Partnership
Look for ways to partner with the people you are serving.
soliciting support for a possible future—Toward the Generative—is not the same as marketing a product; in addition to highlighting the advantages of the solution, you need to engage your fellow world creators as peers.
It’s easy to find ourselves wanting to be in a position of authority, but that puts us in an asymmetrical power relationship with the people we’re trying to serve.
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The language and posture for a campaign needs to make it clear that we are looking to partner with people, not dictate to them. We’re not dictating what they should do but requesting their expertise and energy.
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The term “synergy” has become a buzzword of the extractive economy, but it is still relevant in the generative economy. When we work together as partners, we can discover synergies that allow us to do things together that we couldn’t have done by ourselves.
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I recognize that the term “partner” is currently used to describe organizations that are striving for the same goals, so a different word might be in order.
Therefore:
Genuinely look for ways to partner with the people you are serving. Make it clear that we are all in this together and we need each other more than we know. Each relationship you create is unique and offers unique opportunities for synergies.
A simple way to convey that we’re in this together is to use We/Us Pronouns