Fraser, autonomy is a frequent topic in knowledge work literature. One book chapter that helped me think through it is
Castells, M. (2006). The Network Society: From Knowledge to Policy. In G. Cardoso & M. Castells, The Network Society: From Knowledge to Policy. Johns Hopkins University Press; Center for Transatlantic Relations, Jhu-Sais. Castells argues that individuals who perform knowledge work pursue autonomy, "not necessarily to increase monetary gains but to enjoy greater freedom, flex-time, or more opportunity to create" (2006, p. 10). These three aspects (flex-time, operational freedom, creativity) are not always in harmony. For instance, coworking proprietors may find that they need to be on-site for most of the day to build community - so they don't get flexibility over their schedules, but the coworkers at their space do. My hunch is that different spaces, and different coworkers, balance these three aspects (and probably others) in different ways, and that contributes to the character of the different spaces. Castells' book The Internet Galaxy is also quite good - I had several a-ha moments as I read it with coworking in mind. I wrote a review, if it helps: http://spinuzzi.blogspot.com/2009/08/reading-internet-galaxy.html Hope that helps -- CS On Feb 25, 6:11 am, Lloyd Davis <[email protected]> wrote: > Ach, Fraser, hit send too quickly. Also wanted to say that I'm currently > Social Artist in Residence at the University of London Centre for Creative > Collaboration - so would be very interested in hearing more about your > research (and anything from anyone else on this subject) off-list. > > ll > > On 25 February 2010 12:09, Lloyd Davis <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > Fraser, now that the hyphen ribbing has died down I'd like to point you to > > a couple of references that I think are apposite and important. > > > One is a book by Warren Bennis & Patricia Ward Biederman from 1997 called > > Organizing Genius, The Secrets of Creative Collaboration - which explores > > what makes great innovative and collaborative groups tick. > > > Also the work of Ralph D Stacey at University of Hertfordshire on > > complexity and creativity and the role of conversation in innovation and > > change within organisations (also the importance of mess!) > > > Both big influences on me and the way I work. > > > Cheers > > > Lloyd > > > On 25 February 2010 01:05, Fraser <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> Hi folks > > >> I'm working at Indy Hall and researching into what makes co-working > >> great for collaboration. I have an idea that I'd like to share with > >> the group. > > >> We humans have 3 innate drivers that direct the way we live and work. > >> These are: To find a mate, earn fair compensation for work, and to > >> exercise creative initiative. When it comes to collaboration, the > >> motivation for creative initiative is often stunted by confusion over > >> roles, direction, and/or authority. Yep, we've all heard or said "I > >> hate working in groups" and "I'd be better off working by myself". > > >> Recently I read Dan Pink's new novel Drive. He suggests that the > >> conventional sticks and carrots (punishment and reward) method of > >> motivation is useless at promoting this creative initiative. Instead, > >> he suggests that autonomy, mastery, and purpose are what influences > >> creative initiative. This got me thinking. > > >> As I've been speaking to the people at Indy Hall, I've begun to think > >> that these alternative motivational factors are what makes > >> collaboration here so successful. Here, you have a group of people > >> demonstrating autonomy all the time. They control their own purpose > >> and working environment. As a result, they avoid issues over roles, > >> direction and authority. Also, they are nearly always doing things > >> they love, learning to get better at them (mastery) or teaching others > >> (purpose). > > >> Therefore, I wonder if co-working is great for collaboration because > >> it promotes into creative initiative by allowing innate human needs of > >> autonomy, mastery and purpose. I actually mentioned this to someone > >> today and they said, "yeah, it's like autonomy on steroids here".... > > >> So, I put this idea out there to the people in this group. Many of you > >> have more experience in co-working than me. What's your thoughts on > >> this idea? Why co-working is great for collaboration? > > >> I look forward to some discussions. > > >> cheers > > >> Fraser > > >> ----------------------------------------- > > >> Fraser A Marshall PhD > > >> MID Program student > >> The University of the Arts > >> 320 South Broad Street > >> Philadelphia, PA 19102 > > >> T: 267 243 1524 > >> E: [email protected] > >> E: [email protected] > >>http://significantdesign.wordpress.com/ > >>http://www.humanticdesign.com/ > >>http://twitter.com/fraseram > > >> ----------------------------------------- > > >> -- > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > >> "Coworking" group. > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >> [email protected]<coworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups > >> .com> > >> . > >> For more options, visit this group at > >>http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > > -- > > Lloyd Davis > > Social Artist & Master Community Builder > > Perfect Path Consulting Ltd > >http://www.perfectpath.co.uk/ > >http://tinyurl.com/2zejjsto subscribe to my blog by e-mail > >http://feeds.feedburner.com/PerfectPathto subscribe to my blog by RSS > > Call me: +44 (0)79191 82825 > > Skype me: perfectpath > > Follow me on Twitterhttp://www.twitter.com/LloydDavis > > -- > Lloyd Davis > Social Artist & Master Community Builder > Perfect Path Consulting > Ltdhttp://www.perfectpath.co.uk/http://tinyurl.com/2zejjsto subscribe to my > blog by e-mailhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/PerfectPathto subscribe to my blog > by RSS > Call me: +44 (0)79191 82825 > Skype me: perfectpath > Follow me on Twitterhttp://www.twitter.com/LloydDavis -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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