Why I like what is happening here

There is a double bind in everyone of us. We want to rely on the known while desiring change for the better. It seems that established societies, businesses, academics and so forth get trapped easily on the conservative side of this: “Maybe we need a little bit of change. But we should really run things the way we know works best.”

Relying on the known avoids risk with the attitude of a consumer. Participating in making the new accepts risk with the attitude of a producer.

These two perspectives are both legitimate. They are interdependent. They serve each other best where they are well-balanced. “Developed” societies’ modes of operation, however, have moved way too much to the side of risk-avoidant, consumerist reliance on the known.

This calls for a push back to the center, which requires experimentation, speculation, courage and readiness to make mistakes as well as openness for the unexpected and for all the rewards and penalties the unexpected may entail. C:ADM2010, its open format and this blog are about just this: Finding new questions in new ways.

This is why I like the invitation to conference participants to take ownership of this conference and to participate in shaping it. I believe this is a gift of a kind that has become rare.

Thomas Fischer