Simple actions. Shared ambitions. Continuous participation. And the possibility of extraordinary outcomes.
There’s something important about Ideas-Shared that might not be immediately obvious.
At first glance, you might see a platform where people can share ambitions, post listings, connect with others, create groups, plan activities and work towards outcomes.
You might recognise elements of social networking, collaboration, project management, learning and community participation.
None of those activities is particularly new.
People have been sharing ideas, organising themselves, helping one another and pursuing ambitions for generations.
What matters is how those familiar activities have been brought together, why they’ve been organised in a particular way, and what becomes possible when people use them.
Because Ideas-Shared wasn’t created simply to provide another collection of digital tools.
It was engineered around a much bigger question.
How could we make it easier for individuals, informal groups and organisations to pursue the things that matter to them, independently and together, as often as they choose?
The Complexity Is in the Thinking, Not the Participation
Consider the extraordinary diversity of human ambition.
Someone might want to improve their personal circumstances, develop a skill, find support or explore an idea.
An organisation might want to solve a problem, improve performance, develop opportunities or bring people together around a shared objective.
A community might want to improve local conditions.
And an ambition concerning housing, healthcare, education, economic conditions or the environment might have implications for thousands or even millions of people.
These ambitions differ enormously in their nature, scale, complexity and requirements.
Yet many of the things people do to pursue them are surprisingly familiar.
They identify what matters. They ask questions. They share information. They seek support. They make connections. They bring people together. They develop plans. They undertake activities. They work towards outcomes.
Sometimes those activities take minutes.
Sometimes they take months or years.
Sometimes they involve one person.
Sometimes they require hundreds or thousands.
The challenge isn’t to make every ambition simple. It’s to make participation in pursuing ambitions as straightforward as possible.
That’s the thinking behind Ideas-Shared.
Seven Steps Provide the Structure. Micro-Actions Keep Participation Moving.
At the heart of Ideas-Shared is a seven-step approach to progressing ambitions.
It provides a recognisable journey from defining and registering an ambition through to sharing activities, bringing people together, planning, executing and completing them.
But the seven steps are only part of the picture.
Throughout the journey, members can undertake numerous smaller actions.
They can complete their profiles, post to their feeds, share listings, invite friends, create open or closed groups, vote for listings, post testimonials and undertake courses.
These are what we call micro-actions.
They’re deliberately familiar, accessible and repeatable.
And here’s an important distinction.
Micro-actions aren’t separate from the ambition process, nor are they restricted to particular steps within it.
They can be undertaken independently, whenever someone chooses to participate.
They can also support an ambition at different stages of its development.
And they can be repeated, in different combinations, by different people, across different activities.
That’s not an incidental feature of Ideas-Shared.
It’s fundamental to its design.
Consider Something as Simple as Sharing a Listing
Imagine someone creates a listing around an ambition that matters to them.
Perhaps they want to improve a local service, develop a business opportunity, challenge an established practice or address a problem affecting a much wider population.
They share their listing.
Someone discovers it.
They might have an interest in the ambition, possess relevant knowledge or know someone who could help.
Perhaps they share it with others.
Perhaps they post about it on their feed.
Perhaps they invite someone to become involved.
And perhaps, weeks later, they share the same listing again.
Why not?
The ambition may still be relevant. The opportunity may still exist. Different people may encounter it each time.
Sharing a listing isn’t a one-off event that has fulfilled its purpose simply because someone clicked a button.
It is an action that can be repeated whenever a participant considers it worthwhile.
The same principle applies to inviting people, sharing information, discussing possibilities, creating groups and undertaking other activities.
There is no requirement for every action to produce an immediate breakthrough.
And no need to assign an artificial value to each individual contribution.
The actions are part of the journey. The value lies in participation, the opportunities it creates and what people ultimately accomplish.
Participation Doesn’t Have to Wait for a Major Ambition
Here’s another important aspect of the design.
You don’t need to be leading an ambition to participate.
You don’t even need to have registered one.
You might join Ideas-Shared simply because you’re curious.
You could explore the Ambition Directory, discover what others are thinking about, complete your profile, share something on your feed, invite someone you know or undertake a course.
You might create a group around an interest.
You might discover a listing that matters to you.
You might have something useful to contribute.
Or you might encounter an opportunity that encourages you to pursue an ambition of your own.
Participation can begin wherever you are, with whatever interests you, and with whatever time or capability you choose to contribute.
And it can continue as your circumstances and ambitions change.
One day you might ask a question.
Another day you might help someone else.
Later, you might become involved in a substantial collaborative activity.
Or you might simply continue exploring and contributing in smaller ways.
All of these are legitimate forms of participation.
One Ambition. Many People. Countless Contributions.
Now consider what happens when several people become interested in the same ambition.
One person might bring experience.
Another might offer a different perspective.
Someone might challenge an assumption.
Another might identify a practical obstacle.
Someone else might suggest an alternative, introduce a useful contact or help organise a group.
Other participants might contribute to planning and executing tasks.
And throughout that journey, people can continue sharing, inviting, discussing, learning and connecting.
The seven-step structure remains recognisable, while the opportunities to participate remain open and repeatable.
That distinction is important.
The process doesn’t need to become more complicated simply because more people become involved.
And participation doesn’t have to be limited to those undertaking formal delivery tasks.
Different people can contribute in different ways, at different times, according to their interests, circumstances and capabilities.
Some contributions may be small.
Others may be substantial.
Some might help an ambition progress immediately.
Others might become valuable later.
What matters is that people have opportunities to contribute towards something they consider worthwhile.
This Isn’t About Engagement for Its Own Sake
Much of the digital world has become accustomed to measuring success through clicks, views, likes, impressions and the amount of time people spend using a platform.
Ideas-Shared was designed around a different priority.
The objective isn’t to keep people occupied. It’s to help them pursue what matters.
We don’t need to assign a numerical value to every micro-action.
We don’t need to turn participation into a competition for attention.
And we don’t need to assume that more activity automatically means better outcomes.
A member might undertake several small actions in a few minutes and find the experience worthwhile.
Another might spend considerable time progressing a complex ambition.
Both can be valuable.
The important thing is that the actions serve a purpose within a wider environment of discovery, connection, participation and ambition realisation.
Sometimes that purpose is immediate.
Sometimes it contributes to a longer journey.
And sometimes its significance may not become apparent until much later.
The value isn’t confined to the destination. It can emerge throughout the journey.
Now Imagine This Happening Across Thousands of Ambitions
So far, we’ve considered individual actions and individual ambitions.
But the same approach can be repeated across personal, professional and societal life.
An individual might pursue several ambitions over time.
A group might participate in numerous activities.
An organisation might bring people together around multiple objectives.
And participants could contribute to ambitions initiated by people they’ve never met.
Now imagine thousands of ambitions becoming visible.
Imagine people discovering opportunities that align with their interests, knowledge, experience and capabilities.
Imagine the same familiar actions being repeated across different activities, communities, organisations and countries.
A listing is shared.
A question is asked.
Someone is invited.
A group is formed.
An assumption is challenged.
A plan is developed.
A task is completed.
An ambition progresses.
And somewhere else, another activity begins.
The individual actions remain relatively simple. The collective possibilities become increasingly diverse.
Not every ambition will succeed. Not every action will have the intended effect. And some challenges will require considerable resources, expertise, institutional cooperation or sustained effort.
But the opportunity to participate doesn’t disappear because an ambition is difficult.
Nor does the usefulness of the underlying approach end when one activity is completed.
People can learn from the experience, pursue another ambition, support someone else or return to something they previously explored.
The process is repeatable because human ambition doesn’t have an endpoint.
Optimised Ambition Realisation
There’s a useful way of describing the thinking behind all this.
Optimised Ambition Realisation.
It’s not a claim that we’ve invented ambition, collaboration or collective action.
Nor is it a promise that every ambition will be achieved.
It’s a description of what we’ve deliberately set out to engineer.
A coherent participation environment that brings familiar human activities together, reduces unnecessary complexity and provides a repeatable structure for progressing ambitions.
An environment where people can act independently or collectively.
Where small contributions can form part of substantial undertakings.
Where people can discover ambitions that could improve their own circumstances or benefit countless others.
And where participation can continue, across different activities and ambitions, as often as people choose.
The approach is designed to support progress without dictating what people should pursue.
We haven’t tried to simplify human ambition. We’ve tried to make acting upon it simpler.
The Opportunity Is Yours
You don’t need to understand the engineering behind Ideas-Shared to participate.
You don’t need to memorise the seven steps.
You don’t need to have a fully developed ambition.
And you don’t need to undertake something enormous.
You can begin with something small.
Explore the Ambition Directory.
Discover an activity that interests you.
Share a listing.
Ask a question.
Invite someone.
Join or create a group.
Offer a contribution.
Or introduce an ambition of your own.
Then continue whenever and however you choose.
Some actions may take moments. Others may lead to relationships, activities and opportunities that develop over years.
And some ambitions, if successfully pursued, could materially improve the lives of people far beyond those directly involved.
That’s the opportunity we’ve engineered Ideas-Shared to make possible.
Not participation for its own sake.
Not technology for its own sake.
But people using familiar, accessible and repeatable actions to pursue the things that matter to them.
Simple Actions. Shared Ambitions. Possibilities Without a Predetermined Limit.
The thinking and construction may be sophisticated.
Your participation doesn’t have to be.
Explore the Ideas-Shared Global Hub and discover what you could become part of.
Challenge Assumptions. Make Others Aware. Stop What Needs Stopping. Co-Create New Realities.
