Pippa Hurst on Leverage

In each issue of our journal, we ask a handful of people we admire to reflect on our chosen theme. This is Pippa Hurst, Chair at DesignFreo and Senior Communications Advisor at Lindy Johnson Creative, on Leverage:

Leverage is putting weight behind something to make a change, using minimum effort for maximum effect.

For me it means asking how I can most effectively use the skills and connections I have to make a difference.

That was the impetus for DesignFreo . I love design, I love my town and I care about its future. How do we harness design to make the place we live better, now and for those that will come after us?  I leveraged my connections to seek out like-minded local designers and creative industry professionals and we’ve come together to make design more visible and accessible. I see my role as connecting people to amplify impact.

The more people leaning on the spade, the greater the leverage. And when we all lean in together at the same time to achieve a common goal, we leverage the power of community. It’s a double-leverage.

*Completely coincidentally, I came across Donella Meadows essay Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System , which describes the most and least effective types of interventions in a system (of any kind). Enlightening – Google it!