Ideas-Shared offers a different way for individuals, informal groups and organisations to work together constructively.
It gives people a global standard to share activities they care about, invite others to contribute, organise the work when needed and deliver specific outcomes that matter to them. Those outcomes can be personal, professional or societal. They can begin with one person, a group of people or an organisation – and grow as others become involved.
Start with what you want to happen
An ambition describes what someone wants to happen or make real. An outcome describes what achieving it would deliver.
A registered Ambition can provide a wider goal for an activity, but registering one is not required before posting a listing. A listing can stand on its own: it shares a specific activity that people can contribute to and complete or deliver, advancing an outcome or underlying goal.
Some activities can deliver an outcome by themselves. Others form part of a larger effort involving several activities and contributors.
Ideas-Shared connects this work to four core outcomes:
- Challenge Assumptions
- Make Others Aware
- Stop What Needs Stopping
- Co-Create New Realities
An activity can contribute to one or more of them. A question might challenge assumptions; an article might make others aware; a campaign might seek to stop something harmful; a team might develop and deliver a new solution.
Nineteen ways to share an activity
Ideas-Shared has 19 listing types. Each describes a different kind of activity people can contribute to:
Problem Listing, Article Listing, Idea Listing, Question Listing, Ambition Listing, Rant Listing, Announcement Listing, Tutorial Listing, Fun Listing, Solution Listing, Recommendation Listing, Place Listing, Opinion Listing, Help Request Listing, Ad Listing, Job Listing, Event Listing, Help Offer Listing and Discussion Listing.
The listing type describes what activity is being shared. Its intended outcome and wider goal show what completing or delivering that activity could achieve.
People can contribute through an answer, an idea, an offer of help, attendance, research, discussion, practical work or other forms of participation. The work involved depends on the activity and the outcome being sought.
Activities span every area of life
Ideas-Shared listings can cover every area of life. They are currently organised across 149 topics, including agriculture, bereavement, business, community, education, health, housing, politics, warfare and wildlife.
Topics help people discover activities related to subjects they care about. A topic describes the area of life an activity concerns; a listing type describes the kind of activity being shared.
The listing can also show its audience, location and potential benefits. These details help people understand who may be affected, where the activity matters and what could improve if its outcome is achieved.
A lasting listing people can share
Once submitted, every listing is added to the Ambition Directory. Listings are evergreen and remain available unless a user deletes them.
They do not need to be reposted as new listings simply to repeat the same point. A listing remains a constant reminder of the activity and a cornerstone of the underlying goal and intended outcome until they are delivered.
Listings are designed to be shared online and offline by all interested parties, not just the list owner. Anyone who cares about the activity can bring it to the attention of other people, groups and organisations. As more people share it through their own networks and conversations, awareness can grow far beyond the original audience.
Members help surface priority
Every member can vote on any listing, from 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest priority. Members can change their vote if they feel they voted incorrectly or their view has changed.
Votes are aggregated in the Top 100, helping alert members to activities receiving the highest priority and those members consider most immediate. As votes change, the activities being surfaced can change too.
What can I do now?
The What You Can Do Now options guide each reader towards a useful contribution:
What can I do now to help complete or deliver this activity and progress its outcome?
The action should fit the purpose. To learn or examine an issue, someone might Learn More, Read Information, Read Tutorial, Watch Video, Download, Visit Website, Answer Question or Debate Issues. To extend its reach, they might Share Listing or Invite Friends. To support delivery, they might Join Group, Sign Up, Attend Event, Volunteer, Offer Help, Offer Resources, Offer Funding, Donate, Sponsor or Partner with Us.
Other activities may call for people to Contact Us, Hold to Account, Sign Petition, Demonstrate, Boycott, Strike, Show Displeasure, Withdraw Support, Seek Compensation, Seek Justice or Seek Resolution. Apply Now and Request Demo offer specific next steps for activities seeking those results. Vote to Prioritise Listing lets members signal the activity’s priority.
Each listing should offer the actions that meaningfully support its activity and outcome. Some actions contribute directly; others attract participants, build awareness, bring resources or signal priority.
Open participation and organised delivery
People can contribute at different levels. Some may answer, comment, debate, vote or share their experience. This open participation can be essential: it can challenge assumptions, make others aware and sometimes complete the activity without further organisation.
Other outcomes require coordinated work. People who want to help deliver a more complex result can come together in a hidden or closed group under the list owner’s guidance and leadership. They can plan and carry out tasks to develop an idea, fix a problem or deliver another outcome.
Tasks are useful when the work calls for them, but they are not required for every listing. The activity and the outcome determine whether a group and task plan are needed.
Blueprints help people explore what matters
The Blueprints help individuals, groups and organisations examine existing conditions, challenge assumptions, identify ambitions and consider what better outcomes could look like.
They are practical frameworks, not fixed instructions or predetermined answers. A person can start with the Blueprint most relevant to what matters to them, use it to develop an ambition or identify a new one, shape an Activity Listing, or find ways to contribute to the ambitions of others.
The Blueprints show how Ideas-Shared can be applied across personal, professional and societal life. The subject changes; the opportunity to explore conditions, identify what matters and work towards better outcomes remains.
Activity Playbooks help work out the work
Each activity type has an Activity Playbook with practical guidance about the work that may be involved.
Developing an idea may call for research, testing, feedback and refinement. Fixing a problem may involve investigating causes and assessing solutions. Organising an event may require participants, promotion, suppliers and logistics. Asking a question may benefit from evidence, expertise and different perspectives.
A playbook is a starting point, not a compulsory process. People select what is relevant, decide what to do and adapt as the activity develops. Useful work can become specific tasks, with people taking responsibility for what they can do and bringing in capabilities they need.
A group might form before a listing is posted, after it is shared or not at all. Research might happen before the activity is public, or the listing might invite others to help with the research. The people involved decide what the activity requires.
The Ambition Operating System provides the wider progression:
Register an Ambition → Post a Listing → Share the Listing → Build a Team → Plan Tasks → Execute → Deliver & Move Forward
A registered Ambition can be part of this journey, but it is not a prerequisite for posting a listing. Nor does every activity need to pass through every stage. The operating system helps organise progress; the Activity Playbook helps people identify and manage the work.
One listing, seen in practice
“Who Else in Europe Wants a War with Russia?” is a live Question Listing. Its stated goal is Challenge Assumptions. Its audience and location fields show the intended reach; its topic helps people find it; and its actions—Answer Question, Debate Issues and Sign Up—show ways to contribute.
The listing is at Step 3: Sharing. It remains in the Ambition Directory, where interested parties can share it online or offline and help more people find it. If contributors decide the outcome needs organised research or other complex work, they can form a delivery group and plan tasks. If open participation is enough, they can progress the activity that way.
A different way to work together
Ideas-Shared gives individuals, informal groups and organisations a way to initiate activities, attract participation from people they know and people they have yet to meet, and combine contributions around outcomes that matter.
The listing gives the activity a lasting, shareable home. The topics help people find it. Priority voting helps surface what members consider most immediate. Actions show how readers can contribute. Blueprints help explore conditions and ambitions; Activity Playbooks help identify the work; groups and tasks support delivery when they are needed.
Identify what matters. Bring together what is needed. Organise participation. Work towards the outcome.
