Diverging in 2024
Hi! It’s been a while.
What is this?
You’re getting this email because you subscribed to Diverge Weekly in the past (my email from andrewlb.com), or subscribed to the Knowsi email (RIP, though it will return). If it’s not your jam anymore, you can unsubscribe.
Where have you been?
A few things have happened since the last Diverge post.
I submitted my covid-era masters thesis (2010 Syria + food security),
My son Emil is now 5, and we are still in Copenhagen.
I said goodbye to my dog (Moon the Greyhound) and hello to another (Nell the Whippet).
I’ve done some projects (weirdo hardware, just-for-me software, a barely working vertical farm, bad eurorack music, and workshops). However, my focus has been on research and prototyping with engineers, the coach training, and being a parent.
And yet, a void.
Regular writing with the (imagined/real) pressure of a community became something I loved, and it has been on pause for too long. So we’re is back as andrewlb notes (or something. Unclear on name).
What can I expect?
I’ll be writing every two weeks, usually an essay or tool. I’ll be writing through a lens of design, craft-based practice, and strategy.
There’s a few topics that are on my mind lately, in the form of markdown notes, half-essays, and conversations:
Fun games for serious things
Risk and “vibes”
Automation and when not to
Climate, food security, and surviving
Bullshyt (and its value)
Protocols and prototyping
Post-Covid Friendship, Community, and Networks
Zigbee and haunting
Aging as a maker
What else?
There’s a few things.
I am actively seeking consulting clients for summer/fall 2024. I’m an interaction designer and researcher who makes things, though I am often on the strategy and planning side of things. I excel at making complex systems legible in medium-to-large orgs. I usually work around internal tooling, developer experience, APIs, and protocols. I run awesome workshops and training programs, and have added coaching to my skill arsenal. I worked at IDEO and the Pentagon (USDS), ran a profitable-ish B2C indie SaaS, and was a founding researcher at a serverless infrastructure startup. Some past clients include IKEA, Mozilla, CIID, Opentron Lab Robotics, Sage Publishing, and Innovation Fund Denmark (Innofounder). If you know a person or team who could benefit from my support, let’s discuss!
I am making instagram videos, god help me. They are mostly about running effective participatory workshops for now. It is terrifying and I would value feedback. This is a “do 100” type of activity. You can find them here: instagram.com/megafauna.cph
I’m have standing “office” hours for mutual sparring, tangential discussions, and fun. Some of you are making use of this already and I’m loving it. calendly.com/alb/social
I do 1:1 coaching, mostly on career, work, motivation, etc. topics — so less “life coach.” It’s not my main gig, I don’t charge a lot, and I focus on makers and designers pretty exclusively. Check it out here.
With all of that said, I’ll leave off with this blog post. It’s a planning workshop tool I’ve been experimenting with, though the post itself has ballooned to about 2000 words. It should probably be split into two, but it needs to go out so I can move on.
Belief-based Planning - Writing and Works
Planning around core beliefs
See you in two weeks.