X : Are you an online troll?
Me : Five minutes ago I was a ghoul.
X : Nope, you've lost me.
Me : I was playing Dungeon & Dragons with the wee lad and my better half.
X : Console?
Me : Yep, it was a shock to the wife. Old paper version, great fun and even the wee lad loved it.
X : AD&D
Me : No, 1977 classic ... original set. It's not about the rules, it's about the atmosphere you create.
X : You have an original box set?
Me : Oh yes. Still love the game.
X : You're the dungeon master?
Me : Of course. It's like the theatre of Werewolf but more fun.
.... tunnels and trolls, traveller ... I've got a lot of old games. It's more fun than films or PC games - press button, press other button, fire, press button, bleep, bleep noise ... at least you can add humour with paper and a bit of imagination.
X : You don't like PC games?
Me : Quite the opposite. Long ago, I built a large guild on World of Warcraft, I used to play Skyrim (with about 500+ Mods) ... the MMORPG side is fun, the modding side is fun. Still, the old D&D is a classic ...
... I've even got a whole bunch of the old Fighting Fantasy books around - The Warlock of FireTop Mountain, Deathtrap Dungeon, City of Thieves etc.
X : Do you play chess?
Me : I have a DGT Centaur, it's a great little piece of kit. Why?
X : Do you fancy a game?
Me : No. Chess is how you lose friends ... quickly. It's not a sport, it's a mean act of violence. There's no softness about it. Even boxing is kinder.
X : Have you heard of chess boxing?
Me : Yes, I'm not a fan.
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X : Thoughts on China is coming due for a counterculture revolution ala the 60s here?
Me : If we think about the balance of "Me vs We" in a culture then ...
... I suspect we're in danger of applying the cultural norms of our collective to another collective and assuming it will react as our collective has reacted. We are probably being myopic ...
... as an alternative, China may well tackle issues of inequality whilst simultaneously growing a more vibrant and meritocratic economy. Rather than a counterculture in the East, a counterculture in the West (against the systemic inequality) seems to be something we're ignoring.
X : We want to be agile.
Me : Do you mean "We want to learn Agile methods such as XP" or "We want to increase the agility of our organisation"?
X : Is there a difference?
Me : Huge. Agile is a method whilst Agility comes from many things including applying appropriate methods.
X : Many things?
Me : Yes. Here's a handy table of universally useful patterns. Do all of these and you'll have more agility as an organisation.
X : That means Agile?
Me : You may well be using XP in some places and SCRUM etc.
X : Surely it's simpler to just use Agile everywhere?
Me : That won't bring you agility, it'll bring you frustration, inefficiency and a mess.
The Tao (the way, the purpose)
The Earth (the terrain, the landscape)
The Heaven (the seasons, the climate)
The Laws (the doctrine)
The General (the leadership)
I'd just like to make the point, that mapping the landscape is not a "technology" activity ... mapping is useful in any competitive space whether economics, nation state play, scientific knowledge or cultural systems.
So, when you tell me that you're on the "business" side, what you're actually telling me is "I'm in a business that doesn't understand or learn from our landscape".
I don't know if that is bravado or supposed to impress me because I just think you're muppets for the taking.
X : Thoughts on getting back into the office?
Me : Go buy a bunch of Double Robotics Teleprescence systems - doublerobotics.com - then people can "zoom" into the robot and you can all bump into each other around the board room.
X : That's ridiculous
Me : Ok ...
... make sure the CEO gets a gold plated one, so you can re-assert status in your virtual world hybrid.
X : Now, you're being silly.
Me : Ok, ask yourself "Why do we need an office?" and more importantly "Who is pushing for a return to the office and why?"
X : And?
Me : I mentioned this last year. A lot of the push to get back into the office comes from issues related to power - social prescence, status symbols - and not necessarily what is good for people or productivity. I'd focus on supporting people in this remote world.
X : When is #mapcamp happening this year?
Me : Wed, Oct 13th.
X : What's the plan?
Me : Right now? Find some funding.
X : How much do you need?
Me : For a 1500 - 3000 person online event? Back of envelope calculation ... about £50k to make it happen. LEF has kindly sponsored it for the last few years but we now need to stand it up on its own two feet.
X : What does that mean?
Me : Like all events, it's a risk profile. So, today the chance of #mapcamp happening is 0%, as we raise some funds, identify costs and find ways of reducing costs etc then that chance increases to a point that we can say ... yep, we can do this.
X : Who uses your maps?
Me : Different people and groups. It's creative commons, so there are no restrictions.
X : So, you don't know?
Me : People do tell me, it's in books etc. If they find it useful, it'll spread. If not, it doesn't deserve to.
X : But who?
Me : Shopify?
X : But who else?
Me : All sorts of people. Why?
X : I need an example from my industry.
Me : Ah, if someone we know does this then we should do this? The 67% of generals bomb hills problem?
X : ?
Me : You shouldn't map because others do, you should map if you find it useful. That's it.
X : But we want to know if it will be useful.
Me : Certainty before you try and explore an uncertain space you have little visiblity on? Try it for a day, if it doesn't help ... stop.