This talk brings together concepts from theatre, urban planning and software development in less time than reading your Facebook wall. Audio from the talk: https://soundcloud.com/liberatr/free-time-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-flywheel

1. free timefree time..
or how I learned
to stop blocking and
love the flywheel
Ryan Price
@liberatr

2. this is a talk about
improv comedy.
intro

3. NO!NO!
it's about howit's about how
working with othersworking with others
makes the world better.makes the world better.

4. we'll talk aboutwe'll talk about
improvisersimprovisers
and their trustand their trust
in each other.in each other.

5. we'll talk aboutwe'll talk about
programmersprogrammers
and their evolvedand their evolved
collaboration skills.collaboration skills.

6. we'll talk aboutwe'll talk about
communitiescommunities
and how theyand how they
encourageencourage
collaboration.collaboration.

7. we'll talk aboutwe'll talk about
free timefree time
and how every minuteand how every minute
can make a differencecan make a difference
in the world.in the world.

8. when you havewhen you have
aa mission,mission,
even tiny pieceeven tiny pieces ofs of
free time matter.free time matter.

9. chapter I
yes, and...yes, and...

10. it's not aboutit's not about jokes.jokes.

11. it's theit's the
STORYSTORY
stupid!stupid!

12. the stage is set.the stage is set.
the lights come up.the lights come up.
what is yes and?

13. BeckyBecky
is doing something.is doing something.

14. enterenter Richard.Richard.

15. "looks like"looks like
these little pieces ofthese little pieces of
alien skullalien skull and boneand bone
aren't going toaren't going to
sweepsweep themselves.themselves.
Richard:

16. "pick up a broom"pick up a broom
youyou lazy bum!lazy bum!
this is a bigger messthis is a bigger mess
thanthan last yearlast year
up atup at Loch Ness!Loch Ness!
Becky:

17. in thosein those
three quick momentsthree quick moments
they establishedthey established
a whole worlda whole world
of possibilities.of possibilities.

18. "Yes, and...""Yes, and..." thethe
most importantmost important
concept of improv.concept of improv.

19. if one playerif one player
makes anmakes an offer,offer,
it is the truth.it is the truth.
Yes, and...

20. the next playerthe next player
must build on themust build on the
reality in the scenereality in the scene..
Yes, and...

21. nothing is impossible;nothing is impossible;
you are hardly self-you are hardly self-
aware.aware.
ideas just "flow".ideas just "flow".

22. this is a purethis is a pure
expression ofexpression of
human creativity.human creativity.

23. the first few offersthe first few offers
create a set ofcreate a set of
possibilities topossibilities to
explore.explore.

24. sheshe
isis sweepingsweeping
Becky makes an offer:

25. "looks like"looks like
these little pieces ofthese little pieces of
alien skullalien skull and boneand bone
aren't going toaren't going to
sweepsweep themselves.themselves.
Richard says yes, and offers:

26. "pick up a broom"pick up a broom
youyou lazy bum!lazy bum!
this is a bigger messthis is a bigger mess
thanthan last yearlast year
up atup at Loch Ness!Loch Ness!
Becky says yes, and offers:

27. whatever happenswhatever happens
is built uponis built upon
those first fewthose first few
moments.moments.

28. nobody knowsnobody knows
what will happen,what will happen,
but we havebut we have
the bones ofthe bones of
a great scene.a great scene.

29. we create awe create a
virtuous circlevirtuous circle
that can buildthat can build
momentummomentum
in the scene.in the scene.

30. VIRTUOUS CIRCLE
Sweeping Aliens
Last Year

31. improv offersimprov offers
gain meaninggain meaning
with the supportwith the support
of other offers.of other offers.

32. "stop moving your"stop moving your
arms like that,arms like that,
we're fathomswe're fathoms
beneath the oceanbeneath the ocean
in scuba gear.in scuba gear.
Richard says NO, and offers:

33. Richard isRichard is
blockingblocking
Becky's offer.Becky's offer.

34. if blockingif blocking
happenshappens later,later,
wewe loselose moremore
momentum.momentum.

35. the virtuous circlethe virtuous circle
isis broken.broken.

36. one of the only waysone of the only ways
to fail at improvto fail at improv
is tois to block or forgetblock or forget
your partner's offer.your partner's offer.

37. listeninglistening isis
essential to successessential to success
in an improv scene.in an improv scene.

38. this idea livesthis idea lives
inin many places.many places.
VIRTUOUS CIRCLE

39. it is all overit is all over
modern culture.modern culture.
VIRTUOUS CIRCLE

40. it is in the bestit is in the best
computer programs.computer programs.
VIRTUOUS CIRCLE

41. it is in the world'sit is in the world's
great communities.great communities.
VIRTUOUS CIRCLE

42. it is even here atit is even here at
this convention.this convention.
VIRTUOUS CIRCLE

43. chapter 2
yes, andyes, and
retweet thisretweet this

44. you can sayyou can say
"yes, and...""yes, and..."
to an ideato an idea

45. nearlynearly
all communicationall communication
is yes-andedis yes-anded

46. if Iif I learnlearn somethingsomething
it is onlyit is only
useful to me.useful to me.

47. if Iif I teachteach somethingsomething
it is nowit is now
useful to us.useful to us.

48. "He who receives an"He who receives an
idea from me,idea from me,
receives instructionreceives instruction
himself withouthimself without
lessening mine;lessening mine;
Thomas Jefferson

49. "as he who lights"as he who lights
his taper at mine,his taper at mine,
receivesreceives lightlight
without darkeningwithout darkening
me."me."
Thomas Jefferson

50. whenwhen more peoplemore people
have an idea,have an idea,
it can beit can be
more valuable.more valuable.

51. exploration
traveltravel cancan
bring ideas frombring ideas from
other lands andother lands and
other people.other people.

52. apprenticeship
study with astudy with a mentormentor
spreadsspreads bestbest
practices andpractices and speedsspeeds
the learning curve.the learning curve.

53. printed + recorded media
readingreading
spreadsspreads ideas acrossideas across
boundaries of timeboundaries of time
and distance.and distance.

54. distancedistance was oncewas once
a hurdle to thea hurdle to the
spread of ideas.spread of ideas.

55. virtuous circlesvirtuous circles
are easier to groware easier to grow
when distancewhen distance
is reduced.is reduced.

56. large citieslarge cities
helped bringhelped bring
minds togetherminds together
to collaborate.to collaborate.

57. "you got"you got
peanut butterpeanut butter
in my chocolate!in my chocolate!
Reese's Cups Guys

58. "The trick to having"The trick to having
good ideas is not to sitgood ideas is not to sit
around in gloriousaround in glorious
isolation and try toisolation and try to
think big thoughts...think big thoughts...
Steven Johnson, Where Good Ide
as Come From

59. "... The trick is to get"... The trick is to get
more parts on the table.more parts on the table.
Steven Johnson, Where Good Ide
as Come From

60. "embrace serendipity;"embrace serendipity;
follow the links;follow the links;
frequent liquid networks;frequent liquid networks;
borrow, recycle;borrow, recycle;
reinvent;reinvent;
Steven Johnson, Where Good Ide
as Come From

61. communitiescommunities
are great incubators,are great incubators,
wherewhere people andpeople and
ideas bump intoideas bump into
each other easily.each other easily.

62. communitiescommunities
devoted to learningdevoted to learning
generate new ideasgenerate new ideas
quickly.quickly.

63. universities
PhD PapersPhD Papers
are often createdare often created
with the help ofwith the help of
entire communities.entire communities.

64. telecommunication
radio and TV showsradio and TV shows
can spread ideascan spread ideas
to more peopleto more people
all at onceall at once..

65. in our lifetime,in our lifetime,
new meansnew means havehave
enabled new waysenabled new ways
to spread ideas.to spread ideas.

66. sharing onlinesharing online
reduces distancereduces distance
to near zero.to near zero.

67. every time sharingevery time sharing
gets easiergets easier
virtuous circlesvirtuous circles
flourish.flourish.

68. social media
networks and codenetworks and code
makemake sharing PhDsharing PhD
papers as easy aspapers as easy as
sharing cat photos.sharing cat photos.

69. blogs and podcasts
amateur publishersamateur publishers
share ideas aboutshare ideas about
subjects they havesubjects they have
a passion for.a passion for.

70. TEDTED
ideas worth spreadingideas worth spreading

71. I can learn fromI can learn from
a TED video,a TED video,
but sharing it isbut sharing it is
a yes-and move.a yes-and move.

72. "why do you care"why do you care
so muchso much
if I share?if I share?
You may ask:

73. being exposed tobeing exposed to
more new ideasmore new ideas
means our ownmeans our own
projects can beprojects can be
made better.made better.

74. we have a word forwe have a word for
encouraging theencouraging the
unfettered flowunfettered flow
of ideas andof ideas and
information.information.

75. we try to encouragewe try to encourage
a state of "flow",a state of "flow",
where we say "yes"where we say "yes"
to each other'sto each other's
ideas unreservedly.ideas unreservedly.
Brainstorming

76. listeninglistening is alsois also
essential toessential to
sharingsharing andand
brainstorming.brainstorming.

77. you can be listeningyou can be listening
even when you areeven when you are
not brainstorming.not brainstorming.

78. listening is not thelistening is not the
only way to createonly way to create
somethingsomething
meaningfulmeaningful..

79. sometimes beingsometimes being
selfishselfish is stillis still
a good way toa good way to
get startedget started..

80. chapter 3
scratching your own itchscratching your own itch
and
minimum viable productminimum viable product

81. computer programmingcomputer programming
is not aboutis not about thethe code.code.

82. it's aboutit's about
how you use it.how you use it.

83. programmersprogrammers
areare optimists.optimists.

84. what separateswhat separates
programmersprogrammers
and all non-and all non-
programmers?programmers?

85. given time andgiven time and
a few lines of codea few lines of code
they can solvethey can solve
anyany problem.problem.
programmers believe:

86. much of themuch of the
most-used codemost-used code
did not start bydid not start by
trying to solvetrying to solve
big problems.big problems.

87. EBay
a site for buyinga site for buying
PEZ dispensers.PEZ dispensers.

88. Facebook
a little social networka little social network
for harvard students.for harvard students.

89. Drupal
a site for talkinga site for talking
to friends at college.to friends at college.

90. small problemssmall problems
have a lowerhave a lower
barrier to entrybarrier to entry
and areand are
more personal.more personal.

91. if reshaping theif reshaping the
world is new to you,world is new to you,
start close to home.start close to home.

92. scratching your
own itch
solving personal problems

93. I want toI want to
organize myorganize my
recordrecord
collection.collection.

94. MyTunes™

95. MyTunes™
just for me.just for me.
no music store.no music store.
just organization.just organization.

96. what could it do?what could it do?
what does it need?what does it need?
MyTunes™

97. collectcollect.. store.store. view.view.
MyTunes™ features:

98. with onlywith only
three featuresthree features
it scratchesit scratches
my itch.my itch.
MyTunes™ features:

99. minimum viable productminimum viable product
MVPMVP
collect. store. view.

100. the least complicatedthe least complicated
way ofway of
scratching your own itch.scratching your own itch.
minimum viable product

101. minimum viable product
consider aconsider a
wedding cake.wedding cake.

102. what does itwhat does it
really needreally need
to be ato be a
cake?cake?
minimum viable product

103. is ais a
still a cake?still a cake?
cupcakecupcake
minimum viable product

104. picture apicture a
virtual reality gamevirtual reality game
from the 1990s.from the 1990s.
minimum viable product

105. googlegoogle
cardboardcardboard
minimum viable product

106. which of thesewhich of these
isis lessless
complicated?complicated?
MVPMVP

107. my friendmy friend
DamienDamien wantswants
to organizeto organize
his records too.his records too.
MyTunes™

108. I can easilyI can easily
copy mycopy my
codecode andand
give it to him.give it to him.
MyTunes™

109. "this program has"this program has
only three features?"only three features?"
collect. store. view.collect. store. view.
alphabetize?alphabetize?
make playlists?make playlists?
MyTunes™

110. MyTunes™
if he givesif he gives
feedback,feedback,
I can createI can create
new features.new features.

111. MyTunes™
once they areonce they are
written in code,written in code,
new featuresnew features
help both of us.help both of us.

112. Darth Vader
"the"the circlecircle
is nowis now
complete"complete"

113. the virtuous circle.the virtuous circle.

114. in software,in software,
the featuresthe features
areare the ideas.the ideas.

115. adding a new featureadding a new feature
to an MVP isto an MVP is
equivalent toequivalent to
sharing an ideasharing an idea
with all the users.with all the users.

116. creating an MVPcreating an MVP
starts astarts a
conversationconversation
with the users.with the users.

117. users giveusers give
feedbackfeedback
and the creatorand the creator
can respond withcan respond with
new features.new features.

118. a feedback loop.a feedback loop.
programmer > user > programmer > user

119. a virtuous circle.a virtuous circle.

120. a feedback loop.a feedback loop.

121. when a programmerwhen a programmer
adds a featureadds a feature
from user feedbackfrom user feedback
it is ait is a yes-and move.yes-and move.

122. without awithout a healthyhealthy
feedback loop,feedback loop,
you won't getyou won't get
many new users.many new users.

123. withoutwithout new users,new users,
you won't getyou won't get
new ideas, nor thenew ideas, nor the
same innovation.same innovation.

124. listeninglistening isis
essentialessential toto
publishing yourpublishing your
MVPMVP..

125. a big differencea big difference
betweenbetween
improv and codeimprov and code
is the "undo" button.is the "undo" button.

126. one programmerone programmer
who listenswho listens
can makecan make
something amazing.something amazing.

127. twotwo programmersprogrammers
working togetherworking together
can makecan make
something more.something more.

128. chapter 4
the flywheel effectthe flywheel effect

129. MyTunes™
what ifwhat if
DamienDamien cancan
also writealso write
code?code?

130. working togetherworking together
we can share ideaswe can share ideas
collaboratively.collaboratively.

131. he can becomehe can become
more thanmore than
just a user.just a user.
open source software

132. MyTunes™
Damien could createDamien could create
integrated programsintegrated programs
or other featuresor other features
and plugins.and plugins.

133. MyTunes™
each plugin iseach plugin is
another MVPanother MVP
with anotherwith another
feedback loop.feedback loop.

134. more than onemore than one
feedback loopfeedback loop
will add utilitywill add utility
by orders ofby orders of
magnitude.magnitude.

135. a flywheel effecta flywheel effect
is created whenis created when
two feedback loopstwo feedback loops
support each other.support each other.

136. a flywheel effecta flywheel effect
means the wholesmeans the wholes
are greaterare greater than thethan the
sum ofsum of their parts.their parts.

137. the Haroldthe Harold
Flywheel Effect

138. entirely improvisedentirely improvised
three-act play;three-act play;
new acts are basednew acts are based
on earlier scenes.on earlier scenes.
the Harold

139. the Harold
Scene A Scene B
Scene C
Scene A Scene B
Scene C
Act I
Act II
Act III

140. improv offersimprov offers
gain meaninggain meaning
with the supportwith the support
of other offers.of other offers.
the Harold

141. improv scenesimprov scenes
gain meaninggain meaning
with the supportwith the support
of other scenes.of other scenes.
the Harold

142. acts in a Haroldacts in a Harold
gain meaninggain meaning
with the supportwith the support
of other acts.of other acts.
the Harold

143. human actionshuman actions
gain meaninggain meaning
with the supportwith the support
of other actions.of other actions.
Flywheel Effect

144. possibilities arepossibilities are
more connected asmore connected as
people becomepeople become
more connected.more connected.
Flywheel Effect

145. communitiescommunities
critical mass of like-minded peoplecritical mass of like-minded people
Flywheel Effect

146. each new personeach new person
in a communityin a community
brings with thembrings with them
new ideas.new ideas.

147. people and eventspeople and events
act asact as catalystscatalysts
to flywheel effects.to flywheel effects.

148. Flywheel Effect
GNU/LinuxGNU/Linux

149. Flywheel Effect
podcastingpodcasting

150. Flywheel Effect
open spaceopen space

151. Flywheel Effect
BarCampBarCamp

152. Flywheel Effect
DrupalCampDrupalCamp
andand
DrupalConDrupalCon

153. Flywheel Effect
Fringe FestivalFringe Festival
andand
Canadian FringeCanadian Fringe
Touring CircuitTouring Circuit

154. Flywheel Effect
coworkingcoworking

155. Flywheel Effect
farmer'sfarmer's
market
East End Market, Artegon, Grandma Party

156. Flywheel Effect
48 hour48 hour
film festfilm fest

157. Flywheel Effect
game jamgame jam

158. Flywheel Effect
StartupStartup
WeekendWeekend

159. Flywheel Effect
TEDTED
andand
TEDxTEDx

160. Flywheel Effect
KickstarterKickstarter
andand
Kicking it ForwardKicking it Forward

161. healthy communitieshealthy communities
like these havelike these have
feedback loopfeedback loopss
at their roots.at their roots.

162. listeninglistening isis
essentialessential
to all of theseto all of these
flywheel effects.flywheel effects.

163. flywheel effectsflywheel effects
also start when youalso start when you
scratch your own itchscratch your own itch
and share the results.and share the results.

164. how do all of thesehow do all of these
communitiescommunities
create so much value?create so much value?
You ask again:

165. they start asthey start as
passion projects,passion projects,
by people withby people with
an itch to scratch.an itch to scratch.

166. free timefree time
to scratch your own itchto scratch your own itch
Flywheel Effect

167. cognitivecognitive
surplussurplus
Clay Shirky

168. moving to big citiesmoving to big cities
and specializationand specialization
created a surpluscreated a surplus
of free time.of free time.
Cognitive Surplus

169. new communicationnew communication
tools enabled newtools enabled new
ways of organizing,ways of organizing,
new communitiesnew communities
of collaboration.of collaboration.
Cognitive Surplus

170. "diverting even a tiny"diverting even a tiny
fraction of time fromfraction of time from
consumption toconsumption to
participation can createparticipation can create
enormous positiveenormous positive
effects.effects.
Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus

171. YelpYelp
oror
AmazonAmazon
without user reviews?without user reviews?
Cognitive Surplus

172. Meetup.comMeetup.com
oror
OKCupidOKCupid
without other users?without other users?
Cognitive Surplus

173. FlickrFlickr
oror
InstagramInstagram
without other people's photos?without other people's photos?
Cognitive Surplus

174. each post iseach post is
equivalent to anequivalent to an
offeroffer in improvin improv
that you can saythat you can say
"yes-and" to."yes-and" to.

175. each offer iseach offer is
an investmentan investment
of time, totalingof time, totaling
billions of hoursbillions of hours
every yearevery year..

176. "why should we"why should we
improve theimprove the
bottom-line ofbottom-line of
these companies?"these companies?"
you may ask:

177. “If you are not“If you are not
paying for it, you’repaying for it, you’re
not the customer;not the customer;
you’re the productyou’re the product
being sold.”being sold.”
MetaFilter user blue_beetle:

178. “If you are not“If you are not
paying for it, you’repaying for it, you’re
not the customer;not the customer;
you’re a contributoryou’re a contributor
adding value.”adding value.”
Drupal user liberatr:

179. “The opposite of play“The opposite of play
isn’t work.isn’t work.
It’s depression.”It’s depression.”
Jane McGonigal, Reality is Broken

180. if you had to beif you had to be
paidpaid for all yourfor all your
contributions tocontributions to
society,society, wouldwould
the world improvethe world improve
any faster?any faster?

181. conclusion
the futurethe future

182. the flywheel effectthe flywheel effect
will changewill change
the worldthe world
as we know it.as we know it.

183. post-industrial societypost-industrial society
will be characterizedwill be characterized
by these movements.by these movements.

184. "The forces in play in"The forces in play in
the Earth system arethe Earth system are
astronomically massiveastronomically massive
and unimaginablyand unimaginably
complex.complex.
Stewart Brand,
Whole Earth Discipline

185. "Our participation has"Our participation has
to be subtle andto be subtle and
tentative, and thententative, and then
cumulative in acumulative in a
stabilizing direction.stabilizing direction.
Stewart Brand,
Whole Earth Discipline

186. the millenial takeoverthe millenial takeover
has little tohas little to dodo
with being awith being a
special snowflake.special snowflake.

187. the millenial takeoverthe millenial takeover
has everything to dohas everything to do
with being awith being a
valid contributorvalid contributor
in the world.in the world.

188. "a tough new [business]"a tough new [business]
rule is emerging:rule is emerging:
Harness the newHarness the new
collaboration or perish.collaboration or perish.
Don Tapscott & Anthony Williams,
Wikinomics

189. Phone Trees
sharing informationsharing information
among aamong a
communitycommunity
hierarchically.hierarchically.

190. Phone Trees >> Ushahidi
sharing informationsharing information
among a networkamong a network
of communitiesof communities
with no hierarchy.with no hierarchy.

191. LEGO
creating worldscreating worlds
with your friendswith your friends
in your living room.in your living room.

192. LEGO >> Minecraft
creating worldscreating worlds
with your friendswith your friends
around the globe.around the globe.

193. Encyclopedia
one source ofone source of
information thatinformation that
may get updatedmay get updated
annually at best.annually at best.

194. Encyclopedia >> Wikipedia
multilingual sourcemultilingual source
of information thatof information that
gets updatedgets updated
minute-by-minute.minute-by-minute.

195. collaboration is acollaboration is a
skill, which can beskill, which can be
strengthened withstrengthened with
repeat use.repeat use.

196. certain people arecertain people are
better at setting upbetter at setting up
flywheels.flywheels.
why?why?

197. "...the magic number"...the magic number
for true expertise:for true expertise:
ten thousand hours.”ten thousand hours.”
Malcom Gladwell, Outliers

198. our new generationour new generation
has created manyhas created many
collaboration experts.collaboration experts.

199. the flywheel effectthe flywheel effect
does not occurdoes not occur
in a vacuum.in a vacuum.

200. what can a billionwhat can a billion
experts accomplishexperts accomplish
if they workif they work
together?together?

201. "how does this"how does this
apply to me?"apply to me?"
you again!

202. think about allthink about all
of the free timeof the free time
in the knownin the known
universe.universe.

203. there are billionsthere are billions
and billions ofand billions of
potentialpotential
contributors.contributors.

204. if you operate inif you operate in
a closed manner,a closed manner,
you excludeyou exclude
so many possibleso many possible
new offers.new offers.

205. there are challengesthere are challenges
to face, butto face, but
working togetherworking together
makes overcomingmakes overcoming
them much easier.them much easier.

206. if you leave allif you leave all
the problem solvingthe problem solving
up to "them", youup to "them", you
forgo your chanceforgo your chance
to chime in later.to chime in later.

207. unless you decide tounless you decide to
scratch your own itchscratch your own itch
and share the results.and share the results.

208. how will youhow will you
spend yourspend your
free time?free time?

209. free timefree time..
community
code and
creativity
Ryan Price
@liberatr
www.slides.com/ryanprice

210. improimpro
Keith Johnstone

211. cognitivecognitive
surplussurplus
Clay Shirky

212. reality isreality is
brokenbroken
Jane McGonigal

213. wherewhere
good ideasgood ideas
come fromcome from
Stephen Johnson

214. the starfishthe starfish
andand
the spiderthe spider
Rod Beckstrom and Ori Brafman

215. the powerthe power
of pullof pull
John Hagel, John Seely Brown, L
ang Davison

216. thethe
innovator'sinnovator's
dilemmadilemma
Clayton M Christensen

217. the leanthe lean
startupstartup
Eric Ries

218. free timefree time..
community
code and
creativity
Ryan Price
@liberatr
www.slides.com/ryanprice