September 1, 2021
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2min read
Icame across this UK program called the Creators Trust via It’s Nice That and I really like the idea of a large collaborative where people encourage others to not only take on projects, but help fund those projects up to the tune of about £5000 per application.
The main difference between a program like this and something like Kickstarter, another great program, is that with the Creators Trust you can’t apply for yourself. You can ONLY apply for someone else.
It reminds me a little of the idea trading concept I came across in Taylor’s Practically Radical. As I remember, in that company they created an online system where employees could post and vote on ideas online thereby bypassing the need for a great deal of the personal “selling” of ideas which was the typical path.
The main realization from that project was that almost everyone in an organization has ideas – and a lot of times they are really good. The stumbling block for many is the public side of internally selling and hustling the idea. Not everyone is comfortable publicly speaking about and promoting their ideas. So rather than deal with the pain of public speaking, many would just not say anything at all, which meant that often only the ideas that were the most vocalized ending it making it far enough to even be considered.
The connection here is that sometimes organizations, and the world for that matter, don’t tap into the best ideas or promote the best people. They actually get the ideas and people who best promote themselves. While I am a firm believer in taking the time to understand how to more effectively communicate and interact with others on a variety of scales (it’s an aspect of my job that I really like), I also feel that when the problem is large enough, we need to make sure we explore all options and ideas for arriving at the right solution.
If all organizations took the time to better understand, cultivate and truly tap into all of their value creators (their employees), not only would there be an increased sense of intrinsic motivation for delivering value, but a greater degree of trust – and that to me is the currency that is really in need of salvaging.
