Twittering consciousness

I've been on Twitter for a few months - as well as facebook - and Twitter is the one that is holding my interest in terms of what I perceive as an interesting connection to the movement of consciousness.

People use it in different ways but what I find consistent is that I find myself feeling a deeper connection to the people I'm following. And this goes for my brother in Phoenix, a VC I've never met but that has similar interests, and a librarian that I simply found through Twitter because they live near me.

It has something to do with the small snipets of thought/consciousness being expressed generally several times a day. What's interesting is how these snippets begin to weave into an expression of who that person is and I think it has a more authentic quality then more 'intentional' channels like blog posts simply because you are limited to 140 characters per post which seems to encourage more direct transmission of top-of mind thoughts and experiences that move the author at that moment.

There's also the element that it's always with me as sms updates on my phone - which also means I can share my thoughts when they happen.

I think there are some implications for the increasing fluidity of consciousness in the upcoming younger - connected generations. And fluidity in consciousness is what our society is calling for more than ever. If you haven't tried it yourself, give the flow a try and sign-up, find a couple of friends how are actively using it, find someone that's active from a field of interest, and find someone that you don't know at all. Get it on your mobile if you can and start using it --- don't worry about what you are saying, just say something and see where it goes --- and of course let me know and I'll follow your 'tweets' and see where that takes this conversation.

A break in the silence - Ignition Fund I

It's been over two months since my last blog and it seems what was holding me up was getting a first draft of my Ignition Fund I thinking out. Well at last, here it is.

I'm interested to see where this goes - as someone said to me yesterday it seems to be capturing my life's experiences so far. Sure feels that way.

On with other posts...

The beauty of good online services --- unfolding.

I've been actively trying different online services and tools lately, one of which is www.wesabe.com. It was a particularly interesting test for me as it deals with personal financial data (for most people one the most sensitive data streams) and I've been a long-time user of Microsoft Money.

At first I found it interesting but it was an effort to use it. Well... they just launched a firefox browser extension which makes my uploads even easier than they were with the version of Money I was using.

So... what does this have to do with unfolding? Well this is a great example of a company that has been very actively engaging and asking their community 'how can we make wesabe better'. Well this was one of the highest priorities and so here it is.

What's fascinating too is that they can handle any bank and if they can't they'll add it as soon as you ask. Tremendous responsiveness.

More... the basis of the site which was the wisdom of the collective of users means that there are suggested tags for pretty much every transaction popping up in my transaction histories... and those confusing transaction names on the bank records... well they are sorting themselves out more and more as people translate them for themselves.

All this means the tool gets easier and smarter all the time. And this only cracks the surface... they've published an API... and I haven't even begun to get the possibilities of leveraging the community wisdom through this tool.

By basing their business and service on this community participation/wisdom model is going to have incredible strengths going forward. I don't think any of the traditional financial software companies are going to be able to compete (at least not with the growing audience that is embracing online services).

Now I'm just waiting for their small business service to open up!

Systemic interventions --- the fun stuff!

I've linked to this on the left, but can't seem to say it enough...

Donella Meadows' description of places to intervene in a system is the best guide I've come across for this stuff. I don't necessarily use it as a way to categorize the type or degree of systemic intervention an initiative is taking on but rather as a prompt to help me feel for the where an intervention may be most effective and what shifts may be prompted by the intervention being contemplated.

Watch out though... it gets addictive.

Catalysts of systemic intervention.

I've been doing some work with some great folks that are doing/working on amazing regional transformations through a systems approach. It's occured to me that they're using two seperate catalysts in making that happen. One is using financial capital and the other community empowerment.

In our current society, financial capital is one of the most powerful constructs in society and for now and always the empowerment or uprising of community is the other.

What's also interesting is that the transformation comes simply from the interactions that those initiatives are having within the regions they are working with... which comes from interacting from a different mindset.

The catalysts serve to allow interactions to happen and set the condition that the interactions are heard with a different intensity.

It's amazing to see effect of the simplest interaction in prompting tremendous transformation. Kind of life butterfly wings.

The tension of the two stories.

It's becoming more and more clear to me that our society is going through a major and accelerating transformation from the currently established 'linear' mindset toward a 'systems' mindset. There are countless ways to describe it but it is increasingly evident and felt particularly among those who are working on solutions to address the growing social and ecologcial threats our society is facing.

The tension of those two models colliding is palpable. The art of bringing them together is beautiful. The potential for it is limited and spontaneous. It's not always possible and it's sometimes unexpectedly possible.

I feel the tension incredibly strongly right now - at this moment and in our society... in the media... in the projects I'm drawn to. While my comfort wishes it away, it is what informs me and guides me deeper. If it's not there there's no progress and yet its presence isn't an indicator of progress.

With quickening heart I go back in again. A part for my own awakening and as part of the broader awakening.

Hmmm... onward...

Seed venturing toward systemic interventions - deal funnel: screening, conditions, and structuring.

Seeding ventures focussed on systemic interventions needs to be come at with an approach that is grounded in systems thinking. Conventional wisdom in venture investment has come from theory and experiences often based in working with business systems that are working within and dependent on the current system itself. What I've found is that the earlier the stage of investment and the more oriented the venture is toward a systemic intervention the more 'gut instinct' is used a guide to making investment decisions and supporting the growth and success of those ventures.

My thoughts have been going toward what would something that focuses on seed venturing toward systemic intervention look like and how would it work. What I'll be posting on for a few posts is going to be my emerging ideas in this.

First off... what would be the filter for projects that it would take on? What would the 'deal funnel' be?

I would approach it as follows:

1. Is systemic intervention the goal of the venture?
2. Are the readiness indicators favorable?
3. Are the conditions for accelerated growth present or practically possible?

From that stage the deal funnel would move into deal structuring which focuses on what is necessary to create the conditions for growth:

• Basic
• Basic financial stability
• Core competency coverage
• Catalytic
• Venture alignment
• Active and appropriate network

A key intersection point is that a financial investment is a powerful catalytic moment in the emergence of a venture. That catalytic power can be most productively harnessed if it is focused on encouraging the conditions as opposed to ensuring rigorous controls are in place. It also hopefully leads to much simpler deal documentation that focuses on establishing and orienting the relationship that is being created and how this investment can be used to create the conditions that will most accelerate the growth of the venture... the intensification of the vortex.

That felt good. Let's see if makes any sense.

Onward...