Monthly Archives: May 2010

The surprising truth about what motivates us

Posted by Marianne on May 31, 2010 – 20:42
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Or to rephrase: The surprising truth about what doesn’t motivate us, and the not so surprising truth about what does.

Where any kind of rudimentary cognitive skill is required, higher reward actually decreases performance. What actually drives us (when people are paid just enough to take money off the table as an issue) is:

Autonomy / the desire to be self directed (drives engagement)
Mastery / the urge to get better at stuff (challenge and mastery, and wanting to make a contribution)
Purpose / companies that are flourishing are animated by purpose. People are purpose maximizers.

The big take away: If we start treating people like people, and get past the ideology of carrots and sticks and actually look at the science – we can build organizations and work lives that make us better off while making the world a little bit better too.

What motivates you?

Bjarke Ingels: 3 Warp-speed Architecture Tales

Posted by Marianne on May 30, 2010 – 13:19
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My friend Inge posted this Bjarke Ingels’ TED presentation recently and I couldn’t resist blogging it here. Partly because I’m fascinated by the way BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) thinks evolution into architecture, and partly because we live in one of their buildings.

Last year, after witnessing an average of 3 summer tour groups per day and being subject to some less than subtle tourist photography while lounging at home in our underpants, we just couldn’t resist hopping on board one of the few tours actually hosted by BIG themselves – to hear what all the hubbub was about.

Odd as it was to step onto a tour bus at the Danish Architecture Centre and ride with the group back to our own front door – it was wonderful to finally hear first hand (from Kai Uwe Bergmann, architect and Director of International Business Development at BIG) what the thinking was behind not just our building, but several others in Copenhagen as well. BIG has a way of thinking more than the end product (the building) into their architecture – and you can feel that when you’re inside them. The light is different, the space breathes, and it feels alive. Outside is brought in, and there’s a great connection with the surrounding neighbourhood…  (and ok, maybe too great a connection with the tourists, but that’s another story).

Visit BIG’s website: http://www.big.dk/
Read more about VM Husene: http://www.cphx.dk/index.php?id=23878#/23878/

Human Spirit

Posted by Marianne on May 21, 2010 – 11:48
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We see what we have our eyes open to.

Every now and again you go through some odd phase – when people ignore you as you hold the door open for them (or even give you a look like you’re some kind of nut) and the grocery store cashier seems to think he’s doing you a huge inconvenient favour. A middle aged man cuts off an old woman in the line-up for ice cream and some idiot throws her trash on the ground 2 meters from a trash can. And you wonder what on earth is going on with people these days.

But then you have one of those great days for no reason – you can’t wipe the smile from your face as you ride your bike through the city – and you notice all the people that smile back. Someone gladly holds the door for you when your arms of full of grocery bags. You notice the person giving up their seat for the pregnant woman, the person who picks up a dropped glove for someone in front of them, and the dog owner who’s got 2 minutes to stop for a kid who wants to talk to his dog. Some small thing – that hits the reset button on your faith in the enormous goodness present in people and you go a long time with that happy feeling in your heart.

Maybe that’s why this video’s so appealing. It shows us that’s it’s there (in Denmark, everywhere for that matter) – that brilliant human spirit and inclination to give and spread some happiness. It’s not always this obvious, but it’s there if we choose to see it.

Happy Friday.

Recycling in CPH?

Posted by Marianne on May 10, 2010 – 07:54
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{Edit: After some research (Jan emailed the waste facility and asked them directly) – we’ve learned that while tin cans are sorted out of the trash (relatively easy with magnets, etc) “plastics are tougher and tend to go into the incinerator with the rest. It would of course be more environmentally friendly to sort them out beforehand,” said the waste facilities rep. Except that, like the vast majority here, we don’t have that option where we live. Genius.}

Can this be right? In one of Europe’s “greenest” countries, and in a city touting an aim to become the first carbon-neutral capital city by 2025 no less– we throw our plastic containers and aluminum cans in the *gasp* garbage bin?!

In Canada, we’ve had that one pounded into our ‘be a good world citizen’ list of no-no’s. But maybe I just haven’t seen the entire picture here – there are other ways of doing things after all, and Denmark doesn’t have the stellar reputation of being policy progressive when it comes to the environment for nothing, does it.

According to a document released by the Danish Ministry of the Environment called “Nature and Environment in Balance: Today and in the Future,” glass and cans constitute about 6% of all waste generated in Copenhagen and are widely returned for deposit money, about 23% gets incinerated and turned into heat for households and the bulk of all waste — 73% of all waste created in Copenhagen — is recycled and reused in the creation of other products. There is apparently a private company that sorts waste at its facility (rather than involving individual households to a greater extent).

Some significantly impressive statistics, absolutely, but can we do more (as households)? Wouldn’t there be an even stronger “recycling culture” if responsibility were shared a little more at the individual level? Granted, there are recycling bins near most apartment buildings for glass, paper, batteries and cardboard – which makes for a strong recycling focus by most world standards – but I still can’t get over the plastic and tin situation (surely some are overlooked at the sorting centres?) I also wonder (as do many tourists) about where on earth the little recycling bins are on sidewalks and in town centres (in many countries there are two bins for street trash, one of which is reserved for recycling). And why so much excess plastic packaging around the veggies at our local supermarket?

I’m not quite ready to leave it 100% up to the system to do what’s right on my behalf (maybe that’s the Canadian in me?) and at the risk of sounding like a complete hippie – I WANT to take an active role and feel like I’m making an (albeit miniscule) difference by recycling where and when I can. Please – make it easy for us to make that choice, so that recycling becomes a bigger part of our everyday.

A few CPH favourites

Posted by Marianne on May 5, 2010 – 13:09
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Copenhagen is teeming with fresh cafés and cozy places to savour a pint or two. My favourites range from über modern to trashy chic, but they all share a special sense of hygge (no one does hygge/coziness like the Danes) as well as some pretty fantastic food.

Listed are the places that put a smile on my face – whether it’s coffee with a girlfriend, a dreamy dinner with my boyfriend or pints with friends on a Friday. They’re located city centre for the most part, which is not to say that there aren’t a ton of great places here in Amager too – there are – I just tend to gravitate back to my old locals (having previously lived in Nyhavn). The ‘new locals’ will come at a later date (after some more exploring) – but for now, these are my highlights.

*I’m always keen to try new places – so if you’ve got your own favourites – I invite you to share them…

Café Kalaset
A happy discovery. Located basement level around the corner from Nørreport St., Café Kalaset serves up some hearty home style cooking in cozy quarters. Nostalgia in the form of about a hundred old radios are mounted to the walls, chairs and tables are mismatched to perfection and the music harps back to good old high school days – think The Cure and DM (there I go and date myself already).
http://www.spottedbylocals.com/copenhagen/kaffe-kalaset

Tight
Tight is a more recent find – it’s jointly owned by a Frenchman, an Aussie, and a Canadian (which, with bias, could easily explain the level of super friendly service more common to Canada & Oz). Their brunch is set out in 9 little dishes, and while a little tough to tackle, it tastes as good as it looks. Visit Tight if you’re needing a laid back place to spend a few afternoon hours. There’s no posing here. http://tight-cph.dk/

Skuespilhuset
Go to the café at Skuespilhuset during summer months if you’re craving water side drinks and a view that’s unbeatable. They serve a decent brunch inside, but if you ask nicely sometimes they’ll let you take it outside where you can sit in the sunshine. In the evenings there’s an outdoor bar set up, where they make a mighty fine espresso martini – great place to wrap up an evening at the opera or a play – when the place is buzzing with people dressed in their theatre-going finest. http://ibyen.dk/restauranter/article515161.ece

Nyhavn (the sunny side, on a Friday afternoon)
THE local default. There is no better place to be on a sunny Friday afternoon with friends. Skip the over-priced pints at the café tables and bring your favourite ales from the local super market and park yourself along the canal edge for a few hours. The atmosphere is relaxed, alive and a real mix of people – local/tourist, businessman/backpacker – a great place to gear up or gear down. (Or, as happens quite often – your gear down plans turn into a gear-up, and Nyhavn becomes, yet again, the start point for a brilliant night out). http://www.copenhagenet.dk/CPH-Nyhavn.htm

Den Lille Fede
Cozy, smart, oh so fine and just the place for a delicately delicious meal and lovely conversation. They’ll match the wine to each course if you like, and start you off with a welcome glass of champagne. Just off Kongens Nytorv, Den Lille Fede (Little Fatty) is a blissful mix of old locale with curved ceilings and all, and modern décor straight out of a design magazine.
http://www.denlillefede.dk/

Paludans Bog & Café
I can’t resist this café/bookstore combo. A strong cafe latté, surrounded by all those books – it’s a match made in heaven. They serve some simple dishes as well if you’re feeling peckish. It’s located in the middle of one of my favourite streets in this city – Fiolstræde (in Copenhagen’s Latin Quarter) http://www.spottedbylocals.com/copenhagen/paludans-bog-cafe

Plan B
Tiny place, located not far from Nørreport station with a selection that’ll impress even the most fickle of beer drinkers. The owner is an avid vinyl enthusiast (records, not s&m… although the later I couldn’t vouch for) – so be ready to hear a real range – last time we were there I went nuts for the Brigitte Bardot/ Serge Gainsbourg album he was playing. Try their cherry ale – it’s to die for. http://www.cafeplanb.dk/

Thoughts or recommendations? I’d love to hear them.