Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.

com, 2009 Page 1

Innovation Labs Explained:

What an Innovations Lab is and, more importantly, why it works.
Author: Dr Peter EH Smee Date: Thursday, 5th January 2009 Home: circle-of-excellence.com
Synopsis: The notion of using an Innovations Laboratory (or iLab) as a venue in which to undertake innovative planning and teaching is receiving a lot of interest and attention in both business and in education, around the UK. With this in mind, the following document: (1) explains what an iLab is, (2) describes the layout of a typical lab and then (3) goes on to provide a range of ideas for ways in which a lab might contribute to the life of a business or an educational institution. One key point to keep in mind, whilst reading the following document, is that an iLab is a customised and customisable space in which to think, plan, teach and communicate both creatively and clearly. A second key point to bear in mind is that, while an iLab certainly contains technology, using a lab is not about using technology for technologies sake. From Zero Technology to High Technology, a good iLab will provide a range of thought provoking activities to suit every group and to suit every occasion. For use of an iLab represents an approach to creativity and innovation which seeks to utilise and intermesh the best of: (1) new technologies, (2) classic facilitation techniques and (3) an awareness of the impact of different kinds of workspace on the human psycheall in equal measure. Thus, in summary...an iLab is a physical space that is customised to support all aspects of innovative teaching, learning, problem solving, design, planning and decision making. And it is a physical space that, when combined with an insightful facilitator, can be used to encourage and focus both individuals and groups to engage with many specific kinds of thought processes, from (1) intuition and emotion, through to (2) creativity and innovation, through to (3) the application of logic, and on to (4) the mental processes associated with innovative teaching and learning.
The University College of St Mark & St John Innovations Laboratory, called iSpace

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 2 Photos of people and groups using iSpace.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 3 Some of the high-end technology in use at various iLabs around the world The DTI London-based Immersion Theatre, which allows for simultaneous multiple projections

3D visualisation from FakeSpace and initiion.co.uk, for example CAVE, PowerWall, M1 Desk and CURV,

Polyvision Thunder, which is the Rolls Royce of systems to support visualisation and group working. It has a price tag of about 100,000. But all the pictures, which look like posters on the wall, are electronic LCD screens embedded in the wall and controlled by the facilitator.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 4

Introduction The phrase Innovations Laboratory (or iLab) is often used as a brand name or umbrella term to refer to a physical space dedicated to creativity and innovation. Typically, this will be a space that intermeshes a customisable physical space, with cutting edge mind technology, whilst at the same time adding a large number of traditional business facilitation techniques into the mix. The concept is to place clients in an appropriate state of mind for the kinds of tasks normally associated with: problem solving, design, planning, decision making, research ... along with innovative forms of teaching and learning. To affect such an appropriate state of mind, the designer of an iLab will draw from many disparate fields of expertise related to: technology, systems analysis, meeting facilitation, psychology, business studies, political science, theatre, staging, sound engineering, lighting and interior design. So as you might expect, the end result is a novel and unusual environment in which to work.
The UCP Marjon iLab is a customisable physical space in which lights and music set the mood, and in which all the chairs and furniture are highly mobile and can be easily re-configured with plenty of resources for traditional facilitation techniques, like concept mapping on a whiteboard andtechnical resources, such as laptops for anonymous group brainstorming and group concept mapping.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 5

In a good iLab... A facilitator will mix high-tech and low-tech activities, depending on the aims and objectives of the group. Sometimes a group may use technology extensively. At other times they may not use anything more complex than a dry wipe marker pen. The point being that the lab should contain everything one might need to work in a variety of different ways: some High Tech and computer centric, others Zero Tech and more write-and-wipe in nature. This brings us to the first aspect of a successful iLab: the ability to write on walls... A good iLab will enable users to write all over walls that can act as whiteboards. The authors experience is that people love to write on walls... and it makes sense that if you want people to think big and to think outside the box that you need to provide more than one or two large sheets of paper. You need to let them really surround themselves with notes and diagrams that express their inner imagination. As another aspect of the use of space in a successful lab: creating an appropriate ambiance... In a good iLab, the shape, composition, imagery, artwork, lighting and ambient sound will have been carefully crafted to elicit a specific mental and emotional response, congruent with the work to be undertaken. Thus, the best labs are those which have the capability to alter the mood and mental focus of users within a room, in simple, yet subtle and sophisticated ways. Here influences might arrive from many disparate fields of study, from: (1) the expertise utilised by sound and lighting engineers, to (2) teachers exploring the effect of music on a class of children, to (3) commercial companies researching the impact of subliminal messages on the human brain, to (4) the traditional skills associated with architecture and interior design. Once you have given people the tools to think big and have given people an appropriate ambiance in which to work, it is time to add in a few mind technologies... First: To provide simple groupware technologies to facilitate: anonymous brainstorming, anonymous concept sorting and anonymous voting on ideas.along with access to a host of other tools, such as video conferencing. Here, the idea is to undercut the negative group dynamics and politicking that often undermines the ability of many groups to make good decisions, let alone creative and innovative plans. Second: To enhance and expand specific aspects of human cognition, in liaison with standard business facilitation techniques, such as: Concept Sorting, Storyboarding, Role Play, Thinking with Hexagons, Mind Mapping, Goal Setting, Flow Charts, Gantt Charts, UML, Six Hat Thinking, Soft Systems Analysis and Scenario Planning. Here again, we emphasise that the raison dtre of an iLab is not as a repository of technology... Think of an iLab as an empty stage in a theatre. The staging, lights and speaker system only exist to support the artistry of the director and the performances of the actors who tred the boards. Similarly, an iLab can be as simple or as sophisticated as you wantbut its real utility is only to be unleashed when it is used by a group who is led by a gifted facilitator.
If you are interested in setting a specific mood, find out about research related to: Mozart Effect, HemiSync, Holosync, binaural beat, monaural beat and isochronic tones. If you want to edit some interesting audio then software by thesharm.com and transparentcopr.com is useful.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 6

Anatomy of an iLab
The first Innovations Laboratory in the UK was a commercial lab, designed and built by the Royal Mail Training Centre, in Rugby. The facilitators at the training centre conceived of a space that was totally isolated from the outside world, in order to minimise distractions. They also conceived of a high tech infrastructure, combined with a series of discrete spaces, designed to elicit different emotional reactions. The underlying rationale was that, if you want to get people to think in innovative ways, you need to place them in a space which is unique and unlike their day to day work environment. Based on this belief The Royal Mail spent heavily in order to institute a flag ship centre. And the results are impressive, from the sci-fi entrance, to the attention to detail that is evident throughout the facility. A few years later, after reviewing those aspects of the Royal Mail iLab that were working well, the University of East Anglia (UEA) built a simplified iLab, which they called The Hub. Such was the success of the UEA design that many other iLabs have drawn inspiration from it. Indeed, when the author began to design the first iLab in the South West of the UK, for the University College of Plymouth, St Mark & St John, it was natural to draw from the UEA experience, both because of the success of the UEA lab and also because the Principal of UCP Marjon, Professor David Baker, had been involved in the design and commissioning of that original space. The author was therefore in the enviable position of being able to learn directly from one of the pioneers in the field...and to discuss how the original design might be updated in the light of recent advances in Mind Technologies, and in the light of recent new understandings related to the psychology of space and the psychology of group work.
The Anteroom in the iLab at University College of Plymouth, St Mark & St John,

In order to generate a sense of seclusion and isolation, an iLab consists of two windowless rooms, an inner workroom, or Hub, and an outer Anteroom, through which entry is effected via a single door In terms of ambiance, the Anteroom is akin to a Chillout Zone in a club. There are plenty of comfortable chairs and bean bags. In addition, there is adjustable coloured lighting, there are colourful toys and gadgets which provide interest for the eyes of a visitor, plus there are the all important coffee and water dispensers, around which people will naturally congregate to chat. In short, the mood of the Anteroom is informal and there is plenty to perk ones interest. Thus the Anteroom fulfils four key roles within the iLab... The first is congruent with psychological theories of groupwork, which underline that effective groups normally engage in a little social interaction before beginning to focus on the task in hand. The second is to provide a relaxed, Chillout Zone, which is a foil and a contrast to the main work space that we will discuss in a moment. The third is to provide a flexible workspace, with plenty of whiteboards, flipcharts and work tables, so that there is plenty of room to jot down ideas, mind maps and plans; thus making the whole room into a single huge interactive workspaceAnd the fourth is to provide a psychological buffer between the outside world and room in which most of the work of the iLab often takes place.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 7 The UCP Marjon Anteroom provides a Nintendo Wee to provide ice breaking games

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 8

The Anteroom leads into a circular work room... At University College Plymouth, St Mark and St John (UCP Marjon), the circular workroom is referred to as The Hub, in reference and in deference to the original UEA design. In terms of ambiance, The Hub is more formal and work-like than the Anteroom. The space contains tables and chairs that are more formal in design. It also contains walls that are covered with whiteboard material, so that ideas can be jotted on any surface. And being circular, it is easy to begin sketching out ideas on one wall panel and to keep on progressing to new panels with relative ease, as can be seen in the accompanying photographs. In short, The Hub is a space where it is possible to think big and to express your thoughts, using as much space as you need. Interestingly, and as an aside, the circular configuration of the room, combined with the materials used to cover the walls, lead to the generation of a very particular acoustic within The Hub. Thus, the experience of entering The Hub is not dissimilar to entering a sacred space, like a whispering gallery in a cathedral, where a circular room creates a very tangible audio effect. One day it would be interesting to undertake a research study into the psychological impact of this effect on the users of the facility.
The Hub at the University College Plymouth, St Mark and St John (UCP Marjon).

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Again, we return to our theme that an iLab is a combination of New Mind Technologies, classic facilitation techniques and a customisable space that can be configured to elicit a variety of emotional responses and states of minddepending upon what the group wish to achieve. An iLab is definitively not what some people think: a collection of computers. It is far more...
Room layout, light and sound can be used to set the mood and affect state of mind. Facilitators can draw on ideas a diverse as the theory underpinning Feng Shui and Zen gardening to the experience of sound engineers at Rock Concerts, to the developers of modern brain entrainment audio.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 10

If you want to know more

If you want to know more about the ideas which inspired the design of the UCP Marjon iLab, described on the preceding pages, then like the author, you might like to begin your researches on the UEA (University of East Anglia) web site. On that web site, the visitor is advised to seek out the pages associated with the LHI (Learning the Habit of Innovation) centre, which has become somewhat of a centre of excellence on matters related to iLab techniques and technologies. On the UEA web site you will find that the authors of the LHI web pages have been very generous with their advice. The notion of an iLab is explained and a number of interesting links provided. Of particular interest are: (1) links to UEAs documentation for setting up a days activities, (2) a list of links that the UEA facilitators find useful, (3) links to the providers of groupware (a.k.a. computer conferencing systems and systems designed to support collaborative work by several people), (4) links to sources for equipment that is useful in an iLab and (5) links to other labs in the UK. In terms of links worth following from the UEA site, it is well worth visiting the web sites run by the University of Essex iLab and the UK government Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Creativity Lab. And of course, it is also worth visiting the web site run by the Royal Mail Training Centre in Rugby, where the first UK iLab was designed and built.
Images from the Essex lab.

An image of a technology-focussed space that is part of the DTI CreativityLab.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 11

The most important thing that we learned:

Less Is More...

Sometimes visitors to the UCP Marjon iLab, who want to design a creative space of their own, have asked what we would advise. And here we reiterate advice given to the author and a number of colleagues during a visit to the original Royal Mail lab in Rugby, in 2007. The lesson is that, often: Less Is More! It is very easy to spend money wildly on expensive Mind Technologies and Media Gimmicks...but in reality these date very quickly and are of only marginal utility. And they can even become a burden. When asked for their advice, the Royal Mail facilitators answered by saying that, if they were to begin again, they would build a relatively bland space, in which mood could be set by using customisable lighting, movable furniture, simple wireless technology, intriguing artwork and subtle ambient sound. And they emphasised and re-emphasised the importance of achieving a balance between: (1) new technology, (2) the availability of traditional facilitation exercises, including games and concept sorting with post it notes and mind mapping on walls, and (3) keeping the space simple, so that it could be easily adapted and customised. Indeed, the facilitators at the Royal Mail lab still grimace when they tell stories about times in which one or other of these three components of an iLab became out of balance with the rest, leading to embarrassing consequences. For, as with any trail blazing installation, the Royal Mail have learned as much by their mistakes as by their successes, and their experiences are a salient lesson. For our own part, in adapting the advice of the Royal Mail facilitators to the environs of the University College of Plymouth, St Mark and St John, the author noted the following... ...UCP Marjon is a green campus within easy reach of several local amenities: from (1) the moors and a water-front adventure centre for team building experiences, to (2) restaurants for socialising, to (3) classrooms for training and (4) hotels for teams who want a day or twos planning within a longer series of activities. The institution had recently built a new Theatre block recently inaugurated by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and was also in the process of building the South Wests only Digital Performance Space and Recording Studio. ...Thus, a simple and straightforward, yet adaptable and customisable, iLab could be combined with other facilities and amenities within the institution to provide a Hub: (1) for presentations, to host innovative events, (2) as a base for innovative teaching, (3) to encourage ground breaking research and (4) as a base for creative problem solving, planning and design activities to be undertaken by local businesses. The author also noted that by providing such simple and yet flexible and customisable Hub, for such a diverse range of activities, it would be possible to both tap appropriate regional funding and also to subsidise the facility by running the installation as a commercial venture. In short, a simple and customisable iLab design is one that enables a creative iLab manager to plan a wide variety of activities, and thus yield benefits to many people, and in so doing, maximise a return on investment for the host institution.
Pictures of the Royal Mail iLab downloaded from the UEA web site.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 12

Mind Your Brain

A key theme within this document has been that an iLab is a mix of: (1) New Mind Technologies, (2) traditional facilitation techniques and (3) a customisable space that can: (i) provide an appropriate ambiance to elicit specific states of mind and (ii) provide the physical means to externalise and express ideas in a large format. But what does all this mean, in terms of how a lab might enable users to think more effectively?!?... In answer to this question, the following notes summarise a number of book length texts available for download from the web site circle-of-excellence.com. The notes present a simplified model of the human mind and discuss how various iLab techniques and technologies might be used to encourage a range of thinking skills, and also be used to enhance the power of various parts of the human brain. In essence, the human brain, as a whole, can be thought of as containing three separate mini-brains, which only marginally communicate with one another. Each mini-brain is located in a separate part of the skull and is specialised, utilising different forms of thought, and is thus optimised for different tasks. To caricature theseimagine three mini-brains, using the labels: lower brain, right brain and left brain. Lower Brain The lower brain is physically located in the low centre of the skull. And, it consists of those aspects of the brain that are integrated directly into the central nervous system. Thus, the lower brain represents those parts of the brain which control all the bodys many subconscious and subliminal processes, such as heart beat and respiration, and also represents the parts of the brain which controls the release of the chemicals and hormones that we experience as emotion. On the positive side, the lower brain can process huge swathes of information from the senses, and often comes to fast, snap decisions, which the other two parts of our mind can often only sense and understand in vague terms. This is important because once the lower brain makes a snap decision, it will tend to do its best to pull the more conscious aspects of the mind into line with its conclusions. For example: (1) it is the lower brain that is responsible for phobias, in which people feel fear, even when they rationally know they are safe. (2) It is the lower brain that hypnotists, like Derren Brown and Paul McKenna, can influence because the pull of emotion is often so great that other, more conscious, parts of the mind would rather rationalise feelings as being appropriate than seek to work against what feels right. And, (3) it is the lower brain that a martial artist influences when s/he psyches out an opponent. But more importantly, from our perspective, it is the lower part of the brain that can sense the emotional tone of a space and it is the lower part of the brain that we can utilise very productively, if only we give it a chance to relax enough to allow innovative and intuitive inspiration to bubble up to the surface in replacement of habits, fears, and prejudices. For the lower brain has far more processing power than the other brains combined....By a factor of several million! If the notion of emotional tone and the notion of setting the mood sound too vague to be taken seriously, it is worth realising that light-weight EEG machines can now be bought to quantitatively test the degree to which the shape of a space, the colour of a lighting array and the use of ambient sound in a room can be combined to affect the inner workings of the human mind. Thus, as stated previously, there is now a swathe of information and research available via Google, if you use the key terms: Mozart Effect, Hemisync, Holosync, Binaural Beat, Monaural Beat, and Isochoric Tone.
If you want to understand the degree to which the lower brain affects decision making, view videos of work by hypnotists Derren Brown, Paul McKenna and martial artist Chris Crudelli.

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One reason that we need to get the lower brain to calm down is that, while that part of the mind processes information really quickly, it does not always do so very accurately. For example, the lower brain can react to a facial expression that traverses a face in a few hundredths of a second, a speed which the conscious mind has no hope of equalling. But, the speed comes at a price. The price is that the lower brain can pump out chemicals which cause us to feel good or bad in fractions of a second, but only has the intellectual capability of a six or seven year old. And the more agitated and stressed and anxious individuals become, the more they begin to act out like six or seven year olds. Which is not good when adults are making decisions that affect large numbers of people and the future allocation of large amounts of money and resources. Another reason that we need to help people relax into decision-making is that all groups contain a group dynamic, and in many groups the dynamic is so emotionally changed and politicised that issues between individuals and the interests that they represent can easily undermine the potential success of group, as a whole. For example, imagine a research committee with six million pounds of grant money to give away and twenty million pounds worth of claims for funding. Someone will win and someone else will lose. Unless ways are found to manage these kinds of encounters, they can either descend into outright battles or into the boring rubber stamping of decisions that have already been made elsewhereand which no individual feels able to comment on, without fear of repercussions. Thus it is that psychologists have found that in a classic meeting, the leader will speak for half the time, whether they have anything worth saying or not. The second in command will speak for the next half of the timeand so forth. Thus, most people in a meeting of twelve will only be present to listen and not to contribute. It is no good complaining of poor leadership. The problem is that individuals with good ideas are held back by the psychological dynamics of face-to-face interactions. It is a rare group in which this dynamic does not occur, for if a leader specifically decides to take a back seat and listen, the hardwiring of the human brain will act to gradually erode his or her perceived authority. A classic Catch-22 situation! Be seen to be a leader and make blinkered decisions or listen to subordinates and lose the authority to direct the future course of the group. Compounding the problems caused by the need for leaders to speak for a good proportion of any meeting, individuals in an established group will have a perceived role within the group, as well as a perceived place within the overall hierarchy - or pecking order. While one would hope that the role of each individual would correlate with the cognitive and social strengths of that person, in reality it would be nave to think that this is the case. In addition, since individuals with a higher status often have greater demands on their time, whilst a meeting may revolve around their deliberations and comments, they may be the least informed to speak. All of which bodes ill for group forms of decision making, which may have something to do with the many crises faced by society in the modern world.
One of the problems of group work: talkative leaders, internal politicking, one-up-man-ship and roles that do not reflect each individuals social and cognitive gifts and abilities. All these were documented by Machiavelli, the first person to write a manual on how to subvert politics, in the 1500s. Thus, they are behaviours that have been a recognised part of human behaviour for at least 500 years.

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The infrastructure of an iLab seeks to provide an antidote to the weaknesses of face-to-face groupwork in a number of ways. First, the environment is specifically different from any other space in which the group will have met, and, bizarre as this may sound, a change of environment allows for a greater flexibility in roles as people reframe their relationships with one-another. As evidenced by the work of hypnotists like Derren Brown and Paul McKenna, expectations play a great influence on emotion, which has a huge impact on behaviour. By entering a novel space in which the expectation is for people to work in a specific and unusual way, many groups experience a new and more productive set of working relationships emerging. Hence the importance of a relaxed space in addition to a more formal space. It is often a standing joke that frequently the most important meetings at a conference take place in the break times, and an iLab embodies this concept by setting part of the work space within a zone modelled on the kinds of places where people like to relax. It is also a standing joke in many biographies and autobiographies that the best ideas occur in relaxed surroundings and are therefore scribbled on restaurant napkins. True to a desire to replicate the surroundings in which innovation takes place, almost all surfaces in an iLab can be written on, so that a good idea is not constrained by the space offered by the back of a napkin . Last, and certainly not least, is the way in which iLabs use software in support of group brainstorming and other group thought processes. Services like faclitiate.com provide a virtual environment in which every participant can be anonymised. With everyone equal, no one needs to promote themselves and in fact is specifically not able to do so. Experience indicates that hundreds of ideas can be generated in a matter of minutes. In a few more minutes, ideas can be clustered and the clusters rated, again anonymously. Possible ideas can be mooted, and again anonymously rated. After an hour or so, the results of a faclitiate.com session are a set of possible ideas for a group to transform into a viable course of action. Here sub groups might work on aspects of the practicality of different plans, using a variety of software designed to support creativity or by using analytical techniques, such as Soft Systems Analysis or Scenario Planning. A couple of hours later, sub groups can present their findings and, using facilitate, a final plan can be settled upon. Thus, by using technology to greatly reduce the interference garnered from politicking, groups can come up with creative and innovative ideas in hours, instead of days, weeks or even months.
The facilitate.com web site.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 15 Here we see community brainstorming using Facilitate, from Facilitate.Com. The ability to undertake anonymous brainstorming. combined with anonymous sifting and voting (of ideas generated) is a key attraction to many groups visiting an iLab for the first time.

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Right Brain As a generalisation, next in the hierarchy of the human brain is the right hemisphere. This is the part of the brain which is responsible for our conscious thoughts in which we process patterns from our five senses. So whether you are enjoying a painting, a musical composition, a dance, a gourmet meal or a walk through a fragrant garden, you are engaging with the right hemisphere. Indeed, you are also engaging with the right hemisphere if you are recalling any of these activities, or dreaming about engaging with said activities in the future. In short, the right brain is the centre of the imagination. Computationally, making sense of a pattern is difficult to do and so, like the lower brain, the right hemisphere sacrifices intellect and verbal reasoning powers for speed and efficiency in image processing. In this case, the intellect and verbal reasoning powers of the right brain might be equated to those of a teenager. Used appropriately, the influence of right brain imagery on decision making can be significant, particularly when making use of various forms of visual imagery. Most humans can scan a visual image very quickly and extract information from that image at both a conscious and a subliminal level. This is why, since the rise of cognitive psychology in the 1950s and 60s, a huge number of techniques have been devised to tap into the power of the right hemisphere of the brain, from Concept Sorting and Mind Mapping, to Scenario Planning and Flow Diagramming. For many people, visual forms of representation firm up intellectual ideas in a way that few other media of expression are able to do, expect perhaps for some forms of virtual reality. Thus, it is that because of the power of visual forms of representation that iLabs cover many of their walls and much of their furniture with surfaces on which it is possible to write and draw diagrams using a dry-wipe marker. Wherever you are, you can jot down ideas and focus conversation with diagrams, ranging in sophistication from doodles and sketches to Semantic Nets and Gantt Charts. These diagrams can then be digitally photographed and thus prepared for distribution on a CD ROM. In this way, the right brains pattern matching skills help individuals and groups to model holistic aspects of a discussion, and then enable individuals and groups to intellectually home in on specific aspects of the wholethus helping right and left brain to work more effectively in partnership. Here it is worth noting that because of the power of various forms of visual representation to help left and right brains to work in partnership, many people have designed and developed computer applications to assist people in thinking visually. Armed with a laptop or a tablet pc, visitors to an iLab can use these applications (or their commercial equivalents) to generate ideas, firm up models and then explore how to render those ideas and models into the form of a viable plan of action.
For those who have not previously experienced visual forms of representation, the following is an example of a Mind Map....

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 17 Zero Tech: Check out the Idon Kits which work in conjunction with Idon Software, and which have been in use since the late 1980s. Arguably 1980s conference rooms plus hexagon kits can be considered the forerunner to what we now term an iLab. (See http://www.idonresources.com)

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 18 Zero-Tech: Highly skilled graphic facilitators, with a flair for design, use computer display equipment and large white boards to create cartoon representations that focus group discussion.

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Zero Tech:
Some examples of the work of Graphical Facilitators. Imagine Rolf Harris meets Einstein and you have the idea. There are lots and lots of examples of work like this on the web, which shows how physical drawing plus some kind of digitation process can make for a powerful combination.

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Zero Tech:
You do not have to be an artist to make use of graphical forms of representation. Here we see a mind map drawn by members of a teaching union and another drawn by a group of museum managers.

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Low Tech:
ImaginationCubed (top) and Ajilix Scribbler (bottom) are free and are great to use with a pen input. If you have it, the pen input in PowerPoint is also very useful. Other useful pen applications include DabbleBoard and MS Journal.

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Low Tech:
cMap Tools (top) is free and can be used to draw Concept Maps in the form of Semantic Nets. And while on the subject of Semantic Nets, the online service, TheBrain (middle), can also come in handy. The author also like the ease of use associated with the free online tool Bubbl.US (bottom).

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Low Tech:
eDraw MindMap (top) is free and can be used to draw simple Mind Maps, while a low cost version of the same software, eDraw Max (middle), can be used to draw all manner of diagrams. For power users, Mind Manager (bottom) is commonly used by businesses, who make extensive use of mind maps

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Low Tech:
Gantt Project and a variety of free and low cost spreadsheets (top) can be used to create Gantt Charts in planning sessions where the aim is to generate a rough and ready timeline. Or if you need commercial level planning tools, then JVC Gannt and MS Project (bottom) are worth considering.

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Low Tech:
Screenshots from the free Gantt Chart editor, GanttProject, showing who will do what, where and when.

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Low Tech:
For structured notes taking and logging in a verbal format, as opposed to a graphical format, WikiPad (top) provides a free desktop solution that generates a hyperlinked wiki, akin to Wikipedia, (middle) NeoMem is advocated by some people who have to manipulate structured lists and EverNote (bottom) is advocated by people who make extensive notes and then need to be able to locate specific terms in those notes.

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Low Tech:
Skype , GoogleDocs , FreeBrainstorm , SimpleGroupware , DimDim , Adobe Connect (variable license), and Facilitate (variable license) all provide a range of tools to help a group of people to generate ideas and to coordinates dates and times for who will do what, where, when and how.

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Medium Tech:
Network a series of complementary devices together. A well configured TabletPC from Acer (left). Unhook from the mains with external batteries from MaxPower (right)

A plasma screen with interactive overlay from SmartBoard (see articles at SmartTech).

For breakout groups, large LCD screens with interactive overlays provide an attractive option. As an example of the best in this class, see the Wacom 21 interactive LCD artists tablet, called Cintiq.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 29

Medium Tech:
Use networks to share workspace using NetOps and LogMeIn. And wifi media receivers, like AirVideo, the Plextor PA15A and the DLink DSM330, to share a single interactive white board between several people

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High Tech:
FakeSpace already produce 3D work environments for iLabs who possess a large budget.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 31 High Tech: French aircraft manufacturer Dassault used all manner of work group technologies, 3D visualisation, simulation, augmented reality and virtual reality to co-ordinate development and massively cut production costs and time to production for their recent aircraft, the Falcon. No physical mock-ups were required before the first test flight and with every step of production simulated beforehand, costs were halved. This is the direction in which manufacture is heading. (See BBC Click Online article).

One system used by Dassault is named CATIA (Computer-Aided Three Dimensional Interactive Application). The following are some examples of the output from such a system.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 32 The future for High Tech visualisation: 3D desks, akin to those used by Tom Cruise in the movie Minority Report. (Below is some concept art associated with the movie).

Below are a couple of 3D workspaces that are currently available from FakeSpace.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 33

Left Brain The final component of the brain is the left hemisphere, which can be considered to be the seat of the conscious intellect. This component is used when there is a need to verbalise and to focus in on detail. When caricaturing this aspect of the mind, think of Mr Spock from Star Trek, or Sherlock Holmes from the genre of detective fiction, or think of a pedantic professor, or a lawyer ploughing through case law. However, surprisingly, do NOT think of the most brilliant scientists of the twentieth century, such as Einstein or Tesla, whose thought processes have been modelled by psychologists and been found to be largely visual / visual-kinesthetic in nature. Of course they used their left brain intellect, but the great breakthroughs for which they are renowned emerged from out of their visual imagination and their ability to dream. In short, that is why an iLab focuses so much upon enhancing and the harnessing power of the lower and right hemispheres. But that does not mean that the left portion of the brain is ignored. A good facilitator will have a number of protocols that they use to guide visitors to an iLab through the use of all aspects of their mind, from intuition and emotion, through creativity and innovation, to the application of logic and the ability to accurately verbalise a final plan of action to others. As the famous saying goes, a picture says a thousand words, but if you give someone a picture, you may also need to tell them to which thousand words the image refers. Here all manner of visual representations help, by linking and exploiting the right hemisphere in support of the left, using Gantt Charts, Flow Diagrams, State Diagrams and (in the field of technology) UML. Thus, an iLab takes into account that we need all segments of the brain to be working in harmony, if we are to bridge the mental gap between having a good idea and being able to transform that idea into a viable plan that someone else can understand and follow. In addition, an iLab also needs to provide the tools for reviewing grand concepts and good ideas, in order to add detail to the mix. Here, the UCP Marjon iLab has often made use of the following: (1) spreadsheets, such as Excel or the free spreadsheet that is a part of the free office package Open Office, in order to undertake budget projections, (2) the editing and review facilities in MS Word in order to add comments to documents, (3) a variety of ink plug ins for Office in order to add pen comments to documents, (4) Google Docs in order to enable ease of editing by a group of people, (5) eDraw or similar applications to generate UML and flow diagrams, (6) a variety of the Gantt Charting software already discussed to generate a detailed plan of action.
Use an interactive board as a focus for group discussion and the editing of details in important documents.

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Low Tech:
Use an interactive whiteboard to focus editing and review of an important document. In addition, remember that MS Word can be used to add comments for later review. And that there are downloadable applications that enable ink input to be added to a variety of applications. Examples being: NoteateIt, InkGesture and Teo 3.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 35

Low Tech:
Products like the EPS digital pen, the Fly digital pen, and DuoSense screens are making it ever easier to add touch and pen inputs to standard laptop computers.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 36

Medium Tech:
Use a set of networked laptops and a large interactive white board to enable group input to a word processed document or spreadsheet.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Page 37

Conclusions
The iLab concept represents an approach to creativity and innovation that intermeshes New Mind Technologies, traditional facilitation techniques and the use of a customised and customisable space to place clients into an appropriately relax mood and into an appropriate state of mind for: discussion, problem solving, design, planning, decision making, research, presentation and teaching. Within the space, you can use ZERO Technology approaches to group work, such as Concept Sorting or Mind Mapping or De Bono DATT or Six Hat Methodology. And, you can just as easily use HIGH Technology approaches to group work, such as the use of anonymous brainstorming over a computer network. And you can also use many options in between these extremes. Specific software worth noting includes: (1) ImaginationCubed (0), DabbleBoard (0), InfiNotes (0) and Microsoft Journal (0) for scribbling down ideas in a graphical format, (2) WikiPad (0) NeoMem (0) and EverNote (0) for scribbling down ideas in a verbal format, (3) cMap Tools (0), TheBrain (0) and eDraw Mind Map (0) for concept mapping, (4) Bubbl.US (0), MindMeister (0), FreeMind (0), iMindMap (80+) and Mind Manager (200) for DeBono-like mind mapping, (5) Gliffy (0), DrawAnywhere (0), eDraw Flowchart (40) and eDraw Max (70) for flow charting and UML, (6) OpenProject (0), Gannt Project (0), Timeos (0), Excel planning templates (0-50), JVC Gannt (90) and MS Project (400) for Gantt diagrams, (7) Skype (0), GoogleDocs (0), FreeBrainstorm (0), BrainReactions (0), SimpleGroupware (0), DimDim (0), Adobe Connect (variable license), and Facilitate (variable license) for online brainstorming, collaborative editing and virtual meetings, (8), NotateIt and Meanders Annotator for adding hand written comments to applications that do not normally support ink and (9) and NaturalReader ($0) or TextAloud ($29) for help with proof reading...with additional Natural Voices available at around $20 each. So consider an iLab to be like an empty stageit is ultimately the skill of the producer and director of a show to bring together all the elements and weave a magical event Good facilitators can progress groups between low-tech and high-tech activities, depending on the aims and objectives of that group. Sometimes a group may use technology extensively, other times they may not use anything more complex than a dry wipe marker pen. This brings us to the final aspect of a successful iLab the use of space. In a good iLab, the shape, composition, imagery, artwork, lighting and sounds to be heard in the space will have been carefully crafted to elicit a specific mental and emotional response, which is congruent with the work to be undertaken. The best iLabs are those which have the sophistication to be able to alter the mood and mental focus in a room, with minimal effort and with subtle effect.
Remember: the ultimate raison detre for an iLab is to help groups of individuals to work together to make better decisions. In support of this objective, an iLab should contain a mix of technology, facilitation resources and customised space, appropriate to the clientele who will be visiting the facility.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix A: Page 38

Appendix A:
Examples of how an iLab might be utilised in an Institute of Higher Education
To some people it is not immediately obvious how an iLab might enrich the life of an academic community. However, this attitude reminds me of a sequence in the movie, The Life of Brian, when the character played by John Cleese asks the assembled revolutionaries What have the Romans ever done for us? Cleese is asking a rhetorical question, not expecting to be given a long list of accomplishments. The same is true when the question What can an iLab do for us? is asked in the same rhetorical tone. Well, theres the commercial income, raising money for upgrading facilities in various academic departments, the commercial spin offs, the links with local businesses, the possibilities to be positioned at the forefront of an exciting field of research, getting students to think about learning and decision-making in a new way, pulling in research funding and sponsorship, using the facility to make our own better management decisions, links to local schools who are the source of the students whom we teach and raising the profile of the college in the local press ...So not much then (!?!). The pages that follow present some ideas for the use of an iLab in a modern college or university, in which degree level studies are taught. The ideas derive from discussion and from practical experimentation by the author and by colleagues working at the University College of Plymouth, St Mark & St John, 2006-2008
John Cleese asks the wrong question in the movie: The Life of Brian. What have the Romans ever done for us?

As anyone who has seen the film will know, he gets an unexpected answer Welltheres the aqueducts

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix A: Page 39 A vision for a future in which an iLab acts as a catalyst for other college projects #1 of 10. The core work of a college or a university is helping students to obtain the best qualifications for which they are able. An iLab can contribute to keeping the college at the forefront of teaching quality by providing a service to subject groups who wish to innovate.

A vision for a future in which an iLab acts as a catalyst for other college projects #2 of 10. An iLab is an ideal venue for innovative teaching and for imaginative student work. For example a number of UCP Marjon drama students are already considering the use of iSpace to plan scripts and to stage performances.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix A: Page 40 A vision for a future in which an iLab acts as a catalyst for other college projects #3 of 10. An iLab provides an ideal venue to host events associated with extra curricula student challenges. For example, in 2007, a student team from Marjon won a national award for entrepreneurial innovation, using ideas that they initially generated within an iLab session.

A vision for a future in which an iLab acts as a catalyst for other college projects #4 of 10. Marjon tutors have found that by holding recruitment and prestigious events within the iLab, and by utilising the lab in conjunction with other college facilities, such as our premiere Digital Performance Studio, UCP Marjon is able to project the forward facing image to which it aspires. People go wow. Post graduate taster sessions held in the lab have vastly increased recruitment on some professional develop courses.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix A: Page 41 A vision for a future in which an iLab acts as a catalyst for other college projects #5 of 10. A college or university can only remain successful if it can be seen to be at the leading edge of expertise. It is through local press coverage of innovation, along with networking with local businesses and local schools, that an iLab can be used generate word of mouth advertising that results in new applicants to degree-level courses.

A vision for a future in which an iLab acts as a catalyst for other college projects #6 of 10. In the next ten years, many 3D technologies will become well established. These provide all manner of opportunities to market iLab facilities to designers, architects and engineers. An institution that possesses an iLab can become a one stop shop for innovators wanting to progress from vague ideas to a set of detailed blueprints.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix A: Page 42

A vision for a future in which an iLab acts as a catalyst for other college projects #7 of 10. Imagine Augmented Reality tours coordinated via computationally powerful mobile phones. Tourists can put on a pair of Augmented Reality glasses, look out over historical parts of the city and have information and stories superimposed in their field of vision, read to them via discrete headphones, or transmitted to the display on their mobile phone. Augmented Reality promises to be the ultimate intermeshing of real and virtual worlds. It is also the technology which underpins advanced forms of modelling used by innovative designers and engineers. An iLab is an ideal venue to integrate augmented reality into planning and teaching activities.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix A: Page 43 A vision for a future in which an iLab acts as a catalyst for other college projects #8 of 10. With the intense interest accruing to sport in the UK, due to the 2012 Olympics, it is easy to imagine combining iLab activities with those of an expanded set of labs in Departments of Sport Science. It is also possible to envisage using an iLab in conjunction with a theatre or Digital Performance Space, in order to provide a comprehensive set of services to sports professionals, from event planning and personal mentoring, to biomechanical analysis and personal coaching. Here we see screenshots from the SportsCAD and Dartfish software applications, motion capture for a horse and rider from equinemechanics.com and video based biomechanical analysis of a golfing swing from golftek.com.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix A: Page 44 A vision for a future in which an iLab acts as a catalyst for other college projects #9 of 10. Many colleges and universities have links to medical schools and to medical research. Here it is worth noting that many of the analytical technologies used by sport scientists are also of use to many medical practitioners. Here we see gait analysis software. Biomechanical analysis can be important in the treatment of a wide range of common problems, one such being intense chronic back pain due to poor habits of posture, another being rehabilitation after injury. An iLab linked into other institutional facilities provides an ideal hub around which to organise work related to innovative research and commercial development, associated with medical and chemical industries.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix A: Page 45 A vision for a future in which an iLab acts as a catalyst for other college projects #10 of 10. Increasingly, the same motion capture technologies used in sport and in medicine can be utilised by media in the newly burgeoning industries related to digital animation. Motion capture technologies output their data in forms that can be imported into animation packages. This would make many physical modelling technologies useful both as a commercial enterprise and as a way to build up a reputation for an HEI, who would wish to be seen to possess leading edge teaching facilities related to sport, medicine and digital media. Here we see motion capture from simi.com, moves.com, pyos.com and a crew filming Tom Hanks. Imagine college iLab facilitators collaborating with media colleagues to provide a range of services in which movies can be planned and special effects prepared. Plus, there is a huge potential market growing for clipart movement that can be plugged directly into animations, which could be spun off into a separate commercial enterprise.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix B: Page 46

Appendix B:
Examples of how an iLab might be utilised by a business, government department or research group
Commercial uses for an iLab: Strategic Planning #1 of 10 The media are full of stories of plans that have gone awry because of poor strategic planning. An iLab enables more aspects of a plan to be reviewed and enables better plans to be generated, all in a shorter period of time. It is common for first time users of an iLab to be surprised by how much they achieve in a few short hours.

Commercial uses for an iLab: Innovative Design #2 of 10 The Western world now has to provide value added intellectual property in order to compete in the new global market place. Goods are now manufactured and improved in the East at a reduced cost. This means that in Europe and the US, there is a need to generate more innovation and to reduce research and development cycles to a minimum. As a bespoke place for encouraging a creative mind-set, an iLab can help in this mission.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix B: Page 47 Commercial uses for an iLab: New Perspectives #3 of 10 Sometimes when one looks at a situation from a new perspective, new opportunities emerge. For example, when 3M turned research into a failed superglue into the lucrative product that is now known by the world as the Post It Note.

Commercial uses for an iLab: Groundbreaking Research #4 of 10 As research becomes ever more sophisticated and expensive, an iLab provides an intellectual wind tunnel in which to explore new ideas and also explore the potential return on investment from pursuing those ideas.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix B: Page 48

Commercial uses for an iLab: Engineering Initiatives #5 of 10 New 3D display technology can be utilised in an iLab in order to enable engineers and designers to explore and explain novel new designs.

Commercial uses for an iLab: Media Scripting #6 of 10 Every Media, Marketing and Sales person that has ever set foot in the UCP Marjon iLab has gone wow and wanted to book it extensively. It is the ideal venue in which to generate creative ideas for media related products and services.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix B: Page 49

Commercial uses for an iLab: Eliciting client and /or stakeholder opinion #7 of 10 Before rolling out a new design, product or service, it is helpful to elicit client and stakeholder input at every stage of the processes associated with design and implementation. It is then easier to avoid catastrophes, such as the blunder which cost Coke hundreds of millions of dollars in the 1980s, when the corporation changed the ingredients, without finding out whether customers would accept the new brand.

Commercial uses for an iLab: Generating a consensus of agreement #8 of 10 By utilising a variety of groupware products, it is easy to explore various perspectives in a controversial or complex issue...and to generate solutions by which to mitigate controversies and complexities.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix B: Page 50

Commercial uses for an iLab: Risk Management #9 of 10 As financial scandals rock the world markets, it is worth noting that an iLab is an ideal place in which to ensure that the risks associated with a new project, product or service are properly managed.

Commercial uses for an iLab: Focus Group Feedback #10 of 10 Part of the marketing strategy of many new products and services involves the gathering of client feedback, via a focus group. An iLab provides an excellent space in which to use a variety of techniques to help members of a focus group reflect up and express their true attitudes, feelings and beliefs.

Copyright Dr Peter EH Smee, circle-of-excellence.com, 2009 Appendix B: Page 51

About the author

My name is Dr Peter EH Smee; and, I am a Learning and Development Consultant, specialised in the user experience design and delivery of new programmes of study and new educational technologies. Within this role, my key skills relate to: accelerated learning, innovation facilitation, leadership development, and the UI/UX design, programming and testing of innovative educational technologies; in support of: classroom teaching, systems modelling, knowledge representation, collaborative planning and digital communication. To date, I have acquired twenty years of award winning and award nominated success; connected with: (i) the client-centred scripting and presentation of face-to-face trainings; (ii) the coaching and mentoring of professional skills; (iii) the instructional design and authoring of blended learning solutions; (iv) the user centred design and programming of new systems modelling technologies; and, (v) the usability testing of new e-learning software. My most recent work experience includes:
One year, as a Commercial Trainer, conceiving and delivering workshops in business analysis and systems modelling; One year, as an Innovations Facilitator, facilitating team meetings in support of business analysis and systems modelling; Two years, as a Senior University Lecturer, conceiving and delivering courses related to presentation skills; Two years, as a Senior University Lecturer, conceiving and delivering courses in the design of educational technologies; Two years, as a Senior University Lecturer, conceiving and delivering courses in systems modelling and business analysis; Two years, as a Senior University Lecturer, conceiving and delivering courses in meeting facilitation and project planning; Two years, as a UI/UX Designer, conceiving and authoring nlp-based neuromarketing software; Two years, as a UI/UX Designer, conceiving and authoring resources in support of creativity and innovation facilitation; Two years, as a UI/UX Designer, conceiving and authoring resources to facilitate discussion and collaborative planning; Seven years, as a UI/UX Designer, researching innovations in accelerated learning and new mind technologies.

My background being: a Doctorate in the design of Educational Technologies; a Masters Degree in the design of Intelligent Computer Systems; a first degree in Sport Science and Dance, specialising in Performance Psychology; professional level certifications in: NLP, DHE, ETF, Psych-K, Reiki and Ericksonian Hypnosis; and orientation trainings in: Photoreading, Brain Entrainment, Biophysical Effect, Remote Viewing, Systematic Kinesiology, Bodynamics and Somatic Experiencing. In terms of what I might do for you: 1. Personal Coaching and Consultancy... I can provide you with personalised coaching, consultancy or mentoring, in my office in Basel, in Switzerland, or via Skype, over the web. For example, I can: (i) provide one-to-one mentoring on aspects of accelerated learning, creative thinking and leadership development; (ii) coach and choreograph public presentations; (iii) tutor research and report writing skills; (iv) advise on the structuring of an integrated long term programme of personal health and personal development; (v) deliver counselling related to stress, bullying, phobias, addictions or trauma; and (vi) contribute to the user experience design of new programmes of study and educational technologies. 2. Training Workshops... I am working with Anthony McCarthy, the Director of the Cross Border Banking Consultancy, based in Zurich, in order to deliver trainings in business analysis and systems modelling; for individuals and groups, working within Finance. Tony is a Senior Business Analyst, with over fifteen years of experience, heading up major international banking projects. Our training thus combines his experience as a commercial Business and Process Analyst, with my experience as a Learning and Development Consultant; the result being a view of business analysis and systems modelling that is unique. If you are interested, visit the BATTT.ch website, in order to find out more.