Co-op Days January 2019
originally published on the We Are Open Co-op blog
Hello world, it’s me, Laura, reporting to you live in the sporadic fashion you’ve grown to know and love from the We Are Open Co-op. We recently met in real life, as we like to do at least twice a year, and had big discussions about life, work, the nature of creativity and what we, as a co-op, actually are.
We started in the evening with no agenda, pizza and a beverage. We talked about horror movies and atrocities of pizza (erm, rhubarb just doesn’t belong on a pizza y’all), and generally had a bit of a social catchup before heading off to bed early to ensure rested minds for the day ahead.
The Crossroads
The next morning, we committed to taking better notes than we had in the previous meeting especially because we were missing one of our members this time. We started our meetup with an agenda review and check-in. We asked each other how we feel about the co-op, our working lives, stuff.
We all felt, as we often do when we meet in real life, like we’re at a crossroads with the co-op. At the beginning of our real life meetings, we’re often, individually, trepidatious to say what needs to be said. We all talk about appreciating the co-op for mostly emotional and intellectual reasons, and we talk about the fact that the co-op is in addition to our “day jobs”.
You see, we’re experts in educational technology. And in software. And in kind of a lot of things. I’m an expert in zombies and rationalizing, and Grainne is an expert in soap making. Doug is an expert process chameleon, and Bryan is an expert funny-song-maker. John, who was unfortunately unable to attend, is an expert at semantic reorganization, amongst other things.
We’re experts at your business words too — check out our work page for that stuff. And check out our updated tools page for some of the techniques we like to use.
We are our members, and our members are the sorts of people who can do anything at all. So we realized that our offer to the world “We work to spread the culture, processes and benefits of open wherever we can,” while true and as vague as we could make it, barely scratches the surface of what we’re capable of and what we want to do.
A Creative Collective?
This co-op meetup, therefore, we talked about seeing ourselves a bit differently. We looked at some of the artistic and literary “movements” of the past. We talked about what makes a group of people a creative collective, and we found that we are connected by more than edtech and open source.
We are a reaction to unbridled capitalism and closed-mindedness. A caveat to the idea that individualism is the only way to succeed in modern society. We’re connected by our openness, creativity and ability to solve problems, yes, but more than that we are connected by laughter and mutual encouragement in directing ourselves towards a better life and dedicating ourselves to a better world. We are adaptable idea makers. We have ideas and then make them happen.
And so we talked about reinventing ourselves as a “creative collective” instead. We feel it is a great idea, because:
- It’s more aligned with how we actually work
- It means we can do whatever we want
- It tied in well with re-imagining Badge News (now called the Learning Fractal)
- It means when we partner with other orgs, that we’re the talent
The economic aspects are also beneficial in this reframing. We enjoy being able to pay ourselves for Co-op days and speculative work. But this does require a certain level of income. The Co-op was never intended to pay the mortgage, but we do want it to make enough so that we continue to focus on it.
So how, exactly, do we do that? Is all of this just a feeling that frees us from the preconceived notions of what society tells us is a “successful” venture? Is it how we think about ourselves that matters, while how we present ourselves matters less? What does this reframing mean economically? What does it mean for our clients and potential clients?
Here’s a pitch — We have capacity and like to solve problems. We’re creative people with expertise in a wide range of stuff and things. Get in touch. In the meantime, we’ll be tinkering and building and writing and making. Never static, the members of the We Are Open Co-op carry on.
Cheers.
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels. The troublemakers. The problem child. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you cannot do is ignore them. Because they change things.They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward
Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that has never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Johnny Appleseed