In this month’s Fast Company magazine, it covered the 100 most creative people in business.  After reading through some fascinating stuff, I came across an article on Graham Hill.  The 42-year-old entrepreneur launched LifeEdited, “a socially conscious real estate start-up.”  His vision is to help create living spaces that a small but multi-purpose.  His own apartment was the company’s first project; a 420-square-foot-room in which the living room turns into his bedroom, his office into a guest room, and the guest room into a dining room area.

“Making due with less” is brought to a whole new level!  As we talk in class of how business is continuing to change how it’s being done, such as Apple pushing for the 80/20 rule with employees to enhance creativity, and Toyota having a big event each year in order to bring new ideas, it’s imperative for us as business students to stay ahead  of the curve.  This new way of business could very well change how Project Managers typically work within companies; they could become more of the creative thinkers versus simply starting and finishing a project in entirety.  We will need to continue to learn about how not only our own industry is changing, but others.  We must think outside the box in how things can be done.  Another company covered in the article was CityGrit, a restaurant in New York’s Nolita neighborhood.  Due to high rent in the city, the own, Sarah Simmons, partnered with WRK, an interior design firm that uses the restaurant as a showroom.  Pretty cool huh?  Two companies working together within the same space!

I also enjoyed the article because of how it tied into a few things we spoke about in class.  Not to skip ahead, but looking into chapter 4, I do think that the article ties into Defining the Project Scope.  Being able to be flexible and creative in this area while looking at a company such as LifeEdited, a Project Manager who was working on a new multi-purpose apartment would need to apply this!  You would not only have to think of the overall lay-out, but also how you could alter each room in order to have it become a new room.  A project like this would take on many different professionals, which leads to different professions and deadlines, bringing back to what we worked on in the Rock’N’Bands game.

Looking at the CityGrit area of the article, actually shows two different cultures, coming back to some of the concepts discussed in Chapter 3.  More than likely since there are consultants and project managers working with WRK and CirtGrit, they must work together in order to ensure both companies move their goals forward.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3009434/most-creative-people-2013/49-57-urban-outfitters