Open Governance

In this course we will try to understand how open communities of volunteers -- like this one -- can make decisions and take action, often using governance structures that look very different from the traditional models we see in firms. P2PU makes for an interesting study subject and we will look at some real-world examples that have come up during the past year, and some of the governance questions that we, as a community, are working on at the moment. While P2PU is a convenient starting point, participants are encouraged to bring their own case-studies and questions for discussion in the group.

We will look at research from different disciplines that has relevance to our questions, including the concepts of authority and leadership (Ronald A. Heifetz and others), transparency and accountability (Lawrence Lessig and others), the ability and inability of groups to make good decisions (Cass Sunstein and others). We'll also look at the relationship between legal requirements for incorporation, and governance models that might be difficult to "squeeze" into traditional legal structures (using the experience of One Click Orgs).

We will use this background to look at a variety of examples from open source, and open innovation communities; and to address challenges and questions that arise in our own work.

A number of guests from the "open" world, will participate to address specific questions, and share their experiences.