Be a Genuine Child. Try the SOHO Tricycle.

This is the dawn of a new decade. Individuals and companies will be facing new challenges in the form of convergence of crisis of Finance / Fuel / Foods etc in the coming years. The solution will likely be the essential quest for sustainability, resilience and harmony in the areas of Economy / Equity / Environment, based on cyclical, rather than linear mode of operation.

Indeed, there will be three essential Cycles (as illustrated with the help of the SOHO Tricycle) that will determine our Quality of Working, Quality of Living and Quality of Life.

The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle will determine how effectively and efficiently we earn our living, bringing with it the usual tool-kits of Productivity, Innovations and Creativity. The promotion of entrepreneurship in the form of Small-Office-Home Office (SOHO1) is also very much encouraged. This is the Economy area. It is essentially Acting Locally. This will improve our Quality of Working.

The Permaculture Cycle advocates the global approach in solving local problems (the so-called Re-Localization Movement), while emphasizing diversity, resilience and harmony. The complexity of the environment is well respected and the conservation of energy practiced. The role of the Sun, and the associated Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO2) spacecraft, is well acknowledged, confirming the need for more Re-Solarization efforts world-wide (such as solar panels and trees or photosynthesis). This is the Environment area. It is essentially Thinking Globally. This will improve our Quality of Living.

The Holon Cycle, a reference to the Self-Organizing Holarchic Open (SOHO3) system (Prigogine, Nobel Prize), gives emphasis to the inter-connectedness and inter-dependence of things and beings in the Cosmos via the Holarchy structure (rather than Hierarchy structure). Everything is “always partial, already whole” or “box-in-a-box-in-a-box” (Bibib). Bibib is a good way to define a holon. We are inter-connected and inter-dependent. This is the Equity area. It is essentially Connecting Cosmically. This will improve our Quality of Life.

So, we have Three Cycles. Be a Genuine Child. Try the SOHO Tricycle in the New Year 2010.

KEY to SOHOLUTION

Perhaps, the comment by Tom Atlee on SOHO Technology 3.0 could provide a key to those still looking for a better understanding of the Solution to the coming convergence of crisis of Fuel / Food / Finance etc.

Activate your Plan B ("Business-As-Usual" is Plan A) as soon as possible.

SOHOLUTION: Skill-up & Power-down

(What Exactly is SOHOLUTION?)(Everything & everyone are skilling up and powering down. Are you?)

Everything skills up and powers down, eventually. There seems to be no exception. Not even the Universe, perhaps. This is the direct result of the Thermodynamics of Self-Organization: operation of the Self-Organizing Holarchi Open (SOHO) system.

To understand SOHOLUTION (SOHO Evolution), we need first to know more about Dissipative Structures and Holarchy.

Prof. Ilya Prigogine (Nobel Laureate) showed that, when dealing open systems with an enduring flow of Exergy (useable quality Energy, such as sun-light), spontaneous emergence of coherent behavior and organization can occur to dissipate or degrade the Exergy (Exergy Degradation Principle). More Exergy is applied (within limits or the “window of vitality”), more organizations emerge, as the systems attempt to dissipate or degrade the externally applied gradients. Such systems are therefore known as Dissipative Structures.

The term Dissipative Structures take on a new meaning. No longer is the emergence of self-organizing structure a surprise, but rather it is an expected response of a system as it attempts to dissipate the externally applied gradients. Therefore, given enough time, there are things rather than “no-things”, and there is life rather than no life.

Furthermore, the levels of organizations constitute a Holarchy which is a generalized version of the traditional hierarchy, with reciprocal power relationships between levels rather than a preponderance of power from the top downward. A particular system of this type is termed “holon” because it occurs in a contextually nested or holarchic reality with mutual causality guiding reciprocal interactions between a holon and proximate contiguous holons of different scales …. “always partial, already whole” kind of situation.

In other words, things “skill-up” or get better organized. Things become more complex, within the allowable limits. We (you and me and everyone else alive today) are all Dissipative Structures and Holons, the roles we should all value and treasure. Otherwise we will be morons instead!

Then, there is the power-down aspect. In thermodynamic terms, things always get back to their equilibrium positions or maximum entropy (“diffused” or “disordered”). In a close system, power down would be the only end result possible. The Universe, taken as a whole, could be a close system, thus leading to eventual heat death. Likewise, the Earth itself is a close system, unless maximum efforts are put to “green” it so that the photosynthesis (the original solar power) could continue to serve the Earth as long as the Sun lasts.

With the convergence of the crisis Food / Fuel / Finance etc facing mankind, we are fast becoming the Generation-E (Environment, Energy, Equity, Enterprise and E-commerce) in human history. Power-down (slow-down and scale-down, "Small Is Beautiful", "Minus Is Plus", "Slow Food Movement", Permaculture etc. etc.), might well be the only wise move for us, while still making life worthwhile, meaningful and fun in an entirely different way.

So, it really looks like Life is Skill-up and Power-down journey. This is SOHOLUTION (SOHO Evolution). Perhaps, it is also the SOLUTION we are looking for. Perhaps, the Social-Environmental Entrepreneurship (SEE) approach might be just right for you.

Check out more on Your Personal Plan for Skill-up & Power-down in Year 2009.

SOHO Technology 3.0

(Tool for SOHOLUTION. More details at sohotech3.blogspot.com ).

We have a convergence of crises: Food, Fuel, and Finance. So, we need a solution that is convergent that addresses the Local (earning our keep), Global (making sense of the ecosystems) and Cosmic (higher objectives) aspects which lead to "Survive / Understand / Love".

It is coming from SOHO, Sun and Soul. Because, ultimately we must (each and every one of us):
(1) Have our own individual Small Office Home Office (Survive)
(2) Appreciate the Sun: its place in the world / ecology (Understand)
(3) Find our own Salutogenesis or Soul: Wisdom & Love (Love)

It is all about the Big Three:-
(1) I (Self) / Its (Nature) / We (Culture)
(2) Profit / Planet / People or Economy / Ecology / Equity
(3) Body / Mind / Spirit
(4) Beauty / Truth / Goodness

For want of a better description, we tentatively call this Alliance of Three SOHOs”, the “SOHO Technology 3.00”.

More details (relevant pps file / pdf file) available from Slideshare.net or Scribd.com.

Soho Technology 3.0

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: soho small-office-home-office)

Path to Personal and Business Enlightenment in 2009

The Year 2008 could well be remembered as the commencement of the convergence of crises (Food / Fuel / Finance etc) for Mankind. Therefore, there will be no better present for the New Year than the gift of Path to Personal and Business Enlightenment in 2009.

The Path to Personal & Business Enlightenment would have many steps, which could broadly be considered as consisting of the following three steep flights of stairs:

(1) Survival (Manageability of prevailing situations or Economy for Business under the Triple Bottom Line concept)
(2) Understanding (Comprehensibility of the phenomena or Ecology for Business under the TBL)
(3) Wisdom & Love (Meaningfulness of the various encounters or Equity for Business, under the TBL)

The Manageability / Comprehensibility / Meaningfulness will give us a Sense of Coherence (SOC) which is the source of our Health and Wellbeing or Wealth. This is the essence of the Thesis of Salutogenesis, the term first used and promulgated by Aaron Antonovsky in 1979, in the context of alternative medicine.

The Big Three also represents the local / global / cosmic aspects of any holistic solutions. This is also to “Think Globally, Act Locally, Connect Cosmically”.

Individually, we might have to earn our keep by making better and more efficient use of Small Office Home Office (SOHO). We might have to produce portion of our foods by having better understanding of permaculture ( or permanent agriculture, the most famous Australian cultural export, courtesy of Bill Mollison) in particular and ecology in general, including the Sun (partly through the Solar Heliospheric Observatory, another SOHO of the second kind). Corporation-wise, managers might have to get a quick grasp of the differences amongst Hierarchy / Holarchy / Panarchy, the essence of which is better understood by studying the behavior of Holons (the universal Self-Organizing Holarchic Open system, another SOHO of the third kind).

Armed and equipped with these three types of SOHO, we would then have the physical / scientific / philosophical (even spiritual) basis to strengthen our faith in face of the challenging times ahead.

Individuals and businesses wishing to know more about the three types of SOHO and how they could be used as the Path to Personal and Business Enlightenment in 2009 could join the social networking group at http://soholution.collectivex.com

What Exactly Is SOHOLUTION?

 A method of solution-seeking by Think Globally, Act Locally, Connect Cosmically.
 It has its origin in the convergence / evolution of the three SOHO’s :
* Small Office Home Office (SOHO)
* Solar Heliospheric Observatory (Sun)
* Self-Organizing Holarchi Open system (Soul)
 SOHO, Sun and Soul represent Local, Global and Cosmic respectively.
 It is also about SURVIVE / UNDERSTAND / LOVE, as SOHO is a way to earn a living, while knowing the Sun is to understand the world and Soul is Wisdom / Love, yielding true Wealth, Health & Wellbeing
 It is also about Sohominium (SOHO in condominium) / Solarization (Tapping solar energy) / Soulization (Wisdom & Love)
 Related concepts: Triple Bottom Line, Corporate Social Responsibility, Permaculture etc. etc.

More details available on Slideshare.net

Cooperative Development / Writing Project (Invitation)

The SOHOLUTION approach is still in the process of being completed (Or rather it is always on-going and never get completed?!). Contents here will be continually updated. So, stay tuned.

In compliance with the spirit expounded in the approach, cooperative inputs / efforts are solicited to expedite the completion of this project, on a profit-sharing or revenue-sharing basis, involving many trades and professions, participating as SOHOers. There will be many different activities and formats, to be carried in different towns and countries. This will truly be the Evolution / Solution of SOHOs, in its many facets. Please see SOHOLUTION Matrix for some ideas.

Brief outline of Content Draft only, not exhaustive)is available on the Power Point Presentation at Slideshare.net

Sun, Sustainability and Salutogenesis

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: economy finance)

If you are interested, please contact erico@pc.jaring.my for details.