Engineering Generosity
Collection to inspire the book
Engineering Generosity
Generosity is not a loan to repay or a debt to settle. It's a gift to appreciate. Yes, you can reciprocate a favor by paying it back. But the best way to honor an act of kindness is by paying it forward.
No, you don't owe me a favor
Forward, not back
They value me as a resource, someone who GSD and makes things happen.
They value that I know how to do stuff, so they don’t have to.
But they don’t actually value who I am, what I stand for, or my potential to change the world.
They value that I know how to do stuff, so they don’t have to.
But they don’t actually value who I am, what I stand for, or my potential to change the world.
Alicia Bonner • Why do you work?
They valued the wrong things.
Creators make money so they can make stuff, instead of the other way around.
Dr. Gena Gorlin • Fantastic Builders and Where to Find Them, 5th Installment
This is an important thing to realize.
In practice, a startup nonprofit has several important distinctions from traditional nonprofits: 1) it begins with a large goal and works backwards to identify incremental steps to achieve that goal, 2) it has an iterative, experimental mindset, and 3) it is an internet first organization.
marklutter.com • Startup Nonprofits
interesting framing. I’d been focused on the concept of eliminating the distinction between for-profit and non-profit, but this is an alternative way to examine the same problem, looking like it could have similar outcomes.
What is the value of work in a world on the cusp of automation, and how will humans redefine their relationship with it?
Our Centaur Future - A RADAR Report
Work isn’t valuable. People are. People can set a value on the work that is done, therefore, they are the most valuable piece of the equation. Work for the sake of work has no value.
Kindness has unlimited upside.”
James Clear • 3 Ideas, 2 Quotes, 1 Question (December 26, 2019) | James Clear
More proof of ideas
The principle here is reciprocity, but notice that it is not simultaneous. Unlike the notion of barter, time is allowed to elapse before one deed is repaid by another. Trust is required to bridge that gap. Unlike barter, the exchange is not mechanistic in that it does not place a concrete value on one deed versus another. Rather it is inherently... See more
Richard Pickering • Reciprocity as a Business Model
Time gap requires trust
While computing power grows in exponential leaps, the pace of transition to a green economy that would cleanly fuel that growth lags far behind.
noemamag.com • Will AI Bring Plentitude or Further Imperil the Planet? | NOEMA
Incentive structures don’t map to ultimate high-value results