In my last post I intoduced 'complex ambiguity' as the stuff in venturing that entrepreneurs are really trying to figure out --- where no-one 'knows' the answer. The deeper the change and the earlier the stage the greater the complexity and the ambiguity. My earlier tumbls about pentagram and that one designer have tweaked me that it's akin to the creative process. Like designing a logo. Except that venturing can be a pereptual series of logos for something that itself is somewhat ambiguous and continuinally evolving. That's complex ambiguity.The penatagram video made me think about what it takes to build ...
Having been doing nothing but early-stage venturing from all sides of the table for more than a decade I decided to start a series of conversations to explore what works and what doesn't.From this initial set of conversations, primarily with investors working on 'the frontier' (social change and social tech) here are some of my initial observations. 1. Being on the frontier increases "complex ambiguity" (we don't really know what we are doing, and if we think we do it's probably a false sense of security)At the frontier, complex ambiguity emerges in each of these areas:The ultimate ...
Continuing on my previous macroshift post, here are my reflections from the remainder of Ervin Laszlo's book Macroshift.For me the rest of the book was a lighter read with some simple observations relating to the mindset shift that is called for and clearly already underway. Here are a couple of framing quotes to set the stage:"In the past, a more adapted civilization evolved over several generations; the rythym of change was relatively slow. This is no longer the case. The critical period for change today is compressed within the lifetime of a single generation."" A Chineses porverb warns, ...
Igniter "We are no longer in a universe of messaging and marketing. It’s a universe of doing." - Doug Rushkoff Quote... http://tumblr.com/xyj7c39xe [igniter].