Is Anything Worth Maximising?

Again I managed to get out during a break in the rain for a brisk walk. Lots to be grateful for today, including many conversations that pushed my thinking into clarity or clarification territory.



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This morning, I spent time listening to this persuasive talk by Joe Edelman, about

how metrics affect the structure of organizations and societies, how they change the economy, how we’re doing them wrong, and how we could do them right.

In my current work context – as I suspect is the case with most organisations – I see little hope for this argument to progress through the bureaucracy that measures itself through the metrics it measures. The solutions that Edelman offers also appeals to me, because the potential to disrupt large, tone-deaf organisations is right there for the taking IF done well. The question is, can it be done well?

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A 2005 short paper titled Triple Entry Accounting predates Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin paper from 2008, and makes the case for a melded approach by using a digitally signed receipt to create a bullet-proof accounting systems for aggressive uses and users.