Joel, this is brilliant. Thank you so much for putting in this kind of creativity and thought into your work!
-Alex -- /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia building a community? http://masterclass.indyhall.org On Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 3:22 PM, Joel Bennett wrote: > After writing this a few weeks ago, reading and retweeking it a number of > times, and nearly shelving it completely, I am sharing this with you... the > international coworking community. > > I'd appreciate your feedback, but more importantly I would love for you to > add to the "lessons learned" at the end with the focus on planting, tending, > cultivating your coworking community. I'd even enjoy edits to the story to > add your experiences! > > So without further adieu... A Coworking Parable. > > > Coworking is about community. > > Building that community is not something you can force. No matter how hard > we try to speed the process up or do all the right things to "make it > happen", community is built organically. > > Alex Hillman recently posted on this topic and compared growing community > inside a coworking space to growing a flower. Beyond the simple elegance of > this comparison lies some substantial truths. > > As a space owner, I can choose to plant seeds throughout everything I do. > The are also many things I can do to fertilize, weed, water, and tend the > garden, but the growth is determined by the way the seed responds to all of > these inputs. If the seed isn't growing as quickly as I like there is little > I can do but wait while making sure these basics inputs are present. Adding > too much of them can be just as harmful as not enough. Messing with nature > and its timeline can also lead to plants that have shallow root systems which > are unable to make it the long haul, or other plants that produce leaves but > no fruit. > > Consider this parable. > > Two brothers lived in the country on their father's farm. When their father > grew ill before planting season, they became panicked, as he had always done > all the planning for the farm. Short on both money and experience, both boys > put out a call to their neighbors to help them by bringing them any excess > seeds they may have so that they could plant them in their fields. > > The community had pity on the boys and local families sent their youngest > sons to deliver their assistance (as the older we in the fields). Gifts came > in the handfuls and bagfuls, but without any forethought to what the boys > would do with all the seed they had the villagers place them all into a large > basin at the gate of their farm. > > Upon inspecting the seeds that had come in, the boys became very distressed. > The basin had been filled to the brim with seeds of all kinds, shapes, sizes, > and colors. The brothers had no idea what was what. Feeling overwhelmed, > they agreed to retire for the night and meet in the morning to determine what > to do next. > > When morning came the brothers met over breakfast on what they should do > about the seeds. > > "All is lost," said the older brother, "and father will be so disappointed in > us for not bringing in a crop." > > "How can we plant a crop that we can't even identify?" Exclaimed the younger > brother, "What a mess!" > > "We must do something," said the older brother, "so I have a plan. You take > half the seed and plant it in the lower forty and I'll take half and plant it > in the upper 40. By planting two crops using different means at least one of > us should yield results." > > "Great idea, brother." said the younger brother, "It's best not to put all > our eggs in one basket." > > So each brother set out to plant their crop. The older brother spent his > first few days sorting all the seeds by shape, size, and color so everything > of the same kind would be together. Upon completing the sorting, he began > planting, but anxious for results he planted 4 seeds per hole. > > "At least one will grow, and if multiples spring up they'll take the place of > any that wither away. And at the worst, at least all of the same plants will > be together." > > The younger brother got right to work. He spent no time sorting the seeds, > but chose to spend his first few days tilling the soil, adding fertilizer, > and removing and stones from the plot. He then reached into his sack of > seeds, grabbed a handful of seeds, and spread them far and wide over the > plot. There was no rhyme or reason to where the seeds fell, and guided only > by the wind and the lay of the land, they found their final resting place > without any direction from the younger brother. > > At the end of their long day both brothers had completed their plots. When > they compared notes on how each planted their crops, the older brother was > aghast. > > "How could you not have shown more care in planting your seeds? What will we > do if they do not bring a harvest? > > "The risk is the same between both plots, and who am I to decide where a seed > will grow best. Why not let the seed and the ground decide it for > themselves?" > > Many days passed and the brothers kept watch on their fields. No sign of any > growth could be found in either field. > > Each day the younger brother went out into the field and tended to the > ground, removing stones that worked their way to the surface, removing weeds > that were creeping in, and lightly irrigating the plot to keep the soil moist. > > His older brother became more and more panicked with each passing day and his > plot showed the signs. Some days he would dig up seeds to see if they were > growing, moving them to another areas of the garden or removing the ones he > felt may not have growing potential. This process often damaged the young > root systems of the plants, and their growth was retarded, and sometimes, > ceased entirely. > > Other days he would become anxious that soil was just not fertile enough, so > he would spend hours spreading fertilizer in big piles around the plot. Some > of the seeds responded with quick growth, shooting up out of the ground only > to be withered by the sun because their roots had not had time to fully > develop and feed the plant with the water it needed to survive. Other plants > were burned up by the chemicals, suffering from too much of a good thing > meted out all at once. > > And if that were not enough, the older brother also watered his seeds 4 times > a day, feeling that if a little was good, a lot must be better. Many plants > suffered under the stress of the overwatering, some drowning in the puddles > left behind. > > But as the older brother got more and more panicked, and tinkered more and > more with his plot, the younger brother continued to go out into the field > and tend to the ground, removing stones that worked their way to the surface, > removing weeds that were creeping in, and lightly irrigating the plot to keep > the soil moist. As seeds began to spout from the ground he took note of > their individual characteristics so he wouldn’t miscategorize them as weeds. > > After a few months of this process the villagers surrounding the farm began > to gather and talk about what they were witnessing there. All agreed that > both plots were like nothing they had ever seen before. > > The younger brother’s plot looked like a hodge-podge of various plants, all > intermingled and of different heights and varieties. The plants looked > healthy, but in some areas plants were thriving and growing tall while others > lay in their shadows. The younger brother had decided to let nature take its > course, allowing the plants best suited for the plot to flourish while others > may be crowded out and die. He felt any other solutions would invariably > impact both plants negatively because they were so intertwined. > > The older brother’s plot was also in disarray. The crop, although planted in > sections, was extremely spotty. Some areas looked good while others showed > wide splotches of distress, or in some cases, bare ground. His habitual > tinkering and meddling into the growth of the plot had caused many plants to > die, and too much water and fertilizer had taken its toll on entire rows of > crops. > > As harvest time approached, both brothers began to think about the arduous > task of collecting their crops. The older brother chose to use the equipment > they had on hand to combine the crops, but quickly realized that due to the > various heights, types, and growing seasons of his crops, much of his harvest > would be lost during the process that required much more uniformity and > consistency. > > After a long period of thought, the younger brother decided to harvest his > crop by hand, picking the grain from each plant one by one to minimize loss. > Although the process would be very time consuming, it would actually be more > efficient, as each plant could be targeted individually and those whose grain > was not quite ready could be harvested in later rounds. > > When the process was complete, both brothers returned to their father’s house > with their harvest. The older brother was able to provide a modest amount of > grain of varying quality to the storehouses, but most of it was of only a > couple varieties, as their harvest equipment wasn’t well-suited for the other > types of grain. > > The younger brother’s harvest was much larger, but no single grain made up > the majority. There were equal amounts of each of the plants that went into > the storehouse, and the quality of this grain was higher and much more > consistent. > > When the father was well enough to examine the results of the season he asked > each of the brothers what they had learned from their experience. When they > had spoken he wrote their wisdom down and posted it on the wall of the barn. > This is what it said: > · When asking for assistance, also ask for wisdom. Knowing something > doesn’t mean you understand it. > · Be clear about what you need. > · Too much of a good thing is still too much, and some good things > aren’t needed at all; provide what is needed. > · Look for signs of stress and understand when that is self-inflicted. > · If you spend more time planning and organizing than you do > preparing the field for planting, your focus is on the plan, not the crop. > · Be patient; some seeds just need more time than others. > · When you sow by hand you may need to harvest accordingly. See the > qualities and yield of each plant as unique and harvest when ready. > · A “one-size-fits-all” approach only works if it fits all sizes. > More times than naught you need to particularize. > · Some plants aren’t suited for your ground and never get > established. You can change the makeup of your ground to suit them better, > but that may also kill off other plants that have already gotten established. > Understand this is a fact of life and don’t try to be all things to everyone. > > > > > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
