I’m on the hunt for some people who are experts in biomimicry for Collaborating Minds. So if you know somebody, send them our way!! First cross-field example – tensegrity In the course of looking for sources, I ran across a story about how a biology student discovered the role of tensegrity in cells. Tensegrity […]
One of the inspirations for Collaborating Minds is a project called Polymath. Some people have been asking about it lately so I’m updating an old blog post I wrote a few years ago for Positive Structures, a blog where I think about personal and organizational structures that can make a positive difference (like Collaborating Minds, […]
We’ve been thinking a lot about “social” organization at Collaborating Minds, because recent discussions have confirmed that our emphasis on the social interaction of the participants distinguishes us in a meaningful way from other collaboration approaches. At the same time, we know a lot but still have a lot to learn about how to make […]
In a recent article, Deanna Pennington and her colleagues discuss how a diverse group of scientists from multiple fields figured out what was killing healthy young people in New Mexico in 1993. It was determined that a particular virus was causing the deaths, and that that virus lived in the common native deer mouse. To […]
The good folks at xkcd always have something useful to say. Too many problem solving efforts are sabotaged when someone decides to redirect the conversation towards “being realistic.” xkcd: Realistic Criteria I’m planning on posting this little gem somewhere close by to remind me to view these requests more skeptically. When is a request to […]
Collaborating Minds is working to create a bond between people in a large, geographically dispersed group. It has mechanisms to help bring people together. What kind of people might we need? Collaborating Minds member Dave Summa assessed multiple small groups of executives (about 12 execs per group) who met regularly for education and mutual assistance. […]
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation held a competition recently to design an ecologically sound, cost effective toilet for the poor in developing countries. It was done by crowdsourcing, and it pulled in people with unique expertises who developed fascinating approaches. But as as recent New York Times OpEd piece said earlier this week, the […]
For the beta test, we are trying to recruit a group of 100-150 people from diverse backgrounds with the following characteristics. Good at what they do Like to help other people succeed and develop, and to be helped by others Enjoy building relationships and eager to do even better Avid problem solvers and want to […]
Here’s someone else’s take on large scale problem-solving (“imagine a million minds working on a single problem”). He’s got some interesting ideas about the roles in the problem-solving process, and a reference to the Theory of Communicative Action and the basis for reaching an agreement on has met the validity claims of truth (logically supported […]
The community that we are aiming to create among the members in Collaborating Minds is one of mutual support and aid. We want it to be a place where people bring their own challenges, because they know that they are among a group of people who are committed to the success of each of their […]
