We Do Things Differently: The Outsiders Rebooting Our World

by Mark Stevenson

Our systems are failing. Old models―for education, healthcare and government, food production, energy supply―are creaking under the weight of modern challenges. As the world's population heads towards 10 billion, it's clear we need new approaches. In We Do Things Differently, historian and futurologist Mark Stevenson sets out to find them, across four continents. From Brazilian favelas to high tech Boston, from rural India to a shed inventor in England's home counties, Mark Stevenson travels the world to find the advance guard re-imagining our future. At each stop, he meets innovators who have already succeeded in challenging the status quo, pioneering new ways to make our world more sustainable, equitable and humane. Populated by extraordinary characters―including Detroit citizens who created new jobs and promoted healthy eating by building greenhouses, an Austrian mayor who built a new biomass plant using the by-product of a local flooring company, and an Indian doctor who crowdsourced his research and published his findings online―We Do Things Differently paints a riveting picture of what can be done to address the world’s most pressing dilemmas, offering a much needed dose of down-to-earth optimism. It is a window on (and a roadmap to) a different and better future.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Society, Science, Politics, Education

304 pages, Hardcover

Published January 16, 2018

About the author

Co-director of Flow Associates, Britains most respected cultural learning consultancy, and ReAgency, a leading organization promoting science communications, Mark Stevenson is a uniquely funny and unashamedly intelligent comedic talent. After graduating with first-class honors from the Information Technology Institute at Salford University, he became an editor at an IT industry think tank before mixing two careers as a musician and an expert in prime number cryptography. He works with museums, galleries, and archives around the globe to promote learning. He was recently elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, Manufacture, and Commerce and currently lives in London."

Reviews

[YC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each chapter of this book takes an example representing a particularly egregious societal failure - education, malnutrition, pollution, etc. - and highlights a badass individual who did something about it. I especially liked reading the chapters about the hopeless school’s transformation into one of the best schools in the country, as well as Detroit’s transformation from a food desert into a “culinary oasis” by way of urban farming. The book reads quite seriously and does take some time to get through despite its size.

[Meg Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely, inspiring stories. The insight into healthcare, agriculture, local food production and education were my favourites and I actually enjoyed how it was written - as a sort of travel/diary/reflection alongside interviews and in depth information on the subject of each chapter.

My enjoyment of the book though, was heavily tarnished by frequent and blaring spelling and grammatical errors from the start all the way through to the acknowledgment. Hopefully these were sorted in the next edition!

[Kym Hamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw Mark speak earlier in the year with the How To Academy and I left buzzing with the urge to find out about all these amazing things that are happening now. Reading the book a few months on has reignited this - interestingly, I'm in talks to be a school governor at a local academy here in the UK so the chapter on the education system really got me hooked. But then again so did urban farming, cooling with air, collaborative patient platforms etc...

Inspiring and at the same time, it's clear that there's still so much to do. A fantastic and thought-provoking read.

[Ciancia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an interesting book showing us underdogs with ideas that were fought against by lobbies, industries etc made it through anyway by the passion and the never give up motivation. They showed the world that different approaches and solutions are available, for the good of the environment, wellness and humanity.

Most of the team the key concept is that by doing things together you can accomplish incredible achievements. In many examples of the books the underlaying factor of gathering opinions from a large number of individuals and confronting each others opinion has brought great results. (patientslikeme.com, SRE cultivation, education chapter, TB drug research in India)

This book will give you the inspiration to persuade world changing ideas even when everyone is telling you it's not gonna work. I loved one of the quote at the beginning of chapter 1, which I think recaps the whole book "Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn't be done" Amelia Earhart.

Most interesting ideas:
- collect data and information from where the information live. Crowdsourcing
- Directly involve the users who would benefit from the idea. (Example of the city of Gussing, Belo Horizonte with the Participatory Budgeting)

[Allan McCabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed We Do Things Differently and found it interesting and inspiring. Even though it's a few years old now, some of the ingenious and innovative ideas and systems Mark Stevenson explores with people were fascinating.

I felt the editing of the book made it hard to read in places and didn't seem to flow as well as it could, with acronyms being introduced then only explained a few pages later. It felt like there were loads of footnotes too, which doesn't make for the best reading experience.

But, all that said, I did enjoy the book and would recommend to anyone looking to find out more about how we can do things differently and challenge the status quo in all areas of society.

[Alice Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there were interesting ideas in the book it was a bit too personalised for me. I would have like bigger system analytical ideas rather than specific small scale cases. Many of the projects focused on the individuals driving them rather than the ideas themselves.
I chose to read this book based on what I have heard form Mark Stevenson in the podcast Jon Richardson and the Futurenaughts. His intelligence and understanding of ideas is immense but this just did not quite come through in this book.

[John Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having listened to Mark Stevenson on my favourite podcast, ‘Jon Richardson and the Futurenauts’, I knew I would enjoy reading something he’d written.

Spanning politics, energy, agriculture, healthcare, technology and education, this book brings forward some really exciting innovations that challenge the status quo and presents them in an easily digestible, often entertaining style that’s a joy to read.

Look forward to his next book coming out this year and highly recommend listening to the podcast if you have an interest in the future and/ or enjoy good humour.

[Hrimiuc Mihai · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to see Innovation at work, this it the book.
The examples given are excellent choices, and that fact that he looked for them in the worst zones it's even more to be admired.
The only reason I am giving it a 4star is the fact that the language could get very technical at certain points, which makes it really hard to understand it. Maybe some pictures could have helped instead.
Really good book altogether if you are a fan of innovation.

[Cesar Nieto · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is such an interesting book. It tells us how some approaches that we have been doing for the world's most important problems have failed and how outsiders are tackling such problems. Mark actually visited those people and witnessed by himself how it was working.
This book shows us that not everything has been done yet. And that lack of innovation is preventing us from disrupting the system.

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoning this. I don’t think it’s terrible but the opening chapters did not enthuse me and it felt a bit pop scienc-y which is a major red flag for me. Perhaps later chapters would be better. Was also an eBook format on my phone and I don’t like long screen time. Might try again in the future with a physical copy, audio book, or kindle but it’s not a priority.

[Ish Ablewhite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring tour around some really innovative approaches to some of the world’s big problems.
Makes education seem so easy to solve, the future of energy possible if we can just get it into the hands of the people and the possibilities for democracy as shown in Brazil… wow!! Great eye opener and some basic call for hope in these troubling times.

[Jason Veroff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book discussed some of the most common global issues, including health care, energy, and construction. The book provided innovative solutions and interviews with scientists and experts. The book seemed slightly dated but still provided really good thought material on how we can make real change with real-life solutions and how they might be applied in a broader study/environment.

[Carin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a eye & mind opening book & I’m only half way through - exploring & explaining amazing innovations by astonishing people that are happening in UK & across the planet right now. I think this is what we should all be talking about & supporting - can’t wait to read more!

[Mahendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read. Collection of stories across globe to give lateral view on doing things and achieving results.

Same model may not work in all cases but need to study the case and right model to make it work. Great read!

[Robert C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read. This book is really good at summarising complex topics into digestible chunks, while focusing on creative solutions. Even after years of reading about topics such as agriculture, climate change I still learned a lot from the author. Highly recommend.

[Alex Neu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great food for thought. Enjoyed the writing style very much and would love to read more about this.

[Candela Chiesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, great writing and research. Fascinating topics.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly inspiring stories of innovators changing our world, one step at a time.

[Paul Kershaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

For all our problems, there are solutions; just look outside of the box or the rut we’re in, challenge received wisdom

[Seamus Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book but tailed off towards the end, felt like it ran out of momentum but may simply be due to personal interest in science over politics

[Chris Bookley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perseverance.

[Mark Butterworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

[Ashley Blackmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really made me think about how a future on a very crowded planet could be far better than the resource poor outlook that's generally accepted, based on what's actually happening now.

[Ishwar Anand]

Good insight into the future, however, I found the fook is too much elaborated around the core ideas which turned very boring at intervals.