November 20, 2014 by CallisonRTKL

RTKL’s Spark Week Ignites Ideas on Mobility

What happens when you put the collective brain power of 1000 creative minds to work on the same problem, at the same time, all over the world? The short answer:

Sparks fly.

Which was a good thing, since RTKL’s week-long innovation workshop called “SPARK WEEK” hoped to set the world on fire, metaphorically speaking, with fresh thinking on the pressing issue of mobility. We chose a topic that would present a relevant challenge to employees in all our offices, from Dubai to DC, from London to LA, and a topic that would encourage us to create positive change in our communities.

WHY SPARK, YOU ASK?

What possessed us to add an event like SPARK WEEK to the already time-challenged schedule of our employees? It’s simple, and you’ve probably heard it before: We truly want to think globally and act locally. In our day-jobs, we create solutions to urban design and architecture challenges on a global level, and yet we all long to help solve the issues we face right in our own backyards.

And so SPARK WEEK was born, giving RTKL employees a chance to do just that…collectively, creatively, crazily working together over lunch hours, after hours, and a few wee-hours, digging in to every aspect of mobility we could imagine.

WHAT’S SO MOVING ABOUT “MOBILITY”?

Admittedly, the topic was big…hard to get our heads around. But the question of how we move about our cities was also something that touches all our lives, from our own personal commutes to work, to the issues of social mobility we see on the fringes of our communities. And we all could agree on one premise:

Things have GOT to change.
Air pollution is rising at unprecedented rates. Our aging infrastructure is crumbling beneath us. Gridlock is becoming a semi-permanent condition; And the progress towards solutions seems to have also slowed to a crawl.

HOW DID SPARK WEEK IGNITE?

The word went out to the 1,007 employees across 9 RTKL offices in 4 countries around the globe.

“What can you do to improve mobility in your city?”

We left the details undefined, the format open and suggested new innovation strategies. Clarify goals. Discuss ideas without saying “NO!” Don’t be afraid to fail fast. Emphasize good ideas, not flashy presentations. We used brainstorming techniques with cool names like “Starburst” and “Walking Stick”. Lance Hosey, our Chief Sustainability Officer, wrote an Introduction to Innovation, a thoughtful guide that explained the difference between creativity (thinking differently) and innovation (doing differently).

Teams partnered up in every which way… some offices like Dubai, made one BIG team. Others assigned teams. Some self-selected random groups, which allowed people who didn’t regularly work together to make introductions, bond quickly and then get to work.

Each office invited guest speakers to kick off SPARK WEEK. In LA, we welcomed Diego Cardosa from LA Metro, Eric Bruins from the Bike Coalition, Will Baumgardner from Arup and Hillary Norton from FAST (Fixing Angelenos Stuck in Traffic). In DC, the panel included Colleen Hawkinson from DDOT, Rosalynn Hughey from the DC Office of Planning and Kelly Blynn from The Coalition for Smarter Growth. By all accounts, the conversations were lively, sometimes a bit shocking, always enlightening.

THE BEAUTY OF COMPRESSED TIME

We often referred to the tendency on any project for the work effort to expand to meet the time allowed. But a key to Spark Week is that we really only had a very small amount of time. With our heads full of ideas that ranged from the seriously blue sky to the sublime, our global teams discussed the meaning of local mobility and out-of-the box solutions to improve transit in our communities. And the small sparks took flight, igniting into incredible flames of thought that lit up our firm for an entire week.

A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

As we expected, no two offices experienced the issue of mobility in the same way. For some, the idea of social mobility drove the conversation. Others sought respite from the confines of the car. And as you might guess, social media became a great way to improve the commute.

There’s already talk about Kickstarter campaigns and external funding sources, so stay tuned to see where our amazing Sparks will land. Here’s a glimpse of the winning concepts from each office:

FROM SPARKS TO EMBERS… A FEW LAST WORDS

There are many things I love about working for RTKL, but one of my favorites if the fact that we actually get to do things like SPARK WEEK. From the beginning, the senior leadership endorsed this pursuit for thought leadership and involvement in our local communities. From there, it was nothing less than inspirational to watch the young design leaders of our firm passionately embrace the challenge, giving countless hours to the organization of a world-wide campaign. And finally, words can’t describe the amazing work produced in less than one week. I learned so much, I had fun, I was inspired and challenged, all because of our firms’ passion “to be the best, most innovative design firm on the planet” as Lance Josal always says.

I firmly believe that Spark Week helped move us closer to our goal.

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CallisonRTKL

For more than five decades, Callison and RTKL have created some of the world’s most memorable and successful environments for developers, retailers, investors, institutions and public entities. In 2015, our two practices came together under the Arcadis umbrella, expanding our sphere of influence and the depth and breadth of our resources. Our team is comprised of nearly 2,000 creative, innovative professionals throughout the world who are committed to advancing our client’s businesses and enhancing quality of life.