The Collaborative Group Blog

Snapping pictures for an internship has turned into a drive to showcase Detroit for Mike Holtzman and Sabrina Fitzwilliams.  After spending months documenting over 400-historic structures across the city for Preservation Wayne, Mike and Sabrina, students of architecture and history, fell in the love with Detroit.  They’ve discovered that by introducing their friends to Detroit’s history via www.BarebonesDetroit.com, they’re re-engaging an entire demographic.

Barebones Detroit is just one facet of a project that will showcase the city.  A map-based website, Barebones Detroit offers a one-click approach to learning about and viewing images of Detroit’s historic architectural gems.  The site operates like a land-survey, but is much more interactive.  But, there is more to what Mike and Sabrina seek to accomplish.  Partnering with Cory Coffey and Kimo Frederiksen, the pair wants to live, work, and play in the city… and document their experiences along the way.

The four-person team behind the Make/Shift Project is currently seeking housing for a year-long stint in the city.  Their plan is to document their adventures in business and life on a monthly basis while inviting other creatives in the city to join them.  With a master plan for promoting the project already in place, they will use online media to engage people in their mission.  Mike and Sabrina promise that they are not just another group of cheerleaders for Detroit.  They are unbiased pragmatists.  Watch for their version of the “real Detroit” to hit the web soon.

Consider this: Encyclopedia Britannica was the Google of its age.  “Dislodging creativity is a devastating force,” Josh Linkner explained to an audience of 75-people at The Collaborative Group.  When Microsoft, Wikipedia, and now Google changed the way we think, a chain of ingenuity was broken…  Encyclopedia Britannica is no longer needed.

Have you ever considered that creativity is your single most important skill?  But, according to Josh, in an era of ever-changing and ever-advancing technologies, our creative nature is declining.  Beaurocracy, the workforce, and even our schools can beat the creativity out of us, forcing us to believe there is only one right answer.  This has resulted in a creativity gap.

Did you know that creativity is 85% learned behavior?  We need to think of creativity as a muscle that we can work out, but how do we exercise it?

1. Awaken curiosity: Never stop asking, “Why?”
2. Encourage courage: Too often we think that if we make a mistake we should run and hide.  Don’t let imaginary barriers get in the way of success!
3. Build a greenhouse: Most business facilities restrict rather than enable us; our environment matters – both physically and culturally – our growth.

Detroit’s story, in chapters, began with Chapter 1: Innovation, followed by Chapter 2: Entitlement, and is currently in Chapter 3: ____________.  Chapter 3 offers us an opportunity make it a personal responsibility to make a difference and leave a legacy.  We can use our creativity to change Detroit and maybe even to change the world.

What can we accomplish in our finest moment?  This is the moment for Detroit…