John Cleere, Workshop Designer and Facilitator, Unmake
John Cleere is Director of Unmake, delivering innovation opportunities fast via collaborative workshops. Unmake helps companies align their strategic goals and the innovations on that journey.
Unmake has developed a Free Innovation Supercharger Guide that will take the pain out of kickstarting any innovation project, based on our battle-hardened innovation processes, proven to work. It’s short, concise and easy to read. Perfect for reading at your desk or even on your phone. Designed for busy professionals.
The outcome is building relevant digital products and services by de-risking ideas before investing time, money and resources. John also runs the Tech Thursday events and has spoken and presented at Kilkenomics, an economics and comedy festival.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Over the years, I think Twitter has served me well, sure there is a lot of toxic crap on it, but you don't have to allow it into your feed.
I have had some of my best belly laughs, book discoveries and finding people of influence through Twitter. I also like the fact that you can't post more than 280 characters. It keeps you succinct, a good practice for writing and clarity of thought.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
I don't really see it that way, advice is washy, yes it may look like great advice at the time, but does it really align with your goals and current standing? The advisors' current position heavily influences advice. The business world is now very dynamic and fast-changing, so I don't depend on advice.
Questions are much better than advice, the people that ask you the best questions give you the better council. The questions that make you feel uncomfortable are great. But, I guess the best question for me is, "Does the work you are doing now keep working for you when it's done?". Gets me every time.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
When I have a list of concrete and measurable goals that I can act upon. This gives me the formula for the inspiration to succeed. What drives me is the various outcomes such as personal growth, making a social difference, and the ability to travel. And, of course, creating value to generate income and keep the game alive.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
The independence gained by running my own business. Keeping that independence is never free; you have to take risks. Financial freedom requires even more risks but managing them much, much better. So, lots of risks still to take.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
There will be ups and downs. That's just the process. Enjoy the ride.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
Back to risk again; it's the basis of Unmake. Nassim Taleb's views on managing risk. Capturing opportunity through diligent 'trial with small errors' is the fundamental basis of human innovation rather than the collective knowledge of experts. It pretty much sums up how I see things and how we deliver problem-solving to clients.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
I started out in design communications, and now the focus is to help clients discover innovation opportunities fast via collaborative workshops. Being a designer really helped in this transformation. There is a lot of stuff online for free that will get you on the right track.
Advice wise, remove yourself from the echo chamber of your industry peers and 'Fisherian Runaway' practices that waste time and act as nothing more than pointless, time-consuming signalling. Instead, read more books that have nothing to do with your industry to create new ideas, connections and commonalities.
It will set you apart. There are some crazy and not so crazy opinions out there. You don't have to like the people, but there is always some kernel you can take away. It's like a tightrope, with different views on either side. Expose yourself to find the balance. This will keep you upright and moving.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
We use 'Notion' every day. I think they will be huge, and the tool will solve many problems for many industries. Probably the best product I have seen and used in years. 'Meet Butter' is a video conferencing tool that empowers facilitators like me to run interactive workshops. They have built an excellent product in a short amount of time and a fully remote startup from day one. Definitely, one to watch and a case study for future startups.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
I would define success as reducing complexity for clients; it comes from being a designer at heart. The most rewarding work is solving big hairy enterprise problems. I have learned that there are so many meeting and talk shops that get nowhere when trying to solve problems. But, it does not have to be that way. Structured, creative workshops are the future to align teams to get the most critical and valuable work done.