Doc
I think this is a great idea! In many ways it's what I would hope this
list could become. As you say, there would be some practical problems,
but I'm confident they could be overcome. I think that some sort of
subscription/royalty scheme could work (i.e. charge each member of the
list some monthly subscription fee, but credit royalties against that fee
(and possibly more) for active contributors). I know of at least one
company that operates a similar system on their intranet as a way of
encouraging contributions to their knowledge management data base.
Rick, if you're listening, is something like this possible on this list
(or a sub-set of it)? If so, maybe your pro bono work can become (at
least a bit) pro pecunia?
Richard
[Host's Note: Yes, I'm "lisening"... And, I'll reply separately. I would
be delighted to hear thought about how this kind of useful sharing could
be accomplished. ...Rick]
> Now, to advocate something I've wondered (and hoped for) innumerable
> times. A little story to draw a parallel first. Many years ago, when
> Wang was the computer that many organizations were spending their
> automation dollar on, I had the opportunity to work very closely with that
> system and its' users. Personally--a great computer and software
> development process, and I hated to see it go the way it did. One of the
> finest features of Wang was the User's Group that one could join by
> subscription. The User's (who were global) would develop new procedures
> or programs to enhance the computer's capabilities--and then send it to
> Wang. Wang would distribute it to each and all of the subscribers without
> a software development premium. I upgraded my system a number of times
> with other people's upgrade developments and spent only the nominal
> subscription fee to do so.
>
> My dream has been to see something like this among users of the 5th
> Discipline Fieldbook. We all know, I'm sure, that it went to press shy
> several chapters (see the Lost Chapters website at
> http://www.fieldbook.com/field.html ). I would enjoy subscribing to a
> developing Fieldbook, reflecting the learning and development among
> practitioners. In this wonderful web-world of ours, the subscription and
> contributions could all be done through the internet. Now, I know that
> there would be a number of obstacles to this (copyright infringement?
> willingness to share proprietary information?) idea--but thought I'd pitch
> it just the same.
>
> regards,
>
> Doc
>
> --
> "The future is uncertain . . . but this uncertainty is at the very heart
of
> human creativity." -Ilya Prigogine
>
> Thresholds <http://www.thresholds.com>
> Meeting Masters <http://www.thresholds.com/masters.html>
> Richard C. "Doc" Holloway Astoria, Or & Olympia, WA USA
> ICQ# 10849650 voice 360.786.0925
>
> Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com>
> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>
>
Richard Goodale
Managing Partner
The Dornoch Partnership
"Discovery, Creativity, Leadership"
goodale@dial.pipex.com
+44-1383-860660
--Richard Goodale <fc45@dial.pipex.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>