ProxThink River

Introduction: Below is a short guide for how to create a sustainable proximity. You can use it for an area, home, park, neighborhood, community, region, context, environment, business, group, organization, etc. If we create many sustainable proximities, they will start to overlap. You are free to use this guide, and I hope you will. It is based on the ProxThink sustainable proximities approach. It allows people to relate to a proximity they care about in a new and more direct way. I think a lot of our tough shared problems are not so much anyone’s fault in particular, but more just how things are organized. This approach is a different way of organizing things. It leverages technology and networks in a different way by applying a new growth model. I’ve created some new terms, a framework and a growth model. However, part of what I’ve done is to recognize, name and structure things people already do. Please use the comments below to let us know what you think or how the approach is working for you. If you find this useful or interesting, at the end there are ways to get more involved. Also, please share it. Thank you. —David Loughry

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Here’s the basic idea of this guide: The approach leverages technology and networks in a different way by applying a new growth model.

Imagine a place you care about. An area, home, park, neighborhood, community, region, context, environment, business, group, organization, etc. This place is the “proximity” for this guide. (Sometimes, the proximity might be less physical.)

Add a network, such as the Internet, to your place.

Add people who can sense, track and record things about the place. Things that would relate to what you want to maintain or sustain about the place. What people might want to sense, track and record is so varied, I won’t even try to make up examples.

Add technological sensors for the place that can record what they sense. The sensors might record views, heat, pollution, chemicals, moisture, sun, traffic, electricity usage, and other things. Things that would relate to what you want to maintain or sustain about the place.

Allow the humans and technological sensors to record their impressions and data about the place on the network. This set of impressions and data on the network is the ProxMonitor for this place.

Allow people and technology to access the impressions and data on the network. These access points are RelatePoints. If the network is the Internet, the RelatePoints can be web pages viewed in browsers.

So far, we’ve covered two processes of the ProxThink growth model: ProxMonitors and RelatePoints. This growth model allows us to leverage technology and networks in a different way.

Now have people, or a subgroup, develop a set of conditions and characteristics of the place, that they want to sustain or maintain. It could also be a range of conditions and characteristics. Sustaining some conditions and characteristics does not mean the place would feel or be static or boring. Some of the conditions or characteristics might be uncertainty or variability people want to sustain. And some surprises are usually unavoidable anyway. Put the conditions and characteristics people develop into an agreement. Of course, the agreement could change over time based on new input from people, and impressions and data from the ProxMonitor. The agreement might also suggest new things to track in the ProxMonitor. This agreement is the third process of the ProxThink growth model, which is a Vadi Agreement. “Vadi” is short for valuable differences.

The agreement can also be displayed in the ProxMonitor at the RelatePoints.

Now people and technology can work (and play) together to sustain the conditions and characteristics. Both people and technological systems can access the ProxMonitor via RelatePoints, check the Vadi Agreement, and do things which help sustain the conditions and characteristics of that place they care about. What they do to maintain or sustain those conditions and characteristics are ProxRewards, or “proxri” for short. Proxri are the fourth and final process of the ProxThink growth model.

This is a simple guide for how the ProxThink growth model can be used to create a sustainable proximity. As you can see, part of the focus shifts to the proximity that people care about. With the help of technology, networks, and the ProxThink growth model, people can relate to the place (proximity) they care about in a new and more direct way.

Something interesting becomes possible with this approach. With the leverage of technology and networks, you can do more with less effort. And when people’s focus is on the proximity, competition can decrease. With less effort required thanks to technological leverage, and lower competition, people may more often do things (proxri) for the proximity in ways which they find engaging, involving and energizing. Things they actually want to do, rather than have to do. This could create vibrant proximities. This enjoyment might even be one of the conditions and characteristics you want to sustain in your Vadi Agreement, and something that gets tracked in the ProxMonitor.

Setting aside whether or not this approach could create more vibrant proximities, it’s hard to argue that we shouldn’t pursue some new options and approaches for shared challenges. This approach may be most appropriate for shared challenges which people in a place or proximity face together. Given that some of our toughest problems are shared challenges, it is something I think we should try, see what happens, and improve as we go. In addition, it can be used for parts of a place or proximity. It’s not all or nothing. We can use it to make part of a place sustainable, and grow from there.

That said, I believe the sustainable proximities approach, which this guide introduces, has the potential to change how we approach many situations, large, medium and small, and also some of our toughest challenges. Things like globalization, economic turmoil and climate change.

Again, you are free to use this approach, and I hope you will.

Don’t believe this can work? Read this.

If you have questions, contact me here.

If you want to get more involved, I’m looking for people who want to try this approach, or build systems for it, or fund it, or several of these. I’m going to put together an organization which: 1) supports people trying the approach on their own, and 2) builds systems and infrastructure for people who want tools they can use immediately to implement the approach. To keep up to date on progress, and learn how you can try it, help build it, or fund it, join ProxThink.

Funding for the development of this work so far, and for what is to come, would be greatly appreciated. This approach is the result of decades of effort, since it is built on top of the ProxThink framework, which took a long time to evolve. As a result, I’ve built up quite a bit of development debt. (In fact, thinking we desperately needed some new conceptual approaches to tough shared challenges, I bet my financial future on the ProxThink framework, including the sustainable proximities approach.) I’ve had no external support for the ProxThink project — no grants, fellowships, investors or foundation support. To become an investor or partner, please contact me for more details. To make a contribution (a proxri) of any size, for the work done and the work to come, please contribute on this page.

Also, if you found this interesting or useful, please share it. Thanks!

Proxri Deal: As you find our relationship rewarding, proxri with the proximity in mind.