open source way - Page number 4

Tell us what the missed opportunities are, that could be improved, based on your vote.

We got a chance to send a few questions to Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation. We wanted to explore open source principles like transparency, community, and collaboration in his world.  And we got a chance to ask him about the Open Source World Summit in China--and why both Microsoft and the Linux Foundation want people to pay for Windows.

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This open thread is an opportunity for you to tell us how you explain what the open source way is, but without mentioning software or technology. » Read more

The other day I was chatting with friend and digital strategy/social media expert Ken Burbary on the phone. He was advising a colleague on some good community-building techniques to consider when all of the sudden the following words came out:

"You have to find your cheeseheads."

What? I did a double-take (or at least the conference call equivalent) and asked him to repeat himself.

I had heard him correctly. » Read more

Poor words. As they get more popular, as we give them more love, we also keep trying to shove in new meaning to see if they can take it.

In the technology industry, this happens over and over. Take "cloud computing," which used to mean something pretty specific and now means essentially "on the Internet" as far as I can tell. Outside the technology industry, take "news," which also used to mean something, and now is a muddy mess of news/editorial/advertising. » Read more

A while back, I wrote an article about why the term crowdsourcing bugs me. Another thing that drives me nuts? When people confuse crowdsourcing and open source. My friend David Burney wrote an interesting post on this subject a while back highlighting the differences.  » Read more

The world of work has changed, but in many ways the model of motivation hasn’t. Are the traditional rewards of today’s organizations up to the challenge of motivating people to complete creative, complex tasks in creative ways? And can the open source way offer inspiration? » Read more

Where does open design and sustainability meet Tide? The open washing machine project. » Read more

Gary Hamel, one of the world's leading business thinkers, has said that open source is one of the greatest management innovations of the 21st century.

In his outstanding book The Future of Management, Hamel offered this tongue-in-cheek remark:
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You may be familiar with the Thomas Edison quote: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." In the open source way, the principle is sometimes referred to as rapid prototyping, or "release early, release often." The idea is that faster prototypes can lead to faster failures. And faster failures lead to faster solutions.

What do you think? Do you agree with the philosophy? And if so, how can we help organizations see small failures as steps toward big successes?

Share your thoughts below.