Ellen Macarthur Foundation. Rethink the future

Creative thinking at BT internship

• by ReDesign Interns - BT
• |
• 14 Jul 2011
• |
• Tweet

The nature of the challenge
During our internship at BT, our task is to create a TV, Phone and Broadband package for young adults, particularly new graduates, that aims to use recyclable materials and move away from the existing linear economy. We have to bear in mind it has to be a sound business proposal and it has to be cost effective. This is a real challenge that the company is currently facing.

How we are tackling the challenge
We have attended several workshops to give us an insight into various aspects of the circular economy including whole systems design and ‘fixation’ – the restrictive thinking that prevents imagination and creativity in designing the products of the future. We also visited Anovo, a plant that recycles and refurbishes electrical equipment.

How we’re preparing
As well as the workshops and presentations, we have also had a mock presentation earlier today that enabled us to improve our speaking skills and gain feedback, so we could find out what we were missing and then focus our research on specific areas.

What’s left to do?
Tomorrow we’ll be giving a presentation to Adrian Pote (General Manager Broadband Devices, BT Retail), Richard Spencer (Head of Strategy, Policy and Business Planning, BT Group and thus responsible for sustainable business strategy at BT), Gary Dalton (Principal Design Consultant and New Concepts Manager), Matt Polaine (Circular Economy Research) and a few more over the internet so we are finishing off our presentation and deciding who will talk about which aspects and organising some visual aids. We’re looking forward to showing what we’ve learnt, and presenting our ideas on how BT’s business model could look in the future.

Download printable version