IDEO

These news segments over IDEO were really interesting. The company is a product design firm in Paolo Alto, California, that was a pretty revolutionary office style back in what looked like the ‘90s. There was no big boss during meetings, but a collaborative environment. They had a couple of mantras written on the wall: “defer judgment”, “build on the ideas of others”, “one topic at a time”, “stay focused”, and “fail often in order to succeed sooner”. Overall the office seemed to focus on making people feel comfortable enough to share ideas and collaborate, and it worked because they came up with some really innovative stuff, I believe it was the boss (only in the technical term) who said, “Enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of the lone genius”. They also encouraged playfulness, and I can see how that would help stimulate a creative environment rather than a typical office. It seems like a great place to work, one that was fun but also one where everyone is extremely dedicated and works hard to contribute. It was pretty inspirational for office life could be like- fun and successful.