With the pibinko.org network and the Jug Band Colline Metallifere we have been working on this for a while. Finally, we made it. We are in an era of innovation, regeneration, chatgpt’s, IA’s, startups, etc. and in all these situations innovation managers are a key role. On our side, we have been for years looking for an “arretration” manager.
We were looking for someone who, while facing huge innovation challenges, would be able to implement creative strategies in order to create a working environment which would not abuse of innovative technologies, nor would it require technologies which end up being too expensive compared to the average revenue of othe context in which they are proposed.
The arretration manager will not just remind us that there are old solutions to do this in a less “dry” manner, but will also work to bring new processes and products “back”. The role of the “arretration” manager is defined by the skills to manage change “in reverse”.
Some “arretration” cases which we have been proposing in time:
- 2000: after being invited to strategic meetings to plan activities for a science park, we proposed of removing colour from monitors in a research centre, so that people could work in black and white.
- 2010: in the context of a series of scoping meetings for the design of a document management system supporting a national remediation plan for 42 contaminated sites, we proposed handling the program with a couple of days of training in order to clean up some local folders on a server, rather than “investing” (as said by the sales rep. at the time) at least 150k Euro (of which 100k would have been related to the license for the server).
- In 2011, at a meeting with research bodies from two continents, focused on the definition of ideas on how to invest 24 million dollars, we proposed withholding a certain amount for celebrations, and we indicated clerics as one of the roles in scientific research (see https://www.pibinko.org/accounting-for-people-in-earth-observation/ for the full presentation)
- In terms of “arretration”, in 2012 we defined the format for a training course on digital awareness.
- Since 2008 we started to promote the BuioMetria Partecipativa project, for a more conscious use of artificial lighting (see link)
etc. etc.
In this long and winding road, which does not relate to neo-Luddism, but rather to simply improve, in our view, there was a vacant role: the manager! And now we found it.
Or, we actually had it, but we didn’t know. Who could help us manager our (and potentially your) “arretration” processes better than Mauro Tirannosauro? He has consulting experience since the Createcous.
In order to have opinions and quotes for your “arretration” needs, you may contact Mauro Tirannosauro at maurotrex@pibinko.org.
Translator’s note: looking to find a way to define the opposit of an “innovation manager” we have been working on ideas to translate “arretramento” (as “going backwards, or going back). But the terms we found did not sound cool. So we thought about “arretration”, which is not proper English, but will remind Italian folks of this song:
