Ok, i’m late to this one. My first blog post from an air plane - somewhere over Montreal on my way to speak at the The WorldBlu Forum. Have also helped WorldBlu create “The Grid” - a live interactive bloggy like site where you’ll be able to find transcripts, recordings, blogs, photos, etc.
Trine-Maria Kristensen mailed a customer the other day saying that i would be coming along for a meeting because we needed some “no compromises attitude” for the meeting. However frank it was it kind of reasoned with me and my thinking these days. Not that i don’t understand compromises and make a lot of them my selves every day, but because compromises aren’t solutions to today’s major paradigm shifts. They worked as solutions for incremental change/evolution within a paradigm, but in paradigms shifts there’s no room for compromises.
Compromises occur when people don’t go all the way, go all in, dumb down the paradigm shifts to commercialize them quickly, when people adopt words and vocabulary for from a new paradigm and use it to sexy up the existing paradigms, when people don’t dare to do it, when people simplify/make light versions of the changes that are happening because they are unwilling to accept the paradigm shift fully - but want the fame and recognition from it - ultimately when people don’t respect the core the idea and treat it accordingly.
Compromises are the center of cycles. When a cycle of change opens up it’s about getting as much as possible of change and new core ideas into it - instead of making compromises and seeing the cycle of possibility for change close again with only small improvements. Maximizing change potentials of cycles is the core. And compromises are it’s enemy. And when i say maximizing i mean the maximizing the potential for change against the adaptability of people, models, beliefs and systems.
I’ve been seeing this happening in the real world for all my adult life. The internet in the early 90’s was an amazing opening for social, democratic and societal change - eventually it got dumbed down to companies having homepages and hardcore capitalists playing their old games. New openings are appearing every day again, new cycles are starting - and i’m seeing the usual patterns of compromises effectively for every day that goes by limiting the potential for change in the cycle. Mostly because of ignorance of the idea, unwillingness to really understand the idea, not giving recognition to the people behind the ideas or lack of respect for the idea.
So what could be the solution? First of all realizing the huge responsibility people with insights have not to compromise the ideas, especially people in trusted positions. Secondly being very frank and open about calling out the compromises that are happening - not playing nice for fitness or a quick buck. So the next time you see someone saying they have a blog when they really don’t call them out, when they say they’re innovating when they really aren’t call them out, when they say they’re so web2.0 - but really are playing by the old playbooks call them out. Call them out in a nice way and offer your humble constructive help. Encourage long term thinking all over instead of focusing on easy realities or a easy money.
Respect the idea, don’t compromise it. I think we’ll get to tomorrow much faster and efficient if you do.
Makes any sense?
How does it relate to the traditional adaption cycle of innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, etc.?
Douglas Rushkoff: Blasted Blasts
As always Rushkoff sums it up really well. My deep regards to the people and families in London who has had their life’s changed for ever.
But my reaction is disillusional.
Denmark is probably the next target as one of the few european countries very actively engaged in the war in Iraq. The governments reaction was to post 3-4 police officers at every train station in the greater copenhagen area - none of whom seemed as if they had any idea what to do there. The public explanation was that it was to assure the Danish people of their safety. So openly it’s a pschylogical play since there’s no way they can keep up that on an every day basis. “Make them feel safe for a couple of days and they’ll forget that they’re targets 365 days a year especially when Denmark is actively engaged in the Iraq war” seems to be the thinking. (one danish columnists had the great idea that the politicians themselves should get out of their limousines and into the public transportation with the rest of us).
We’re targets every day as long as we ourselves aren’t the change we want to press down on others. You gotta walk the talk.
When we lie to our people about going into wars, when we invade other countries on very little evidence, when our hyprocacy in for example the israelian/palestinian situation is hopeless, when we don’t want to open up trade with the third world to protect our agriculture sector, when wealth is getting more and more concentrated - when we every day create more enemies than connected friends.
Our current models aren’t working. We’re getting connected across the globe in profound ways every day - but every day we’re also leaving people behind with no idea of how to be a part of society, with no hope for the future - no meaning in their lives.
I feel for the families who have lost their loved ones - but don’t know how to deal with the reality that more people lost their loved one’s just in Iraq the last week because of our actions.
We’ve realized that we live in a very complex world - simple actions isn’t the solution.
PS. Jon Husband has a great post about the changes he thinks are needed to deal with terrorism in the meditum to long term.
Nikolaj Nyholm is in Pakistan officially hunting down Osama - unofficially i hear something with a development team in Islamabad - follow his adventures here
The 1st of March it was 10 years ago that i co-founded Mondo. Big numbers sure put things in perspective. Also 5 years ago that the bubble bust - i could have sworn that it was yesterday. And now it’s all happening again - nirvana…
Busy week…
Organic, the wifi platform company, that i co-founded in 2002 finally launched and had a wonderful launch presentation with 60 people and a really good energy. Lot’s of people happy about where they are in life and doing the best work of their lifes. Corporate guys talking about going the startup way, serial entrepreneurs onto the next thing - and the “young” global superstars like DHH and Hartvig. Felt like something is happening - let’s just hope it can turn into a long burn this time.
Also did a Meet project for The Danish Design Center for their design:PARTNER conference. It went really well - allthough there’s still some work laid out to turn Meet into the ultimate “Tools for Great Meetings” 
. If you’re interested in tools for meetings send me a mail and let’s hook up.
Also Buyingexperience, a company i co-founded in 2000, was bought by Creuna. Hope that one goes well for the whole team.
So - onto next week - where i hope to be able to announce the final dates for reboot7 and a wiki for it.
My old copy of Stewart Brand’s legendary and more relevant than ever book, “How Buildings Learn: What happens After They’re Built“, is missing. It’s out of print for the original hardcover and for a classic such as this a new paperback won’t cut it.
I remember borrowing it to somebody perhaps a year go? (And yeah, i need an enterprise book management system!)
Living is…
Getting home from work and having the kid crawling wildly towards you, throwing himself in your arms with an enthusiastic smile for the first time.
In the category of places you need to visit once in your life
Shopped at the world’s first IKEA store in Älmhult, Sweden. Bought some stuff for the kid.
Note to self.
Time to spend less effort educating people about the promise of the internet that’s finally happening - and more time on actually building it and working with the people who all ready have seen the light…