Folks,

Here are a few things that played out this week:

Minority Rule: Organise a free play session. Watch it descend into chaos as the minority rules.  Emerging from chaos came agency; kids who were being overrun by the louder, bigger, brasher kids applied the rule of two feet. 

Just because you can build a community doesn’t mean you should: When you organise a community around what you think it should do, you have a “Build It, And They Will Come Problem.” Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. But what is certain is that if you spend lots of time trying to get people into your community, you have built yourself a prison. 

Principle/Principal: Two different words, two different spellings, and when you confuse the two, you put things in the wrong order. 

Failing to learn: I know failing is good, and even the best of us have done it. I get it— but honestly, it’s hard to believe many of us actively seek it out, despite what we are told. Failure doesn’t need to be desirable; it can be designed for, though. 

If I had to sum up my struggle last week, it was this:  

Do you try to control outcomes directly? (minority rule dominates, impose hierarchy, design for success)

OR do you create conditions where better outcomes emerge? (give agency, establish principles, learning design).

Here's to a good week,

Simon

P.S. Here I am talking about the book. Prize for anyone who can find the play button in this image—or you can always double-click!