I recently started researching what a better Open Source Software Development Lifecycle might look like. On the path, I am discovering so many amazing things. Including the work of Ikujiro Nonaka. The following quote from an article about him illustrates why I’m so excited by his work:
“Nonaka told his interviewer that they were creating ba, a Japanese term that describes a field or space where people freely and openly share what they know in the service of creating something new.
Ba resembles the concept of “flow” as set forth by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: It is the mental state that occurs when a person is fully immersed in whatever he or she is doing. But unlike flow, ba is never solitary; it exists among two or more people. As Nonaka says, “In ba, there is no you or me, there is only us, sharing a here-and-now relationship.” Ba can occur in a work group, a project team, an ad hoc meeting, a virtual e-mail list, or at the frontline point of contact with customers. It serves as a petri dish in which shared insights are cultivated and grown.
Companies can foster ba by designing processes that encourage people to think together. ”
http://www.strategy-business.com/article/08407?gko=a1212
