Kiwi Scrum

August 2008, Newsletter

Hello Everyone,

This is our third newsletter. You can read the June 2008 and July 2008 newsletters if you choose.

The August LinkedIn hint:

LinkedIn has offered "Discussions" for LinkedIn Groups. This promises to be a disaster unless Group leaders exercise strong control over postings. So I'm making some rules now. If you simply want lots of people to link to you, please don't post to "Discussions at Kiwi Scrum". Tell me, and I'll make up a page of all members Kiwi Scrum people who are "open networkers". If you want to post an advertisement about your business, please don't, I'll simply delete it. "Discussions" begin with topics worthy of the time and effort. We are better off as a group with fewer posts the have something to say.

In the same way posts introducing yourself don't scale in large groups, so please avoid that too. Ask a good question, ask a question lots of people want to talk about. That's the best way to introduce yourself.

The Useful Common:

The contraction of financial markets is off the front page, but the problem remains. The boards are full of economic, political, and environmental advice on how we can put our house in order. Each writer, George Monbiot, for instance tries to deal with a tiny part of huge ecological/social/economic problem that NONE of us understand. I like the headline; "The Greatest Failure of Thought in Human History". That article deals with the blindness of economic, business and political thinking to the reality that we are part of nature and our business and economic systems are embedded in nature too. The quality of the debate is poor, the degree of understanding is scant. The lives of our children and grandchildren depend on us finding some good answers. We're not making much progress.

Engage with other people and Groups:

I've just finished reading a book, "The Origin of Wealth" by Eric D Beinhocker, which develops the concept that business and economic systems are part of the ecological/economic environment. It's easy to build systems that take something of high value and create something of less value. Too many human activities operate that way. The ability to produce a cash profit is not an adequate measure of any activity. We need to think clearly about how to build systems that produce more order, and how to reduce entropy in the system.

I've some training as an economist. These ideas challenge the roots of all my understanding. But I have a sense that "truth" lies in here, somewhere. The concepts are hardly understood at all in the wider community. The discussion is widely spread across the Internet. You build your own understanding by being involved. Lots of work to do. Without widely dispersed knowledge, creating lots of informed people, good solutions are unlikely.

Volunteer

The world is driven by the power of volunteers, by the things people do because they need doing, not because someone's paying to have it done. In previous newsletters suggested some things you could volunteer to do. Answer a Question, invite people to connect to yourself on LinkedIn, encourage people to join Kiwi Scrum. The Global Entrepreneurship Week also needs some time and effort, and few people have stepped forward so far. You can start a discussion on Kiwi Scrum, or engage in the ecological/economic debate, which is perhaps the most important discussion of our time.

The Value of Participation

Why be involved in any of this at all? Does it make a dollar?

My answer is simple. Participation makes YOU. Participation changes who you are and the person you are becoming. Participation informs you about the world and teaches you about other people. In return other people will tell you who you have become. You may be surprised by what they say.

Regards
John