The Art of Social Labs...   

A new approach to planning that is very experimental and agile.  It is all about proto-typing different approaches quickly to figure out new ways to solve VERY complex challenges.

 

The social lab approach is not designed to replace traditional approaches to planning which may be appropriate for certain types of goals, but to add another tool in our toolkits.

 

Thought leader, Zaid Hassan, has written several articles and a book on the subject, but one of the best quick explanations is this short video.