How experimentation broke the hamster wheel of conventional thinking
Squawk·a·thon \skwok-ə-thän\ noun
An event that brings
together marine bird scientists, design-thinkers, and technical developers to
innovate solutions for detecting and mitigating endangered bird bycatch on fishing
vessels.
Bycatch is the unintentional capture and killing of birds while fishing. According to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, endangered seabirds—like albatrosses and petrels—are caught inadvertently in fishing gear on the high seas. One of the leading causes of bycatch is when birds dive for the bait used in longline fishing.
Seabirds and shorebirds are some of the most threatened animals on Earth. They also depend on and contribute to healthy ocean and coastal ecosystems. The Packard Foundation’s Marine Birds team works to reduce major threats to seabirds. One of those threats is marine bird bycatch.
The Marine Bird team at the Packard Foundation had a clear and well-defined question they were trying to answer: How to better identify and track global seabird bycatch? And the team suspected that there might be some technological solutions they hadn’t considered.
This problem was perfect bait for a hackathon.
A traditional hackathon brings together computer programmers, graphic designers, interface designers and project managers to collaborate intensively on projects over the course of a day or a week. Sometimes the purpose is social or educational. Other times the goal is to actually build new software or hardware.
In Portland, Oregon, in September 2013, the Squawkathon brought together experts in the field of marine bird bycatch, fisheries experts, IT experts, graphic designers, user experience designers, conservation professionals, and academicians.
Their goal? To investigate creative solutions to the problem of seabird bycatch.
This was a multi-layered initiative, and there were different goals for each of the layers:
For the SquawkathonHack existing bycatch technology to improve areas such as technical architecture, software, timeliness of data delivery, data checking and error-correction, and automated data collection.
For the Marine Birds ProgramReduce mortality of seabirds, especially shearwaters and petrels, through reduction of bycatch. By doing so, help reverse the decline of seabirds in order to support the restoration of sustainable marine ecosystems.
For the Packard FoundationDevelop the Foundation’s arsenal of unconventional strategies for problem solving. Experiment with a way of engaging new and diverse perspectives in order to generate insight that might contribute to marine bird conservation. Specifically, the Squawkathon tested the concept of “design thinking” in its community-sourced problem-solving approach.
Designers have traditionally focused on enhancing the look and functionality of products. Recently, they have begun using design techniques to tackle more complex problems, such as finding ways to provide low-cost healthcare throughout the world.
Design thinking—inherently optimistic, constructive, and experiential—addresses the needs of the people who will consume a product or service and the infrastructure that enables it.
Design thinking allows high-impact solutions to bubble up from below rather than being imposed from the top.
– Tim Brown & Jocelyn Wyatt of IDEO
Events of this nature are essentially volunteer service, and fun branding can make a substantial difference in attendance. Context Partners and the Packard Foundation realized that they could get the marine bird experts to come, but they needed something to excite the designers and developers—the people who weren’t already invested in the issue. They went for creative branding and a message of doing good. As Scearce said, “it was about making a difference by applying their talent and having a good time in the process.”
Once they came up with the name—Squawkathon, a play on the more standard hackathon—the playful tagline and appealing graphic design followed: “A flock of nerds saving seabirds.”
The composition in the room was very different from what a science-driven organization like the Packard Foundation is used to: there were only 6 issue specialists to 20 hackers.
The tone of the event was also fairly unusual for the often-staid philanthropic sector—the Packard Foundation and Context Partners intentionally tried to make the Squawkathon fun. As the Squawkathon invitation said, “If you have design, programming, or project management chops, you can prevent the accidental death of marine birds. A monetary prize will be awarded to the winning team. Plus, there will be plenty of free food and beer.”
A group of marine bird experts introduced the problem, and then the room broke into strategic groups, with at least one science expert on each team to work with the “hackers.” Three teams presented their solutions in brief presentations at the end of the second day, and a panel of judges from the Packard Foundation and Context Partners designated a winner.
Team Fish or Foul developed a social change game for building a movement of conscious consumers and citizen supporters of “feather-free fisheries.”
Team HYDRA developed new streamer line technology to help keep streamer lines separated and in place. Streamer lines are attached to fishing boats to deter birds from getting to the fishing lines and getting caught.
Team Pelagic Longline Data Collection, the winner, proposed a suite of data collection and monitoring tools to capture, track, and share bycatch data via a “modular app.” The marine bird conservation community struggles with ineffective collection and tracking of bycatch data and the inability to verify the use of mitigation gear on fishing vessels.
The Packard Foundation was interested in coming up with new ideas to push the organization’s programs beyond conventional methods of problem solving and grantmaking. The purpose of the event was to brainstorm ideas, not to reach hard-and-fast solutions.
In that sense, having a successful Squawkathon—one that was well attended and proved fruitful in its thinking about a specific problem—was an achievement in itself.
“Maybe there is some light that has been shed; maybe we put together 300 pieces of a 3,000 piece puzzle,” said Stephanie Schlecht, former communications officer at the Packed Foundation.
“The big takeaway for me was more openness to non-traditional ways of meeting and learning,” said Myriah Cornwell, Marine Birds program officer at the Foundation.
The experiment was a success.
An article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review highlighted the Packard Foundation’s push for innovation.
By experimenting to source new ideas, organizations can take advantage of multiple opportunities for learning, including crowdsourcing information, testing a process or tool, and empowering the community to contribute to the solution.
– Meg Busse, Community Centered Designer for Context Partners
Wield your brand.
Experiment.
Listen first, talk later.
Report back.
Make it into what you want it to be. High quality branding makes a difference. Smart, creative branding drives traffic to an event, an initiative, or a campaign. It sets the tone.
Look to other fields for ideas. Design thinking, for example, can help foundations—and program staff—think through challenges when they are stuck, connect them to new partners, and help raise awareness for the problem within the community.
Communications is about both listening and speaking. The Squawkathon was a chance for the Packard Foundation to do both—to educate a community about a problem, and ask for ideas in solving it.
“When we use the Foundation’s convening power, it is typically used in a very orchestrated and controlled way,” said Cornwell, program officer at The Packard Foundation. “This was a clear departure from those conventions. It was closer to an ‘un-conference’ than your typical series of talking heads. It was really about coming together.”
Use internal communications to support organizational learning. Experimentation is all about learning, and it works best if you communicate about what you’ve learned so that the benefits are shared. In this case, the Packard Foundation gathered potential ideas for solving the problem of marine bird bycatch, and they also learned about a new tool—hackathons. Then the teams involved in the Squawkathon took their findings back to the rest of the organization through a hands-on staff-wide learning session and a brown bag lunch. They created a teachable moment.
Context Partners is a new type of design firm focused on community. They create relationships and dynamic human networks that help aspirational brands and causes succeed. Context Partners believes that understanding people and communities and leveraging the power of these relationships is the best way to help companies and organizations thrive.
