FX Talks: Review

And now a word or two from our sponsors... What did they think of the first FX Talks?

Delta Light
Victoria Clifton, Marketing Manager, Delta Light

Victoria Clifton, marketing manager, Delta Light

FX: What made you decide to get involved with FX Talks?
Victoria Clifton:
When we were approached to take part, it was an immediate ‘yes’. We loved everything about it – the calibre of speakers was high and varied, the TED-style concept, the venue. We knew that it would be a thought-provoking evening that would engage and challenge guests.

FX: Where does radical thinking come from? Is it down to team building or more to do with individual isolation?
Victoria Clifton:
That’s a little like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg! Radical thinking is effectively both – it comes from initial pioneers of a concept that changes the way that we do things, to the evolution of an idea. It doesn’t matter whether it is done by an individual or as a group; it is about the end result. We need to consistently change the way we do things in order to make reform.

FX: What can businesses and organisations do to encourage fresh thinking and innovative ideas that challenge or break the industry status quo?
Victoria Clifton:
Delta Light encourages an open forum from both inside and outside the company. The ability to use new technologies such as AR and VR, and 3D printing, allows for experimentation and expression.

FX: How important is it to harness ideas and practices from industries outside of our own, and what practical steps can be taken to achieve this?
Victoria Clifton:
It’s crucial – we all seek out inspiration through others and inspiration is all around us. Delta Light has harnessed this idea by collaborating with a group of remarkable individuals to develop a new lighting range for 2017 – OMA architects, lighting designer Dean Skira, and product and industrial designer Arik Levy. They were given free rein to design lighting that excites and inspires them. It is an honour for us to have their products within our range. Our in-house R&D team also produces new product collections every 12 months; this ensures that we stay ahead of the market by producing fittings with the very latest in technologies. We have innovation behind all our products and we respond quickly to market needs, ensuring constant evolution.

FX: What were the best bits about FX Talks? What inspired you or what made you laugh?
Victoria Clifton:
I loved all of the speakers; they all brought something unique to the table and left you musing over what they had said. It was an education. Personally, the most impacting was British environmentalist Jonathon Porritt talking about the alarming rate that the ice caps are melting. I know I am not alone in feeling that his talk both inspired and haunted guests.

Interface
Craig Frost, Sales Director (London), Interface

Craig Frost, sales director (London), Interface

FX: What made you decide to get involved with FX Talks?
Craig Frost:
Interface is committed to redefining what it means to be a sustainable business. That’s why we wanted to take part in the FX Talks to highlight the importance of combining radical thinking and crossindustry collaboration in achieving this. It was the perfect platform to discuss the way radical thinking can help transform and revolutionise the existing industrial landscape, and help achieve a common goal for all – a more sustainable future.

FX: Where does radical thinking come from? Is it down to team building or more to do with individual isolation?
Craig Frost:
Radical thinking can only be truly achieved through collaboration. The sharing of knowledge, experience and expertise allows boundaries to be pushed further than ever before. When implementing an idea – no matter how far-fetched or realistic – sourcing support from like-minded partners and peers can make it much more effective.

FX: What can businesses and organisations do to encourage fresh thinking and innovative ideas that challenge or break the industry status quo?
Craig Frost:
For Interface genuine, radical innovation includes spearheading sustainable ways of working. To achieve this, employees must be given the freedom to challenge longheld perceptions and break traditions that are the norm for a business. By looking at completely new ways of working with a restorative vision in mind, and giving staff the opportunity to question current practices, major breakthroughs can be made.

FX: How important is it to harness ideas and practices from industries outside of our own, and what practical steps can be taken to achieve this?
Craig Frost:
Cross-industry collaboration is vital. By working together, businesses up and down the supply chain can pool resources and share vital insight to address a wide range of manufacturing and supply-chain challenges.

These collaborations can come in the form of research bodies and partner organisations, or forward-thinking companies that share the same common goal, whatever that may be.

One great example of a successful Interface partnership was with Shark Solutions. PVB (poly-vinyl-butyral) is a laminate material found in car windscreen glass that prevents it from shattering, and is a common waste element from the automotive industry. Shark Solutions specialises in recycling the product, and worked with us to look into the potential use for PVB in the flooring industry. This collaboration has resulted in the development of an innovative solution that extracts PVB from glass, refines it into dispersion, and acts as a precoat to fix yarn to the backing compound when manufacturing Interface flooring.

This innovative thinking has eliminated the need to source virgin latex for the company’s operation, thus making the supply chain more efficient. In addition, waste to landfill has been minimised for the automotive sector – an achievement for both industries.

FX: What were the best bits about FX Talks? What inspired you or what made you laugh?
Craig Frost:
It’s very difficult to choose specific highlights as the line-up was excellent. Tim Hunkin was delightful, funny and understated with brilliant insights into people and our society. As always, Michael Pawlyn was extremely thought-provoking, and his insight into using nature and natural forms to produce beautiful and creative designs for the built environment was inspiring. And Jonathon Porritt balanced the current global environmental issues with an uplifting view of what can still be achieved – and highlighted the fact that the opportunity to radically shift is still in our own hands.

Kohler
Mark Bickerstaffe, Director of New Product Development, Kohler, and Paul Caneparo, Strategic Accounts Director for global projects EMEA, Kohler

Mark Bickerstaffe, Kohler

FX: What made you decide to get involved with FX Talks?
Paul Caneparo:
Our strategic direction as a brand is increasingly targeting top architects and designers, which is why we were delighted to become involved. One of Kohler’s guiding principles is innovation, so the concept behind FX Talks is definitely aligned with our brand.

FX: Where does radical thinking come from? Is it down to team building or more to do with individual isolation?
Mark Bickerstaffe:
Radical creativity needs radical freedom. There aren’t any easy rules as to how. But I’ve been reading and experimenting with using expert teams of the vital few people who have the best attitude and experience, to whom you give the space and time – this versus a trendy crowd-sourced alternate. I’m a firm believer that radical innovation is as much about the willingness to hear and value it as the ability to create it.

FX: What can businesses and organisations do to encourage fresh thinking and innovative ideas that challenge or break the industry status quo?
Mark Bickerstaffe:
Insight starts everything. Understand what’s current state of the art. Not just status quo, but who leads and why. Then drill down to first principles. Get to the root of ‘why?’ Pick people who are innovators and not laggards in their behaviours and trust them to expand on what is possible. Resist the temptation to critique and kill; nurture instead. If your organisation is unlike your eager audience, recruit an innovation panel formed of avant-garde or innovators in the space you see as your future and back them. At the most foundational level, you have to also try things and accept that failure is a critical thing. You have to choose to learn from it and keep going rather than give up at the first hurdle.

FX: How important is it to harness ideas and practices from industries outside of our own, and what practical steps can be taken to achieve this?
Mark Bickerstaffe:
Lateral thinking; tech transfer is one of the key skills to leading innovation. Seeing parallels in the apparently disparate, as well as patterns and shifts. These are key to true leadership.

FX: What were the best bits about FX Talks? What inspired you or what made you laugh?
Paul Caneparo:
I loved Michael Pawlyn’s talk about biomimicry. It’s amazing how much inspiration he takes from creation. I look forward to seeing some of his stunning insights translated into new building concepts. He demonstrated real thought leadership in design.

Morgan Lovell
Colin Allan, Managing Director, Morgan Lovell

Colin Allan, Managing Director, Morgan Lovell

FX: What made you decide to get involved with FX Talks?
Colin Allan:
We jumped at the opportunity to sponsor FX Talks. It drew our interest because we feel an alignment to FX and its vision for spreading radical thinking. What other event brings together a biomimicry expert, a horse whisperer, a broadcaster who’s passionate about ageing, an inventor and an environmentalist to talk about what inspires them!

FX: Where does radical thinking come from? Is it down to team building or more to do with individual isolation?
Colin Allan:
Radical thinking comes from a desire to move forward, change and be different. In my opinion, it’s those with curious minds who are most likely to challenge the status quo because they’ve had the greatest exposure to other ways of thinking. Whether in isolation or surrounded by others, it’s always the inquisitive outlook that is rewarded with new ideas, innovations and (in our world) inspiring designs that transform workplaces.

FX: What can businesses and organisations do to encourage fresh thinking and innovative ideas that challenge or break the industry status quo?
Colin Allan:
The importance of your business environment and culture cannot be overstated. Creating spaces within the office that encourage collaboration, sharing ideas and even heated debate opens up the opportunity for original thought – and creativity breeds creativity. I loved what Monty Roberts said about shaking off the fear of failure and criticism. What a great lesson! Experimentation should be in our corporate DNA; it led to Monty’s success and without the willingness to learn from his mistakes, his journey wouldn’t be so inspiring.

FX: How important is it to harness ideas and practices from industries outside of our own, and what practical steps can be taken to achieve this?
Colin Allan:
In design, we must constantly look for stimulus from other fields and industries and it’s the responsibility of business leaders to lay aside prescriptive working. We can change our working worlds by giving employees freedom to explore – whether it’s by attending exhibitions or events, meeting with peers in vertical industries, buying subscriptions to different magazines or going to lectures. Nature, product design, homes, retail and leisure have all influenced offices already; the challenge now is to find the next new thought – we don’t have the answers yet but we might if we keep exploring.

FX: What were the best bits about FX Talks? What inspired you or what made you laugh?
Colin Allan:
All the speakers were fabulous. Monty Roberts encouraged me to embrace mistakes, Michael Pawlyn demonstrated how architecture can be an extension of the natural world, Tim Hunkin showed me that sometimes a little fun and madness goes a long way in finding creativity, and Jonathaon Porritt scared us all into taking heed and thinking carefully about our lasting legacy on earth.

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