Think of the unemployed workers during depression who crowded against the gates to the docks and at factories, and being chosen for the day. It’s a bit like that, but more proactive. What if the hub was a space where clients came, engaged over a period of time, and left with the team assembled to achieve a specific objective, traditionally understood as a project? That is, the client leaves with the contract for a first iteration from people who assemble uniquely at that time. That is, there was no company to start with and participants self-organise to converge and align towards a specific target.
Which means we are breaking down the notion of a company. The way to enable this space is to have certain enabling “mechanics” or “articulations” which facilitate the quick alignment of individuals to put forward a proposal, or indeed create a prototype. An action cycle does this (action cycle transform), which is conducted at the boundary of a traditional company. A purely networked version of this is what we are talking about here, with only self-selecting diagonal players crystalising around a single player’s intention. What are the “ligaments”, or “weak attractive forces”, that enable this kind of social manifestation, specifically a client being happy with the team assembled to create the prototype?
- high degree of opportunistic mindset of participants: open-mindedness
- contracted to be “open” for 30% of their time, devoting 70% of their time to their own projects
- open meetings where clients are invited, and they co-create with the available hub members to scope a gem
The objective of the hub is that it is primarily a social space where business is conducted at a deeper level than we are accustomed to in a market. Markets are loud as participants compete to attract attention to themselves, creating a pulling-apart or taking energy. The articulations provided by the members of the hub (financial protocols, social ligaments, physical mechanisms, mindful practices) enable a high-trust framework, where people pull together, the energy being informed by generosity and giving, evolving a truly collaborative space.
