Let’s be honest: G7, G8, and G20 meetings have historically accomplished very little. They’re big, expensive opportunities for powerful people to get their pictures taken, trying to remind everyone how important they are (or how important they suppose themselves to be). We’ve known this for a long time. We should also admit that the corresponding [...]
Tagged as:
change,
collaborative democracy,
g20,
g8,
global politics,
open society,
politics,
protests,
social justice,
toronto
This is my first post following ChangeCamp London (there will likely be one or two more) in which I’m suggesting points for probable improvement: mostly things I actively promoted through the planning process, and which I hope to see emphasized more in the future. This post argues for the need to be open throughout the process. [...]
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changecamp,
changecamp london,
crowdsourcing,
events,
groups,
motivation,
open government,
openness,
organizations,
planning,
psychology,
sociology,
strategy
A recent tweet reminded me of Clay Shirky’s excellent observation: Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution. Kevin Kelly called it The Shirky Principle, using the example of unions to illustrate: Unions were a brilliant solution to the problem of capital management which tended to exploit uncapitalized workers. But [...]
Tagged as:
change,
clay shirky,
generativity,
ideas,
institutions,
kevin kelly,
organizations,
relationships,
relevance,
theories,
trust,
will to relevance
Reality Hunger: A Manifesto by David Shields One of 2010′s most talked written-about books. For anyone interested in writing and storytelling this might be worth owning and occasionally flipping through for inspiration. A lot of great insights about truth and fiction — and whether either can really exist in pure form — much of which [...]
Tagged as:
anthropology,
books,
clay shirky,
evolution,
fiction,
history,
literature,
nicholas carr,
non-fiction,
reading,
richard florida,
sociology
I worry I enjoy ambiguity, irony, “meta” and satire a little too much. I’m worried my last post about copyright laws might seem too resentful (it is somewhat resentful — regretfully) because I genuinely sympathize with all sides. In the case of copyright, I appreciate the economic [and social!] stability it enables, and I want [...]
Tagged as:
ambiguity,
conflict,
criticism,
humour,
irony,
laughter,
meta,
perceptions,
satire,
writing
Yesterday’s announcement of new copyright legislation in Canada was met with the expected array of complaints from complainers, aka bloggers, slackers, n’er-do-wells, social deviants, hipsters, and cultural parasites. They received the news as an affront to their supposed “freedom” to exchange intellectual and aesthetic work and reshape existing artifacts into new “creations.” The dispute comes [...]
Tagged as:
copyright,
creativity,
drm,
entertainment,
information
My book is finished and available for purchase, download, or reading online. Sorry if you don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook, where I already mentioned it a few days ago. This is the formal “announcement.” Description: Truth, Will & Relevance outlines an innovative way to understand human nature and conduct — conceived specifically to address [...]
Tagged as:
blogging,
books,
generativity,
publishing,
reading,
will to relevance,
writing
Truth, Will & Relevance Regular blogging has taken a back seat for the past while as I finish book. I know I suggested I’d be self-publishing something months ago, but every time I get it into the shape I want it, the impression I get from ‘the whole’ inspires vast improvements — not just being [...]
Tagged as:
book,
changecamp london,
civic engagement,
events,
open data,
pclo10,
philanthropy,
podcamp london,
volunteering,
writing
The whole process relies on failure. People have to be willing to accept failure and admit to mistakes, or the process won’t work properly. If we artificially hide information to deny failures — whether it’s done in the name of positive thinking or is simply a manifestation of anti-social self-interest — then the process becomes [...]
Tagged as:
conversation,
decisions,
failure,
fallibility,
open government,
open society,
openness,
process
How It Happened Last night a group of us got together to discuss ChangeCamp London and different opportunities for fostering a more collaborative & open culture in London. It was a great meeting and we’ll see some good things coming together in the near future. With that still fresh in my mind, I noticed a [...]
Tagged as:
collaboration,
cycling,
open,
open data,
open government,
open source,
social media,
technology
Yesterday a new website launched, Action London 2010, providing Londoners what promises to be a textbook perfect case study on dos and don’ts of civic engagement in the digital age. They say (and have demonstrated they are) working to improve the site quickly, to their credit. I wasn’t going to post this but I eventually decided to lay [...]
Tagged as:
accountability,
cities,
civic engagement,
democracy,
digital democracy,
generativity,
government,
openness,
transparency