This last week of being back from Florence has given me a chance to reflect a bit on he experience of not just being in a foreign country, but being in a completely different kind of physical environment. By that I mean, the city of Florence, or more specifically a city where I was walking everywhere. The origins of Florence date back to around 59 BCE. From that time, the city has continuously grown and evolved to what it is today.

When you look at a map of Florence, you see a lot of twisty and windy streets that are built with cobblestones and buildings that run almost right up against them. From an accessibility standpoint, it presents a lot of challenges as I saw people being pushed in wheelchairs with great effort (or pulling suitcases for that matter). But beyond that, there is a quaintness and opportunity to be in a place where there are more people moving around than cars. Moving freely in a way that was unencumbered by traffic, being able to explore and discover, feeling a certain kind of vibrancy rooted in antiquity but lived in modernity.

And now I am back in the exurbs, which has its own kind of design, whether it be intentional or just organic. Like Florence, homes and streets get built at different times. Some structures are destroyed and then rebuilt, green spaces created, land getting preserved, other land getting constructed. It is not just a dance of history, but also the presence or absence of intentional design.

To talk about designing cities, I welcome Itai Palti to the Experience by Design studios. Itai has a background in architecture and working as an architect. He also is the founder of the Centre for Conscious Design, “an international collective promoting the emergence of healthy built environments using Conscious Design principles.” Together they promote the Conscious Cities Movement, “a global movement that reimagines the built environment as an extension of ourselves and our communities.”

We talk about how architecture can be about community empowerment, creating environments and structures that bring people together rather than drive them apart. Itai talks about the decline of serendipitous connections, especially in cultures that de-emphasize community and prioritize solitude. Between those poles is the need to find compromise in how we build lived environments.

Itai also discussed the importance of using scientific insights into architectural design. We explore how architects need to balance client demands with their desire to create socially impactful design. Accomplishing this goal requires that more than architects be involved, leveraging the expertise from all disciplines to come together in constructive dialogue to combine knowledge to create better cities and communities. Thus, we talk about systems design as well, and how the built environment is a key element in experience design.

After being in Florence for only a few days, which was enough time to enjoy a walkable environment, that is something I can attest to.

Itai Palti on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itaipalti/

The Center for Conscious Design: https://theccd.org/

Conscious Cities Movement: https://theccd.org/conscious-cities/

I am back from my trip to Florence, and am covered in history. It is impossible to go to Florence and not be. Unless you are a college student who is doing study abroad and only know about Rafael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon and movie. It was kind of crazy to be able to walk around and casually see works of art from the 1300s. It is easy to say things like “Florence is the birthplace of the Renaissance,” but when you see it in person, it makes quite the impression. Staring at a Giotti or a Botticelli or a Caravaggio leaves a mark. Being able to walk streets or sit in piazzas, thinking about the centuries of footsteps that preceded puts one life in a certain perspective.

Speaking of perspective, I don’t know if anything quite prepares you for standing in front of David looming over the crowds. Perfectly proportionate but on a whole other scale.

It wasn’t just the past that was impressive, but the present as well. The artists who were working on the streets, showing their beautiful works in front of other beautiful works while people walked by in beautiful fashion. Beauty upon beauty upon beauty. While there, I even had the chance to take in a Mark Rothko exhibit, who interestingly enough was influenced by Renaissance art and visited Florence many times.

So much art, so many museums, so many ways to tell the story of this history.

This is why it is good timing to have Will Humphrey of the agency Sugar Creative on Experience by Design. Will started out as a fine artist, having his work exhibited as any artist would. His education combines degrees in Graphic Design and Communication as well as Molecular Genetics. Today he is the Director of Creative and Innovation at Sugar. At Sugar, he is part of a creative force that combines augmented reality, virtual reality, storytelling, and history together to bring the past into the present.

We talk about Sugar’s project on the American Revolution that will allow users to experience pivotal historical moments through interactive experiences. Will shared the inspiration he received from his grandfather, who developed anti-aircraft balloons during the Battle of Britain. We share our appreciation of video games, especially those with historical features and lessons, such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Will talks about how they are working with Ubisoft to combine gaming and history to make for immersive learning experiences.

Will shares insights from his work on geolocated experiences, highlighting the value of immersing oneself in a set of ideas and understanding the physical and historical context of a place. We also discussed how physical transformations, such as landfill in Boston, affect our understanding of history and the importance of considering the nature of a space in designing experiences.

We cover a lot of ground in this chat, which is about as much ground as I covered walking around Florence and its many museums.

Will Humphrey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willhumphreyuk/

Sugar Creative: https://www.sugar.agency/

By the time that you are listening to this, I should be in Florence, Italy visiting my daughter who is studying abroad. I’ve never been to Italy, and by extension of that I’ve never been to Florence, so there is going to be a lot to experience while there. Hopefully there will be some fun tales to tell afterwards!

Having stories to tell is different from being able to tell stories. It is an art to be able to tell a good story, one that not only keeps people engaged, but also transmits some knowledge or lesson as well. Stories are one of the best ways to share knowledge in a way that is relatable and impactful.

One of the things that I have learned from doing this podcast is that everyone has a story to tell. I also have learned that sometimes people need some assistance telling their story. That can be limited to just some conversational prompts on a podcast, or a longer-term mentoring about how to put those stories in writing.

I’ve long been interested in public scholarship, taking what I know as an academic and putting it into terms that a broader public can be engaged in. As an academic, I also know that my communication style has been heavily influenced by academic writing, which if you have ever tried to read that style you will know that it isn’t conducive to engagement. So you could say I needed a little help with telling my story.

That’s why I partnered with Eric Koester and his company Manuscripts. That’s also why I am having him as a guest on EXD today. Eric started Manuscripts from an experiment that he ran while teaching a college class. The assignment for all of his students was to write a book by the end of the semester. From that process came the idea of a larger effort to help people tell their stories, and that has resulted in 3500+ published authors, 350+ national and international award winners and finalists, and a 90% manuscript completion rate. I might add that Manuscripts also is a Certified B Corp!.

Eric and I cover a lot of ground in this conversation. We discuss the limits of modern-day education, and how to design more impactful learning experiences. A key is to connect with people’s interests and passions. Eric shares findings from his research on inflection points in people's careers, highlighting that substantive, collaborative projects are key to achieving such points. Eric emphasizes the need for projects that can be packaged and completed, such as a 12-episode podcast season or a 200-page book, rather than starting with smaller tasks like a blog or a single podcast episode.

Eric discusses the importance of systems in achieving goals, particularly in writing books and dissertations, and highlighted Manuscript's B Corp certification as part of its mission to empower underheard authors. We discuss the principles of creating knowledge movements and thought leadership through books. Eric explains that successful movement-driven books typically teach either a new type of person to aspire to be or a new type of action to aspire to do, emphasizing the importance of simplicity and intrigue.

And I can say for me that working with Eric and Manuscripts has been extremely helpful in getting me to tell the stories that I have been wanting to share.

Eric Koester: https://erickoester.com/

Eric Koestler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erickoester/

Manuscripts: https://manuscripts.com/

“Super Mentors: The Ordinary Person’s Guide to Asking Extraordinary People for Help”: https://www.amazon.com/Super-Mentors-Ordinary-Persons-Extraordinary/dp/B0B5Q6V6BB