Leo Guinan
@leoguinan
@leoguinan
This feels extremely profound. We end up creating broken systems sustained by masochists.
How much energy is lost for the sake of trying to maintain some level of “adulting”?
When the gap between the ceiling and flow increases, the way to prevent unrest is by adding more steps between. It’s important to see clearly how to level up to the ceiling, and not only enable people who have the ability to make the leap between the existing steps. More people being able to do something shouldn’t threaten the existence of anyone currently doing the thing.
This is what abundant systems recognize. It’s not about the machines or the data, it’s about the humans. When we build abundantly, we ensure that everyone is taken care of, because that builds the best possible long-term future.
Because we don’t think about valuing the work to be done in the future, only the work to be done now, we don’t give people space to explore what the future holds. Instead, we stress people out by giving them vague possibilities of an uncertain future with no time to explore them. By giving people the time, space, and freedom to explore what the future might hold, they will find abundant futures that are bright and exciting. Those are the futures they will work to actively create.
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.
The biggest thing we can do is give people a sense of a secure present from which to explore potential abundant futures.
When you think about the future, you spend a little energy now to optimize what will come later
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.
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.