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Gideon Rosenblatt

This is a wonderful piece, John. I've been thinking about many of the same issues, but hadn't seen this piece unti just reading a post by Greg Rader that referenced it with some worthwhile additional thoughts:
http://onthespiral.com/rising-income-inequality-shifting-identities-specialist-omnivore

The thing I've been thinking about these days is what that new organizational structure will look like - the one that melds passion and profession. I've worked with organizations, and even teams within larger organizations, that have some of this quality. Much of it relates to culture, but I also think there are some structural and governance issues that play a critical role.

Rachel

I love this idea and agree with it almost completely. The DIY movement is certainly an indication of this trend, but one still senses the futility of the struggle to remain entirely independent from branding. The "hipster" subculture of my generation is definitely a bleak symbol of this. Have you read Ad Busters' famous article on the subject? https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html
It's definitely worth some thought.

How does Thomas Frank's theory in "The Conquest of Cool" fit in to this? What is "cool" no that we have fragmented into so many cultural enclaves? One thing that defines "coolness" is a kind of (affected perhaps) indifference. What defines "nerd" is typically someone who cares about something "too much". As we move toward a future of "Pull", will we begin to see the death of "cool"?

Thinking out loud here...great post though! Definitely thought-provoking.

www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000443966349

Very interesting. I just spent two days at Agile Open Northwest, an open space conference where 125 people who are passionate about using agile engineering methods to create great software talked about issues that they are wrestling with. One of the things that I personally have gained from using agile methods and trying to follow the Agile Manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/) is a more passionate engagement with my daily work and my profession.

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