In a derivative of the the Gashadokuro (餓者髑髏) trope, a Japanese story tells of a man in the Hiroshima Prefecture who is in a field at night and, hearing an eerie voice moaning, “My eye hurts,” finds a skeleton there with a bamboo shoot growing from its eye socket. He removes the bamboo shoot and offers the skeleton dried boiled rice, upon which the skeleton tells him the story of its murder and its personal history, and rewards him for his kindness.
I frequently write on a variety of topics. The articles are categorized and linked here for easy reference.
Topic Overview:
214 Alpha related
Anti-Fragile Playbook
Community Activation and Launch Methodology (C.A.L.M.)
Industry
Cultural / Economic / Political
Security
Fiction and Musings
Articles — 214 Alpha-Related
214 Alpha is a software and services company that gives a small town or community everything they need to launch and sustain a self-funded economic stimulus, using money that normally stays “under the table,” and activating leadership sourced from within the community, so they can reclaim their dignity, on their terms.
A joint effort with Ruth Glendinning of Future Story Lab, the Anti-Fragile Playbook is a step-by-step guide for those seeking to deliver a self-funded economic revival that addresses the root causes of generational poverty and trauma
Community Activation and Launch Methodology (C.A.L.M.) Step 1: Outrage
There’s a lot of reasons to become “fed up,” but frustration alone must take a back seat if lasting change is to be made. The Community Activation and Launch Methodology guides activists from outrage to stewardship through actions designed to help them reclaim their dignity on their terms.
As the outrage of the prior stage gave way and made space for solution-oriented creativity, a vision is formed, and this vision will need to be shared with others. This second step where you begin to first imagine the rough but essential building blocks of a self-sustaining, self-governing community.
There is no such thing as a community created by a single person; all successful communities relied upon the collaborative efforts of a small but dedicated core team, rallied around your original vision defined and fine-tuned during the prior step. Through your example your successful activism, advocacy, and community building efforts will demonstrate your community’s first examples of self governance.
Once you have followed the previous three steps it is a lot easier to secure funds, and far less likely there will be conflict within the community. Take it from the experts: you have to complete steps one (OUTRAGE!) through three (Community Building), first, or you will likely raise very little money, and if you do, it will result in chaos unless necessary precautions are taken.
Activation always happens in steps. Think about how to create a pilot, with a limited scope of participants, and a limited scope of functionality, and prepare for failures and the maturity to not take yourself so seriously as you iterate through cycles of improvement. Laughter is key.
Launch: this is when the rubber hits the road. This may sound difficult, but in fact, if you did all your work in the prior steps, this part is actually pretty simple (but not always easy); the adoption of technology, operations, and services in support of your vision, implemented in phases (steps), and in the spirit of full-transparency, honesty, and continuous improvement. Featured: Nic Rivera
As soon as your vision becomes a reality, your core team will be in the thick of acting as a trustee of your own community. An investment in stewardship is essential to operational continuity in the wake of departure, displacement, or death of charter members.
Product management fix-it guy. World-famous people skills. Extremely small hands. (edit) marketing lady says I’m also supposed to say “CEO of software company”
