We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. Every day brings new challenges and opportunities. We often struggle to know which is which and once we do know, to figure out what to do about it.
To deal with all of this, we need better mental models.
In other words, we need to unfuck our thinking.
This is a new design firm. Its mission is to make things that enable people to make progress, by helping them understand their current mentals models and why they may not be working. This helps people build new mentals models and the systems, artifacts, and processes that turn those mental models into effective tools to make change the world.
Right now, there is not much to This. There is no portfolio, no business plan, no corporation, no brand, no funding, no office, no staff, no clients. It does not even have a name yet: This is just what it is called until it does. At the moment, This is not much more than an idea and this website.
This will have to build itself up from first principles and create a foundation that can help it achieve its mission. So This will be its own first client.
Here are some things that should guide the development of This and shape the work that it does.
This is just the start of This. It is an exciting moment, when many things are possible, and there are many routes to take.
The next thing is to get clarity around what This will design and how this will operate. There is some counsel to seek, and advice to be gathered. Putting together a team, to make This more than just one person’s concept, feels like an important next step.
We will track progress in This log.