Creating Lasting Change
In order to create lasting, transformational, systemic change around deeply-embedded issues people need to take large-scale, collective economic and/or political actions.
These actions must create sufficient leverage to change the reward/punishment dynamics for corporate and political leaders.
Leaders must be rewarded for aligning their support with the desired outcomes, and sanctioned for maintaining past bad or complicit behaviors.
Systematizing Change
A tremendous amount of organizing must be coordinated to transition from people being outraged to creating transformational change.
Information for Action systematizes that process.
Now, for the first time, all the efforts everyone is contributing can interconnect and synergize with everyone else’s efforts.
Photo by UnratedStudio from Pixabay
Information for Action
Mapping the Vast Information Landscape
It’s one thing to get everyone to align around a broad concept, such as “end systemic racism,” but once you start diving into the details, every detail is like a fork in the road, where some people want to go right, and some people want to go left.
Of those who agree on ending systemic racism, not everyone agrees with police reform.
Of those who agree with police reform, not everyone agrees with defunding the police.
Of those who agree with defunding the police, not everyone agrees with abolishing police departments.
The more and more you drill down into the details around any issue, the more the alignment around broad concepts gets fractured and splintered into many different opinions about:
- what the priorities should be
- what the solutions should be
- what the strategies should be
In order to sort through all of these details, it’s necessary to have a system which effectively maps all the details, options, and forks in the road –
allowing everyone to see
the same map
of the sea of information
everyone is trying to navigate.
Mapping the Vast Information Landscape
Information for Action
acts as a mapping system,
allowing all of us
to get on the same page
within a vast and convoluted
landscape of information.
Photo by UnratedStudio from Pixabay
Sea of Information
We often feel that we’re drowning in an endless sea of information overload.
Now, whenever anyone discovers any Information (news, video, etc.) that they find valuable within this sea of information, they can easily add it to the Information for Action system by copying and pasting the website address into the system.
Collecting Individual Efforts
Once Information has been added, anyone using the system can then:
- Recommend the Information
- Comment on the Information
- Connect other Information
- Share the Information
In this way, the processing of the Information by others is captured, collected, and made available to everyone else.
Collectively Creating a Matrix
Now, whenever anyone has as little as 5 or 10 minutes to help further the conversation, they aren’t starting from scratch – they’re beginning where everyone else left off.
Whatever Recommendations, Comments, and Connections they add become enduring contributions – like markers on the trail – providing useful data and insight for everyone else.
This process converts the previously overwhelming sea of information into a useful, organized Matrix of Information.
Guidance Provided
The Information for Action system not only builds a valuable central clearinghouse for information, but it also provides helpful guidance about that information.
The system provides:
- statistical information – cumulative statistics from the entire user base
- interpretive information – what’s Recommended, Commented on, and Connected by individual users
Statistical Information
When we have a limited amount of time and attention, we want to cut right to the chase.
The system gives us the statistical information we need to optimize our time:
1. What’s the most recommended
2. What’s the most connected
3. What’s the most commented on
Collective Intelligence
By having all of this statistical information at our fingertips, instead of each of us operating as individual brain cells – siloed off from each other in our processing of information – we’re now able to join all of our cells together into one collective brain.
We can finally harness the power of our collective intelligence – allowing the most popular information and solutions to rise to the top – based on the sharing of each of our individual efforts.
Photo by LOGAN WEAVER on Unsplash
Interpretive Information
Using the system, every user can navigate the entire Matrix of Information, laying down markers – Recommendations, Comments, and Connections – that creates an individualized map of the landscape.
The system allows everyone to filter the Information Matrix to see it through the eyes of another user by viewing that user’s individualized map.
This allows everyone to see where everyone else stands – each user’s evaluation and interpretation of the information.
Drawing Your Own Conclusions
By viewing the maps of users whose opinions you respect – friends, experts, influencers, businesses, organizations, and leaders – you can easily review what they find valuable.
Assessing this Interpretive Information, in combination with the Statistical Information, lets you draw your own conclusions about what information you think is valuable.
From Observer to Activist
If you want to share what you find valuable, the Information for Action system gives you the tools to share anything in the system via any social media platform or email.
If you want to contribute to the collective intelligence, you can Recommend, Comment on, and Connect Information to create your own individual map – adding to the Statistical and Interpretive Information – helping all those that come after you more easily and effectively navigate the landscape.
Opportunities for Activism
Influencers
Everyone has the opportunity to be an influencer within their network of influence – whether your network includes a large number of followers on social media, or just a small group of friends and family.
You can leverage your influence by directing people’s attention to the Information for Action system, amplifying the effects of the work done by the community by highlighting the work.
You can use the Share buttons throughout the system to easily:
- Share a Resource
- Share a Comment
- Share a Stakeholder
- Share a Query
An influencer can bring a following to the Information for Action system, but they can also build a following, based on how much people appreciate, Recommend, Connect, and Share their Comments and Insights.
Leading Influencers
The Information for Action system gives leaders and influencers the ability to direct followers’ attention to the maps of the information matrix that the influencer has created through their Recommendations, Comments, Connections, and Insights.
The system allows leaders to leverage all the work that has already been done by the community – they can simply review the Information and Insights that have either statistically risen to the top, or are Recommended, Commented on, or Connected by other leaders that they respect.
With much of the legwork already done for them by the community, leaders can easily Recommend, Comment on, and Connect Information within the system.
This exponentially expands a leader’s ability to process and provide guidance about information compared to any other existing system.
Social media posts are so temporary, buried within days or weeks, never to be seen again. Individualized maps within the Information for Action system were designed for leaders to build an enduring and growing encyclopedic record of what they value and support.
As followers are looking to their leaders for guidance, providing valuable maps of the information matrix within the Information for Action system is one of the best way to convert that trust and respect into productive guidance that can make a tangible difference, and create change.
Change Agents
Change agents are individuals, businesses, and organizations that are committed to creating a transformation of the system. In the context of the Information for Action system, there are several opportunities for those that want to help support the shifting of our societal systems…
Being an active user of the system – adding to the collective intelligence – adding Recommendations, Comments, Connections, Information, and Insights to the system, – is a powerful way to be a Change Agent.
The more users are creating clear value for themselves and others, the more others will be encouraged to join and use the Information for Action system to accelerate how we’re addressing critical issues.
Leveraging your relationships – introducing us to important people, organizations, leaders, businesses, etc. Not only telling them about us, but being an advocate on behalf of the mission we share with you. It is often necessary to follow up repeatedly to create results. We don’t want anyone to be a jerk or burn their relationships, but we do want to encourage you to be persistent in attempting to inspire others to action if you think their attention and connection could make a real difference.
Some important connections for us:
- prospective team members / employees
- organizations
- foundations
- businesses
- sponsors
- civic leaders
- influencers
- celebrities
- media
Change Agents
Offering your skills –
Providing financial support –
link to provide support
link to development page?
- change agents – contributors
- to the collective intelligence
- adds Recommendations, Comments, Connections
- uploads Resources into the system
- to the expansion of the system – functionally and helping us develop relationships with major Stakeholders (strategic partners) via our organizational buildout
- adds finances to the system
- contributes skills, expertise – joins our organizational team
- connects us with important people, organizations, businesses, leaders, etc.
- contributes relationship capital
- adds more Advocates and Stakeholders to the system
- acts as an ambassador, promoting the use of the system to Advocates and Stakeholders
- media
- solicits media attention
- to the collective intelligence
Thought Leaders
thought leaders – analyst (insight activist) – digests the content of the resources and adds their recommendations, comments, or connections