A Manifesto For Free Radicals: Less Paperwork, Less Waiting, More Action - Scott Belsky ⇢

Scott Belsky, the CEO of Behance and the author of Making Things Happen, has written a manifesto for Free Radicals — his term for the freelancers or mavericks of the world:

Free Radicals are resilient, self-reliant, and extremely potent. You’ll find them working solo, in small teams, or within large companies. They’re everywhere, and they’re crafting the future.

Who Are the Free Radicals? A Manifesto.

We do work that is, first and foremost, intrinsically rewarding. But, when we make an impact, we expect extrinsic validation: We don’t create solely for ourselves, we want to make a real and lasting impact in the world around us.

We demand freedom, whether we work within companies or on our own, to run experiments, participate in multiple projects at once, and move our ideas forward. We thrive on flexibility and are most productive when we feel fully engaged.

[…]

We believe that “networking” is sharing. People listen to (and follow) us because of our discernment and curatorial instinct. As we share our creations as well as what fascinates us, we authentically build a community of supporters that give us feedback, encouragement, and lead us to new opportunities. For this reason and more, we often (though, not always) opt for transparency over privacy.

We believe in meritocracy and the power of online networks and peer communities to advance our ability to do what we love, and do well by doing it. We view competition as a positive motivator rather than a threat, because we want the best idea – and the best execution – to triumph.

Go read the whole thing.

I believe that we need a movement to occupy work: to take back the dynamics and motivations for work. That’s one of the big differences between cooperative work in connectives versus collaborative work by collectives (see Collectives Collaborate, Connectives Cooperate).