Exploring together opportunities for income generation like NOW
I start this thread as a container of the conversations related to the material conditions of the existence of our crew. When I say "container" I mean that its purpose is to "contain" the discussion of the particulars of the (financial) needs of the members of the crew so they do not "spread" over other conversations related to the needs of sustainability of the digital space. In the future the creation of the generative space could address the needs of income of the members of the crew, but we are not there yet. In other words, the design of the generative process and the digital space should be informed but not subordinated to the current needs of the crew. We are back somehow to the distinction of two different generative processes, the one we are experiencing as a crew and the one of the digital space.
Until now, we have been lucky to self-sustain/fund our participation here with incomes out of this crew. It is true that I (and probably the rest of us) have been modulating our participation in accordance with the pressures of the work that generate incomes. However, we cannot take for granted that the need for an income will not jeopardize our participation in the crew.
Of course, an option can be to just be absent until we can self-fund again our staying here. But another more interesting option is to make solidarity happen in our micro-dimension and explore together ways of getting the income needed for making everyones' participation possible.
I have been re-posting job offers at Discord that could be interesting to members of the crew and that is OK. This thread is for bringing this spirit further and exploring together if by sharing and combining knowledge, skills, contacts, and the ripened fruits of our work here we can address the changing needs of the personal incomes that make possible our participation in the crew. This kind of support is critical to our crew because sharing/mutualizing things that affect the material conditions are barely possible because of the remote element of the equation.
The same situation we are in will likely be similar to crews forming in the digital space so all learnings in this aspect could/should be translated into design features of the digital space.
Poll Created Sat 30 Oct 2021 2:31PM
Informal gathering on Pantheon Work consulting Closed Tue 2 Nov 2021 3:07PM
18th of November at sandbox time (15h-17h UTC) we will have a gathering in which Sergio and I will share with you how we stepped together in consulting in a way that we are happy with it. Link will be shared at the discord channel the day before.
I want to make an offer open to the members of the crew. I would like to offer a detailed explanation of what Sergio and I are doing under the digital identity called Pantheon Work (which is not even a legal entity). Origin, what are we hired for, how we "sell", what kind of organizational leaders hire us, what we do, what methodologies we took from others, and what we have developed, and new areas of work that seems to be emerging (in the crypto sphere). Sergio will be delighted to do this with me. I think it is important because I brought him into the consulting business so his perspective is different than mine. I keep him updated on what we do although I have not shared the digital space with him (yet). He is not very fluent in English but @Alex Rodriguez will be happy to assist if some translation is needed.
Three are objectives of this informal gathering:
1) Inform our conversation on money. I would like Sergio to retell the conversation on money we held when we started Pantheon Work. I have the feeling that we covered most of the ghosts that are haunting our crew regarding money (with the help of our friend and colleague Ingrid), and I think that we had a positive influence on each other regarding this issue, for we both changed our relationship with it for good.
2) Make thinkable ways for income generation. Sharing context about the way I earn money and explore together if we envision options of leverage on that to other members of the crew make money too, either with our current clients or new ones. So the exploration is broader than "making consulting together", whatever we mean by "consulting" or how we could frame different forms of support to organizations. Opportunities could come from offering specific services to our clients not related to consulting, subcontracting tasks in projects, etc.
3) Extra ball: lessons for external signaling. Sharing how we went out to the world two and a half years ago, for I feel that our crew is quite in a similar moment. It worked, so maybe we can learn some lessons from that.
The gathering would happen at sandbox time for two hours. It will feel short.
Results
| Results | Option | % of points | Voters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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November 18th | 46.2% | 6 |
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November 11th | 38.5% | 5 |
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November 4th | 15.4% | 2 |
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| Undecided | 0% | 0 |
6 of 6 people have participated (100%)
Josh Fairhead Sat 30 Oct 2021 2:33PM
Two things speak to me from your offer Toni:
1) It's a story of YOUR direct experience which I'd love to hear :)
2) It's experience I stand to profit from as I begin to set sail on similar waters
Nov 11th is tricky already, I could possibly do Nov 4th if you have an itch (I'm feeling a sense of imperative in your posts which I'm interpreting as coming from a place sensed opportunity). If it can wait, my preference would be to meet on the 18th as some opportunity seems to be emerging this week my side as well and I'd like to maintain enough space for it to unfold.
Robert Damashek Sat 30 Oct 2021 2:33PM
Due to travel timing and flights, @Jennifer Damashek and I will be unavailable at that time on November 4th, but the other days should work fine.
Josh Fairhead Sat 30 Oct 2021 10:12PM
What incredibly precise container text Toni, exceptionally clear and well articulated. Differentiating discussions like this makes a lot of sense. Slowly new opportunities are presenting themselves to me and should there be surplus I'll be sure to present offerings here.
The most recent update being that an old collegue of mine has gotten a job with a crypto vc and has reached out looking for talent. The specifics were quite general but content writing and such sounded in demand. I'll learn more as the week progresses but I can imagine you are encountering similar requests from these outfits.
If I were Santa, vcs and crypto funds would probably be on my naughty list but I'm less rigid with my moral code these days (ethics ftw); I actually figure its fine to interface with and appropriate from leviathan as the transcendental slime machine will keep transcending us either way. Whatever opportunities happen to arise, I'll share here as... sacrificial offerings (😂 loving the #sin references available in this paragraph)
Poll Created Tue 2 Nov 2021 7:12PM
Invitation to share gifts/skills and map relationships Closed Fri 12 Nov 2021 4:25PM
It's been agreed that it is a good idea to create a container to share what gifts and skills we bring to the crew. Included as gifts we bring are the networks of relationships we each inhabit. Robert and I will propose how to collect and keep this information by November 21st.
A container was created to identify the needs of the crew. I am proposing there also be a container to share what gifts and skills we bring to the crew. Included as gifts we bring are the networks of relationships we each inhabit. If we agree to share these gifts and skills, I propose that it include a map of the networks each member inhabits.
I propose this to allow the crew to discover and realize the abundance that is already here, like hearing what Toni and his partner are already doing. If the crew does want to do meaningful work together, to me it makes sense to understand fully what each member offers, and to visualize relationships can be drawn on to engage that meaningful work.
If you have already created something along these lines, I’m not aware of it, and would someone please point me to it?
I think this could help facilitate a shift from focusing on what is lacking to what is abundant. I learned the power of this approach through working with the Post Growth Institute, which uses the Asset Based Community Development approach.
In our society, we usually we operate from a place of lack because that is how we are trained. Here is a comparison of Deficit Based vs Asset Based development.
Deficit Based vs Asset BasedIn the past when a person had a need they went to their neighbourhood for assistance. But this has shifted today to the belief that the neighbour does not have the skills to help them. Therefore they must seek services and go to a professional for assistance. In so doing, reinforcing the form of system that divides people into providers and recipients.
Deficit Based |
Asset Based |
Problems, Blame, What’s missing, Scarcity, Risks, Needs, Control-outside in, Top-down, Do to, Clients & passive receivers, Provider-led |
Possibilities, Shared ownership, What’s there, Abundance, Courageous leadership, Strengths, capacities, assets, Lead by stepping back, Inside-out, Do with & enable to do, Co-producers & active creators, Citizen-led |
Results
| Results | Option | % of points | Voters | |
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Agree | 100.0% | 6 |
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| Abstain | 0.0% | 0 | ||
| Disagree | 0.0% | 0 | ||
| Block | 0.0% | 0 | ||
| Undecided | 0% | 0 |
6 of 6 people have participated (100%)
Alex Rodriguez
Tue 2 Nov 2021 7:13PM
For what it's worth it seems like there is overlap here with the Value Network Analysis process @Toni Blanco had proposed to lead us through in the last Cycle, but that we opted not to. Perhaps Jennifer and Toni could put their heads together to lead the crew through some sort of facilitated process?
Ronen Hirsch
Tue 2 Nov 2021 7:13PM
I can see how we are "trained for scarcity."
I definitely experience scarcity in my day-to-day life but I don't think it is just because of the "training."
I am aware of and have tried to place "warning signs" around me that I am informed by that mentality.
I can't see, from where I am, how implicit mapping can change this.
This meets me as an invitation to try a different mindset and to discover what emerges when this mindset meets the established crew mindset.
I am grateful for the invitation.
Robert Damashek
Tue 2 Nov 2021 7:13PM
I agree in the value of looking at (and being surprised by) how much we have to offer each other, and wherever the crew decides to go. I developed a list of all the initiatives of my career along with related skills, was totally blown away, and it helped me hone my own target for where I wanted to go.
Toni Blanco
Tue 2 Nov 2021 7:13PM
You never know when you can need something, and sometimes you don't know either what you need in a particular moment. Also, very often you are not aware of the gifts you can offer because you are not aware of them or you do not value them properly. With those limitations in mind, I think that this kind of listing/mapping will be very positive for the crew.
@Alex Rodriguez A value network analysis would be a different approach, because it would start by mapping the current-already on-going exchanges. This cycle has started with lots of offerings, so it kind of start to look as our future digital space :-) I think we can keep that activity for later in the cycle.
Ronen Hirsch · Sat 30 Oct 2021 3:48PM
Thank you @Toni Blanco for initiating this thread. I feel I have very little to offer as input on the short-term subject which you are holding and so I will be mostly listening.
I just wanted to clarify that exploration signals that I will probably be putting out on the longer-term view of money are offered in parallel to this initiative and not intended to compete with or ignore it.