Inventing the Future Together: Introducing the Hackathon Pilot

 

Why can't we build organizations that are as resilient, inventive, inspiring, and accountable--as human--as the people who work within them? That's the driving question behind and the dream fueling the MIX. Of course, it's not just our dream--it's the shared dream of countless workers and leaders in every kind of organization around the world.

 

Hundreds of you have already stood up for that dream with your contributions--your inspiring stories, pioneering ideas, experimental designs, passion, energy and time--here on the MIX. We are so energized by and grateful for those contributions--and we need more! We also know--and you've told us--that this is not enough. 

 

If we want to create what amounts to the open source code for Management 2.0, we can't just rely on the individual contributions of management innovators everywhere--we need those energetic and inspired contributors to work together to make real progress on a set of make-or-break challenges.

 

That's why we're rolling out a set of power tools and new platforms for collaboration among MIXers. I'm thrilled to announce the launch of the first of those: the Hackathon Pilot--an experiment designed to coordinate efforts around tackling the Communities of Passion moonshot, explore new modes of collective creative work among far-flung contributors, and ultimately prototype the future of the MIX.

 

Why focus on the challenge of cultivating and unleashing communities of passion? We believe each of the 25 management moonshots represents an urgent agenda when it comes to creating organizations that are truly fit for the future--and genuinely fit for human beings. But you have to start somewhere! And we're lucky to have so much momentum generated around the theme during the Human Capital M-Prize. What's more, the MIX is a budding community of passion itself--it was built to serve the larger purpose of reinventing management and to support you in advancing that dream.

 

The Hackathon Pilot is your chance to help shape the future of the MIX--and more importantly to collectively craft the (open) source code for Management 2.0. That just might be the most important work you can do.

 

And here to help you is someone you may have already encountered on the MIX: Chris Grams, formerly the Communities of Passion Moonshot Guide and now the MIX Community Guide. Chris has been digging deep inside the MIX to connect people, acknowledge their work, respond to their questions and concerns, and generally cultivate and support the community for some time. Now he's taking on an even bigger role as your guide for the Hackathon Pilot.

 

It's a role Chris is well-suited to: he spent a decade building community inside and around Red Hat (which soon will be the world's first $1 billion open source software company) and has important experience and great energy for shepherding collective creativity. 

 

At this point, I'm going to hand off the proceedings to Chris, who will introduce you in much more detail to the Hackathon Pilot. We're excited about this experiment and we hope you'll throw your hat in the ring. Let the hacking begin!