Whats Up Doc?

 

to give a quick summary of this blogpost and this project I have created the video above! (it will be missing some information that is included in the text below)

Why are some people able to see around corners in ways others are not, and by doing, shape how we see ourselves in this changing world?

join me in the next few minutes of reading as I explain to you our most recent project, What’s Up Doc. Over the course of this project, we were tasked with answering the driving question of why some people are able to see around corners in ways others are not, and by doing, shape how we see ourselves in this changing world. the answer that I came to Is a three-parted one, while I don’t think there is any one answer to this question (this is what makes the topic at hand so interesting) this is what I came up with: Some people are able to see around corners and shape how we see ourselves in our ever-changing world through their ability to 1. understand the trends of the current day, 2. have something that they genuinely care about and 3. Understand how to capitalize on this opportunity.

the first thing to lay out is what it means to see around corners and to keep it simple seeing around corners is understanding what is ahead, what changes might happen, what might stay the same, etc. Through research and writing, we looked through the lenses of the collective identity to find examples of these, through my own research I discussed how companies like OpenAI and Slack were able to see around corners and capitalize, and through paragraphs I learned about how placed such as Stanley park are able to influence so many people and the way that they understand the world around them, and how bigger ideas such as the ones of Walt Disney will forever change how we view things in our world (even though the world is always changing.

next, let me explain my three points in more depth. 1. understand the trends of the current day. A prime example of this would be Apple when Tim Cook first joined as CEO. apple was always at the forefront of innovation, however after a certain point it became more or less the same thing over and over again which led to dropping sales and market share, however, Tim Cook came along and was able to predict trends and see around corners, this lead to changes in the apple ecosystem (this may be incorrect or an exaggeration as this is coming from memory). 2. have something that they genuinely care about. if you don’t care about what you are doing why on earth would you put the effort in to see around the corner, to do better, to innovate? Examples used in my video such as Patagonia their ability to see around corners came solely out of something the creator cares about, or someone like Frank Ghery who is creating architecture that embodies what he thinks architecture should be. 3. understand how to capitalize on this opportunity. when you look at almost all of the examples that I have given, they all come from an economic background. when it comes to seeing around corners and shaping the collective identity it almost always comes down to your ability to capitalize, you aren’t going to change the way we view stuff if you are not able to create something that is successful, without seeing around corners there is no innovation, with innovation comes money and change.

for the product for this project, we had to create a 15-minute mini-documentary that would fit into a series called Pacific Perspectives this video would dive into a subtopic of the West Coast collective identity, in my group’s case the topic was the great outdoors. in our video we talked about places and their connection to the collective identity on the west coast through the lens of the outdoors. this was done by connecting the impact and the ability to see around corners by mainly clothing brands and eco-tourism. over the course of the creation of this video, I would say that I helped come up with the main ideas and how they connect together, how they will fit into the structure of a video etc. I helped with editing the script. I also took up the role of editor as well as the narrator.

thanks to group members Jakub and Indy for helping create the video!

overall this project has helped give a different perspective on how and why innovation happens specifically on the West Coast.

thanks for reading