkeys do things. We have to stand for our cornerstones. Our friend PAMPAM said it nicely:”The more serious someone is, the less I trust him/her”. So we need to remain the contact to our heart. Speak from it and to follow it.

What did you learn?

Thanks alot CoMind and all adventurers. “Unexpected is the spice of life.”

Tantourist, still alive.

We’ve been learning the hard way that without shared vision we are like a bunch of kids in a playground. Through anxiety we have realized we need to spend more time together as a team. That’s what they say that teaming up needs, shared time and a shared challenge.

According to Senge:

Premature converge of words of the vision sucks the life energy out of it.

So how do you know that time is right? By trial & error? What are the corner stones of building shared vision?

More action. More chaos. More mistakes. More learning.

More Creativity.

More trust. Myself. Us. Monkey Business. You. World. Life.

“ The art of leadership is understanding what you can´t compromise on.”

Beginning of year 2010 for us has been a bit like hike in a desert. Just have to believe that the oasis will come.  Seth Godin, Tribes:

” The second thing you need to know is that the only thing holding you back from becoming the kind of person who changes things is this: lack of faith. Faith that you can do it. Faith that it´s worth doeing. Faith that failure won´f destroy you.”

Cosmos has challenged us by asking: are you serious about this? Time on desert has put our values in test also. Inner pressure is sometimes almost too hard to handle. But returning back from uncomfortable zone is rewarding. Things look clear for a while – illusion of infallible.

Prahalad & Krishnan, The new age of innovation:

” Start-ups do not need well-developed proseccies.”

Form follows funtion, said someone. So what we can do is keep on doeing. Culture is the Strategy. More experiments with customers who play with same rules. So we want:

*You, whom don´t want to work overtime daily to keep up the status quo

*You, whom don´t want be sheepwalking anymore

*You, whom wants to change, yourself, organization, world

*You, whom wants to learn, all the time, everywhere, from everybody

*You, whom wants to do all this together, smiling

Eye for an eye makes the hole world blind. – Gandhi-

Tantourist.

But what does it all mean when we talk about TEAM entrepreneurship? What is my mental model about it? And when we combine team entrepreneurship to creative economy? How to measure it?

Our mission is to make world more fun and yellow. So is it the main measuring scale? We do have fun and that´s something we focus on. But how to turn it into bread? Richard Branson has said that he has allways done what has felt fun. This is really giving me headache. In my heart I know the path is right. It is leading us towards better lifre. And money has very little to do with that. How do you keep up with the faith?

Tantourist. Feeling powerless.

Every Monday Morning is Monkey Monday. Or sometimes it´s Tuesday. But we need to be in face to face contact to learn, laugh and live. Last week I and Ville hoasted four hours in Lahti University of  Applied science. Our hidden plan was to encourage two hundred students towards creative economy and entrepreneurship. But our visible goal was to run the best and most enjoyable schoolday of year 2010. We used stories, dialogue, mental models game and punisher vs. pyromane -exercise. In the end about 90% of students answered YES! So it was “good tennis” from us. Good Job.

Thursday Janne went to coach three days session for start up entrepreneurs in a 1,5 year long process in Central Finland, Laukaa area. And now he is ending  a one similar process in Northern Finland, Posio area. Janne is our specialist for long processies. I was working for a day in Helsinkin with Brand Brothers Finland for Tammi publishers. Our task was challenging: “do what feels right”. So we worked as interaction fakirs to make some atmosphere magic…

Henna and Johanna has had several meetings around issue of HUB Jyväskylä in Helsinki, Jyväskylä and Tampere. Henna is fighting hard to save her home region, Iisalmi by entrepreneurship. And aside Henna has closed some related deals. Johanna has found a surprice for us. It´s red? We´ll see it on monday…

Ville the Fox, our geek has been coaching two days in University of Oulu with Zestmark. Aside Ville takes care of our connections to the virtual world. And he is also the brains for Monkey Business with his ideas, precence and jazz. Francis Francis X1, yellow, arrived to our office on Tuesday. And we were really exited. Not a single cup of espresso was made. Cos it was ESE(easy serving espresso) model and we returned it at the same day. The biggest failure of the week. Wednesday we had a deep three hour dialogue with Innovation Professor Antti Hautamäki from University of Jyväskylä. Themes were creative economy and cultures meaning for an area. Results will go to parliaments future forum and we are one example…

So here we go. Again. And again. Something will be remembered and alot forgotten. Take it yellow!

Tantourist.