Steven McIlvenna:
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McIlvenna's sketch of Rodin’s 1886 Sculpture: The Fallen Caryatid. This metaphor represents the dignity, contribution and unrelenting resolve of our Elders, and of anyone who chooses not to quit on them, rather deciding to join in the repose and lift against the imposed socio-cultural weight; to then rise as we design forward, with empathy and a new narrative, such that we can all age with dignity, agency, grace & equality.
McIlvenna has been seeking insights into the underlying factors that lead to breakthrough innovation from several vantages; including the antithetical study of the many unnecessary failed efforts in new product development & company creation. His practice has recently been interrogating context & innovation opportunities surrounding the emerging “Elder condition”. The historically high rate of the Elder segment’s growth, and staggering relative magnitude in the coming years, appears to be on a collision course with our socio-cultural views of ageing, and agency, for our Elderly. From a practice focus, of particular concern is the vexing facet of physical falls amongst Elders﹣a fall can cause a cascading retrograde of an Elder’s life-system, even imminent death﹣leading to the question: can these generally preventable fall cascades be stopped before they even have a chance to begin?
From a research perspective, McIlvenna has dubbed the moniker ‘Applied Serendipity’ as an interstices to rally thinking on an applied process that can take advantage of a number of emerging findings about how breakthrough innovation happens between: methodologies; human processes & phenomenon; best practices; iterative combinatory play (infused with certain types of ‘mental-capital’) to purposefully find those creative leaps, or serendipitous chances, necessary to connect the seemingly unconnected. This is a particularly exciting time to tackle the problematic facets that can harm our Elder’s life-systems and life- goals: the fourth industrial revolution dawns, at the same time a deep vein of ‘mental-capital’ wealth must run through such a massive and growing Elder segment﹣leading to the question: how can this capital be tapped & invested, with directed purpose to assist with the ‘Applied Serendipitous’ process, to find problem-solution sets for complex & wicked problems, plus provide some Elder agency in the offering?
