In 2006 I found myself at a Cursos De Verano (summer school) near Madrid. Just down the corridor, a bunch of senior generals were discussing the “army of the 21st century”. Next to them, a some egg-head priests were discussing “the church of the 21st century”. My group was discussing “innovation of the 21st century “. I posted the following Power Laws on a notice board hoping the Church and State guys would take note.
Power Law 1: Don’t think ‘new product’ – think social and ecological value.
Power Law 2: Think social and ecological value before ‘tech’
Power Law 3: Enable human agency: Design people into situations, not out of them.
Power Law 4: Use, not own. Possession is old paradigm.
Power Law 5: Think P2P, not point-to-mass.
Power Law 6: Don’t think faster – think closer.
Power Law 7: Don’t start from zero. Re-mix what’s already out there.
Power Law 8: Connect the big and the small.
Power Law 9: Think whole systems (and new business models, too).
Power Law 10: Think open systems, not closed ones.
To borrow from (Groucho) Marx: If you don’t like these laws, I will make up some others.
