Chris Corrigan argues that Mutations are the way to make change. I particularly like his challenge to the commonplace question, “How can we scale this?” I hear this a lot, and I suspect it often it’s a statement dressed up as question, the statement being, “This won’t scale so let’s kill it.” Asking about scale is a great way to sound important, but it’s a real idea-killer, implying a greater capacity to understand and work complex systems than is realistic.
As I get older, and in the face of the complex problems we all face, I think more and more that I do better when I try to manage my own little piece of the jigsaw puzzle, and worry less about how to get others to do their bit.
And I agree with Chris here:
So let’s forget about prototyping new things and “taking them to scale.” But let’s not forget about prototyping new things. Because one of the big lessons from the living systems world view is that change happens in an evolutionary way. It happens deep within the system and it requires two resources we all have – creativity and time. It does not require hope. Living systems do not hope. They just change.
