Cultivating Flows: How Ideas Become Thriving Organizations - Softcover

Wagter, Herman; Russell, Jean M

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1909470988 ISBN 13: 9781909470989

Publisher: Triarchy Press Ltd, 2016

Synopsis

The Internet has transformed the way we live and work – by unleashing the power of shared ideas, the power of instant communication, the power of cooperation while being separated by time and distance. The image of an organisation as a static machine was a misconception, caused by the slow trickle of information. Now that the brakes are off, we see torrents flow:  vast flows of data, information, and knowledge; flows of influence and innovation; flows of ideas and people... once you notice them, it’s increasingly clear that “forms and flows” of ideas and information overwhelm  the “structures and processes” we were comfortable with.

The force of shared ideas and information is clear: they shape how we organize ourselves. The challenge is to guide this force, to cultivate valuable flows, to nurture shared ideas into thriving organizations, to develop concepts and language to methodically approach this challenge.

Countless business start-ups, hybrid organizations and even conventional companies are frantically learning how to work with flows – there is no guidebook. Which is why Jean Russell and Herman Wagter, both long active in this field, set out to interview business pioneers and founders, researchers, practitioners, investors and others with experience of how flows work and how to shape them.

In Cultivating Flows (not ‘Managing Flows’!) they pull together that experience, and their own, to explain how flows work and how best to work with them.

• They take us through key stages of development like Reframing, Navigating, Operationalizing and Iterating.
• They introduce us to key concepts like Emergent, Networked, Event-Driven (ENE) efforts; Social Technology, Social Protocols, and Social Organisms; Process Hierarchies; and Coherence
• They offer us a dozen, detailed Use-Cases of social flows in action.

And behind it all they’re building a unique resource of interviews, articles, case studies and experience in a website that supports this book.

For anyone seeking to start, join, reimagine, reshape, update, or “run” an organization or a movement in this exciting new world, Cultivating Flows is a kind of gardener’s manual, an indispensable resource and an inspiration.

 

About this title

About the Author:

Herman E. Wagter is an independent program manager specialized in complex collaborative innovation programs, where technical innovation needs to be combined with social innovation to get the desired impact. He supports his customers by developing and refining a comprehensive strategy to achieve the desired goal, as well as by leading the subsequent iterative implementation phases hands-on. One example is the public-private venture to kickstart Fiber-to-the-Home in Amsterdam, including the successful discussion with the European Commission on the application of the Market Economy Investor Principle regarding the role of the Municipality of Amsterdam. Another is the strategic development of the Lean & Green movement aimed at increasing the competitiveness of companies through the voluntary reduction of CO2 emissions during the transport of goods. In his early career as Managing Director in international contracting and services he became interested in the social dynamics of change and the role of social technology in shaping how we work together. As a practitioner who is keen on what creates impact he continuously searches for knowledge, ideas, and experiences to apply in his work. That search includes legal issues like state-aid and public tender processes, new accounting principles, technology, behavioral economics, and human motivation applied to collaboration. Herman loves to cook for his family, drink good wines with his wife and their friends, and do outdoor sports. He likes to tinker with IT and gadgets and once in a while to enjoy fast mountain roads on his motorcycle.

About this edition

• Publisher: Triarchy Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1909470988
• ISBN 13: 9781909470989
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 222