I think it was in 1995, Bill Gates came out with a book called Business At The Speed Of Thought. It was before he discovered the internet, so right now I don't know what that book was about, but I think my recent blog entry DFNYC, 100,000 Strong, Scalable Organization can be called Politics At The Speed Of Thought. The proposal quickens the pace of progress. The productivity goes up.
Race: A Volatile Topic
It is a volatile topic, for sure. But is has to be dealt with. It has to be talked about. Avoiding discussions makes it harder, not easier. We can start with the gentle topics in race. Heck, we could start with our hilarious experiences in race. I have quite a few, some of them are predictably to do with Homeland Security. Do I look Arab? Like I was in this office setting in Lexington, Kentucky, a few month after 9/11. And I overheard this guy in this next cubicle relating to someone on the phone in a toned down voice: "There is an Arab in my office!"
Pyramid Of 10
At first look the DFNYC, 100,000 Strong, Scalable Organization idea might look like an invitation to 100,000 people to stare at the computer screen for several hours each week. Screen time is part of it, but I believe the real story is Face Time.
You end up building a social unit.
Meetings I have gone to so far have tended to focus on mostly political talk. And then there is this undercurrent. Over a period of time you get to know a few people a little better. But that is hardly the focus. It is just supposed to happen on the side.
The ground rule is you can not make people do things. You can only suggest. But within that I think there should be a conscious decision to insert ice-breakers, and team building exercises, and get to know each other social exercises as part of the meetings.
I have not had a chance to think about this a whole lot. I hope I will do it more down the line. But let me go do a few Google searches.
Ice Breakers & Energizers
Educational Icebreakers
Ice Breakers - Exercises To Get Things Started!
Leadership - Icebreakers, Warm-up, Review, and Motivators Activities
Icebreakers to Inspire Communication : Eslflow webguide
BREAK THE ICE
Teacher Ice Breakers
If we are political activists, we should think ourselves as a sports team. Those teams do warm up exercises. We do ice breakers, kind of.
Team Building Exercises and Icebreakers
Fun Team Building: Team Building Exercises & Activities | Staff ...
Team Building: A Complete Guide
Team Building Games - Exercises & Activities - Teambonding - A ...
Something along those lines.
There will also have to be developed a mechanism to handle other scenarios. Some are to do with race, some to do with gender, some just plain interpersonal chemistry, some to do with miscommunication. When you bring people into groups, you end up with issues here and there.
There can be guidelines, suggestions, manuals, with the emphasis on creative approaches. Again, I have not thought a whole lot about this.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Social Progress: Show Me The Money
The Spectrum/Dialogue Concept Is Key To Power
America is the richest, most powerful country today because it is the oldest democracy. Nepal is two years older than America, but it is one of the poorest. Democracy creates wealth. Democracy is social progress.
After slavery was abolished in America, the country started out on a major industrial trajectory.
After women were granted voting rights, there was another industrial shift. The country took to the air and to the roads. The automobile industry got launched.
The end of segregation brought forth the second industrial revolution.
Bill Clinton's progressive thrust brought forth the dot com boom and the longest peacetime economic expansion in history.
Social progress has to be made on all fronts: race, gender, class. Every time a major leap is taken, it is like breaking a sound barrier. A whole, new positive reality emerges.
That is why we have to figure out the least disruptive ways of making social progress. For me it is almost like the efficiency concept in the world of business.
And it literally is about money, like the guy says in the movie Jerry McGuire: "Show me the mo-ney!"
Social progress benefits both the oppressor and the oppressed. The trick is to show them that is the case. The trick is to show them the money, the promise of it.
And this goes beyond race and gender. This also applies to education, health and free trade. This applies to feeling good about China and India.
I believe I have offered the basic framework: The Spectrum/Dialogue Concept Is Key To Power.
America is the richest, most powerful country today because it is the oldest democracy. Nepal is two years older than America, but it is one of the poorest. Democracy creates wealth. Democracy is social progress.
After slavery was abolished in America, the country started out on a major industrial trajectory.
After women were granted voting rights, there was another industrial shift. The country took to the air and to the roads. The automobile industry got launched.
The end of segregation brought forth the second industrial revolution.
Bill Clinton's progressive thrust brought forth the dot com boom and the longest peacetime economic expansion in history.
Social progress has to be made on all fronts: race, gender, class. Every time a major leap is taken, it is like breaking a sound barrier. A whole, new positive reality emerges.
That is why we have to figure out the least disruptive ways of making social progress. For me it is almost like the efficiency concept in the world of business.
And it literally is about money, like the guy says in the movie Jerry McGuire: "Show me the mo-ney!"
Social progress benefits both the oppressor and the oppressed. The trick is to show them that is the case. The trick is to show them the money, the promise of it.
And this goes beyond race and gender. This also applies to education, health and free trade. This applies to feeling good about China and India.
I believe I have offered the basic framework: The Spectrum/Dialogue Concept Is Key To Power.
Lee Metcalf Is A Naderite
I had a rather long conversation with Lee Metcalf at the DFNYC Mixer the other day. This was his first time at a DFNYC event. Some friend of his emailed him the link to the event at the organization's site, and he decided to show up. He is a Ralph Nader guy. Go figure.
I started out not knowing a whole lot about Nader, and that was in 2000. Then I made it a point to learn. A lot of my good friends were really into him. One friend of mine was on Nader's statewide committee for Kentucky in 2000.
What does he stand for? I find few things I disagree on in terms of basic policy. But I lose him on political reality.
Gore is not the greatest guy maybe, but who would you rather have protecting the environment, Gore or Bush? To me that is what it boils down to.
Lee and I honed in on two Nader issues: (1) Public financing of elections, and (2) Universal health insurance. I can not disagree on either. But both are statements of fantassy. What exactly is the policy you are offering?
As in, start by describing the reality as it exists on both today. Then tell me where you want to go, what do we end up with. And then show me the roamap. The Nader crowd does not do any of the three. Because as soon as they looked at the roadmap, they will realize solidly voting Democratic is how you go about it.
It is a choice between, the good, the bad, and the ugly. The Nader prescriptions are good, the Democratic prescriptions are bad, according to the Nader crowd, and the W prescriptions are ugly. They are so mad we can't have the good, they give us ugly.
The conversation is hardly over. And I hope Lee will keep coming to the DFNYC events, and will bring more people along.
He emailed a link to this article earlier: Stand With The People.
And I kind of like it that Nader is an Arab American. That is a freshening difference from the crowd of WASPs. So I got Nader, but on entirely something else.
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