mishmash workspaces: Mindshake

First things first, what is the story behind Mindshake?

Katja Tschimmel: We actually started the company with the name “Na’Mente”, which translates as “In the Mind”. The current “Mindshake” brand came afterwards during a get together amongst friends to name the brand’s upcoming event. It made total sense to us! Besides, having an international name is almost mandatory today. When we need to explain what we do, we can simply say “We are mind shakers”. We shake minds inside organisations, to promote innovation through Creativity and Design Thinking. 

We know Mindshake’s work is centred on the creation of stimulating environments for other companies, but how present is creativity on your daily chores? 

Katja Tschimmel: Creativity really is present everywhere in our work. 

Joana Santos: All techniques, tools and processes applied in those companies, have been tested and applied with our team. In that sense, it’s perhaps unusual, because we preach what we have already practised. 

Joana Moreira: Right now, while we are starting to develop new models for social innovation and circular economy, we are using the Design Thinking process itself. We are also using tools such as Mind Maps in meetings, interview techniques to understand the customer, and to generate new ideas we frequently use Brainstormings (with post-it notes, which is not a cliché). By visiting our office you can confirm that we, every day, apply all the techniques and tools. 

Design Thinking and Mind Mapping are both methods you make use of in your daily life. How can your workspace stimulate that experience? 

Katja Tschimmel: When we gave the Briefing for the interior design of the Mindshake House to the architect, we emphasized the need for empty white walls and a lot of light in every room. The basis for our spaces has been the concepts of ‘Laboratory’ and ‘White Board’. Big white walls are an invitation to fill them with colourful sheets and drawings, such as the Mind Maps or the templates of Design Thinking. The Mindshake House is a space for trying out new techniques and methods, where mistakes, restarts and rethinking form part of the creative process. A space with many whiteboards where you can wipe off and rewrite ideas stimulates experimentation and fluidity. 

Joana Moreira: In my opinion, the Mindshake House was very well designed and thought out. I mean every space should stimulate some kind of emotion and our workspace really invites people to experiment and try new things out. We have experience in facilitating workshops at companies facilities and at Mindshake House, and both are totally valid, nevertheless, it is interesting to analyse how fast people get comfortable and how fast the mindset of the client changes here rather than at the company facilities. This space was designed to stimulate creativity and experimentation, so I guess this answers your question. 

Joana Santos: I like to second what Joana Moreira said... Mindshake House conveys positive emotions and provides those moments of restlessness and playfulness that are essential to creative thinking. 

Where do your creative moments happen the most?

Katja Tschimmel: As a team, we enjoy working here at the Mindshake House. We use the different spaces of the house at different stages of a project. At the moment, on the top floor, we have the Social Innovation material, when we want to be on the computers we all gather at my office — it’s the sunniest one! 

Joana Santos: For me, the kitchen does the trick! 

Joana Moreira: The kitchen is the place we go as soon as we arrive, so that’s the most comfortable place for me as well. We feel good here, having a coffee, or a cup of tea, we even have client meetings here. When we want to visualize something, we also go to one of our white wall rooms and just start making a post-it wall or writing on wallboards. This house actually makes it easy for us to do just that, as it was thought of like a whiteboard, flexible enough for us to move around. 

Sometimes creativity doesn’t show up at the moments we really need it. Do you have a technique to stimulate a creative environment within the company? 

Katja Tschimmel: The material we take with us to every workshop we carry out in companies contributes to the creation of a playful environment. Big sheets, markers, Post-it's, colourful adhesive tape, lego sets or Playmobil, all create an environment for creative learning processes. 

Joana Moreira: This is actually a topic that touches my master thesis studies! It is important that not only the environment facilitates creativity but also the materials we use during a meeting or a workshop. The types of material Katja mention are important because they turn the process and space more fun, and really allow for the process to be iterative. 

Joana Santos: The methods we use most frequently are based on visualisation and mapping... they allow us to organize our thoughts, needs and to explore possibilities. From there it is easier to get creative! 

How is your workspace organised? Do you think a lot about how you display things here?

Katja Tschimmel: We keep the space of the Mindshake House as flexible as possible. The entrance room, for example, is sometimes used for warm-up exercises with groups, and on other occasions, it is used for the exhibition of artistic work or even for creative dinners, as that room is connected to our kitchen. 

Joana Moreira: We have specific rooms that usually don’t change, such as the kitchen or Katja’s office for example. The House is supposed to be very flexible in order to allow us to host different activities, so when we need to hang something on the wall or need some kind of furniture, we make sure that either it will be there forever and will never disturb any activity or it needs to be something that we can carry very easily from one room to another, I mean our bean bag is always in a different space. 

Katja Tschimmel: Yes, exactly! Last month I attached to the kitchen wall a poster with exercises from our new book “The Creative Mind”. It can be a kind of icebreaker for formal meetings with clients, which we always invite to the kitchen for a cup of tea or coffee. In our coffee breaks in training, the poster can be an invitation for intervention, and thus contribute to a playful ambience. 

Joana Santos: I believe that the keyword about MS House is really flexible. Not only can we change things around for specific client activities but also each team member makes different uses of the space. In my case, working in the kitchen is the most comfortable thing to do... right next to the outdoor space and the coffee machine. We are all different people so spaces can not be boxes to put us in! 

Which feature do you think stands out the most in your space?

Joana Santos: I believe that the very unique blue in the facade and the light inside the house are the most particular features of Mindshake House.

Katja Tschimmel: The interior windows which allow the light to penetrate the whole house. And the staircase, which has a fantastique design! The architect João Cruz did really an extraordinary work on the stairs. 

Joana Moreira: The different perspectives you get inside the house because of the windows and glass that are all over the house, it brings more light to space, and at the same time, the spaces are never closed and disconnected from each other, even if the door is closed.