The 'Role of Source' is an ongoing work-in-progress since 2009, researching the principles by which founders organize and materialize their enterprises, projects and initiatives. The research is not 'scientific', in the sense of departing from a preconceived hypothesis and seeking to test this, rather empirical and 'postconceived', in the sense of starting from zero, listening to founders' stories and experiences, attempting to distill out and describe the common, universal threads; submitting the distillation to test in further iterations. (cf. 'Action Research', Kurt Lewin).
The significance of this work is not in its discovery of anything new, but in its emphasis on attempting to articulate and make transparent 'source principles' of organization and materialization that have always been present, and are universal. This as a helpful alternative or complementary lens to conventional management principles which have been successful in the industrial era for creating economies of scale in linear goods production but now in the digital age hit serious limits. (In short, the 'source principles' are perennial whereas conventional management principles are simply a temporary subset, very useful for the last 350 years but limited).
The key subjects the 'sourcework' research is starting to reveal are on:
1. Order. The natural order of organization from the founding moment of an initiative; in terms of the positioning of engaged people to the founder (or linear successor of the founder) and to each other, natural, flowing emergence and materialization
2. Collaboration. The basic conditions of satisfaction that appear have to be fulfilled, in order for collaborations to succeed well
3. Succession. The elements of process that result in a succession where the torch is really passed, and the telltale signs to indicate this has happened, or not.
While still in a young state with lots more to research the 'lens' offered by this research can be, and is already being, very effectively used to:
- explain and understand why and how organization flows well and easily when this happens instinctively; in order to consciously replicate this state
- quickly and precisely identify, understand the consequences of, and introduce corrections, where the natural order is not followed. Likewise where intended collaborations or successions have failed to materialize.
For more details see < A Little Red Book about Source >
Or please visit the website for an introduction and contact if further interested.