Summer Fridays: Recap 1
Creativity in implementation
Last Friday, we kicked off our new Summer Fridays: Public Design in Practice series—an experiment in collective reflection and replenishment for people doing public-interest work.
Our opening theme: What if implementation was the most creative part of public work?
We often innovate in workshops or on whiteboards, but the real creativity emerges when our work meets the system. That’s where tension, possibility, and insight collide.
As one participant put it: “Implementation can be so hard, and there’s often a lot out of our control—and I’m excited about the prospect of making it more creative and collaborative.”
“All implementation has the possibility to be creative if we come at it with the right mindset.”
– Participant
Participants shared how creativity emerged when:
Tight guidelines became an opportunity to co-create better constraints.
Policy rollouts started with space for emotion and empathy.
“Rolling the ball uphill” sparked a need to shake up old methods.
We also named what gets in the way—fear of failure, siloed teams, outdated top-down models—and celebrated the courage of people leaving misaligned workplaces, starting new ventures, or showing up for themselves in new communities.
An abstract illustration of people in conversation, reflecting the collaborative spirit of the Summer Fridays series.
This week’s theme
Designing with—not for—communities.
We’ll explore what true co-creation looks like in practice and how we can stay accountable to the people we aim to serve.
Summer Fridays is open to public-interest practitioners across disciplines—designers, strategists, technologists, service stewards—and anyone interested in making our public systems work better for people.
Come as you are. Bring your curiosity. Leave with more than you came with.
