I was prompted to post this by coming across Rob Patterson’s mention of wirearchy in the context of communities in real life using the Web to come together and inform each other, and help each other take action, as our established institutions continue to fail them in the face of economic, employment and governance crises.
In one of his posts about how public media is helping people find ways to support others and themselves, Rob makes the following point:
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I can’t see the next generation going back to the "straddle" not to our silly ways of being in the business or political world. I think that how you really are as a person and how your organization really is – will be the deciding factors in whether people want to do things with you.
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In previous blog posts or essays, I’ve suggested that in networks we come together around a purpose and objectives, and then begin to discover appropriate skills sets and motivations amongst members of a given network .. after which we begin to negotiate what we are going to do and why, who’s going to do what,how and by when, and then make this strategic information available, in full view, to all who are participating in the conversations, exchanges of information and the actual work (which often consists of pointing each other to pertinent just-in-time information that will make achieving the negotiated objectives easier or more efficient).
This kind of working arrangement, or structure, is an early signal of what I call wirearchy (the social architecture of purposeful organization), and may be the most common way people end up working together towards the objectives into which they have chosen to invest their skills and energy.
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Tags: networks, wirearchy, purpose, common objectives, negotiated agreements
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[…] Jon Husband: I’ve suggested that in networks we come together around a purpose and objectives, and then begin to discover appropriate skills sets and motivations amongst members of a given network .. after which we begin to negotiate what we are going to do and why, who’s going to do what,how and by when, and then make this strategic information available, in full view, to all who are participating in the conversations, exchanges of information and the actual work (which often consists of pointing each other to pertinent just-in-time information that will make achieving the negotiated objectives easier or more efficient). […]