david passiak
intro’d to David when he did a friend request on fb..
checked out his twitter stream.. who are you..? empower book interviews (brad feld, james altucher, prince ea, neal gorenflo, robin chase, adam grant, douglas rushkoff, ..) .. then find that the book has a free download
so … taking him in..
__________
empower
p 20
My M.A. thesis at Arizona State University explored the Great Awakenings of the 1700s and 1800s that led to democracy and the abolition of slavery.
p 21
Disruption Revolution includes over 20 leading innovators such as Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, Robert Scoble, Brian Solis, Sarah Lacy, James Altucher, Alex Osterwalder, Erik Qualman, and Jeremiah Owyang. The book is organized around an integrated and holistic innovation process covering: (1) Research and Trends, (2) Mission and Purpose, (3) Teams and Operations, and (4) Sales, Marketing and Communications. This parallels the same four-part framework of Empower.
p 22
The giant leap we are making with tech- nology may be a catalyst for the next Great Awakening.
indeed.. awakening indispensable people.. a nother way
This was a main theme in my rst book Red Bull to Buddha and will be the subject of a future project called Technologies of the Soul.
p 23
We are tasked with preparing for the future when even the best minds in the world can’t predict what it will be like 10–20 years from now.
actually perfect.. begs we go antifragile.. life as prep as improv.. et al.. rev of everyday life
Access to the same tools and platforms could allow developing nations and megacities to leapfrog ahead, changing the global flow of people, money, and power.
actually.. could allow 7 bn of us to leap.. as we disengage from money and power.. for (blank)’s sake…
p 24
If Disruption Revolution attempted to answer the question, “How do we innovate?” then Empower asks, “How do we co-create the future we want to live in?”
a nother way
The short answer and main idea throughout the book is to approach the future like we are building a movement. Movements follow pre- dictable patterns. First, the founders have an idea to bring about some type of change in the world. Next, they form a team or core group around a shared mission and purpose. The team then evan- gelizes their product, service, or message with friends and family, who share with their friends and family, and so on to spread by word-of-mouth. As this process continues, the message and story become crystalized, allowing the movement to build momentum and scale, taking on increasingly more ambitious goals. Empower is organized around these predictable patterns, creating a holistic framework for everyone to join the conversation.
?
p 28 – part 1 – collab leadership
adam and robin
p 49
brad
DP: That makes me wonder what other hidden assumptions we have about ownership and attachments to things that are breaking down. Access in some contexts has the same connotations that you associate with ownership, this entitlement and sense that this is mine. I wonder how we get away from this binary thinking of mine/not mine.
a nother way.. to disengage from binary ness
p 59
BF: The concept is pretty simple. The notion is that you are willing to engage in a relationship and put energy into something without knowing what you will get out of it. It’s not altruism. You expect that you will get something out of it, but you don’t know when, from whom, over what time period, or how. You enter into rela- tionships non-transactionally, meaning you don’t de ne the trans- action or value exchange of things upfront.
The reason this is so important is that part of the challenge of startups—and startup communities in general—is that you have to get a lot of energy into the system. You have to get a lot of people working on stuff to make any progress. If everybody is trying to figure out what they are going to get out of it before they start put- ting in energy, then the startup community will be stillborn.
p 61
(still brad) To link it back to what I said to Jerry about being the best ver- sion of himself, I think he had a lot of fear about being different…that he understood as “imposter syndrome.” Being different was part of his brilliance. He wasn’t like every other board member or VC. That was why I liked working with him and probably why he liked working with me because I’m not like everyone else either.
You can learn from role models, but trying to emu- late what you perceive to be an archetype of success will probably make you unhappy and may not lead to success. When you let yourself behave the way you want to behave, you actually work more effectively with people around you.
imagine 7 bn doing that..
p 66
david: I wonder if the power of networks can be utilized in innovative ways to create new types of *companies. For example, imagine an Airbnb or Uber that shared ownership with providers or drivers, or a company built on the blockchain where shares and dividends were distributed based on the amount of work contributed by a decentralized group.
*how about tribes.. no money.. no ownership.. but could be built on blockchain.. just unlike anything anyone is doing now.. (B as waste of blockchain ness) ie: io dance
BF: While I think this is one dimension, it has huge legal and regula- tory challenges based on the current SEC rules around investment, solicitation, and company ownership. While there are some people trying to create new corporate structures that are disconnected from the current legal frameworks, especially in the context of block- chain, I think this will be dif cult to do in any meaningful way…
But the concept can be extended to the notion of how a network of participants, separate from the legal structure, can be organized,
exactly.. so.. let’s disengage from measuring/validating/comparing.. let’s try a nother way.. ie: io dance ness .. let’s try it in boulder.. or nederland or ..?
p 71
I love that quote because there comes a point where people realize that they need other people to pursue their passion or effect change.
be you experiment.. once truly free.. craved tribe..
The original intention was to go and improve a skill or nd others who share your enthusiasm. But once relationships form, then a community becomes real.
maté basic needs – a and a
p 72
douglas atkin
DA: The reason I looked at cults and cult-like organizations is sim- ply because those are the extreme forms of community. It is easier to understand the fundamentals of belonging and belief by looking at the extreme end of the spectrum. I also learned in the process that cults aren’t an aberration. In fact, they are normal and essen- tial because new ideas help keep cultures iterating, growing, and moving. Without cults, cultures would atrophy and die.
The key lesson from cults that can be applied to all communi- ties is what I call the great cult paradox:
People join cults not to conform but to become more individual.
Most people think the opposite is true—that people join because they’re psychologically awed or socially inept. This is due to the media’s portrayal of cults that are destructive organizations. Most members of cults and cult-like organizations join for the same reasons that you or I would join anything.
science of people ness
It works like this. As we grow up and become individuals, we realize that to get on in the world you have to shave the rough edges off of you, your identity, just to get on at school, not to be bullied, to form groups of friends, get on with your family, at work, etc.
This doesn’t mean that your individuality *completely disappears, but rather that you compromise in a way to fit in, unless you can find a group of people who share the same differ- ences you have.
*pretty close.. wilde not us law
Basically, what cults say is, “Hey, Douglas, you’re different. We’re different in the same way. Come and join us.” That difference could be anything, such as a passion for big motorcycles. Harley riders used to tell me this. Despite having a fantastic job, being a manage- ment consultant or dentist by day, lovely family, a good suburban house, that wasn’t them. They only felt at home when they were among like-minded others who shared a passion for rebellion and freedom, which they felt Harley users did.
so.. let’s focus on that.. let’s just facil that.. ie: 2 convos .. as the day.. [aka: not part\ial.. for (blank)’s sake]
p 73
That creates—I kept hearing this again and again—a psychologically safe space to become yourself. They use the word “become.”….
“safe enough” to express your unedited self.
spaces of permission.. with nothing to prove
p 75
Through your work at Meetup and Purpose, you developed a systematic approach to grassroots organizing and movements. I want to dive into some of the speci cs around your approach. People always talk about the mission and purpose, but one of the things that I nd especially interesting is this idea that it is important to have an improbable goal, which you refer to as the “fuck off” goal or “fuck off” metric. I love this term. Can you tell us what you mean?
DA: The purpose of social movements is to make a difference and change in the world. They do this by mobilizing huge numbers of people to take the same action (such as signing a petition). One of the most important ingredients of their success is having a seemingly impossible goal. It isn’t actually impossible; it’s just improbable.
p 76
Many things that seem impossible are not impossible, just improb- able.
The reason why you need the “fuck off” goal and ideally a “fuck off” metric is that you need to create a vision that’s worth all of the effort. It has to be literally visionary, as in I see a new world.
huge
Like Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream.” Basically, you’re saying I have a vision of the world that doesn’t exist yet but should. That’s exactly what your vision needs to be for an organi- zation, whether it’s a company or a movement that wants to make a positive dent in the world. It needs to be desirable enough to say, “Yes. I will do all these hard things to help make that become a reality.”
deep enough to resonate w 7 bn
p 77
DA: The commitment curve is a very simple model that enables you to make “asks” of your members and users such that a larger number of people become committed, and committed more com- pletely, to your movement or organization. The top axis measures the degree of commitment. The bottom axis is time. The commit- ment curve travels from lower left to upper right. The idea is that you plot asks on the curve from easy at the bottom, to hard at the top. Start with a low-barrier-to-entry ask, such as signing an online petition.
Next, follow up with a slightly harder ask. Not a massively larger ask, but a slightly harder ask. For example, tweet at your Senator or post something on Facebook. It takes a little bit more effort and a little bit more personal commitment, but you do it. Then you might follow up with a slightly harder ask, such as making a donation.
whoa.. this doesn’t resonate.. perhaps why we haven’t yet..
only asks i see. 3 and 30.. and that’s it.. trust the rest .. or it won’t endure.. it’s not deep enough for all of us
dang
The idea is to make increasing, incrementally harder asks, which in turn lead to incrementally more commitment. Any given ask on that commitment curve is only slightly harder than the one before, so it never seems like a huge jump. Then before you know it, you nd you will have ramped large numbers of people up the curve to ever-higher levels of commitment.
higher levels of commitment and lower levels of authenticity/eudaimonia.. which is where our most powerful energy is.. oy..
p 79
DA: Let’s go back to the first two things that we talked about, movements and smaller communities. Never be confused by think- ing they are the same thing; *they’re not. They exist for different purposes and offer different benefits.
*but they are.. the same dance.. we’re missing this.. and so.. missing us
p 85 – part 2 – sharing
p 87
neal
DP: Many readers of this book want to share more, but might feel stuck in a job they don’t like or they just don’t know where to start. We tend to get trapped into this conventional way of think- ing that sharing is something we do part time, instead of being an essential part of who we are, what we do, and how we interact with the world.
I would love to start this interview with your personal story, because it is so powerful and inspiring. You had an epiphany that led you to leave the corporate world. Can you tell us a bit about that experience and the realizations you had on how to live a more meaningful life?
NG: June 2004, it was a sunny Saturday afternoon and I was stay- ing at the NH Hotel in Brussels. I had been travelling a lot working for a big multinational corporation, DHL, part of the backbone of the global economy. I ate a hearty European breakfast and headed out on a jog through my normal route in this business park. When I got to the rst turn at the top of the hill, I stopped in a parking lot of a warehouse.
Then something unexpected happened—I started to cry. I real- ized this was not what I wanted to do with my life and that I would never realize my creative potential on this corporate path. I would not have the type of relationships I want, become the type of person I want to be, do meaningful work, or be part of a real community.
p 88
This is not the way to get what we really want out of life, which is a basic desire to become a fully realized human being. This wasn’t just about me, but also feeling that pain in others.
exactly.. deep enough.. to what
I made a decision on the spot to change my life and do whatever I could to create a world where it was easy to nd love and friend- ship, community and meaningful work, and
where every day could be filled with authentic human connection.
Except, I didn’t know how to do that. I kept asking myself, “What should I do?” and I didn’t have an answer. I made a vow to find out. I ran back to my hotel room, sent in my letter of resignation, and booked the first flight home to start a new life.
DP: I agree 100% that many people want to break out of the corporate world but don’t know what to do
begs we model a nother way.. that 7bn could leap to.. today
p 8 9
NG: It was helpful to have some experience, but I would say that the most powerful thing going for me is my level of commitment.
*It is deep and real, and it goes to the marrow of my bone and the core of my soul.
I had this unexpected a-ha moment that I didn’t ask for.
**I listened to it and acted on it.
*yes that.. and that’s exactly why we can’t have asks.. et al.. it has to be the person’s bone marrow.. soul core.. – deep enough.. then simple enough to access and in an ecosystem open enough to keep it free..
**quiet enough ness
Ask questions, be curious, listen and be open, particularly to what comes through you. One of my favorite quotes is by Martha Gra- ham, the famous American modern dancer and one of the greatest artists in the 20th century:
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is trans- lated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium, and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valu- able, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your busi- ness to keep it yours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.
That’s what I would say to anyone in a similar situation as I was. The change can’t come from just your intellect. The mind can help, but there has to be a spiritual shift, and that *takes time.
so that’s our goal.. to shorten that *lag time.. between intention/curiosity and action/connection.. for 7 bn people.. everyday.. then we’ll see/grok exponentiation..
we can do that.. we can facil that..
we can’t not.. [ie: as i write this.. 100 more deaths in syria.. car bomb.. and that’s only the beginning of the list.. campos wake up law et al]
p 91
because I experienced the transformation personally. So have many of the people at Share- able. It is not just an idea to talk about. Sharing is our experience, and it’s life changing, so we want others to experience it too.
we can cut thru a lot of crap B & b and make this happen for everybody.. the dance becomes.. not even a pay back ness.. if we include the entire world..
You are not commanding people to do something. Instead, you make the invitation to join in what you are doing and it’s the power of your purpose that makes the invitation attractive.
i think this is killing us.. and i think that’s the opp we have today.. that we’ve never had before.. we don’t have to call people .. to join .. if we’re all connected.. ie: hlb.. no one needs to be recruiting..
p 92
NG: I think we see a limited and unambitious exploration publicly around the future of work that centers on how we can make this freedom-limiting institution better or make the cage more com- fortable. This seems completely backwards and un-American in the sense that it’s anti-freedom. It shows how conditioned we are in this economy that we cannot think beyond a job.
spot on.. spinach or rock and graeber job less law et al
In a sense, this is like going backwards to before the 19th cen- tury. The labor movement had some focus on improving wages and working conditions, but the priority was to shorten the workweek over time until there was no work. In other words, the goal was freedom through prosperity and abundance.
The real question we should ask about the future of work is: How do you get from a job to no job?
exactly..
and i think.. like this: we model a nother way
Let’s try to imagine it from our contemporary situation. We have lots of on-demand workers on peer-to-peer platforms and things like InstaCart delivering groceries, etc. One possible transforma- tion that is partially under way is these platforms could give their stakeholders (the users and providers) a say and an ownership stake. This would help platforms remain *competitive. This kind of shift would allow you to go from just being a worker on a plat- form to also being an **owner and a decision-maker, and perhaps have a say and stake in multiple platforms.
*killer
**killer
we have to disengage from irrelevants
p 93
NG: Yes, exactly. Imagine you are an owner and decision-maker in platforms, instead of working for wages.
?
Perhaps you occa- sionally work to get some income but maybe you are getting divi- dends or building up equity to help these platforms be successful.
?
That stake in ownership also provides *additional incentives for you to work harder, be loyal, *refer friends and family, and so on. Ownership could create more sustainable ***business models instead of this hyper growth fueled by venture capital that is ultimately unsustainable.
*killer and **killer and ***killer.. such deep soul ness.. and we still can’t let go..
That’s a vision for platforms. But you can have a similar arrange- ment for housing, food, and transportation using less technology- intensive modes like cooperatives. Instead of buying what you need by working and earning wages, you are a member of a community that creates, manages, and uses a shared asset—i.e., a commons— that provides you bene ts like food, water, electricity, transporta- tion, housing, etc. That is where we need to go.
agreed.. via have/need ness .. we can’t be measuring transactions.. ie: 10 day care ness
p 94
want free time to develop yourself, which in turn develops into capacity to contribute even more to the community.
indeed.. luxury.. leading to eudaimoniative surplus.. how..? gershenfeld something else law
let’s do this first: free art-ists.
You have support for what you want to gift to the world, but you are creating a gift that only you can give to your community. That’s a reality that already exists in part, but
how can we create a world where everyone has a shot at that reality?
equity – everyone getting a go everyday.. we can facil that.. like this..
NG: First, the idea of a Sharing City hasn’t been defined and is in some ways contested. Corporations have grabbed hold of it and are defining it in a certain way, and nonprofit organizations like Shareable have a different perspective.
Our view is that a Sharing City is defined primarily as a commons rather than a marketplace or a political or governmental entity. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a market; it’s that the commons is dominant. Examples of commons are things like public parks and cooperatives, co-working and hacker spaces, time banks and tool libraries.
A complete Sharing City doesn’t exist in any one place, but parts of it exist everywhere. The effort we engage in is to bring all those pieces together into a singular vision. Every function of the city can be operated as a commons, from utilities and transportation, to food and housing—people working together as peers in a com- mons can manage most if not all of a city.
exactly.. let’s do it.. not partial ..for (blank)’s sake…
p 97
believe we’re entering an era where the community is becoming the hero. They are the central change makers. It’s people coming together voluntarily, not because anyone tells them to do it, but because they choose to do it.
This is heroic. This is what we should admire in society. Collective actions like this lead to the type of answers that I sought when I left my job in search of a more meaningful and connected life. We can think big about changing the world through Sharing Cities, and we can start locally with small projects in our neighborhood. It is all interconnected. That is the power of sharing.
p 114
Antonin Léonard is Co-Founder of OuiShare:
What matters is that they are driven by a set of values to make society work for everyone in a more inclusive and fair way
everyone.. that’s huge.. i don’t think we can have any form of measuring/validating things..esp people.. ie: money.. if we want to include everyone.. i think that’s why we haven’t gotten to equity (everyone getting a go everyday).. yet.. we keep trying partial solutions.. really kind.. good intentioned.. but partial..
AL: I think we need global platforms that people can use to scale their projects in a different way.
let’s try ie: hosting-life-bits via self-talk as data..
Through OuiShare Fest and the online platforms we design, our goal is to create spaces where those people can have meaningful conversations. It’s not an easy task because they don’t have the same values or the same control codes, so it takes some experience to design spaces for enabling those conversations.
let’s try this: 2 convos.. as the day [aka: not part\ial.. for (blank)’s sake…]
p 119
AL: Of course. To what extent and with which design, I don’t know (OuiShare becoming involved in politics or helping to shape economic policy in the future). It’s part of the ways we can make big changes happen. The challenge is that right now, if we had to do it, we would compro- mise ourselves because the people that are in power operate in a horrible way. *We are waiting for big changes to happen, and we will support them when they do. But I think it’s too soon. **We need probably between 5–10 years for a generation to leave power. In that time frame, the values and things that we discussed will become more mainstream and we can start operating differently.
* we could be doing it now – ie: short bp
**won’t take 5-10 yrs.. modeling something deep/simple/open enough has the pontential of an exponentiation we have not yet seen/grokked..
p 120
AL: Yes, exactly! I think for the rst time in history, we could have decentralized autonomous or decentralized collaborative organiza- tions that cannot be centralized by design. *That’s the big difference with what happened before. The design principles were not estab- lished at the beginning. Things like collaborative decision-making, collaborative nance, and all kinds of peer-to-peer tools make it more efficient to scale an organization in a decentralized way than in a centralized way. When it becomes more efficient, then that means those decentralized powers get a way.
*begs we quit expecting/perpetuating before ness.. ie: redefine decision making.. if we don’t let go.. we hold onto things like public consensus.. which always oppresses someone.. and we’ll never get to equity
p 123 – chelsea rustrum
Sharing is about connecting your stuff to relationships in order to live a more simple and meaningful life. There are many extrin- sic bene ts. *People tend to save or make money when they share
*?
p 124
CR –
*What do we need and what’s the best way to *arrange a society around that?
**2 convos
But I think there’s a step beyond that which is where we started in the sharing economy. How do we connect at a *greater level? How do we get our needs met both collectively and individ- ually and maybe even do that **at the same time?
This movement of sharing has a long horizon that will need to be ***written into our social structures at a deeper level than****apps can provide.
***human nature.. roots of healing et al
****we do need tech/mech.. to facil this chaos.. ie: 7bn people following their whimsy
ie: a nother way.. bio/chem/phys.. et al.. all in one
p 125
Ulti- mately, what we want is access to stuff when we need it. Not hav- ing to own things and sharing resources frees us to live with more meaning and purpose.
yeah..rat park‘s.. have/need ness
p 127
For example, people work so they can earn enough money to pay their mortgage. But what if we reframe housing and build connected communities where people *share costs? What if you don’t have to use an app every time you want to share a car or rent a room on Airbnb, but instead it’s just **built into how we live? This is a kind of ***rewiring of our inner technology. It’s a cooperative model for ****everyday life
*rather.. disengage from money
***re wire
****revolution of everyday life.. a nother way book
p 129
There is also a lot of potential for the blockchain, a technology that records exchanges to create more secure transactions.
potential for blockchain ie: io dance..esp if we disengage from secure ness ie: ps in the open .. record curiosities ie: hlb .. toward free dom .. ie: gershenfeld sel..
Crowdfunding led by companies like Kickstarter and Indiegogo has also become an explosive industry.
imagine all the energy saved/set free if we disengage from money/measuring/too much ness..
p 131
dp:
Through sharing and participating in something greater than ourselves, *we are able to realize our true potential, which in turn allows us to contribute more for the sake of the greater good. I love the utopian optimism of this vision, particularly how it stands against the dystopian view of a world dominated by machines and controlled by a handful of wealthy elites…..**how do we empower each other and co-create the future we all want and deserve?
*eudaimoniative surplus via **a nother way (next experiment)
p 132
cr: let go of this idea that you have to earn your right to exist. Maybe it’s enough to be alive. If we start from that place, then we can approach each moment with compassion, mindfulness, and that will shape our relationships.
The social transformation of “enoughness” is key to evolving the economy. All of the innovation and creativity is great, but to create the new structures in the material world that we need in the future, we must start as locally as we can—with ourselves.
p 134 – part 3 – companies and the crowd
p 192 – part 4 – the economy of the future
p 196
arun
AS: I have been interested in trust for as long as I’ve been a student of business because I believe the trust systems of a society deter- mine the possibilities for economic exchange.
and i’d say.. if you’re exchanging (as inmeasuring/comparing/tit-for-tat-ing.. you’re relinquishing/compromising trust.. ie: 10 day care ness
p 202
It’s a pretty revolutionary technology, but I’m not a technological determinist in the sense that *I don’t believe the properties of the technology itself shape its role in society. We should think about technology in conjunction with **existing social structures, what human beings are like and how they form collectives, how some desire power more than others—all of these will play a factor in shaping what impact blockchain technologies eventually have on our institutions.
*indeed.. and if we don’t disengage from money ness.. we lose the potential of the blockchain..
**except.. most of us are not us.. let’s not go with that.. let’s take this opp for a do-over..
p 210
douglas
p 215
dp: Why in a sea of seemingly infinite choices do people overwhelmingly choose the same thing? How does so much freedom lead to a shocking amount of conformity?
DR: The main reason is that Internet platforms have self-reinforcing loops, so if something makes it to a top ten list on iTunes or top 100 list, those are the only things that many users see. The algorithms are not con gured to maximize the distribution of the long tail amongst as many players as possible. They’re optimized to create self- reinforcing loops that maximize the numbers of sales.
rather.. we haven’t disengaged from money ness.. so we still have B and b and competition and… consuming our energies.. so again.. most of us are not us… not living eudaimonia.. because instead.. we’re living too much ness
p 216
*People tend to flock. They aggregate around things. If you’re out on the Internet, then you’re basically alone. The only way to forge connections with other people is through af nity, which is not the same thing as community. Af nity is just “Do we like the same stuff?” **Af nities create self-reinforcing loops. “Oh, she likes Taylor Swift. I like Taylor Swift.” Then, you’re going to buy Taylor Swif
*are we sure..? or is this just more sci of people research claiming/assuming they do.. ie: study showing sheep don’t flock if feel secure..
**not if free to change mind everyday..
p 217
Your Google search results are different from my Google search results. That’s because neither you nor I are paying Google for that. Who is paying Google for that? The people who want to in uence our search results.
yet another case to disengage from measuring.. money.. et al
p 221
Blockchain is interesting for global-sized collaborative enterprises and giant projects where people don’t trust each other.
or actually.. for ginorm/small projects where trust is a given.. aka: unconditional..
people might turn to a blockchain because they no longer trust the authority to authenticate what’s going on between them. But to be clear, there is a premise of distrust to begin with here.
exactly.. very much like a cancer.. & why partial doesn’t work
p 222
dp: How do we stay hopeful and persevere to get the well-being and security that we all deserve?
DR: I think we need to accept that there is no free lunch and the easiest way to make money is to earn it.
oh my.. i guess misunderstood his money as os ness
Most people look at their jobs and investments as if the object of the game is to make enough money so that you don’t have to work anymore. What I’m trying to convince especially developers and entrepreneurs is that *it’s OK and noble to work for a living.
but not to have to earn a living.. huge diff in doing/giving/being your art.. and earning a living..
p 226
martin ford
Most people do routine jobs. The next ques- tion is can most people make that dif cult transition? I think a lot of people won’t be able. Most are probably best equipped to do relatively routine work. Those are challenges.
oh my goodness..
detox.. works.. esp if it’s all of us.. can happen over night
p 244
parag khanna
PK: *There isn’t one organized global governance structure to which we all respond and direct our efforts and in uence. De nitely life would be a lot easier if that was the case, but that world might not be desirable to live in.
i think there is.. i think there is a structure that is deep/simple/open enough for all of us.. i think that’s what’s new.. (ie: tech/mech to facil that chaos) ..and that’s what we’re missing..
__________
dec 2016
4 min – in religion studies.. looked at how movements grew/spread – 1st week of princeton phd.. 9 11 happened.. interesting moment for me there.. over next few years.. was going into ny and involved in protests leading up to invasion of iraq.. starting to see storied emerging online.. early 2000s.. started seeing all the sharing of content.. which was very much disconnected from storyline evolving on tv.. started to see this was kind of the future..
6 min – then studied methods of non-violent peace making.. sm started to become big.. its own thing.. so i started working at a company called heavy.. then ended up in m-80.. then lead sm for vw.. grew their fb and twitter to 10s of millions of fans..
8 min – in addition .. had a meditation practice for around 20 yrs..
so 1\ religion and 2\ movements and 3\ personal spiritual.. background..
9 min – my writing was my way of connecting the dots
10 min – in 2010 – quit job at height of fallout of crash econ crash..
saw econ crash as end of a certain way of overspending.. living beyond people’s means..
a certain kind of life style accelerated by traditional marketing.. because people had this idea they could live on credit.. refi their homes.. spend 120% of income because can just keep doing this year after year..
11 min – bought 1 way ticket to thailand.. wrote first book – red bull to buddha
12 min – started to see pattern.. innovators rallying around this word.. disruption… this basic idea that constraint drives innovation… so w/crash.. all co’s need new ways of making money.. products.. services.. et al.. and a lot of vc going into start up community
13 min – need to think of disruption and innovation as wisdom of crowd approach.. so went out and interviewed folks.. chris anderson.. robert scoble.. seth godin..
20 min – basic concept of book.. empower .. how to co create the future.. so the book is divided into 4 parts.. in a sense.. like a sequel to disruption revolution.. but focused on crowd based innovation.. new business models.. ie: collab/sharing econ.. on demand everything..
1\ collab leadership not only right thing.. but as best practice (grant, feld, chase).. benes of people getting along
2\ power of sharing.. value sharing.. create coops.. new business models
3\ companies and the crowd.. strategies for larger co’s.. tapping into power of crowd
4\ macro econ trends.. like sharing/collab econ.. autonomous world.. bitcoin/drones..
24 min – similar to disruption revolution.. big picture to trends.. and now trends maturing.. internet went from brand era.. to sm era.. to collab econ era.. so now layered on top of real world..
25 min – idea of empower is to help people understand these trends.. the vision is that all should work together to empower future of humanity/society
26 min – innovation happens in bits/spurts.. all these diff platforms.. 10s of 1000s of diff co’s around world.. related to sharing.. see all working in isolation.. with all these diff names.. people get too hung up on names.. trying to label.. i think the term.. sharing econ becomes very problematic.. because the flagship ones w/masses of vc funding.. others (shareablet) think sharing econ as we’re calling it now are not future.. hard to imagine sustainable business models.. so future.. these decentralized ownership.. like coop
29 min – so don’t think so much.. what is sharing econ.. but these crowd shaped business models..
30 min – a model that really inspires me right now.. is the decentralized model of bitcoin and cryptocurrency.. although bitcoin has kind of become world’s fiat currency..
31 min – so one thing that inspires me is the ie of bitcoin and possibility of other types of sharing being built on blockchain..
let’s to this David: hosting-life-bits via self-talk as data that io dance
32 min – airbnb and uber come up a lot because they’re leading the way.. and fighting a lot of regulatory issues.. i’m personally a fan.. esp of airbnb.. their tagline: belong anywhere.. very much mission/purpose driven org..
33 min – having co’s like them out in the world.. the massive scale they have now.. they really encourage all of the people at the biggest co’s in world to take note of this business models..
34 min – we call them startups.. but when worth so much.. hard to think of them as start up.. at same time.. big tension that keeps coming up in book.. if co operating at 1 bn dollar a year loss.. how do they ever give returns.. big concern in share/collab econ.. eventually get monopoly and then once have it.. screw everyone over.. i don’t think that will happen.. if they do something drastic.. people will head over to competitors
35 min – one of keys.. co’s like uber and airbnb.. they provide a tremendous amount of trust.. this idea of a trust infrastructure.. leading way for this new type of behavior..
oy.. i don’t know.. trust and the 10 day care ness..
thinking we need to disengage from made-up money and doing things partial
37 min – brands give trust.. ie: coke anywhere in world.. then started to see evolution of brands/trust change w/evolution of sm.. ie: amazon w/reviews/comments.. a way in which average people got to have a say.. in a brand reputation… helped to build another layer of trust..
38 min – at same time.. influencers .. came along.. ie: people you follow on twitter/fb.. so now this digital layer of trust.. more important than anything a brand says.. so co has to co create.. because people now own it..
39 min – the whole trust infrastructure continues to evolve.. ie: digital id could disrupt linkedin et al.. to help establish trust.. whenever get hired for a job..
oy again.. beyond job for pay ness
41 min – this evolution of trust .. will continue to evolve..as things get more and more decentralized as well..
42 min – benjamin: let’s talk about soft underbelly of all this.. consciousness..
43 min – so michael dougherty – one of his core beliefs is that the essence of strategy is sacrifice.. a lot of times execs look at emerging trends and think.. have to’s.. and spread selves thin.. and co gets so fragmented lose sight of who they are and what’s important.. michael has pretty interesting story.. 19 yr old student at boston college.. saw coupon book..for $10.. so made his own and gave out for free.. overwhelmed boston.. and then to american express.. so by 20 yrs old.. came up with american express rewards program.. flagship model of rewarding and building customers..
47 min – if you act from place: what is best thing you can do for world..
when world is constantly changing only thing we have that’s not is trust and relationship with other people..
let’s just focus on that.. ie: a nother way based on 2 convos
51 min – quote by martha graham.. on needing you to be you.. i think about that in the context of my own life.. when i first left academia.. had a steep learning curve.. from not able to create ppt/marketing-campaign to running it for largest agencies in world.. what i did was focused on cultural anthropology.. trying to understand everything.. that i cut myself off from all the great things i’d learned in grad school.. so in crowds.. never really talked about the things i was super passionate about.. ie: building movements.. consciousness.. changes in behavior.. . i felt like i kind of had to put myself into this box and then i went from that to thinking .. i’ve got to be the innovation guy.. so have to put myself into that box.. then what i found is that it’s just been in last year.. now i have my 3rd book out..
i realized.. if i just allow myself to be myself.. and allow these ideas to flow.. and don’t think about it.. that’s what ends up having the most kind of impact..
eudaimonia toward.. eudaimoniative surplus.. let’s facil that..
53 min – brad feld: not only a matter of being self.. it’s being honest with self.. develop more authentic relationships w other people.. do more meaningful work
54 min – free up energy thinking about.. what do i wear..
55 min – my grandfather: try to learn something about everything and everything about something
58 min – the paradox.. the more specialized something is .. the easier to automate..
59 min – a lot of the future of work is for people to figure out.. how can you interact with ai that is *exponentially smarter than you.. **how can you utilize these tools.. in innovated and creative ways.. ***to increase your productivity..
*exponentially better at efficiency..
**don’t think of ai as intelligence.. rather.. augmented interdependence.. use tools/web to automate connecting us to selves and each other.. ie: hosting-life-bits
***or.. to make productivity ness.. irrelevant to .. ie: eudaimoniative surplus
the managers become managers of the machines.. because ai.. the tools.. exist to help us
1:01 – robert scoble: vr is cool now but future is going to be mixed reality.. 10 yrs from now.. open up whole new realm for innovation/creativity
1:02 – i think.. as that tech becomes more and more ubiquitous.. think of myspace.. customization.. new realm
1:06 – i feel sometimes that bi is the lullaby people sing to themselves.. for now accountability of displacing people’s jobs.. a lot
1:07 – bi is like an engineers solution to an engineers problem.. sv – is disrupt disrupt disrupt.. keyed into innovation.. not seeing whole picture
1:10 – i think in future.. hero in story is the whole community that came together… right now we’re trapped in this narrative of focusing on one individual..
1:11 – the more we focus on empowering people to get what they need/want directly from each other.. the more the community becomes the hero of the story..
let’s do that.. have/need ness.. via mech via 2 convos
1:12 – neal gorenflo: town in s korea.. came together for one simple problem.. to save something.. then led to whole community collabing and sharing..
1:13 – sv – huge.. moonshot.. thinking .. often alienates people.. ie: often community library change community more
1:18 – douglas rushkoff: growth trap
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find/follow David:
Futurist, Author, Keynote Speaker. I build movements around startups and brands. Crowd-based Innovation Expert. My new book Empower is out now!
https://www.cocreatethefuture.com/
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i love that you’re nomad ing
nomad deeper man
for (blank)’s sake..there’s a nother way
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(Serious Question) Are you aware of a vision of the future that you want to live in? Has anyone articulated the necessary balance between innovation and awakening? Technology and consciousness? Who inspires you?
Personally, I find myself alone sometimes, and if I”m really honest nobody’s vision of the future inspires me.
crying about this just 5 min ago.. thinking..who thinks like this.. any one..
I think the Singularity folks are techno-utopians that have very little understanding of human nature or consciousness. The idea that someday we might upload our consciousness into a machine sounds like my definition of hell, trapped for eternity in a cage.
It also reduces consciousness down to only brain activity. The same way Newtonian physics imposed an atomized view upon the human body, now we are supposed to view humanity through the lens of a computer. Personally, I’ve had too many encounters with enlightened or awakened masters in places like India and Burma to know better. Any map of the mind-body that doesn’t account for energy, the chakras, cultivating insights and awakening is bullshit.
As my friend and colleague Benjamin Butler said a few days ago, the idea of redefining becoming a billionaire as someone who helps a billion people is just repackaging the goal of becoming a billionaire. I want to help a billion people, and I don’t care about getting any credit. It’s not about me. It’s about the path.
The opposite extreme of AI/Drones/Autonomous vehicles ending humanity, capitalism eating humanity, apocalyptic narratives are just as bad. They fail to account for the massive amount of innovation and creativity that will be opened up with things like augmented reality. We are entering a new era of human history, a transition from an analog to digital world. But we are doing so without any purpose.
I feel incredibly alienated by the right/left “war on X” garbage that traps us in never-ending conflict. The left wear the clothes of empowering minority groups and the poor, yet they are funded by the same political machine. I can’t think of one politician who understands consciousness, awakening, or aspiring to reach humanity’s true potential. They are all part of one giant smoke screen with an empty soul.
I find most ‘mindfulness’ or ‘spiritual’ writing to be self-satisfying and self-serving. Awakening or enlightenment is a path with purpose. Writers who I do admire often lack a deeper understanding of emerging trends to fully articulate a vision of the future.
So again…Are you aware of any vision of the future that inspires you? Please comment, I want to know.
ni ness..
a and a via 2 convos.. as the day [aka: not part\ial.. for (blank)’s sake…]
be you. 