Brierwood is one of our partners and inspirations in setting up a coop. They specialize in mobile app development. They are both a pleasure to work with and do outstanding work.
We run a worker-owned tech cooperative supporting startup social enterprises through agile development of minimum viable products that we hope will change the world for the better (hopefully that doesn’t sound cliched as our hearts are sincere in that desire).
I am glad to see some enthusiasm on HN for the cooperative cause which we believe strongly in as model vehicle for moving beyond the 'exploitation economy' which most of us operate in and which pits us against each other as adversaries rather than joining us together as partners in seeking solutions to problems we all share.
We have found the biggest plus of being a cooperative to be the sense of equality amongst our crew stemming from a democratic-based decision making process and a path to membership (as a co-owner) available to all (assuming performance and cultural standards are met).
Frankly we are slightly in awe of the talent that has joined our family by virtue of this ethos of equality and a 'do good' mission.
Moving forward we are of the opinion that the many of the best and brightest in our industry who seek social and environmental change will choose to work in cooperatives rather than traditional corporations even if it means sacrificing some personal financial benefit to do so (although hopefully this will not be needed as more resources go to supporting cooperatives).
The ‘meaning quotient’ of life generally trumps all for those we work with and those who support cooperatives.
In terms of keynotes, running a cooperative successfully requires:
- emotional intelligence
- operational processes that support intra-team communication and collaborative work
- a willingness to put your trust in your co-workers
- a strong sense of cultural identity
- a mission that can be shared with members and partners
Given this is HN, I will say that there is some tension b/t the 'lead by your gut' - fast and furious - approach of most entrepreneurs and the emphasis in cooperatives on getting consensus from the team on big decisions. As a former ‘traditional’ entrepreneur with some VC / startup experience, I feel like we have found a nice balance b/t empowering our management team to lead with their ‘gut’ business instincts while also engaging in proactive communication with the team around key business decisions. That said I have also at times stepped on some toes and gently bruised some egos with my former ways. So it is a learning process for sure...
As part of our communications work, we have begun experimenting with using http://loomio.org as part of our discussion and decision-making process.
Lots more that could be shared but, I hope some of this is helpful. If anyone has further interest in cooperatives, our work processes or our work feel free to PM me.
EDIT: Just noticed that we were referenced in the opening post. (Thanks jboynyc) Sorry for flying a bit too fast and furious, speaking of... Also updated the loomio URL above.
Well, the brightest has an asterisk where the asterisk corresponds to those who are orienting their lives towards service and the common good - those seeking solutions to our shared problems - rather than simply personal benefit.
If the goal of life is simply 'self-service' - making tons of money and living fat (ie. ‘he with the most toys wins’ mentality) - then cooperatives are not the path an individual will choose.
If the goal is to help others while working together with peers who share a common purpose, then a cooperative makes a lot of sense as a model.
In my case I realized that much of our society is oriented fundamentally towards greed with consumer capitalism actually manipulating us to be more greedy.
I was simply looking for a company structure that helped us to learn to be more generous through our work together. While I can’t say honestly that our work is yet shaking the foundations of capitalism, I can say that we are learning to be more selfless, more generous, by working within a cooperative structure that encourages us to help meet each others’ needs along with those of the clients we serve.
Father, son project. ;)