‘Thank you again it’s the push I need! I’m absolutely planning to dedicate some time to this’
A week ago I had started OpenIdeas.uk — you can read about why here.
A left it open for a week and received 19 ideas that meet the very loose criteria. For transparency there were two that didn’t, as they were only applicable to one organisation.
When I put OpenIdeas out, I wasn’t sure if I’d even get one idea through, so I was rather chuffed with 19 in a week. And what’s more there were some excellent ideas! I had a real hard time choosing. Eventually I chose this one
Government repeatedly fail to involve a broad range of users in their design work. One reason for this is poor communication with many communities. To respond to this, I want to create a platform model for community groups and other front line agencies to connect end-users to Government research opportunities. Government departments would submit a brief, identifying who they want to hear from. Charities would nominate themselves if they felt that they could provide some or all of the users. The department would be charged, with payment going to the charity who broker the research relationship, and the research participants.
But there were many others that I could have gone with. All of them had value.
The reason I believe in sharing and being Open by Default is that I think it can help build knowledge, refine and crystalise ideas. But more than that I believe that being open has the potential to inspire action. Turning ideas into action can be hard. Deciding which idea to focus on, which idea YOU should focus can be difficult. And that is where I think sharing with others can help.
And this leads me to what next for Open Ideas.
I wanted to test the potential for Open Ideas, and did it quickly. I put the idea and site together in a couple of hours and got it out there. I made it simple to test the main concept of whether people would share. This means I left out things I had considered such as a question which asked if people would be willing to be contacted by someone else other than me if they liked the idea and wanted to work on it together.
I’m left with a few questions after the initial test.
- Did the offer of money inspire people to put forward an idea that they wouldn’t have previously?
- Did the offer of money put some people off? After all, unless you actually know me, money for just submitting an idea might seem too good to be true. Does he really not want anything else besides that?
- What about all the other ideas?!
- How do I help bring people together around an idea and move the idea into action.
Open Ideas 2.0
I think Open Ideas has value. So I’m planning an Open Ideas 2.0. This will focus on connecting people around ideas, opening up potential for action. I think the anonymity of Open Ideas is important and something I want to expand into version 2.0.
I’m going to build in the potential for connecting people around ideas and for the potential for other routes to fund action. There will be a need to factor in mutual consent due the anonymous aspect of ideas. Bringing other ways of funding the ‘day of thinking/action’ is something I need to think more about. Is this through crowdfunding? Is this through more established philanthropy?
So Open Ideas 2.0 coming next week. Thoughts on any of my questions, or further refinement of my ideas are welcome of course!
