manifesto
for the
purposeful social space
[1]
[2]
Shared desire, spheres of connections, free will
and the promise of beauty
lay the base for new forms of human
entrepreneurship and social government.
We call it the purposeful social space.
At Stordes we are committed to this framework
for people to align around great things of
progress, beyond the restraints of current
organisational thinking and practices.
Victor Mensingh
Hein Duijnstee
Amsterdam, February 2014
[3]
[4]
〉〉Shared desire
Shared desire is the joy of enjoyment and the awe of being able to
provide. It brings people together in their mutual fascination and will.
Shared desire supersedes the antagonistic supply and demand.
Those opposing forces that are meant to resolve in an equilibrium, rely on
our ability to identify and define both in specific terms. Truth is that we
encounter great difficulties to make these abstractions meet reality.
So called market driven organisations go to extreme length to discover
and specify demand. And the question is how successful they are. Do
organisations not waste a lot of energy and talent on the wrong questions?
Shared desire is a symbiotic drive to realise a meaningful exchange
between the various roles of consumers and producers and the various
intermediaries. Opening up the game beyond the artificial crossroad of
demand and supply enables the discovery of new needs, new solutions,
and new combinations for innovations and advancement. Contrasts are
not resolved in frustration and waste, but add to the depth of the picture.
Shared desire is the pivot for both provision and consumption.
[5]
[6]
〉〉Spheres of connections
Spheres of connections are the places of inclusivity. They are the base for
constructive interchange between people. Organisations can only exist in
their interactions with the outside world. Without their environment
organisations have no meaning and die.
Yet organisations are defined by the difference between the inside and the
outside, between what is part of the organisation and what is not. That
difference is articulated in many different ways and guarded by physical,
mental, brand and legal barriers: what is ours, is not yours.
Spheres of connection are the needed vehicles for mutuality and
exchange, they are borderless, fluid and dynamic and provide both
freedom and security. They recognise the various roles people play in
various spheres, spheres that are not mutually exclusive.
Spheres of connections provide space to manoeuvre, to find new solutions
for both big problems and small inconveniences and to move beyond
existing contexts and domains.
[7]
[8]
〉〉Free will
Free will is the starting point for any commitment. Any form of joining an
organisation can only be founded on the human property of selfdetermination.
It is the only way to prevent unsound or even schizophrenic trade-offs
between the benefits of being part of an organisation and personal
preferences and qualities, as made by people in organisations. Free will is
an effective cure for an atrophy of human strength as a result of
organisational straightjackets.
Free will considers the growth of autonomy of the individual as
paramount and celebrates diversity to the extreme. Free will allows people
to be part of multiple spheres. Reality is not exclusive.
The power of free will is a stronger glue than any form of governance,
practice or leadership, it fosters creativity and bonding power between
people. Free will lives on ideas, believes and choices. Guarantee the
freedom for anybody to develop his insights and they become the fertile
soil for common purpose.
[9]
[ 10 ]
〉〉Promise of beauty
The promise of beauty is the starting point for an organisational concept
that is created and maintained with the full human potential in mind. It
lets wonder, excitement, pleasure, elegance and magic enter the domain of
organisation. It has the power to be the stick of measurement for right and
wrong.
The promise of beauty is beyond numerical added value. The
achievement of human kind to develop social structures that provide in
the end prosperity and longevity can not solely be captured in profit,
growth, productivity or return of capital.
Beauty in all its absoluteness and fuzziness encapsulates the whole
spectrum of human properties, from fear to faith, from wonder to will.
The promise of its discovered beauty makes an organisation more than a
bordered collection of utilitarian functions. It adds new dimensions to the
essence of the collective sphere for people to join. It provides new input
for structure and leadership.
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The purposeful social space is a profoundly new template for
organisation design.
The purposeful social space is not so much an instrument for the
new global economic and political dynamics, a fairer
distribution of wealth, ecological sustainability or a beneficial
application of modern technology as it is about reality of the
whole man.
The purposeful social space honours the intrinsic human values of
progress and beauty. It stimulates purpose outside the mandate
of a set organisation, it extends the fruitful interaction
between people and expands the room for discovery and
wonder.
A new organisational reality
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The purposeful social space is a promising next phase of
organising. In its being it may apply some capabilities, insights,
practices, systems, laws and principles of modern
management. But it does so with a new perspective. And it will
generate organisational forms and practices, not invented yet.
The purposeful social space does not exist in a general way, but
in many specific spaces with individuals that work together on
a precise and shared purpose. The beauty is not in the concept,
the beauty is the existence of a real and tangible specimen.
Every purposeful social space devises its own specific
new pulls, new links and new grades of freedom.
The idea is about different and better.
[ 15 ]
\\new links
The purposeful social space allows interactions that build new
relationships between people and groups of people. New
connections allow for cross-fertilisation of ideas and solutions.
Linking separate domains provides unexpected insights.
Human wonder in science, art, business and public services not
only shares common characteristics, it also becomes larger than
the sum of its parts, when connected.
A common purpose transgresses the unwritten laws that
separate capital, labour and knowledge. Functionalities and
domains become more fluid and the attention to what divides
becomes a focus on what connects. The result is joy, wonder,
energy, despite the occasional difficulties to bridge mental and
behavioural differences. New liaisons can grow in natural ways
based on curiosity and shared needs.
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\\new pull
The purposeful social space empowers the move from old
push to new pull. Needs that were beyond reach can be
reached and brought into a common space. New needs are
discovered, cherished and transformed into meaningful
contributions to the common purpose.
The pull stretches imagination, technological abilities
cooperation and communication. Dreams become tangible
in a new environment of cooperations. Values that were
outside the scope of business (from ecology to social welfare,
from beauty to art) can become incorporated in the domain
of operation.
New models for doing business will appear with new input
and unheard of output. The pull as a result of purpose can
gain depth and becomes more meaningful over time. And
when the pull looses its power, space dissolves and people
move on.
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\\new degrees of freedom
The purposeful social space allows fresh freedom for thinking
and acting. Models and practises that are entrenched in
organisation structures become obsolete.
People are intrinsically motivated and make autonomous
decisions about the time and attention they give to a cause.
Roles and responsibilities are a result of contributions not of a
fixed organisation chart. Cooperation across borders is
replaced by cooperation without borders, mentally and
organisationally.
Alternatives for employment as the instrument to resolve the
asynchrony between work effort and reward arise. The
ownership of assets, the sourcing of capital, employment,
accountability become less related to a single organisation and
more fluid over time, following the siren’s songs of specific
causes.
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The purposeful social space is a contemporary reality.
A reality of the inevitable progress in the way we organise
ourselves. A reality of human strength.
People can take the chance to define and build a specific space
guided by the purpose and the beauty they embrace. It is a
magical endeavour that will bond people in unexpected ways.
And for every foundation of a space, its distinct elements of
beauty will make the journey worthwhile.
Of course anybody can choose to deny the opportunity and
keep doing what he does. For whatever reason.
But there will always be the freedom to choose to use all
qualities in ourselves and design spaces where people actively
work on the things that matter.
[ 23 ]
The images:
p 2:
p 4:
p 6:
p 8:
p 10:
p 13:
p 14:
p 17:
p 19:
p 21:
p 22:
Centre Pompidou, Metz
Gallery zeno-x, Antwerp, december 2013
Midddelheim park, Antwerp
Palais royal, Paris, march 2013
Cathédrale de Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Julitte, Nevers
Hein Duijnstee, from border to space
Malevich in stedelijk museum, Amsterdam
Hein Duijnstee, design
Hein Duijnstee, design
Hein Duijnstee, design
Anish Kapoor, the leviathan, grand palais, Paris
[ 24 ]
stordes
is a strategic organisation design studio
www.stordes.com
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