JimBenson's blog

US Politics are not Agile

By JimBenson, 5 years 37 weeks ago.

Change happens. People re-prioritize. Moods shift. The Two Party System is waterfall methodology at its worst.

Today I was listening to an interview with the Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna. I've had the pleasure of having many long cooperative sessions and debates with Rob since the early 90s. I was a transportation planner and he was in the Washington State Legislature and very interested in transportation issues.

In his interview he said two things that really pushed my agile management buttons.

Leadership and Cooperations in the Gaming Economy

By JimBenson, 6 years 1 week ago.

Via SmartMobs (I think)

Joi Ito provides a lengthy description of the evolution of leadership, community and cooperation in on-line gaming. Far from being an idle pasttime, large scale games like World of Warcraft require a significant time commitment on the parts of the players.

Studying The Commons: The International Association for the Study of Common Property

By JimBenson, 6 years 1 week ago.

The International Association for the Study of Common Property has been studying the management, usage and architecture of commons for about 20 years. Their site is a wellspring of data, analysis, and theory around collaborative and cooperative use of environmental resources.

Survival of the Wisest

By JimBenson, 6 years 1 week ago.

Deepak Chopra has a guest column in the Huffington Post, of all places, giving a good run down of his theories of "Survival of the Wisest"

Chopra says:

The Opt-in Commons

By JimBenson, 6 years 1 week ago.

In urban planning there are several examples of commons being created on privately owned land. This site from the City of New York catalogs privately owned public space throughout the city.

Thomas Friedman: Interview on Trends in the Middle East

By JimBenson, 6 years 1 week ago.

Via Allan Cady

Thomas Friedman is interviewed on NPR by Terry Gross on current social and political developments. Friedman provides some interesting insight on potential future cooperation in the region.

Tracking the Bulls in the China Shop

By JimBenson, 6 years 1 week ago.

I have been thinking a bit about commons and elements that work contrary to them.  Cooperative ecosystems are often polluted by by people who are ignorant of the ecosystem, out for personal gain or outright hostile  This can take the form of things like anti-competitive practices in capitalism, resource hoarding in collectivism, or general rule bending / breaking for other systems. Like a bull in a china shop, their actions can be based on their aggressive behavior or simply by their unconscious movements.

We're Not Doomed After All

By JimBenson, 6 years 1 week ago.

In this Foreign Affairs magazine article, Robert Sapolsky examines the similarities of how humans value peace / conflict and how other primates do. He dispels a few primate myths and shows how human beings aren’t necessarily doomed to a future of warfare.

You Have The Right to a Blog

By JimBenson, 6 years 1 week ago.

The Los Angeles Police Department has launched their blog.

The first entry from Chief Bratton says:

Launching the Cooperation Commons Blog

By JimBenson, 6 years 1 week ago.

This is the inaugural post of the Cooperation Commons blog.

The Cooperation Commons home page houses a short introduction to the project by Howard Rheingold .

The project and this blog will be looking resources and developing thought surrounding cooperation phenomena. Cooperation studies are a multidisciplinary field. Objects from the quantum to the mega exhibit certain cooperative properties.

Syndicate content