I am pleased to announce we are shifting from theory to application. This is the next phase of the synergic evolution. This morning I begin the conversion of a small business organization located in the silicon valley to a synergic Ortegrity. Additionally, my associate synergic economist Wayne Perg is announcing the immediate availability of his services for the restructuring of business organizations.
CREATING SYNERGIC ENTERPRISES:
Profiting by Sharing and Cooperating
Wayne F. Perg, Ph.D., Co-Founder, New Market Solutions, LLC
This is a call to join together in creating a different world and profiting by sharing and cooperating. A program and tools are presented for creating synergic enterprises and a different economy – a new economy in which prosperity is shared by all and humanity lives in harmony with a living earth.
The first component of the program is already underway. It is the shift from our Industrial-Age worldview to a “new” worldview. Our economy, the structure of our businesses, and our forms of financing are all products of our worldview.
OUR INDUSTRIAL-AGE WORLDVIEW
Our present economy was created by a worldview that sees a machine-model universe of separate entities in which there is not enough for everyone and evolution is driven by the survival of the fittest. The inevitable outcome of this worldview has been a mindset of profiting by competing and taking from the weak and behaviors that produce experiences of separation, insufficient resources, and a struggle for survival. These experiences have then been used to justify the worldview that produced them!
This industrial-age worldview has manifested what it sees by creating behaviors that inhibit cooperation (e.g., dominator, rather than partnership relationships), creating negative synergy (1 + 1 = less than 2), and by diverting enormous amounts of resources into armaments. However, as we continue our shift to a “new” worldview we will produce a different mindset, different behaviors and different experiences that will manifest the vision of our “new” worldview.
This “new” worldview is actually very old, so I am calling it our new/old worldview.
OUR NEW/OLD WORLDVIEW
Our new/old worldview sees a living universe of interdependent entities, unified in their infinite diversity, with enough for everyone and evolution proceeding through negotiation and cooperation. It was, as Riane Eisler demonstrated in her seminal work, The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future, our predominant world view throughout human “pre-history,” that is, in an historical time frame, until quite recently.
The new science is one force behind the reemergence of this world view. Post-Newtonian science is demonstrating that our new/old worldview of a living universe is a much more accurate representation of nature (see EarthDance: Living Systems in Evolution, by Elizabet Sahtouris) than was our Industrial-Age worldview of a machine-model universe.
Spirituality is another force driving reemergence (e.g., Conversations With God, Books 1, 2 and 3, by Neale Donald Walsch), as are positive visions of a new economy (e.g., Infinite Wealth: A New World of Collaboration and Abundance in the Knowledge Era, Barry C. Carter). And all three are coming together as the new science and visionaries of a new economy embrace spirituality – the life force that is the source of all.
This new/old worldview will manifest experiences of unity, enough for all and profiting by sharing and cooperating. It will occur as behaviors change and relationships shift from dominator relationships to partnership relationships. This will create increasing cooperation and positive synergy (1 + 1 = more than 2) and reduce the diversion of resources into armaments as fear recedes and love increases.
GAVIOTAS
For three decades the inhabitants of Gaviotas (Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World, by Alan Weisman) have been demonstrating the power of our new/old worldview to manifest a different world. Gaviotas is a community in the barren, rain-leached eastern savannas of war-torn Columbia. The scientists, artisans, rural peasants, ex-urban street kids, and Guahibo Indians that live in the village have transformed the phrases sustainable development and appropriate technology from clichÈ to reality.
Hundreds of people live and work together harmoniously and productively with no government, no judiciary, no police force and no weapons in a country wracked by continuous internal warfare. They have created a living system, a multi-creatured organism, that has demonstrated its power to overcome enormous challenges and rapidly adapt to catastrophic change. And, in the process , they have manifested the only spot on earth where man is increasing, rather than destroying, tropical rain forests.
Gaviotas demonstrates the ability of diverse people to live and work together in the manner required by synergic enterprises. However, synergic enterprises will require different forms of organization and finance than those that were created by our Industrial-Age worldview.
NEW FORMS OF ORGANIZATION AND FINANCE
New forms of organization and finance are tools that are required for creating synergic enterprises. They are the second component of the program.
The organizational structure of businesses today is that of a hierarchy based on command-and-control. This structure creates negative synergy because: 1) the resultant dominator relationships inhibit cooperation; and, 2) the function of control is to limit, thus limiting both what people are allowed to contribute and the organization’s capacity for productive change.
The financing used by businesses today is rooted in control and conflict. Common stock (ownership interests) financing is linked to the hierarchical, command-and-control organizational structure that creates negative synergy because investors in common stock demand control of the business. Debt financing is rooted in conflict because it uses financing agreements that are premised on an adversarial relationship between lenders and borrowers and are enforced by an adversarial legal system that increases risk for both investors and creditors and can culminate in the lose-lose outcome of bankruptcy proceedings.
REAL-PREFERRED-RETURN UNITS
Real-Preferred-Return units (henceforth RPR units) are a new form of financing that can meet the entire financing needs of synergic enterprises. The foundation of RPR units is shared interests, clear agreements and cooperation. They were developed by New Market Solutions, LLC (henceforth NMS).
Investors in RPR units are protected by their preferred claim on real (adjusted for inflation) income and assets, continuous transparency, and a financing agreement that safeguards the interests of all parties. The financing agreement includes consequences for failure to meet agreed upon performance standards and a cooperative process for restructuring in the event of default.
RPR units can be structured with multiple levels of preference, creating a complete range of risk/return choices for investors. Therefore, they can replace both common stock (ownership interests) and debt as the financing instrument of choice for synergic enterprises. Because they are based on cooperation and partnership rather than control and adversity, their use increases returns and reduces risk for both investors and the enterprises receiving the financing.
NMS is a financial technology company that develops and patents new processes in finance. The purpose of the patents is to assist in attracting the resources necessary for implementation and ensure a fair return to the founders and investors, not monopoly profits.
ORTEGRITY AND HOLARCHY
Ortegrity is the organizational structure developed by synergic scientist Dr. Timothy Wilken (see www.synearth.net) specifically for synergic enterprises. Ortegrity applies to the organization of a synergic economy as well as the internal organization of synergic enterprises. As the number of synergic enterprises grows, it will be used to organize them into a new, synergic economy.
Holarchy, or embeddedness, is the structure of all living systems. All living systems are nested systems of interdependent holons, wholes embedded within wholes. Every component of a living system is an interdependent holon within the holon that is the living system. That holon is in turn a component holon of a larger living system, up to and including the universe itself.
The structure of Ortegrity is the structure of tensegrity. Tensegrity is a word created by Buckminster Fuller, the original synergic scientist, to describe the highly efficient structure that characterizes all living systems, systems that produce synergy on the order of 1 + 1 = between 10 and 1,000.
Tensegrity refers to the continuous tension (pull) and discontinuous push that characterize all synergic structures. The continuous tension in Ortegrity is created by the continuous negotiation of the self-interest of every holon at every level of the organization. The synergic veto protects the interest of every holon at every level. The discontinuous push is created by discontinuous action hierarchies. These action hierarchies are founded on agreement among their participants, they are not imposed from “above.”
The machine-model, command-and-control structure of businesses today creates continuous push and discontinuous pull (tension) – the opposite of tensegrity. Continuous push, created by the top-down hierarchy, pushes people apart. Communication is restricted and cooperation is reduced, creating negative synergy.
SYNERGIC ENTERPRISES
Synergic enterprises are living organizations that are self-governing in the manner of all living organisms. They are, in the words of Dee Hock, founder and CEO Emeritus of VISA, chaordic enterprises (chaordic: the behavior of any self-governing organism, organization or system which harmoniously blends characteristics of order and chaos; Birth of the Chaordic Age, Dee Hock).
They are united by a common purpose and they self-organize around shared commitments that are consistent with the unity of all life. These commitments include: 1) the complete transparency necessary for trust and cooperation; 2) continuous learning; 3) accepting and allowing 100% responsibility; and, 4) the health of every holon at every level, including the larger holons within which the enterprise exists as well as the enterprise itself and all of its component holons.
Leadership in synergic enterprises is based on informed choice rather than the power to command. It is exercised by those who possess the willingness and ability to serve. Because strategic choice requires vision, strategic leadership flows naturally to those who combine vision with their willingness and ability to serve.
The teams that make up a synergic enterprise can be divided into three categories: 1) production and transportation; 2) customer and supplier relations; and, 3) support. Support teams can again be divided into three categories: 1) information systems; 2) research, development and education; and, 3) strategic choices and finance.
All teams except for the foundation teams – production and transportation – are cross-functional; i.e., they include members from other functional areas. Customer and supplier relations teams include members from the production and transportation teams. Information system teams include members from the teams that they serve in addition to members from the other support teams. The same is true for the other support teams: research, development and education; and, strategic choices and finance.
It is the responsibility of the information systems teams to create and maintain the central nervous system of the enterprise: networked communications, information storage and information retrieval. It is our newly developed information technology that has made possible the creation of synergic enterprises and a synergic economy.
Ownership interests are divided equally among those who are current active participants (e.g., the workers, although active participants can include customers, community members, etc.) in the enterprise. They may be neither purchased nor sold, thus making them unsuitable as investment vehicles. All investments in the firm, both in-kind and monetary, are made in return for RPR units.
SYNERGIC VENTURES, LLC
Synergic Ventures, LLC (henceforth SVC) will be a larger synergic enterprise made up of the teams that facilitate the birth and growth of synergic enterprises and the enterprises themselves. Initially its primary task will be to support the teams in their work. Later, as it assists synergic enterprises in working together, it will become a component in the infrastructure of a synergic economy.
SVC and the initial teams are the third component of the program. The teams will assist workers in forming synergic enterprises and support their continuing operations. As support teams, they will include members with expertise in each of the three support functions: 1) information systems; 2) research, development and education; and, 3) strategic choices and finance.
Synergic enterprises may be formed either by creating new businesses or by converting existing businesses. Converting existing businesses is usually faster and easier because existing businesses have an established customer base that generates ongoing cash flow.
THE SMALL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
Small businesses being offered for sale are an important opportunity for teams to create synergic enterprises. In the year 2000, 1.57 million small businesses were offered for sale, but only about 250,000 (16 %) actually sold (INC magazine, Nov. 30, 2001).
The difficulties that owners of small businesses often experience in the sale of their businesses will give the teams significant leverage in negotiating seller financing for the purchase of the business by the new synergic enterprise, reducing or even eliminating the need for funds from outside investors. They will be assisted in this process by the ability of RPR financing to increase returns and reduce risks for both the seller/financer and the synergic enterprise.
That part of the purchase price that cannot be seller financed – the downpayment – will be raised from some combination of the workers and outside investors. The need for money from outside investors will depend on the willingness of the seller to finance the sale and the resources of the workers who will be forming the synergic enterprise. If the seller believes strongly in synergic enterprises, is close to the workers in the company and/or simply lacks viable alternative purchasers, little or no outside money will be required.
If outside investment is required, the synergic enterprise may raise funds either privately or through the use of a low-cost public offering. Most states have passed laws for ULOR (Uniform Limited Offering Registration) offerings that are exempt from SEC registration under rule 504. These simple, fill-in-the-blank registrations eliminate the costs of securities lawyers and audited financial statements that are required for large public offerings.
SVC will support the teams in valuing the business, structuring the deal, and raising funds for the downpayment. It will share information and best practices among the teams and their client synergic enterprises. In return for its services, it will receive fee income from the teams and enterprises that it serves and that in turn own it.
The teams will negotiate their compensation with the new synergic enterprises that they are forming. Compensation will typically be some combination of current fee income for services provided and a participation in the profits of the enterprise. These profit participations will create an ongoing income stream that will continue throughout the life of the enterprises created by the team.
As teams become successful, they may choose to train new teams. They will then share in the success of these new teams, adding to the income that they are earning from their own work.
NMS will negotiate profit participations in the synergic enterprises and Synergic Ventures in return for their use of RPR financing. Dr. Timothy Wilken will negotiate participations in return for the use of Ortegrity.
CONTACT
To find out more, participate, pursue potential investment opportunities, or investigate the conversion of your business to a synergic enterprise, contact:
Wayne F. Perg, Ph.D.
New Market Solutions, LLC
P.O. Box 131
Amado, AZ 85645
E-mail: wayneperg@earthlink.net
Phone/Fax: (520) 398-8296
Potential participants must be committed to complete openness, continuous learning, 100% responsibility, and the health of every holon at every level.