Cognitive Edge. Khan on Forage v Farm. Razib Khan on foragers vs. farmers: Cultures which are the most developed and least developed have the most equitable relations between the genders, while those in the middle are generally more conventionally male-dominated. … Plough farming societies tend to be more patriarchal [than hoe societies], all things equal. … Immigrants to the United States impart to their descendants the same values. … The majority of the world’s population are no longer primary producers, but most are recent descendants of primary producers.
The Collapse of Complex Business Models. I gave a talk last year to a group of TV executives gathered for an annual conference.
From the Q&A after, it was clear that for them, the question wasn’t whether the internet was going to alter their business, but about the mode and tempo of that alteration. Against that background, though, they were worried about a much more practical matter: When, they asked, would online video generate enough money to cover their current costs? That kind of question comes up a lot. It’s a tough one to answer, not just because the answer is unlikely to make anybody happy, but because the premise is more important than the question itself. There are two essential bits of background here. Here’s why. Valence Theory of Organization / FrontPage. The Pirate Wheel. Solitude and Leadership: an article by William Deresiewicz. Essays - Spring 2010 Print If you want others to follow, learn to be alone with your thoughts By William Deresiewicz The lecture below was delivered to the plebe class at the United States Military Academy at West Point in October 2009.
Why Self-Organized Networks Will Destroy Hierarchies — A Credo by Kevin Carson. As originally posted: Center for a Stateless Society on October 6, 2010.
Kevin Carson: Love Economy. Break Free from Our Systems Prison. As a worker cooperator I have struggled for years to use 'normal' management techniques in worker co-ops.
Often they don't work. Members don't like them even when they have agreed a business plan, they feel oppressed and trapped by their own agreements. The biggest problem has been strategic development. While 'normal' operational (next week) and tactical (next year) management 'best practices' are ok, I have never seen or experienced a 'normal' strategic development method being successful in a worker co-op in the UK. Redundancy Efficiency Creativity. For centuries human organisations and endeavours have sought to be efficient, to use as few resources as possible to achieve the ends desired.
It is the number one goal in 20th century management theory, underpinning that whole systems theory based ideology. But what if this was just a symptom of an age of scarcity? In nature, biological systems are rarely efficient in the way that Ansoff (the father of strategic management) or Taylor (of scientific management fame) would recognise. Millions of sperm but only one 'succeeds' to use 20th century thinking.
Valence Theory of Organization / Effective Theory. In an earlier chapter, I describe how Inter Pares considers the issue of scaling and growth, and suggest this comparison between BAH and UCaPP organizations: With BAH organizations, effectiveness is measured in terms of owned or controlled resources that are deployed in the pursuit of defined objectives and goals.
UCaPP organizations, it seems, feel a lesser need to control or own the means – including people – that enable the creation and dissemination of its intended effects which are based in shared values and participation in common cause. In a contemporary context, it is appropriate to question whether the traditional construction of organizational effectiveness – having to do with access and deployment of resources, or achievement of stated goals and objectives, or combinations of both – provides the most useful guidance for a UCaPP world. Education: Uncertainty Isn't the Only Risk. Yesterday I gave a talk at the Snoqualmie Valley School District Foundation fundraising luncheon.
My role was to help them envision the future of education. Swarm Intelligence versus Production Line Repression. Networks not Processes This article is about how we can choose different structures and organisation.
What do we want? We dont have to accept just the one way of organising that is on offer. Modern internet era IT enables new forms of organisation. Once it was only possible to control linear processes of production with a limited networking capability outside those production lines. The Ford era production line is the idea with suppliers feeding in from the sides (a simple 'network'). State or market? what links red star, cybersyn and flower market? « nights of labour. One of the arguments which underpin the previous posts on Red Star, Cybersyn and Flower Market, yet are not explicitly stated is that socialist reconfigurations should be free enough to use state and market instruments alike.
In this post I will try to better formulate this argument in this post by deriving insights from Rough Theory and Hack the State ( and While neoliberalism praises free markets, the contrasting memory of real socialism points out to central planning as the main driving force to organise an otherwise anarchic economic life. Dynamic and Non-linear Theory of Institutional Emergence. Blurbs .. about 'Organising and Disorganising' Beyond boom and bust - diagrams. Swinging between the regulations of government and the excesses of the market has proven flaws, says Michael Thompson. Here he outlines how cultural theory can offer a new economic paradigm.
Cultural Theory with Michael Thompson. Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self and Emotion (9780521318310): Richard A. Shweder, Robert A. LeVine. Theory of Governance - Organising and Disorganising. Book: Organising and Disorganising: A Dynamic and Non-Linear Theory of Institutional Emergence and its Implications. Dr Michael Thompson. Triarchy Press, 2008. We introduced this book last week, but would like to return to it, given its importance.
Consumer Culture Theory. CCT - PDF (Open in new Tab) Culture-Theory - PDF (open in new frame) A muddled model? A view of the Big Society. The Big Society concept is under fire. Harriet Riley argues the concept promises exciting possibilities for volunteer organisations and explores some of its implications for the charity sector. If the government’s Big Society narrative survives the current onslaught, it could provide opportunities for developing new ways of delivering services, and the promotion of innovative and collaborative working practices. Leadership and the Local Peak Syndrome « Leaders We Deserve. New leadership ideas and actions are particularly valuable when the going gets tough. A new book based on Culture Theory shows how to understand and overcome the local peak syndrome. Theory U and Theory T.
Management theory books and disaster films have something in common.