Community through Capitalism, a Personal Take on Cybernetic Management
New Speaker Announcement!
Portland Oregon’s Mike Merrill is a unique individual. He is the world’s only publicly traded person. What does this mean? It means that Mr. Merrill’s life is directed by his shareholders, and you can buy stock in him and vote on his future at http://kmikeym.com/. This means that his life and his life story is entangled in a cybernetic control loop of sorts. Because of this, Mr. Merrill will be giving a talk on Community through Capitalism, a Personal Take on Cybernetic Management.
Speech Overview
Norbert Wiener defined cybernetics as the study of regulation, control and communications in life forms and the machine. In a business context, such an approach helps managers understand and deal with complex situations. Mike Merrill argues that what works for business also works for the individual. He is a publicly-traded person that allows his shareholders to guide him through the complex situations in his own life. Complex personal decisions about things like procreation, professional affiliations, volunteer work, politics, and even his dating life are controlled by people who purchased a stake in his future.
About Mr. Merrill
Just as a person might say their parents want the best for them and are invested in their future, Mike Merrill’s parents are literally invested. As are co-workers, ex-girlfriends, and his community of friends and collaborators. And a handful of strangers. Mike Merrill has been a publicy-traded person since 2008 and a fan of applying the principles of business to his personal life since long before that. He is struggling to read Stafford Beer’s Cybernetics and Management writing up a Relationship Contract with the girl he is seeing.
Invest in Mr. Merrill!
You can invest in Mr. Merrill at http://kmikeym.com/ or follow him on Twitter at @kmikeym.