Exponential ick
We’ve been doing “scale” wrong
Next week I’m going to be in San Diego leading an immersive session on space travel as a mechanism for futuring, at the Sustainable Brands conference.
The topic emerged out of the synchronicity of realizing that the day of our session will mark 59 days since Artemis splashed down 59 miles from where we will be gathering.
And designing this little moment of dreaming into the future, by looking back from the stars, has had me thinking a lot about scale.
The word, and the concept of, scale has become synonymous with the large, the exponential, the so big it’s almost incomprehensible.
And scaling in this direction is the validation of success. Scaling reach, profit, users, growth.
But I think perhaps we’ve lost the plot.
Because the word scale doesn’t actually mean enormous. It is simply a relative term of measurement. The funny part of the internet, for example, religiously uses banana as its measuring stick.
Why, exactly, was the Artemis mission so emotionally compelling? These days, science rarely compels a cultural moment. So what was it about this particular event that captured our attention, and our collective consciousness?
Sure, in many ways it was grandiose, exceptional, awe inspiring. A set of big firsts.
But I don’t think it was those things, that scale, that made it captivating. It was what was happening at a much smaller scale.
The human moments — the crew naming a crater “Carroll” to honor the late wife of Commander Reid Wiseman, them getting woken up to Pink Pony Club in the morning. The intimacy that we were invited into with these humans doing this wild thing.
We have not evolved (yet) to process the quantity of information currently being firehosed into our brains. To hold the number of relationships our LinkedIn follower count tells us we have. To witness everything that is happening everywhere, all at once.
Looking back at all the conversations I’ve had over the past months, it’s clear that what we are all so desperately craving is the human scale.
The scale of relationships that we can meaningfully invest in, cherish, nurture, be seen, and actually known, in.
And so I want you to ask this — if you are asking your business to scale at all costs. Or if you are feeling like you should scale. Or equating scaling with success.
I want you to ask… what scale?
Reclaim scale not as a quantity only on the far right, large, big side of the spectrum, but simply as a relative measurement you get to define.
Ask yourself: The scale of what?
The scale of a neighborhood. The scale of your kid’s walk to school. The scale of a human body’s nervous system. The scale of a grove of trees. The scale of the number of people you can squeeze around your dining table. The scale of a morning.
Scale is not inherently bad.
But scale does not mean bigger, always.
Your assignment, should you choose to play:
What are you building? What are you dreaming up? What are you strategizing? What are you planning for?
Choose a different scale, if even for an hour of dreaming.
What does it change?
As always, tell me what you try.
Yours at the scale of number of humans I can hug in a day,
Olivia
P.S. Going to be at the Sustainable Brands Conference next week? Come find me!
Upcoming Studio Shenanigans:
📸 [CLUB] Workshop: “Creative Gym; Photographic Futuring.”
📆 Wednesday June 17th, 9 - 10:30 am PT
Experiences are how we shape the future, and as such experience design is an exceptional futuring tool.
On June 17th I’m running a workshop called “Photographic Futuring; New Experience Design Tools for Manifesting What Comes Next.” Inside it we’ll dive into 5 divergent tools to help you explore whatever question you’re chewing on, inspired by the world of photography.
So if you are feeling stuck, if you are looking for a way forward into the future, join us for a tangible process for gathering new nuance and insight.
This session is what we call a “Creative Gym.” Creative Gyms are our exclusive immersive Club workshops — one part new tool or framework to elevate your work, one part supported making time to push your projects forward.
Because your experiences deserve inspiration, and golden hours.
Join The Good Chaos Club for access to the live session, the downloadable tools, and the recording.
Plus, when you join you get access to all the other goodies in the Club — all the past recordings, monthly inspo drops, discounted coaching, and early access and member pricing for upcoming studio offers.
"the scale of number of humans I can hug in a day" 🥹🥹🥹