Patterns of Possibility: Ivy Ross at TEDxRVA 2013
A creator posits that genuine breakthrough requires an environment where people are free to express their potential through shared input, citing their experience at Mattel's Project Platypus as evidence that leveraging connection and play, not corporate structure, yields results. The speaker argues that creating is fundamentally about manifesting possibility through spoken truth, supported by scientific concepts linking sound vibration to patterned existence. The ultimate call is for individuals to understand and be fearless in expressing their unique potential. ## Speakers & Context - Unnamed speaker; formerly Head of Design for Mattel Toys of the Girls division. - Delivered speech referencing advice from a teacher named Don Estes. - Presented experiences from Project Platypus at the Fortune magazine's 500 most powerful women summit. ## Theses & Positions - The act of creating is about manifesting imagination, which is expressed through one's voice and spoken truth. - Collaboration is best achieved not by consulting firms re-engineering processes, but by fostering human connection and input. - The goal of creation is to build breakthrough products and brands that celebrate possibilities, not just replicate current realities. - People naturally operate in a "fight or flight response" linked to the limbic brain; creativity requires collapsing this response into an environment of trust (frontal cortex). - The world is a vibratory pattern of energy and light, meaning understanding patterns of possibility is key to reaching full potential. - The core human job is to understand and fearlessly express one's potential through an appropriate medium. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Project Platypus:** A program where a diverse group of 12 people were temporarily pulled from their jobs to work in a new space, tasked with creating breakthrough products, while being required to check their egos and titles at the door. - **Gift of input:** The practice of asking employees to contribute ideas freely before demanding any specific output. - **Matrix works:** A concept/method taught by an individual that instructs people how to operate as self-organizing systems, related to living systems theory. - **Deep dive:** The state achieved during the first two weeks of the program, characterized by free-flowing brainstorming where participants generated a "stream of consciousness ideas." - **Sonomatics/Sonics:** The study involving the use of sound vibration to alter neurological states. - **Binaural beats:** CDs encoded with specific frequencies intended to bring the left and right halves of the brain into greater synchronization. - **Simatics:** A principle involving using frequency generators to make patterns visible in physical media (like sand on a steel plate). - **Simoscope:** A scientific instrument developed by John Stewart Reed, which imprints sonic vibration on a membrane of ultra pure water to make invisible vibrations visible. - **Murman Pattern:** A geometric pattern made visible for the first time in 2012 by the simoscope, believed to be the energetic pattern at the heart of creation. - **Fight or flight response:** The physiological state linked to the limbic brain, contrasted with the creative state in the frontal cortex. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Project Platypus operational cycle:** 1. Receive the gift of input (Week 1); 2. Acquire new skills from external experts (Week 2); 3. Establish daily rules and rituals for collaboration; 4. Play with ideas, suspending judgment and deadlines for eight weeks. - **De-stressing mechanism:** Using sound waves, specifically a scientifically determined frequency, to drop the barrier between participants at the level of the nervous system. - **Pattern Visualization (Simatics):** Using a frequency generator on a steel plate with sand to make vibrations and patterns visible, generating mandala shapes. - **Vocalization Analysis:** Showing that the human voice creates unique patterns (simoglyphs) due to the interplay of the tongue, teeth, and lungs, reflecting DNA aspects. - **Optimal Team Functioning:** Creating conditions (love, trust, respect, no fear) that allow the team's brains to operate optimally in a "create mode." ## Timeline & Sequence - **2003:** Time when the speaker was developing the methodology leading to Project Platypus. - **Prior to 2003:** Speaker's metal work exhibited in about **10 museum collections**. - **2002:** Year when John Stewart Reed and a co-inventor began prototyping the simoscope. - **2012:** Year the Murman Pattern was made visible by the simoscope. - **May (current year):** Publication of the book *The Muran Matrix* by Oxford Press. ## Named Entities - **Don Estes:** Teacher who provided the opening quote. - **Mattel Toys:** Company where the speaker was Head of Design for the Girls division. - **UCLA:** Institution where the professor of laughter spoke. - **Moisha:** Clown who travels to third-world countries to teach people how to laugh after war. - **David Keeler:** Speaker's partner at the time, who helped write the "business case" for Project Platypus. - **Fortune magazine's 500 most powerful women summit:** Event where the speaker presented the case study. - **Dr. Jeff Thompson:** Individual whose bioacoustics process enabled the resonance of group brainwaves. - **Dr. Hans Jenny:** Physicist who created the early visualization of vibration and pattern 25 years prior to the presentation's timeframe. - **Lynn Claire Dennis:** Woman credited with making the Murman Pattern visible. - **Oxford Press:** Publisher slated to release *The Muran Matrix*. - **Sasha Raphael Vomdorp:** Multimedia artist working with light and sound. ## Numbers & Data - **300:** Approximate number of creative people working for the speaker at Mattel. - **28:** Age when the speaker's metal work was in 10 museum collections. - **10:** Number of museum collections that displayed the speaker's metal work. - **12:** Number of people temporarily pulled out of their jobs for Project Platypus. - **12 weeks:** Duration of the initial program period. - **2 weeks:** Time allocated initially to receiving input (the "gift of input"). - **8 weeks:** Duration of the period where the team played with ideas. - **500:** Number of most powerful women at the Fortune magazine summit. - **12:** Number of participants whose singing frequency was analyzed for the final demonstration. ## Examples & Cases - **Mattel's Funny Brand:** The problem posed to the team, requiring input on how to make Mattel have a "funny" brand. - **Laughter Professor Visit:** Bringing in a professor of laughter from UCLA to educate the group on the origin of laughter. - **Clown Visit:** Bringing in Moisha to teach laughter in third-world countries following war. - **Matrix Works Implementation:** Utilizing a workshop teaching self-organizing systems to teach participants how to build on each other's ideas via improv. - **Sound Vibration Example:** Playing binaural beats on a site sound chair to help participants engage in a state of heightened, creative focus. - **Final Performance:** Sasha Raphael Vomdorp's "lightbending his soundbending light" series, an illustration of music visualized through water, powered by a speaker and LEDs. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Sound Chair:** Equipment used on site at Project Platypus, utilizing binaural beats. - **Frequency Generator:** Device used in simatics to manipulate sand patterns. - **Simoscope:** Scientific instrument used to imprint and visualize sonic vibrations on ultra pure water. - **CDs encoded with binaural beats:** Media used to regulate brainwave synchronization during the project. - **Speaker/LED Setup:** Apparatus used by Sasha Raphael Vomdorp to visualize music in water. ## References Cited - **Don Estes:** Teacher who provided an opening quote about potential existing behind consciousness. - **Professor of Laughter at UCLA:** Expert consulted regarding the origin of laughter. - **Dr. Jeff Thompson:** Bioacoustics expert whose process allowed the resonant demonstration of group brainwaves. - **Dr. Hans Jenny:** Physicist whose 25-year-old film work on vibration and patterns was referenced. - **Lynn Claire Dennis:** Woman credited with making the Murman Pattern visible. - **Oxford Press:** Publisher of *The Muran Matrix*. - **Sasha Raphael Vomdorp:** Multimedia artist whose lightbending/soundbending light series was demonstrated. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Consulting Company Re-engineering:** Rejected alternative process, as the speaker believed the team was people, not a machine. - **Case Study Format:** Initially unsuitable for Project Platypus, as the initiative was "very intuitive and it leveraged the knowledge from both [the speaker's] heart and [the] mind." - **Corporate structure vs. Organic Play:** The alternative to the structure was an environment built on trust, play, and non-judgmental exploration. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The initial presentation structure using a PowerPoint case study format was insufficient for the non-business, intuitive nature of Project Platypus. - The final presentation experience involved the speaker freezing on stage, an unexpected moment before overcoming the initial intimidation. ## Methodology - **Project Platypus methodology:** Temporarily removing personnel from established roles to mandate cross-disciplinary collaboration in a neutral, dedicated space. - **Input Gathering:** Structured time dedicated purely to providing inspiration (e.g., expert lectures, challenging questions) before expecting output. - **Experiential Learning:** Utilizing improv and Matrix works to build skills in vulnerability and building on others' ideas. - **Bioacoustic Conditioning:** Using controlled sound frequencies and environments to facilitate optimal brainwave synchronization. - **Scientific Modeling:** Using the simoscope to make imperceptible physical phenomena (sound vibration, biological signatures) visible. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - The process of creativity is non-linear and requires creating conditions—specifically trust and psychological safety—for breakthrough to occur. - People must be fearless in expressing their unique potential, recognizing that their personal truth can redefine institutional narratives. - Recognizing that love, trust, and respect, without fear, are necessary preconditions for cooperation, connection, and creation. ## Implications & Consequences - The ability to detect and utilize subtle frequencies (like the group's resonant tone or individual voice patterns) reveals the underlying structure of human connection and energy. - The existence of patterns like the Murman Matrix suggests that life, matter, and existence are fundamentally vibratory and patterned. - Understanding these patterns allows individuals to aim for their "full potential." ## Verbatim Moments - *"Every person and object is only partially actualized or made real. The other part is hidden behind our own perception of consciousness."* (Don Estes quote) - *"I knew that it was not about calling in a consulting company and having them re-engineer the process because we were not a machine. We were people."* - *"I called the project Project Platypus in honor of nature's most unlikely animal."* - *"What is the input that I want to give these people for them to think about Mattel having a brand that was funny?"* - *"we don't ask for any output until we give input."* - *"I was also fearless in bringing into the program everything I had studied in the past 20 years."* - *"The team played with each other and played with ideas, suspending judgment and deadlines for those first eight weeks."* - *"It was very intuitive and it leveraged the knowledge from both my heart and my mind."* - *"what Project Platypus was really about was about being fearless to be a woman in the corporate world. Bringing all that the feminine has to offer unapologetically, including nurturing, connection, inspiration, and relationship all within a safe environment."* - *"Love, trust, and respect without fear were in place, which created the conditions for cooperation, connection, and creation."* - *"If everything is energy consisting of pattern originating from sound, then we can create new patterns together by changing our tone or frequency."* - *"I believe in 2002 he and his co-inventor began prototyping something called the simoscope which is a scientific instrument that imprints sonic vibration on a membrane of ultra pure water making the invisible visible."* - *"Our voice is created by tonalities that act is actually created by the interplay of different factors such as our tongue, teeth, lungs, and those are all projecting aspects of our DNA."* - *"It is by understanding patterns of possibilities that we get to our full potential."*