By Scott Nesler
I have yet to figure out the motivation which gets people to converse. Small talk is not too difficult, but few are willing to invest time or emotion in analyzing complex issues.
There are many obstacles to motivating communication. The proprietary nature of our employment often prohibits open communication.
The fear of loosing what you have blocks all avenues of innovation and advancement. -- Henry Ford
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. -- Upton Sinclair
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The lack of a common language is a barrier. Even with the same dialect, each technology contains its own obtrusive jargon. Joining together a diverse group in a common language requires time and resources which many are not motivated to provide. Intolerance of diversity is an obstacle. Our incapacity to comprehend other cultures stems from our insistence on measuring things in our own terms. -- Arthur Erickson |
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Measurement or statistics can provide motivation. Though used deviantly, statistics can be as deceptive as lies or as misused as facts. George Canning once said that he could use statistics to prove anything, except the truth. Mark Twain proclaimed that there were lies, damned lies, and statistics. Until recent history, mass communication involved a bully pulpit. The individuals with the megaphone could frame a poll to gather the desired results. That being said, statistics provide a form of motivational competition. The technology exist allowing the populace to add the questions to the polls and to push the visibility of relevant entries to a higher level. |
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The Framework for Colloborative Understanding
The Do Good Gauge abstract is written on top of a Model View Controller framework called CakePHP. This framework simplifies the task of developing data driven applications. The current website contains quote, content, comment, questionnaire, and user/group security modules.
The questionnaire module provides a three tier approach for obtaining feedback. The first tier describes the purpose of a questionnaire, the second tier provides the questions, and the third tier supplies the answers. The data model and CakePHP architecture for this questionnaire model provides the flexibility to allow the readers to add answers in the third tier on the fly.
The existing Do Good Gauge framework provides the foundation to develop a collaborative effort to describe what motivates people to join together to solve complex problems and what obstacles prohibit cooperation. The end product of this collaboration could be developed into a book.
This book would describe:
1. Methods which motivate collaboration.
2. Obstacles which prohibit collaboration
3. Historical examples of successful collaborations
4. Historical examples of failures in collaboration
n. More to be defined.
Motivating a Collaborative Effort to Write this Book
Creating an internet process to collaboratively facilitate developing a book is the least of my concerns. Motivating participation is the highest.
Fantasy Football Book Writing League
Money and competition are motivators. A group of men in my subdivision participate in a fantasy football league. At the beginning of the season each member contributed $100 to a pool to fund a prize system. The league defines numerous prizes. Prize for each week, prizes for the season winner, and even incentive to refrain from ending the season in last place. The loser must wear a mini-skirt to a summer subdivision function.
An idea to motivate participation is to use the described fantasy football prize system. Similar to the described football pool, numerous prizes would be defined. Payment would not be required to participate in the collaboration, though it would be required to win any of the prizes.
I'm optimistic that such a book would be of value to computer science, cognitive science, political science, journalism, mass communication, philosophy, psychology, as well as other disciplines I'm unfamiliar with. One can only guess the revenue of such a book.
The prize pool would be exhausted upon the completion of the book. As an added motivation, I would divvy the profits from this book among the participants. This money would be available to all, whether they contributed to the prize pool or not. I would suggest the profits be proportionately distributed based on a formula of scores and participation.
Competition and Cooperation
Cooperation is an important factor of collaboration. For this project to succeed there must be a mutual cooperation for advancing hypothesis. Peer reviews will be the instrument of feedback. A prize system which rewarded the best premise would eliminate the desire to help others. I would suggest a percentage of the prize pool of equal or greater value go to the review process. For each premise a comment blog will be provided. Each comment blog will be scored for its value. The top contributors to the review process would be rewarded for their effort.
Putting it all Together
Nothing cures insomnia better than a dull book. Enjoyable books typically have a common thread or metaphor. The Zen and the Art Motorcycle Maintenance comes to mind. In addition to splitting the reward system betwen developing quality hypothesis and a coaching process, consideration must be taken to reward a second phase of development. This second phase would tie quality hypothesis into a more interesting common thread. A second phase prize systems would reward the definition of themes of thought and motivate rewriting the hypothesis to speak through these themes.
