Loomio
Fri 11 Nov 2016 1:23PM

Coop Flag

J Joe Public Seen by 64

I'm not going to give up trying to convince at least some of you that the real challenge is self governance. This requires better communication tools, processes and rules. The solution MUST keep everyone together as it allows every unique individual to be happy doing what they believe to be best for the initiative. There's no one right path forward.

Again, I'd offer up a new mini project to help demo my solution of how best to get many people to cooperate as one.

Let's co-create a coop flag (symbol) that we can brand this coop movement with. Let's start with figuring out our flag colors.

How many colors will be used on our flag? Who gets to choose what the colors are?

Traditionally "leadership" would make these decisions. But whatever leadership decides on, many will feel their voice did not matter and this will create separation or at a minimum a feeling of separation.

In my solution everyone has an equal voice in making both small and large coop decisions. No one (or small group) makes a subjective decision for everyone else. Your voice counts equally with every other member.

So now imagine you are tasked with putting forth your rank-ordered list of flag colors. You can put forth one color, two colors... 10 colors in your list with your favorite at the top of the list.

The instant you submit your list, it impacts the one combined group list. An algorithm that counts every list equally auto-generates this one group list.

In the beginning of the process the group list matches the very first submitter's list. As soon as the 2nd person submits the group list is the perfect combination of the two participants lists. So the group list sees great change. This is true for the first few participant submissions. But as more and more voices are submitted then the group list changes less frequently, UNLESS something someone submits sparks a change in others and gets others to change their own lists.

Now imagine a million people submit lists over a period of a week. Everyone has had time to watch the one group list stabilize on a set of rank-ordered colors. There's just one top #1 position color. The most popular. Now we could create our flag with just this one color or maybe we all decide together that two or three colors is best. This decision can be made also with another list that asks that specific decision question. Then you will submit a rank-ordered list of small integer numbers. Again, one number will rise to the top.

Here's the coolest thing about this solution. Our flag need never be a static symbol. We could have a flag that is dynamic across time. It can change with the times. It can be one thing for a while and then something else at any moment in time in the future. This solution works with the real world.

Just think about the difference between what the baby boomer generation would have set in their time and what the millennials would have for a flag now. Most likely the coop flag would see change. This is how the real world operates and coops that are inclusive of everyone should use tools, processes and rules that work with reality.

Everyone is allowed to be happy with their own lists. Everyone is happy because their voice is counted equally. Everyone can more easily accept the rule that the one group list provides the necessary data for helping to make coop decisions for the group.

We can actually do this to demo to each newcomer this innovative tech solution. Each person coming can immediately engage in this simple ask task. Each can immediately feel equality and power. IMHO this is what I believe most people in the world are in need of to get behind a movement looking to bring about positive change in the world.

This solution works at the macro and the micro grouping levels, but the key is the macro. If we are to change the world we MUST remain together and generate more power than the oligarchy has over us today. We need not force change. It will come naturally the day most people start using better solutions to cooperate in their daily lives.

I know I'm NOT the greatest in communicating my solution. Hope this attempt is more clear than any of my earlier attempts.

JR

John Rhoads Wed 30 Nov 2016 9:16AM

Have we made any progress on our flag?

SC

Simon Carter Wed 30 Nov 2016 9:52AM

Further to a previous comment about global solidarity, do you not need a flag with global consensus?. If not, does each country have it's own coop flag?. Kind of ironic that a global flag would be nice when we all agree that re-localisation is the way forward. Maybe the flag could be a word cloud, with every member country inter-twined.
Is there in fact an international Loomio group for this sort of discussion?

J

Joe Wed 30 Nov 2016 2:04PM

So imagine that a flag can be automatically generated for any subset population, as well as from the global POV of all participants in the flag generation tool. The subset populations are NOT limited by traditional demographics, like geography, either. Think about virtual groupings as well, like this d@w collaboration of people from all over the globe.

Each and every person carries their own unique flag (changeable by the person at any time) and any coop they stand within has a flag that is automatically generated by combining every members' flag - each individual flag having perfect weighting of impact on what the group flag appears as.

Coop flags are dynamic and change with each new member that stands within the group - or leaves the group.

No one person or committee makes any unilateral decision of what their group flag will be. Everyone has equal say with their own flag design. The rest is just a perfect mathematical algorithm doing the real-time combining of flag attributes.

JR

John Rhoads Wed 30 Nov 2016 4:45PM

"Is there in fact an international Loomio group for this sort of discussion?" You can start one here. Seems to be the right place. On a political level, I look at flags as merely a "marker" (symbol) of identity and identity can be a healthy thing for people and groups if it embodies more of a perception of harmony vs conflict. I think the world could use a flag that symbolizes a set of principles where all other flags under it, no matter the diversity, will never stray so far that it would be cast as a menace (violence). Identity is a double-edged sword like many other things in life like fire or pride and should not be repressed. The trick is to feel needed and belong to something that benefits mankind instead of destroying it. Mankind needs unification without sacrificing granular local identity.

J

Joe Fri 2 Dec 2016 4:07PM

I like the idea of creating a whole new innovative graphic tag ID solution for coops. But the simpler the better, for who gets to decide the design for the particular group or subgroup? Would it be "an every member of the coop decision" or a "leadership decision?" Would it be static or dynamic over time - meaning changeable vs. one design that never changes again?

Within this simple case of creating a graphic ID tag, a case of cooperation and collaboration, lies the fundamental problem all coops must first deal with. How do coops make group decisions? Then how do old decisions get changed or amended as the world changes?

JR

John Rhoads Sat 3 Dec 2016 4:52PM

I think to get traction on this, people should upload an image of their "symbol" or "seal" or "tag ID" which can be shared among us and commented on. Then we can vote up or down on each image. If one image wins out yet is not perfect, the group can vote on a modification of the top image, re-post and re-vote. Eventually, you will have your symbol in whatever form. It shouldn't be too complicated of a process but will require participation. I will start this as an example and maybe people will follow up with their own. After comments go around for a week, symbols can be proposed. Set a due date for this as well, like a month. That way progress actually gets made instead of just talking about it. :smiley:

JR

John Rhoads Mon 5 Dec 2016 6:26PM

I guess one would have to ask if this thread is just a general discussion or meant to actually create and implement a "coop flag" or other symbol? I was under the impression it was meant to cooperatively decide on a flag yet am not sure at this point. :sweat_smile: All I know is if discussions become too drawn out and ambiguous, participation rates will probably suffer and threads will get "abandoned". It makes me want to create a mathematical formula of word-count to issue importance ratio that could extract whether or not X-amount of time out of one's life is proportionally weighted to the importance of the subject matter. LOL :smiley: