System and Method For Augmenting Knowledge Commerce

c o n f i d e n t i a l

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This is a Hypertext version of the Patent Pending
by iterations of the Taylor System and Method

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUGMENTING KNOWLEDGE COMMERCE

Subsystem 1
Detail of Modeling Language

System and Method for Facilitating Interaction among Agents
Promoting Feedback, Learning and Emergent Group Genius
in a Radically Compressed Time Period

Overview of the Patent Application

MODELING LANGUAGE Design and Process Terms (D/PT); Explain the PROCESSES we use to work, interact, live, transport, build, an so on.

The models have formal and informal “rules of engagement” which are flexible, sometimes broken, boundaries for agent interaction. Some of us choose to explore these models, drill deep into them, break old models, and create new ones.

In accordance with an important aspect of the present invention, the present inventors have created modeling language for organizations to use to develop common understanding - a means to view existing conditions in alternative ways.

This modeling language provides a vehicle for Agents to communicate on all levels, in any environment, at all times. Creating common language among Agents improves efficiency and profitability when solving complex problems.

The modeling language of the present invention includes the following models:

Three Cat Model:

The Three Cat Model is a metaphor for info management in the act of creation. The model summarizes the acts of observing reality, forming a concept, and testing that concept by building a model to reveal our understanding. The model is then compared to reality for verification, the concept is adjusted, the model rebuilt, and so on.

Z Real Cat:

Actually, we dont really ever see the real cat. Our senses gather signals from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, fluctuations in air pressure that register on our ears as sound, and the electrochemical signals that result from physically touching an object. Because our information concerning real cat is most incomplete, theres always more to learn.

XConceptual Cat:

As we observe real cat, we create mental models to use as aids in decision making. We learn to associate current phenomenon with past occurrences of similar phenomenon. We make decisions based on projections of past behavior onto the current situation. Lacking any such direct associations, we are forced to invent. C Mechanical Cat: In order to test our concept, we create physical models and compare them to the reality. The artist paints; the engineer builds scale models; the business person turns to planning software and spreadsheets; the writer composes stories. Now, what about the connections between the three cats? There are two lines that connect any two cats. The squiggle line is the symbol for a resistor in electronics and refers to the attenuation of information in that direction. So, for instance, the communication of information from Real Cat to Concept Cat is severely attenuated. The triangle line is another symbol borrowed from electronics -- an amplifier. The information running from Concept Cat back up to Real Cat is amplified. Using the model: 3 Cat Analysis describes a methodology for testing ideas through modeling and taking action. When an idea is only a concept, people can argue endlessly whether it will work or not work. It is usually far more effective to take the concept into action, by creating a physical world, or better yet, a demonstration, prototype, or other real world test. This is particularly true when accompanied by a feedback-driven process that encourages ongoing learning and discovery. Many concepts are hard to explain, yet are readily understood when demonstrated. The 3 Cat Model may be applied to planning as well. A trap with planning is to believe that the plan is what you will go out and do. When results (the real cat) deviate from the plan (your mechanical cat), use this information to modify your actions, strategies and tactics accordingly, steering toward your vision (your concept cat). Can the model by "two-catted:? Yes, but very carefully. Using only two cats in the model has great uses, but also great abuses. Refrain from "two-catting" until you fully understand the relationships between each cat in the model. Vantage Points Model E Philosophy: The fundamental -- usually hidden -- beliefs that unite the components of an Enterprise, enabling them to act as a cohesive whole. Properly applied, philosophy enables both innovation and stability. W Culture: Defines the various components of the Enterprise and their relationship to one another in action. Also encompasses standard behaviors of these components -- behaviors which are manifestations of the Philosophy. Q Policy: At the broadest level, statements of purpose, intent and goals. At a narrower level, Policy can specify boundaries on the design and prosecution of Strategy, Tactics, Logistics and Tasks. Policy states the rules of the game. + Strategy: The organization, disposition and direction of large scale forces over space and time to achieve the objectives of Policy, maintain homeostasis in a competitive and cooperative environment, and manage growth. Also the set of recognized "patterns of play" known or suspected to produce favorable results when implemented. _ Tactics: The art of matching the resources of Logistics with Strategy and deploying these effectively and efficiently in the game. ) Logistics: All of the issues concerning resources, energy knowledge, and the mechanics of their distribution and storage throughout the Enterprise. ( Tasks: The work to be done and how its actually done. The way a tool is untreated, of course speaks plainly of the philosophy and culture of the user. In a way, you can never understand the philosophy of a system or enterprise until you are immersed in the tasks that comprise its daily functions. The task provides a mental elevation from which the whole essence of the system can be contemplated. The philosophy and culture of an organization will be expressed in the way an associate is taught or allowed to perform its tasks. By observing people performing various tasks, by sensing the atmosphere, energy and ethics of the environment, most anyone can determine the true expressed philosophy of any organization. On the other hand, sometimes immersion in daily tasks can blind people to culture and philosophy, or cause them to accept it too casually. Many of our actions are based on essentially hidden stimuli and barely understood themes. Most of us cant spend all of our time evaluating various philosophies; its easier to accept one and act out from it. Philosophies accepted as truth are very hard to shake or adapt to changing circumstances. The Vantage Points are meant to be managed and designed-used as templates and auditing tools. The Vantage Points break down into three overlapping zones from special types of management emphasis. Design and mange Philosophy, Culture and Policy to steer the evolution of the enterprise. Design and manage Policy, Strategy and Tactics to steer the operational and structural support of the enterprise. Design and mange Tactics, Logistics and Tasks to steer the work to be done by the enterprise.

Seven Domains Model:

The seven areas that are managed in every enterprise and every activity of the enterprise. When managed properly they ensure corporate health and allow Knowledge-based organizations to grow and profit.

1 Body of Knowledge:

The sum total of information and information about how to get information that the system requires to remain viable, to improve and innovate.

2 Process Facilitation:

The philosophy and methods for removing obstacles and clearing paths so that processes within the system flow naturally and efficiently.

3 Education:

The processes and methods by which the system learns: how it explores, experiences, gathers explanations and examples, and how it sets cybernetic expectations. 4 Environment: The physical, emotional and metaphysical field within which the system plays its role. But the system is not merely subject to the environment -- it creates and is created by it.

5 Technical Systems:

Artifacts created and employed to amplify, modulate or attenuate the other domains so that the system can be internally and externally requisite and cybernetically responsive.

6 Project Management:

The philosophy, culture and methods employed by the system to efficiently allocate resources and monitor energy flow in the pursuit of finite, temporal objectives.

7 Venture Management:

The philosophy, culture and methods employed by the system to determine (not just manage to) its cybernetic homeostasis and engage in complex activities designed to explore unknown opportunities for growth and transformation. Most of us tend to examine the domains serially. We talk about them one at a time and one after the other. Theres nothing wrong with this approach; it is, however, a woefully incomplete approach.

The domains are connected to one another in weblike fashion. Its much more interesting and valuable, therefore to think about things like the Environment of Process Facilitation, or the Environment of Technical System, or the Technical Systems of the Body of Knowledge, or the Venture Management of Education. A frequently asked question about the domains concerns why human resources or team spirit or some other people-oriented domain seems to be missing. People are not resources to be managed. Instead, people collaboratively manage the Seven Domains to achieve together what they cannot achieve separately. A venture is composed of projects and processes. These two overlap -- theres no clear definition that divides projects from processes. Both must be managed and facilitated to maintain balance and growth. The Venture lives within and creates its environment or environments -- the field on which the game is played. It calls upon a body of knowledge to execute its projects and processes. It employs technical systems that enable its metabolism to remain requisite with its surroundings -- managing lags, avoiding collisions, employing hunting strategies as guidance mechanisms for staying on specification, compensating for unwanted changes in energy thruput or system velocity.

Finally, it engages an education system to manage learning -- a discovery and feedback system whose purpose is to add to, analyze, and winnow the body of knowledge.

SPoze Model:

New pieces of information are constantly trying to penetrate the boundaries of ones paradigm. In order to survive, a paradigm must have strong boundaries, which consequently means that few new ideas can get in.

Playing "Spoze" allows us to set up a neutral space to see what would happen IF a new idea were to enter a paradigm.

R Encounter:

At this stage, the systems current Paradigm meets up with a high information messaging event. Either the new information represents a threat and the system must learn new strategies for thwarting it, or it contains a potential benefit and the system must learn how to take advantage or it.

T New information:

Systems are receiving all kinds of messages from other system and the environment in general. Information is the result of a systems interpretation of a message, including whatever meaning it assigns to the message based on past experience. The measure of information is proportional to its uncertainty, or surprise. The more surprising the message, the more information it contains (Baetson).

Y Paradigm:

For a living system to make decisions, it must be able to compare the nature of sensory input that it receives to some model that predicts probable future outcomes based on stored previous experiences involving that input. It represents a guide to success given a variety of situations. The sum total of these situations and the guideline stored in the system comprise its paradigm.

U Spoze:

It is not advisable for a system to accept any and all New Information to add to its Paradigm. The process of modeling enables the system to play "what if" without actually engaging in a potentially threatening experience. I Incorporation: If the results of the simulation seem favorable, the system may incorporate the New Information into its Paradigm and begin making decisions based upon this new mixture.

Example: Like Scan Focus Act, this is a naturally occurring model. A common example used in describing Scan Focus Act will also serve here -- the story of the lioness hunting wildebeest on the plains of the Serengeti. The lioness Scans the herd for a potential meal. Focuses on likely candidates and then Acts explosively to chase one down. Thats a simple description of the process from the vantage point of creativity. But whats going on from a signal processing standpoint? New information about the herd and perhaps other animals lurking about, is constantly streaming into the lioness senses.

This new information, according to James Millers Living Systems model is processed by a function called the Associator. The Associator compares the input to patterns and models in Memory, searching for overlaps that trigger the Decider function to initiate some physiological activity in response. New information that enters the system as a result of this response is fed back into Memory to update the pattern. This trio of functions -- Associator, Memory and Decider -- represents the learning process. Thus, the lioness learns how to spot potential meals among the animals in the herd.

It also learns different strategies for approaching and chasing its meal. The activity of the Associator is one representation of playing Spoze. The Associator is trying to build little vignettes (or scenarios) of future predictions based on a comparison of new information and old memories.

Strategies for playing Spoze: It may seem from looking at the model that the activity of Spoze is played outside of the host system, in some safe, confined area. This is not the case. Spoze is played in real life with an element of risk. Playing Spoze is required for the organization to continue to learn, and also to spawn offspring that can successfully adapt to changing conditions in the wider ecosystem. The risk is unavoidable. The most complete way for an enterprise to play Spoze is to create offspring, preferably through "recombination of DNA." In enterprises, recombination occurs when two or more organizations share ideas and strengths to form a separate project or enterprise for the purpose of testing the quality of the ideas in action. You can simulate all you want, but at some point you really just have to do it to know whether it will succeed.

Appropriate Response Model:

b Efficacious:

Its defined as “the power or capacity to produce the desired effect.” By contrast, the word effective means “having the intended or expected effect.” The difference lies in the use of the work “power.” An efficacious design exudes power and this power is efficiently directed to yield predictable results.

n Proper Scope:

This element contains the power inherent in the first element. An excellent design should properly fill its niche and not strive for too much, nor suffer from a timid presence. The boundaries of the design must be clearly defined. This does not mean they must form a contiguous presence, only that by some combination of matter, energy and information the solution is able to distinguish itself clearly from other elements in its environment.

m True to Nature:

A design that is true to nature is composed of elements that support one another, that do not conflict, and whose capabilities are mutually requisite. In a growing seedling, the roots, stem and leaves all remain requisite with one another: the leaves dont photosynthesize too much or too little, the stem is sized just right to provide structural support and the transport of materials up and down. A design should be elegant, all of its parts fitting together in a pleasing fashion that makes people want to employ it.

, Anticipatory:

Designs, or solutions to problems are living systems. As such, they must include the apparatus and processes necessary to use models based on past experience, along with current data gathering to make predictions concerning the future behavior of other systems in the environment. At the lowest level, this serves survival; at higher levels, anticipatory hardware and software enable systems to effectively collaborate with one another to support both the homeostasis and evolution of their collective ecosystem.

. Self-correcting:

Once a system can make predictions about the future, it must compare these predictions with its current behavior and implement changes to adjust its behavior to bring it into harmony with its future models. In this sense its bringing its vision of the future back to the present.

/Sustainable:

Finally, a system must be able to survive birth, grow to maturity, and reproduce itself. It must do this without depleting the systems that support its growth, otherwise it will cause its own demise.

Every stage of the Creative Process involves producing a result. Superior results can be obtained by filtering or testing competing designs through the six elements of this model The model has six elements grouped into two sets of three.

The first set includes functional qualities: Efficacy, Scope, Nature. The second set embraces living system capabilities: Sustainability, Self-Correction, Anticipatory. These divisions seem somewhat arbitrary. The ability of a system to anticipate future events can be seen as either a functional quality or a living system capability. However, the ability to extrapolate events into the future, the ability to use this extrapolation to correct behavior in real time, and the ability to grow and reproduce oneself are characteristics that clearly set living systems apart from mechanical or nonliving systems. A hammer produces a desired effect (efficacy), is built with a particular scope of work in mind (scope), and has qualities that keep its parts requisite with each other (nature). However, it is not sustainable; rather it degrades and is incapable of reproduction. It embodies no ability to correct itself or learn. And it certainly cannot anticipate future results.

Design - Build - Use:

The most common approach to designing, building or using most anything is linear. In its extreme incarnations, not only is there no feedback between stages, but the individuals involved in each stage are different as well as do not communicate across the boundaries between stages. The traditional, linear approach of the model generates static, non-living artifacts which can be torn down in response to a wide range of demands upon their flexibility. Life becomes an unending compromise. The model should grow from a linear process to cycles of feedback.

q Design:

Create sketches, models, plans, schedules, and bud gets convey a sense of the scope of the project in many different dimensions. This is not done merely at the beginning of the project, but as a sort of continuous process throughout the life of the building. The design takes into account past and present work process requirements, and the uncertainty associated with the future as well.

w Build:

There must be a process for rapid execution of the design that allows frequent adjustments to the realities of a build-out and the changing perceptions of the user as the design unfolds. The process and the product (space) must provide for this speed throughout the occupancy so that the enterprise of users does not have to waste time and talent in reconfiguring itself to meet changing conditions.

e Use:

As the environment is used, it will change the processes that take place within it. These changes, in addition to events in the external environment will drive a demand for the work space to adjust its function, and to do so rapidly.

The design and build capacities must always be readily at hand. The cyclic model illustrates the requisite relationship between design, build and use. The designer and the design process is connected to both the user and the builder. The builder and the building process is connected to the user and designer.

The user and the processes employed by the user in the conduct of the business of the enterprise is connected to the designer and builder. These interconnecting feedback loops imply that the designer, builder and user remain connected throughout the lifespan of the enterprise. It also requires that the products of this collaboration be stable enough to provide day-to-day integrity and flexible enough to allow radical, rapid redesign to fit the changing needs of the user over time. It means that the environment is never "finished" and that it is constantly able to provide a “just enough, just in time” solution.

Things that are “finished” in our emerging world are dead. Requisite Variety V = V; v V Degrees of Freedom (to act) Transition Management (acting in tacit [ ] degrees of Freedom) “No our there” (Recursion Issue) Increasing Returns Model 180 Principle Levels of Recursion of the system

It is important to reemphasize that not only must the three different entities communicate and collaborate, but their processes must dovetail as well. That means that the design, build and using processes should not inhibit each other or create confusion. For the user it indicates a mental shift in understanding that a design and build capability occupy a permanent part of the larger web of the enterprise. It also changes the way that equity, debt and cash flow are treated within the value web between the builder, designer and user.

Scan-Focus-Act:

Scan-Focus-Act is a basic model for the process of planning, decision-making and creative problem-solving. To get a picture of how the model works, imagine a hungry lioness on the plains of the Serengeti. She Scans her domain for luncheon possibilities (note that scanning frequently takes a long time), Focuses on particularly attractive selections and positions herself appropriately, then Acts to bring the meal down.

8Scan:

To Scan is to seek ideas and perspectives that are new and challenging to your existing world view. You survey conditions and possibilities relative to your plan, and seek insights that may come from outside you organization and industry. You are also seeking to expose hidden assumptions that may limit the options you can see or consider. In the Scan phase we build conceptual, mental models.

9Focus:

To Focus is to take the ideas generated in the Scan phase that are best suited for your plan and begin iterating them. In this phase, ideas are treated as models to be tested and explored, not judged or condemned. In the Focus phase you should choose a frame of reference, and narrow your options to only a handful. At length, a decision is made and its time to...

0 Act:

To Act is to take your ideas and designs and put them into action. The process begins by selecting the strongest ideas, and formulating them into plans and actionable steps. - Feedback: The result of an experience is fed back as learning to the next iteration of the process. Feedback is termed positive if the desire is to grow the system, and can be negative if homeostatic control, or goal-seeking is the object. Movement through the model: One of the dangers of the Scan-Focus-Act model is to assume that the model is designed in a linear of cyclic fashion. There are six different combinations of the scan-focus-act model. These should not be thought of as different models, but as strategies to be used in different situations. For instance, it is not always necessary or viable to start with a scan phase. If youre driving on the highway and see a car in front of you swerve out of control, you may describe you reaction as Acting first to avoid collision, then Focusing on next alternatives, choosing to bring the car to a controlled stop along the roadside, and then taking a longer Scan around to see whats going on. This might be the most useful way to explain how the model felt in this particular situation. However, it is also true that a lightning quick Scan occurred the instant you noticed the other car swerve out of control. It was followed by an equally lightning quick Focus, perhaps a reflex decision-making and choice of an option to take -- avoiding collision. Within the Act, youve scanned and focused. The pace of the model varies greatly. Sometimes the stages unfold rapidly one after the other. Other times they creep along at a glacial pace. Scan may take a second or two but the Focus and Act stages might drag on for weeks. Or it might work the other way around. Sometimes teams struggles for a long time trying to bring a coherent sense of vision to a project and once it clicks in place, the Focus and Act phases follow swiftly. It is important to note that although each phase does not adhere to a set time frame, one should refrain from becoming "bogged-down" in a single phase. For example, some people or enterprises have great ideas and can never bring them to fruition (stuck in Scan). Or they may entertain in a slavish, myopic view of annual plans and budgets, thereby missing opportunities and hampering implementation (stuck in Focus). Perhaps their days are spent "putting out fires" and they never seem to have time to innovate or make systematic efforts to improve (stuck in Act). Or, a lingering introspection promotes timidity (stuck in Feedback).

Model of the Creative Process:

rIdentity:

In this phase, you study the world around you and observe data, facts, and feelings. Your task is to identify your conditions and your relationship to these conditions.

tVision:

In this phase you seek what can be created. Often this is an image of the “end state” you want to achieve, with hardly a clue as to how to get there.

y Intent:

Here you size up the situation and decide to “do something” about it. Primarily, this is the phase of personal ownership and commitment, where you make solving the problem part of your personal quest.

uInsight:

This is the “Aha!” stage in which a synthesis occurs between all that has gone before; the confusion starts to make sense.

iEngineering:

Its time to put ideas into practice. Once insight is achieved, one has the information, plan, or design that allows for detailed-level questions to be asked.

o Building:

In this phase, you take the numbers and the schedules and do it. This is the phase of production, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

p Using:

Often forgotten, this phase is when the consumer uses the end product, of the entire process that we can truly evaluate our success. Inevitably, when this phase is not ignored, the process brings new insight. This model explains how problems are created and then solved in a process that is recursive, fractal, cyclic and nonlinear in character. The most striking feature is the bipartite division that separates the Using stage from the Identity stage and cuts the insight stage in half. The model “starts” with the Identity stage and the purpose of the first half is creating the problem. The second half has the job of solving the problem which the first half created, thereby producing a new Condition in the Using stage, out of which the first half will again have to create a new problem. The first half of the process is individual and the last half collective. This is so because until an idea has a physical manifestation, it cannot be perceived in a useful collective manner. Ideas have no value merely as ideas; they must be expressed in specific form. Likewise, manifestations have no value unless they can be translated into ideas to be transported, improved and evolved.

The whole purpose of the first half of the creative process is to investigate, discover and discern the operating mechanics, cybernetic connections, and principles of self-organization of the existing system. Then -- maybe -- we can act upon the system with intelligence. Or at least envision a new system that produces different condition more in line with our vision.

Business of Enterprise:

The players and their roles in the model:

x The Investor:

The investor provides capital to the enterprise and gets a return of and on the investment. However, more and more investors are also providers and customers.

c The Producer:

The producer still makes the product or creates the service. But producers are more involved in understanding how the company works through programs like open book management.

z The Customer:

The customer purchases and uses the product. But customers are also interested in how well and ethically the companies are run -- they vote with their investments. And customers are included in production.

v The Management:

Management balances the business of the whole web, but the management function is more distributed. There is more management going on, but fewer managers. Some companies are learning how to transform a zero-sum game into an infinite game. In a zero sum game, theres a finite amount of resource and the game is to decide how it gets distributed. In an infinite game, the purpose of the game is to continue the game -- to grow and expand the resource base and the distribution model. The best models to use when playing infinite games are living systems models. But just growing an organization does not eliminate the conflict inherent in the old model of business. After all, many organizations experience tremendous growth rates yet only exacerbate the conflicts between their constituents. There are two more factors that must be added for the new model to be truly transformative. Take another look at the picture of the model. Youre looking for the connections between constituents. Management is the largest hub connecting the constituents, but there is a whole web of lines that connect customers, producers and investors. Its these many subnetworks that tie the players more tightly together and make them interested in their shared fortunes. These links represent true knowledge -- or experientially applied information about how the different portions of the enterprise work, and about how the enterprise works together as a whole. With this knowledge in hand, each constituent can act responsibly with respect to the enterprise and serves in a small cybernetic-style management role. Theres one more necessary factor that doesnt jump out at you from the model. Not only are subgroups of constituents linked together into mini nets but an individual constituent may play more than one role. An individual could be an investor, a customer and a producer all at once, and therefore have a true stake in every facet of the enterprise. To leverage that stake, the individual must also play a role in the management function -- in understanding the body of knowledge that helps him or her make good decisions as a customer, investor and producer.

The 5 Es of Education:

The role of education is to serve as a catalyst for innovation, problem reformulation, and organizational renewal. The 5 Es are principles of education - and of leadership - for effective organizations. These components are:

k Explain:

The learner needs a "background" composed of information and theory in order to intellectually understand. This "body of knowledge creates a context for action.

; Experience:

The learner and teacher must have experience which embodies what is to be learned. Explanations and experience work together to personalize and bring meaning to the learner.

j Expectation:

Expectations must be high in order for growth.

l Example:

People will learn from what you do, not from what you say you are. To some extent, you are the subject you are teaching.

M Explore:

The most powerful learning occurs when the learner is challenged and encouraged to take their understanding further, into “uncharted waters.” True exploration means leaving certainty behind. These principles can be applied to any learning/teaching situation. The model implies that explanations and examples form the foundation of education, but this doesnt mean that they necessarily come first in the process of education. Perhaps exploration and some experience come first --then out of the experience the learner can extract explanations and develop a systematic approach to hunt for further examples to confirm, deny, or expand their conclusions. In practice, the process tends to jumble all of the 5 Es together, calling upon whichever one is required by the learner to take the next step or receive the next insight. If an event lacks one or several of the Es chances are its benefits will be marginalized. Structure of the model: In this fluid model, explanation and example form the core. They are surrounded by a sac and membrane of expectation. Beyond that lies another, larger area of exploration. The membrane surrounding the entire model is experience. Its clear that expectations exceed simple explanation and example. But they also, clearly must fall short of exploration, with its hidden element of the unknown and undiscovered. One of the keys to understanding this model is to realize that experience enfolds it all. Even the act of hearing or reading an explanation is an experience. If you imagine experience to be a separate exercise from explanation, then the setting and force of the explanations will likely suffer. Experience should be managed using the Seven Domains as a template, for all experiences are facilitated one way or another. Frequently the facilitative aspects are left to chance, or hidden or poorly designed, but they are present. And experience should be crafted. Thus, we can couch experience in terms of the other four Es, with the following result: the experience of explanation is in the ability to listen, focus and absorb (not necessarily referring to only an auditory process). the experience of expectation is acknowledging mastery and the path to be taken the experience of exploration is a sense of wonder and a willingness to risk. the experience of experience...

Stages of an Enterprise:

[ Conception:

This is where ventures and enterprises originate.

] Looping:

Most ideas go through a roller coaster ride of peaks of success followed by valleys of near collapse before they become viable - capable of separate existence.

y Success:

At this stage, the enterprise is viable. This means it understands as an organism how to maintain its metabolism from month to month, and how to grow. a Overshoot and Collapse: If the enterprise does not learn how to maintain homeostasis, it may overshoot its envelope of healthy growth and then rapidly collapse upon itself.

d Entrepreneurial Button:

Newly conceived ideas within an existing Enterprise, even if tested through the looping stage, cannot become viable unless the Entrepreneurial Button is pushed. There must be an overt recognition of the need for and value of the new idea or it will not be allowed to grow.

s Mature:

The Enterprise passes through probably its longest and most stable stage. This is also the most favorable time for spawning new enterprises although many ventures fail to do so until its almost too late...

g Turnaround:

Ventures lose their ability to maintain homeostasis and begin to collapse. Usually this is due to a lag time in the organizations ability to respond to or anticipate external or internal rates of change; it falls behind or leaps too far ahead and is exposed.

h Demise:

Eventually all organizations reach their demise. Sometimes its the easiest way for the enterprise to allow new ideas to escape and try for viability. The Entrepreneurial Button To make a big leap of innovation the Entrepreneurial Button must be pushed. This means one of several things: An entirely new entity is born, unencumbered by the structures and culture of its parent. Perhaps the company spawns a subsidiary, or a venture with a partner. Or enterprising employees go off on their own with better ideas that were not being heard. The result is the zone of innovation for the new entity. The parent may go on to struggle for quite a while, unable to transform itself from within. The parent organization undergoes a metamorphosis or rebirth, shedding its inhibiting cultures, philosophies and policies. The result is the intergenerational enterprise trajectory which shows the parent organization making steady improvements and then leaping to a new level of innovation. In either case, the Entrepreneurial Button is not simply a zone where transformation just happens. The button doesnt occur at some predetermined location in the model, although there are more or less favorable times - one of the most favorable being the period of maturity, just after success. Pushing the button is a conscious decision. Much of the conceptual work will already have been done. The new idea will have passed through some looping already before the decision is made to launch it. The people making the decision are not always the executive management. An idea can be so powerful that it may "seek out" other people to launch it if no one in the parent organization is interested.

Ten Step Knowledge Management:

! Event:

The event is some process undertaken by one or several “Knodes” (Knowledge Nodes) that produces information.

@ Documentation:

The information is captured, encoded in the form of a message, tagged for shipping, transduced across the Event membrane, and transferred via some signal, medium, and channel to the K-Base.

# K-base:

The K-Base serves as repository, or data warehouse, and router for messages in the enterprise.

$ Distribution:

The documentation is repackaged, encoded, transduced, and transmitted across the Web (Enterprise) to all parties that need the information as potential Compelling input.

% Tracking:

Tracking records the condition, origin and destination of each message that crosses the K-Base membrane (transduction), it creates a history of the use of the K-Base.

^ Feedback:

Knodes transmit information back to the K-Base concerning any State Changes they have experienced as a result of receiving and processing the original information.

# K-Base:

The K-Base stores the feedback. & Design: The original information and the feedback are used to design the next iteration of work -- the facilitation of the next event, or process.

* Read-Ahead:

A read-ahead is advance information transmitted to the future events participants.

! Event:

The cycle ends as it begins. Meetings and events are an integral part of the creative cycle that allows organizations to solve problems and implement programs. Substantial leaps in productivity and effectiveness can be achieved by managing this process according to the 10-step model. The model in flow: Note that the K-Base is embedded within the tracking system ring. This means that any message-bearing signal that enters or leaves the K-Base domain is logged-out -- not just those from the distribution stage. Information within events, documentations, feedback, designs, and read-ahead all pass through the tracking system into the K-Base, out through the tracking system again and through distribution out to the Enterprise. Think about the model being used not by a group or team, but by a single individual. And imagine this individual has no artifact or tool for recording incoming and outgoing information: information must be passed by work of mouth. In this case, the individuals brain is the K-base and the tracking system. Distribution happens by story-telling. Feedback is a direct communication process, design is creativity, the read-ahead is verbal or perhaps environmental preparation for the next event. Documentation and the K-Base are inseparable. Note that some information is also passed directly from one step to another without passing through the K-Base. In fact, the vast majority of information in practice is either passed directly from one step to another or lost from the system altogether. Enterprises and other living systems survive by managing a small amount of the data that arrives at their senses, converting it into information and applying it experientially as knowledge. The modeling language described herein is more than a shorthand. The modeling language functions the same way as any high level language in a computer. In addition to the glyphs and meanings that are set forth, there are certain transactional terms including Boolean operators such as greater than, equal to, larger than, less than, and, or and not. In addition, the language should include operators such as take, by, act on and the like. Another important aspect of the language described herein is that the language is representational. Because the language is visual, both the color and size can have an exact and referential meaning. Thus, by assigning a referential meaning to each color, context can be added to the message conveyed by the glyphs. Likewise, size can have a exact and referential meaning, for example, size can indicate importance. The bigger the glyph, the more important the concept explained by that glyph. Every organization, system, nation, community, agent, uses its own inherent models of work. Once agents are able to understand the current model they work within, they are able to iterate the model for higher performance, and allow colleagues to "step into" proven productive models, to facilitate Emergence of solutions.

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posted June 3, 2000

revised June 3, 2000
• 20000603.134950.mt •

(note: this document is about 65% finished)