A great short speech by the founder of ZipCar (i.e. car sharing service) who is now working on BuzzCar (i.e. do your own carsharing). Amazing how step by step the idea evolved from our anti-share attitude inching closer to real and increasingly effective results.
Speed and scale can be achieved when you combine excess capacity (of individuals, corporations or governments) with a common platform for participation. This can grow faster than traditionally as it is collaboratively built infrastructure.
Also, she touches on the subject that our thinking has evolved from preferring centralised models to decentralised models and now to networks. Here is a short video explaining this concept further... by the end of it you’ll think networks are the shizzle!
A few days ago I watched a documentary called us now, which was recommended to me on the Social Media course I am currently doing. This film focusses on the potential of social media to make us a more collaborative species in regards to decision making. The examples in the film (e.g. couchsurfing, Ebbsfleet soccer picks, Zopa, slice the pie, etc) show that transformation of how we do things is now possible with speed and scale, and that it is now becoming possible to self-govern. I love how people feel ownership when they can be a part of governance – I imagine that this will help us meet our needs better (syst cond 4)! Imagine if what happened with the Ebbsfleet soccer team could happen in NZ rugby, I have definitely heard enough couch commentators to think this would be quite popular! Zopa (in NZ, maybe Nexx to come soon) shows us how to cut out the middle-man in banking, and with slice the pie the middle-man in music recording. The idea of giving out scholarships based on votes as opposed to one person deciding who and what is most worthy also resonates well with me, and hints that this is what could be done with public funds too (although need to find a way that this can't be corrupted). I imagine it could work well for shareholders, at least in cooperatives (e.g. the recently started Lyttleton store). Imagine - community consciousness can now be measured and used! I found it interesting there is a quote in there ‘those people who are best at adjusting from management to leader are those that are comfortable with the idea of letting go’… I will take that on board – because I am sure I want to be that kind of leader!
