Hey Alex, this is such a rad post. You gave one subtle example: We are a mini-city; if something wouldn't be right for a city, it's not > right for us. (And we go for a cozy fireplace feel; if something doesn't > feel like a cozy fireplace, we don't do it.)
I'm wondering if you can share other examples of that kind of decision-making? Specific things you've done (or not done)? Bonus points for "tough" decisions where the right thing was also the hard thing...and EXTRA bonus points for the sharing the outcome of making that tough choice. -Alex -- /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Jul 1, 2014 at 4:58 AM, Alex Linsker <alexlins...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Tony, > > I think "higher purpose" can be one of four things (or maybe more, or a > combo): > 1) Vision > 2) Mission > 3) Community Guidelines (limits) > 4) Culture > > At Collective Agency, we have a strong mission statement: > > "A cozy place to work alongside people doing work they’re passionate about > and committed to, where 80% of people say hi. Come and work here!" > > The Community Guidelines (limits) are: > http://collectiveagency.co/community-guidelines/ > > The culture "values us for who we are as people, not for the work we do." > It focuses on "we're great/life's great" rather than "life sucks/my life > sucks/I'm great (and you're not)." Expressing appreciation is important. > > As for vision, Collective Agency is a full-fledged democracy, a > cooperative. We are a mini-city; if something wouldn't be right for a city, > it's not right for us. (And we go for a cozy fireplace feel; if something > doesn't feel like a cozy fireplace, we don't do it.) We have the 7 > cooperative principles, and all surplus (after quality of life and good > things for members) goes into the Oregon constitutional amendment I'm > leading with Collective Agency employees (and occasional input from > members). > > We've found community with other places that (and people who) share those > goals, in Portland and around the world. > > Does any of that sum up the kind of common purpose you're thinking of? > > Alex > -- > Alex Linsker > Collective Agency's Community Organizer / Proprietor > (503) 517-6900 http://collectiveagency.co > Tax and Conversation's Statewide Community Organizer > (503) 517-6904 taxandconversation.com > (503) 369-9174 mobile (503) 517-6901 fax > 322 NW Sixth Ave, Suite 200, Portland, Oregon 97209 > > On Monday, June 30, 2014 2:42:38 PM UTC-7, Tony Bacigalupo wrote: >> >> Hi coworkers! >> >> I was thinking recently about an issue I've noticed locally and in other >> regions, where friendly neighboring coworking spaces sometimes struggle to >> develop good ways to collaborate. I believe the issue stems from a lack of >> a well-articulated higher purpose that people from multiple spaces could >> rally behind. >> >> I think about this phenomenon also in the context of how we communicate >> with prospective members. The majority of people who express interest in >> New Work City are, at first, looking for workspace, and think we're in the >> business of renting workspace. While we can use that as a starting point >> for educating prospective members about the deeper values behind and >> benefits of coworking, I'm thinking about how we can do a better job of >> connecting with prospective members in a way that's about something more >> meaningful. >> >> Have any of you experienced something similar? Have you witnessed or >> participated in the development of an ambition in your space or region that >> gives coworking space managers something higher to shoot for than simply >> getting enough members to pay the bills? >> >> Cheers, >> Tony >> --- >> Blog <http://happymonster.co> // New Work City <http://nwc.co> // Coworking >> Community NYC Meetup <http://meetup.com/coworking-nyc> >> >> -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
