Return of the 10,000 Chiefs

Dearest Ms. Hernandez-Avila,

Hello, I am writing to see if the UC Davis Native American Studies
Department would have any interest in discussing the co-sponsoring of a
gathering to share and discuss the vision of Mountain Eagle Who Soars
over the Valleys for the Return of the 10,000 Chiefs.

Mountain Eagle is a traditional Datohmu of Wa She Shu (the Land, Air,
Water, Plants, Animals, and Human Beings at Da Ow A Ga). He has a
vision of the return of the great chiefs to lead the first global nation
born at Da Ow A Ga to bring the people back to natural abundance and
balance. And that now is the time for the people to come together to
prepare for their arrival. This movement should be lead by the First
Nations but is inclusive of all people who wish to become indigenous again.

He sees the building of a global nation taking the form of a
multinational corporation based on the ancient leadership principals of
the First Nations with reverence for creation, gratitude to land, water,
and air, individual autonomy, decentralized control, mass coordination
directed by accountable leadership, checks and balances, separation of
powers, and a return of matriarchal wisdom to masculine initiatives with
restoration of the authority of the woman's longhouse (the part left out
of the Constitution). Mountain Eagle himself is working under the
guidance and authority of Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim, Chair of the
International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.

Mountain Eagle's vision is in direct lineage to that of Wovolka, the
Paiute founder of the Ghost Dance, and his vision of the people coming
together in peace, dancing for five days and four nights, bathing in the
river, and going home to work towards the time of return of the land to
the people. The difference is that Mountain Eagle believes that instead
of the disappearance of the whites and the return of the land to the
First Nations (as the original ghost dance had meant to manifest), that
it is the Wacicu (those who take the best meat for themselves) who will
disappear, in other words the greedy and selfish who control the land
now -- and it is to all people who are willing to become native to the
land that they live on, regardless of their genetic heritage, who are
willing to be peaceful, cooperate, and become Human Beings again to whom
the land will be returned.

This vision is deeply ancient and deeply modern at the same time. The
vision of the first global nation is completely compatible with a whole
series of modern economic, business management, and organizational and
group behavior theories including Game Theory, Coordination Theory,
Complexity Theory, Judgment Aggregation, and the work on Common Pool
Resource Management of the Nobel Prize in Economics winner Elinor Ostrom
and her co-winner Oliver Williamson. Therefore, we believe that his
vision would have broad appeal thru out the University and would be
deeply appreciative if you would consider assisting us in sharing this
with the UC Davis community.

With hope, determination, love, gratitude and reverence,

Michael Rogers

1/11/2011 Reply to Frank Way

Nothing succeeds like success.  Thanks for your encouragement. 

The irony is that I no longer have a people.  My paternal grandparents left behind all that was Native American and fully integrated into the mainstream culture.  To the point that their son went to Cal Berkeley and married into an old San Francisco family -- my maternal great great grandfather missed being a 49er by one day because a storm kept his ship from docking until January 1st, 1850 (to our families eternal shame), they built the first house on Kerney Street, survived the '06 Earthquake, and headed up the company that built the decking on the Golden Gate Bridge.

But this New Ism that we are thinking about and talking about is not an Indian jobs program.  We are trying to look at the best of all traditions that have come before to engineer a better social/economic system to benefit all of us willing to work hard and make it happen, for economic systems need engineering just as space propulsion systems do.  We have stressed Capitalism past its original design parameters.  It is as if we are trying to fly to Mars using the Wright Brother's drawings.

We look forward to your input as we move the design process for A New Ism forward.

Michael 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: 1/10/2011 Reply to Frank Way
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Tue, January 11, 2011 2:13 pm
To: <m@sumpeople.org>
Cc: <datohmu@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I have thoroughly and painfully understood the atrocities visited on  the Native Americans as has my wife.  I have defended the Native Americans against people who tried to tell me that these atrocities were justified.  I strongly supported the legislation which allowed the Native Americans to have gambling casinos, as I felt it was a way for them to become successful and raise their standard of living.  I can remember when a federal agency concluded that a group of Native Americans in Southern Nevada had the best chance of success by establishing a brothel.  I would rather that your people found success in other endeavors, but as long as gambling is legal and other members of society have casinos, it is an acceptable venue for me.  My great hope is that the tribes will use these casinos to school their members in running and managing a successful business as well as just providing employment for the tribal members.  Admittedly, not all people are suited for such careers, but if you can succeed with some of your people it is a positive accomplishment.  Hopefully the people who gain these skills can someday use them to establish successful businesses which are not dependent on gambling.  Hopefully your young people can be encouraged to pursue a college education which will enable greater successes on their part as they work in the casinos, any other businesses you establish or when they seek gainful employment outside of the Native American community.

 

                If you can talk your brothers into employing your new Ism in their businesses and they find it beneficial, studies can be performed which will demonstrate to others positive reasons for adopting your new Ism.  Such studies will be needed in order to convince the vast majority of people that you have a better idea.

 

                Sincerely,

 

                Frank

 

From: m@sumpeople.org [mailto:m@sumpeople.org]
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 10:28 PM
To: Frank Way
Subject: 1/10/2011 Reply to Frank Way

 

Thank you for your thoughtful correspondence.

The part of A New Ism for which I look for inspiration in Native Culture is pre-colombian, within a generation of contact, and that which has survived the cultural genocide of the europeans.  I agree there are a lot of lost generations that cannot be helped.  There are young people, however, hungry for a way out of that cycle of dependence and decline, that could greatly benefit from your scientific background. 

But this current sad state of affairs can be laid at the feet of the capitalist Railroad Barons and their promotion of the Dawes Act which destroyed native people's ability to manage resources as a people and forced them live as individuals.  This is the Act that destroyed the ancient successful ways of mutual survival of my Aniyunwiya (Cherokee) ancestors.  Also, the systematic effort to make all Native People "equal" to diminish the blistering effectiveness of the Great Chiefs who were causing the Railroad, Gold, Cattle, and Agricultural Capitalists such problems. 

The land that my people were "given" in the Dawes Act was quickly swindled away after the discovery of oil on it and systemic alcoholism and despair drove my grandfather to LA to build Liberty Ships during WWII and to pass for white.  He later ended up owning his own highly successful 76 Station at the Angeles Crest Highway in La Canada/Flintridge (until Union Oil took it away from him) and rode in the same hunt club as Ronald Reagan and the elite of Hollywood society -- thus, the "Indian" story is more complex than just that of the human refuse that were not able to manage to leave the unfertile ghettos that remained after the best had been taken away.  But, in spite of all that, A New Ism cannot be about reparations for the past, it can only be expressed in the spirit of my Grandfather Jack Rogers who overcame his circumstances thru hard work and perseverance.

I think that the great native leaders of old would argue that our Old Ism (capitalism -- which ironically is actually the newer Ism) is a new way of surviving what is threatening to destroy our planet, our political systems, and our humanity.  I look to the Great Peacemaker of the Iroquois, who's wisdom is all over our constitutional form of government, the great Leaders of the Nez Perce who's decentralized social structure humiliated General Howard's hierarchical one, Geronimo (to whom my Great Grandmother served breakfast in a diner in Texoma on his railroad ride to exile) who showed the decimating power of decentralized leadership inspired by moral authority, and Ishi, the last of the Yahi of California, (who my maternal Grandmother saw in San Francisco as a young girl) who cautioned Professor Kroeber to be careful of denigrating the technology of lighters and matches until he have been in the wet woods, freezing, with no way to make fire.

I hope to convince you that A New Ism based on teachings of these Great Leaders is deeply compatible with science and technology and may in fact better inform us as to which technologies we should pursue in order to insure our prosperous survival, and will not, as in the capitalist model, simply pursue technologies regardless of their impact on real people, real living creatures, real pure water, and real clean air.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, January 10, 2011 9:40 pm
To: <m@sumpeople.org>
Cc: <datohmu@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I grew up with Native Americans.  I only knew one who was interested in science and engineering.  He was a fellow student on a full ride scholarship from Harold's Club in Reno, as was I.  Unfortunately he let alcohol get the best of him in his senior year and he did not graduate.  I had expected to see quite a few Shoshone people this weekend when my sons and I went to Beatty and Death Valley.  Surprisingly enough I only recognized Paiutes where we traveled. I think the Shoshone had gone on down to Tecopah to spend the winter.  I am not sure if you are aware of it, but any time you see the three letter combination "pah" in a name, it means water.  Thus Tonopah means brush water.  There are other places such as Pahrump, Ivanpah, Weepah, Pahranagat and so on forth.  In any case, the reason I bring this up is my knowledge of the Native Americans and the times I have spent with them leads me to wonder if their Isms will actually provide us with such a better approach to the scientific world we live in.  My best friend in high school was the Native American son of our sheriff in Beatty.  We were playing with a model T coil and some vacuum tubes from the high school film projector when we managed to get blue arcs to form in the vacuum tubes.  After doing that I thought that it would be very interesting to be an electrical engineer and deal with things which people could not see and understand.

 

                My friend's father was one day alerted by long distance phone that two men had stolen a plane in Los Angeles, flown it to Tonopah, where they stole a car and headed south.  Gilbert Landis [my friend's father] enlisted the help of several local men in the community including one old codger who was a crack shot.  They chased the vehicle through our town while the old codger shot out the tires on the vehicle they were pursuing.  A tourist's wife remarked to him that it was a very realistic movie they were shooting.  The end result was Gilbert having his picture on the cover of Life Magazine as he was standing on the wing of the stolen plane.  We later christened him Gunsmoke and painted a section of the curb at the Exchange Club red for him.  There were white letters on the red curb which informed people that the space was reserved for Gunsmoke.

 

                My wife and I provided a place in our home for a Navaho woman and her three children to stay for three weeks while she endeavored to get a job in Chico and go back to school there.  Her father was Keys who was a good friend of Peter McDonald.  My wife was even a member of the Native American Basket Weavers Association while she went to California State University at Chico.  My wife has some Cherokee blood.

 

                I think that our Political leaders could benefit from some of the new Ism thinking, but I don't see the new Ism as being any great benefit to the Scientific and Engineering community.  The Jews, Germans and non Native American US citizens seem to have an edge in those areas.  Somehow we need to come up with a strategy for the Native Americans to successfully deal with their genetically based inability to deal with Alcoholism.  The Northern Europeans have coexisted with Alcohol for millenniums and some of us have the ability to reject such addiction.  Unfortunately the Native Americans are not blessed with such an ability.  When I lived in Beatty, Gunsmoke would carefully step over the people who were passed out on the sidewalks after having had too much alcohol.  It was much easier to do that than to haul them 96 miles to Tonopah and put them in jail.

 

                Thank you for your correspondence.  I shall try to support your efforts in the future.

 

                Frank

 

From: m@sumpeople.org [mailto:m@sumpeople.org]
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 11:58 AM
To: Frank Way
Cc: datohmu@sumpeople.org
Subject: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter

 

A New Ism has to celebrate the organizational expertise of such organizations.  It is about identifying great leaders, then giving them the resources and autonomy to met clearly articulated goals.  It is also about the individual excellence that a resume like yours typifies.  Most progressive economic initiatives tend to celebrate the collective over individual effort and the division of labor that complex collaboration requires.

Again, I look to the American Revolution for inspiration.  In the book "The Genius of America" the authors make the case that the success of the American Experiment, verses so many other failed efforts to improve government, was that it was lead by people who loved government.  Whereas, the people who lead almost every other revolution in the history of the world hated government and saw it as, at best, a necessary evil.  A New Ism, to be practical and successful, needs to come from a love of a well run, efficient incorporation of the diverse talents of skilled and masterful individuals.  That is the "gold standard" for economic success.  What we suggest is that by adding the layer of structural, institutional support of leaders who are the advocates and champions of their people (which I would suggest the leaders in your best organizations were) that those great leaders will be free to take their teams even further -- rather than always having to fight upper management who tend to believe that people are widgets that can be used hard, not maintained, and easily replaced when broken.

A New Ism will most likely not start with building rocket engines, as almost no new company could either.  Those companies have hundreds of years of experience.  But businesses like banking and insurance that would greatly benefit from better customer service, more community mindedness, and a more committed workforce (with the hiring of good experienced individuals in all work areas) are more practical first efforts.  Industries like software that are more highly dependent on the skills of its workers (over the machinery, multi-departmental processes, and the political connections needed in the industries you reference) could be very attractive options.  Music, Film, and Television are industries where highly politically and socially activated workers (mostly Democrats) are the "factories" -- one Matt Damon or Brad Pitt could green light a film project based on their involvement alone.  Also, promising startups, where the founders are looking at giving up control to venture capitalists in order to move their ideas forward, would be extremely open to a proposal from A New Ism venture fund, where the ideals are building an interdependent team and keeping skilled leadership in place.  Startup founders may not be open to accountable leadership, and the possibility of getting fired if they no longer are the best person for the job, however they face this with typical venture capital anyway and may find a more open democratic process more appealing than the caprice of one or two economic monarchs making the decision (for democratic processes have a higher probability of being lead by logic and truth rather than by whim, prejudice, or inflated self egos).

It is exactly masterful individuals like yourself that will be key to the success of A New Ism.  And, it is exactly this quality that is missing from Socialism and Communism.  Looking to the indigenous model, it was the Chiefs and Skilled Warriors and the Expert Women who lead the tribe -- not the brash young neophyte with little or no experience.  And yet, they did have a part to play in a Headman, Headwoman or Elder Council's strategy, but they rarely were allow to participate in the deliberations that produced that strategy.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, January 05, 2011 5:05 pm
To: <m@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I asked these questions, because I have worked for some world class employers, such as the Rocketdyne and Autonetics divisions of North American Aviation, the TDK systems division of TDK Japan, the Grass Valley Group division of Tektronix and Nevada Bell Telephone, division of AT&T.  I can tell you that they are continually changing and evolving in order  to stay at the head of the pack.  When working for North American Aviation, I tested the Gemini space craft engines and the Lunar Descent Module rocket engine.  While I worked for TDK, they sent me to Finland to deal with Nokia and to Cannes France to deal with a division of Rockwell.  While working for the Grass Valley Group, NASA solicited us to provide 10 million dollars worth of video switching systems for the Kennedy Space Center (which I proposed and delivered), after which we furnished large systems to Oak Ridge and Savannah river.  When I worked for Nevada Bell Telephone, we provided the communications to Area 51 for  the testing of the Blackbird.  The Grass Valley Group designed and manufactured  the world's best video switching systems and Tektronix designed and manufactured the world's best oscilloscopes.

 

                If your new ISM is going to compete with firms like the ones I worked for, you have a very rough road ahead of you.  The best way to break into this game is to invent and or design something new, which the world wants and needs.  Doing so requires attracting and hiring some very intelligent and high priced talent.  I have a BS in Physics, a BSEE and all the course credits for a PhD in Electrical Engineering.  I am also a Registered Professional Engineer.  NASA required me to submit my resume before they would negotiate with us for the systems which were provided.

 

                Frank

 

From: m@sumpeople.org [mailto:m@sumpeople.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 10:36 AM
To: Frank Way
Subject: 1/5/2011 Letter

 

Dear Frank,

Thank you for spending your time listening to us last night.  Art George is his name (or Mountain Eagle that Soars over the Valleys). 

I guess my quick answer to your question is "Better".  More efficiently, more effectively, cheaper, with less environmental impacts, and with more autonomy giving to skilled engineers and key experts who are able to coordinate their areas with all other areas of these complex enterprises successfully.

In fact, when these types of operations are best is when they express the key principles of this New Ism that we are researching and trying to articulate.  There was a recent story of a mortality rate comparison between well managed hospitals and poorly managed ones. 

http://worldmanagementsurvey.org/wp-content/images/2010/10/Management_in_Healthcare_Report_2010.pdf  

These researchers discovered key factors to good management. 

1. Skilled knowledgeable managers (this was the element of mastery in leadership we mentioned last night).
2. Broad autonomy given to these key managers (this is the element of decentralized but coordinated systems that we mentioned last night).
3. Competition (Again, decentralized, market driven systems are what are imagined within an effective New Ism).
4. Bigger is better (We did not touch on this last night, but the thought is that small enterprises are probably best as authoritarian, centralized (capitalistic) enterprises as the small business owners of these enterprises put in far more effort and energy into the enterprises than typical employees, and not only deserve the bulk of the benefits of enterprise, but also should have the decision making control to give the enterprise the best chance of survival in difficult times.  A New Ism will need to be focused on the structure of big business in my opinion and theory suggests that it will make those enterprises more nimble, more efficient, and better managed.  
5. Their final finding was that private hospitals were better managed than public.  I have several questions about this finding such as "Who paid for the study?", and "Did the private hospitals have more money to work with per patient?"  But the work of Elinor Ostrom suggests that with proper "design parameters" that the third way of "common pool resource management" offers even better outcomes that either public or private, so the fact that private is better managed than public does not mean that private is de facto the best option.

Underlying your questions is another bigger question which is "can people self manage themselves better than authoritarian management can manage them?"  This same question was at the heart of the American Revolution.  The Tories and Loyalists of the time argued that the "rabble" could never govern a nation and that the firm hand of the monarch was needed to maintain order.  We now know that the argument was false in the case of government.  In fact, no large industrialized nation can be managed as a monarchy because of the structural design limitations of authoritarian government -- just as you cannot build a skyscraper with wood frame construction.  It turns out that non-authoritarian, collaborative organizational structures are the only ones capable of the complex, epic projects that you suggest.  In fact, the space program, and large construction projects, exemplify the very principals that we are trying to identify in a New Ism.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Your new Ism
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, January 05, 2011 9:24 am
To: <m@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I enjoyed listening to you and Art last night.  By the way, what is Art's last name, and his email address?

 

                After thinking about what you are proposing, I must ask  you several questions.

 

                How would your new Ism have put the first man on the moon?

 

                How would it have designed  and produced the latest Boeing passenger Jet?

 

                How would it have designed and built one of the newest cruise ships?

 

                How would it compete with major corporations in the world markets?

 

 

                Please forward this to Art.

 

                Frank Way

1/10/2011 Reply to Frank Way

Thank you for your thoughtful correspondence.

The part of A New Ism for which I look for inspiration in Native Culture is pre-colombian, within a generation of contact, and that which has survived the cultural genocide of the europeans.  I agree there are a lot of lost generations that cannot be helped.  There are young people, however, hungry for a way out of that cycle of dependence and decline, that could greatly benefit from your scientific background. 

But this current sad state of affairs can be laid at the feet of the capitalist Railroad Barons and their promotion of the Dawes Act which destroyed native people's ability to manage resources as a people and forced them live as individuals.  This is the Act that destroyed the ancient successful ways of mutual survival of my Aniyunwiya (Cherokee) ancestors.  Also, the systematic effort to make all Native People "equal" to diminish the blistering effectiveness of the Great Chiefs who were causing the Railroad, Gold, Cattle, and Agricultural Capitalists such problems. 

The land that my people were "given" in the Dawes Act was quickly swindled away after the discovery of oil on it and systemic alcoholism and despair drove my grandfather to LA to build Liberty Ships during WWII and to pass for white.  He later ended up owning his own highly successful 76 Station at the Angeles Crest Highway in La Canada/Flintridge (until Union Oil took it away from him) and rode in the same hunt club as Ronald Reagan and the elite of Hollywood society -- thus, the "Indian" story is more complex than just that of the human refuse that were not able to manage to leave the unfertile ghettos that remained after the best had been taken away.  But, in spite of all that, A New Ism cannot be about reparations for the past, it can only be expressed in the spirit of my Grandfather Jack Rogers who overcame his circumstances thru hard work and perseverance.

I think that the great native leaders of old would argue that our Old Ism (capitalism -- which ironically is actually the newer Ism) is a new way of surviving what is threatening to destroy our planet, our political systems, and our humanity.  I look to the Great Peacemaker of the Iroquois, who's wisdom is all over our constitutional form of government, the great Leaders of the Nez Perce who's decentralized social structure humiliated General Howard's hierarchical one, Geronimo (to whom my Great Grandmother served breakfast in a diner in Texoma on his railroad ride to exile) who showed the decimating power of decentralized leadership inspired by moral authority, and Ishi, the last of the Yahi of California, (who my maternal Grandmother saw in San Francisco as a young girl) who cautioned Professor Kroeber to be careful of denigrating the technology of lighters and matches until he have been in the wet woods, freezing, with no way to make fire.

I hope to convince you that A New Ism based on teachings of these Great Leaders is deeply compatible with science and technology and may in fact better inform us as to which technologies we should pursue in order to insure our prosperous survival, and will not, as in the capitalist model, simply pursue technologies regardless of their impact on real people, real living creatures, real pure water, and real clean air.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, January 10, 2011 9:40 pm
To: <m@sumpeople.org>
Cc: <datohmu@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I grew up with Native Americans.  I only knew one who was interested in science and engineering.  He was a fellow student on a full ride scholarship from Harold's Club in Reno, as was I.  Unfortunately he let alcohol get the best of him in his senior year and he did not graduate.  I had expected to see quite a few Shoshone people this weekend when my sons and I went to Beatty and Death Valley.  Surprisingly enough I only recognized Paiutes where we traveled. I think the Shoshone had gone on down to Tecopah to spend the winter.  I am not sure if you are aware of it, but any time you see the three letter combination "pah" in a name, it means water.  Thus Tonopah means brush water.  There are other places such as Pahrump, Ivanpah, Weepah, Pahranagat and so on forth.  In any case, the reason I bring this up is my knowledge of the Native Americans and the times I have spent with them leads me to wonder if their Isms will actually provide us with such a better approach to the scientific world we live in.  My best friend in high school was the Native American son of our sheriff in Beatty.  We were playing with a model T coil and some vacuum tubes from the high school film projector when we managed to get blue arcs to form in the vacuum tubes.  After doing that I thought that it would be very interesting to be an electrical engineer and deal with things which people could not see and understand.

 

                My friend's father was one day alerted by long distance phone that two men had stolen a plane in Los Angeles, flown it to Tonopah, where they stole a car and headed south.  Gilbert Landis [my friend's father] enlisted the help of several local men in the community including one old codger who was a crack shot.  They chased the vehicle through our town while the old codger shot out the tires on the vehicle they were pursuing.  A tourist's wife remarked to him that it was a very realistic movie they were shooting.  The end result was Gilbert having his picture on the cover of Life Magazine as he was standing on the wing of the stolen plane.  We later christened him Gunsmoke and painted a section of the curb at the Exchange Club red for him.  There were white letters on the red curb which informed people that the space was reserved for Gunsmoke.

 

                My wife and I provided a place in our home for a Navaho woman and her three children to stay for three weeks while she endeavored to get a job in Chico and go back to school there.  Her father was Keys who was a good friend of Peter McDonald.  My wife was even a member of the Native American Basket Weavers Association while she went to California State University at Chico.  My wife has some Cherokee blood.

 

                I think that our Political leaders could benefit from some of the new Ism thinking, but I don't see the new Ism as being any great benefit to the Scientific and Engineering community.  The Jews, Germans and non Native American US citizens seem to have an edge in those areas.  Somehow we need to come up with a strategy for the Native Americans to successfully deal with their genetically based inability to deal with Alcoholism.  The Northern Europeans have coexisted with Alcohol for millenniums and some of us have the ability to reject such addiction.  Unfortunately the Native Americans are not blessed with such an ability.  When I lived in Beatty, Gunsmoke would carefully step over the people who were passed out on the sidewalks after having had too much alcohol.  It was much easier to do that than to haul them 96 miles to Tonopah and put them in jail.

 

                Thank you for your correspondence.  I shall try to support your efforts in the future.

 

                Frank

 

From: m@sumpeople.org [mailto:m@sumpeople.org]
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 11:58 AM
To: Frank Way
Cc: datohmu@sumpeople.org
Subject: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter

 

A New Ism has to celebrate the organizational expertise of such organizations.  It is about identifying great leaders, then giving them the resources and autonomy to met clearly articulated goals.  It is also about the individual excellence that a resume like yours typifies.  Most progressive economic initiatives tend to celebrate the collective over individual effort and the division of labor that complex collaboration requires.

Again, I look to the American Revolution for inspiration.  In the book "The Genius of America" the authors make the case that the success of the American Experiment, verses so many other failed efforts to improve government, was that it was lead by people who loved government.  Whereas, the people who lead almost every other revolution in the history of the world hated government and saw it as, at best, a necessary evil.  A New Ism, to be practical and successful, needs to come from a love of a well run, efficient incorporation of the diverse talents of skilled and masterful individuals.  That is the "gold standard" for economic success.  What we suggest is that by adding the layer of structural, institutional support of leaders who are the advocates and champions of their people (which I would suggest the leaders in your best organizations were) that those great leaders will be free to take their teams even further -- rather than always having to fight upper management who tend to believe that people are widgets that can be used hard, not maintained, and easily replaced when broken.

A New Ism will most likely not start with building rocket engines, as almost no new company could either.  Those companies have hundreds of years of experience.  But businesses like banking and insurance that would greatly benefit from better customer service, more community mindedness, and a more committed workforce (with the hiring of good experienced individuals in all work areas) are more practical first efforts.  Industries like software that are more highly dependent on the skills of its workers (over the machinery, multi-departmental processes, and the political connections needed in the industries you reference) could be very attractive options.  Music, Film, and Television are industries where highly politically and socially activated workers (mostly Democrats) are the "factories" -- one Matt Damon or Brad Pitt could green light a film project based on their involvement alone.  Also, promising startups, where the founders are looking at giving up control to venture capitalists in order to move their ideas forward, would be extremely open to a proposal from A New Ism venture fund, where the ideals are building an interdependent team and keeping skilled leadership in place.  Startup founders may not be open to accountable leadership, and the possibility of getting fired if they no longer are the best person for the job, however they face this with typical venture capital anyway and may find a more open democratic process more appealing than the caprice of one or two economic monarchs making the decision (for democratic processes have a higher probability of being lead by logic and truth rather than by whim, prejudice, or inflated self egos).

It is exactly masterful individuals like yourself that will be key to the success of A New Ism.  And, it is exactly this quality that is missing from Socialism and Communism.  Looking to the indigenous model, it was the Chiefs and Skilled Warriors and the Expert Women who lead the tribe -- not the brash young neophyte with little or no experience.  And yet, they did have a part to play in a Headman, Headwoman or Elder Council's strategy, but they rarely were allow to participate in the deliberations that produced that strategy.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, January 05, 2011 5:05 pm
To: <m@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I asked these questions, because I have worked for some world class employers, such as the Rocketdyne and Autonetics divisions of North American Aviation, the TDK systems division of TDK Japan, the Grass Valley Group division of Tektronix and Nevada Bell Telephone, division of AT&T.  I can tell you that they are continually changing and evolving in order  to stay at the head of the pack.  When working for North American Aviation, I tested the Gemini space craft engines and the Lunar Descent Module rocket engine.  While I worked for TDK, they sent me to Finland to deal with Nokia and to Cannes France to deal with a division of Rockwell.  While working for the Grass Valley Group, NASA solicited us to provide 10 million dollars worth of video switching systems for the Kennedy Space Center (which I proposed and delivered), after which we furnished large systems to Oak Ridge and Savannah river.  When I worked for Nevada Bell Telephone, we provided the communications to Area 51 for  the testing of the Blackbird.  The Grass Valley Group designed and manufactured  the world's best video switching systems and Tektronix designed and manufactured the world's best oscilloscopes.

 

                If your new ISM is going to compete with firms like the ones I worked for, you have a very rough road ahead of you.  The best way to break into this game is to invent and or design something new, which the world wants and needs.  Doing so requires attracting and hiring some very intelligent and high priced talent.  I have a BS in Physics, a BSEE and all the course credits for a PhD in Electrical Engineering.  I am also a Registered Professional Engineer.  NASA required me to submit my resume before they would negotiate with us for the systems which were provided.

 

                Frank

 

From: m@sumpeople.org [mailto:m@sumpeople.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 10:36 AM
To: Frank Way
Subject: 1/5/2011 Letter

 

Dear Frank,

Thank you for spending your time listening to us last night.  Art George is his name (or Mountain Eagle that Soars over the Valleys). 

I guess my quick answer to your question is "Better".  More efficiently, more effectively, cheaper, with less environmental impacts, and with more autonomy giving to skilled engineers and key experts who are able to coordinate their areas with all other areas of these complex enterprises successfully.

In fact, when these types of operations are best is when they express the key principles of this New Ism that we are researching and trying to articulate.  There was a recent story of a mortality rate comparison between well managed hospitals and poorly managed ones. 

http://worldmanagementsurvey.org/wp-content/images/2010/10/Management_in_Healthcare_Report_2010.pdf  

These researchers discovered key factors to good management. 

1. Skilled knowledgeable managers (this was the element of mastery in leadership we mentioned last night).
2. Broad autonomy given to these key managers (this is the element of decentralized but coordinated systems that we mentioned last night).
3. Competition (Again, decentralized, market driven systems are what are imagined within an effective New Ism).
4. Bigger is better (We did not touch on this last night, but the thought is that small enterprises are probably best as authoritarian, centralized (capitalistic) enterprises as the small business owners of these enterprises put in far more effort and energy into the enterprises than typical employees, and not only deserve the bulk of the benefits of enterprise, but also should have the decision making control to give the enterprise the best chance of survival in difficult times.  A New Ism will need to be focused on the structure of big business in my opinion and theory suggests that it will make those enterprises more nimble, more efficient, and better managed.  
5. Their final finding was that private hospitals were better managed than public.  I have several questions about this finding such as "Who paid for the study?", and "Did the private hospitals have more money to work with per patient?"  But the work of Elinor Ostrom suggests that with proper "design parameters" that the third way of "common pool resource management" offers even better outcomes that either public or private, so the fact that private is better managed than public does not mean that private is de facto the best option.

Underlying your questions is another bigger question which is "can people self manage themselves better than authoritarian management can manage them?"  This same question was at the heart of the American Revolution.  The Tories and Loyalists of the time argued that the "rabble" could never govern a nation and that the firm hand of the monarch was needed to maintain order.  We now know that the argument was false in the case of government.  In fact, no large industrialized nation can be managed as a monarchy because of the structural design limitations of authoritarian government -- just as you cannot build a skyscraper with wood frame construction.  It turns out that non-authoritarian, collaborative organizational structures are the only ones capable of the complex, epic projects that you suggest.  In fact, the space program, and large construction projects, exemplify the very principals that we are trying to identify in a New Ism.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Your new Ism
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, January 05, 2011 9:24 am
To: <m@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I enjoyed listening to you and Art last night.  By the way, what is Art's last name, and his email address?

 

                After thinking about what you are proposing, I must ask  you several questions.

 

                How would your new Ism have put the first man on the moon?

 

                How would it have designed  and produced the latest Boeing passenger Jet?

 

                How would it have designed and built one of the newest cruise ships?

 

                How would it compete with major corporations in the world markets?

 

 

                Please forward this to Art.

 

                Frank Way

Return of the 10,000 Chiefs

Hello Andy,

I am writing on behalf of Mountain Eagle who Soars over the Valleys (Art
George). Mountain Eagle is a Datohmu of the Washeshu and a traditional
practitioner of the teachings of his Washo Elders, representing their
knowledge of the Greater Tahoe Basin -- a knowledge which is many
thousands of years old. He is also an advisor to Agnes Baker Pilgrim,
Chair of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, and is
working with her guidance here at home.

Mountain Eagle has been given a vision of the Return of 10,000 Chiefs.
It is a profoundly ancient, and at the same time modern, vision of
renewal -- a path forward to bring us all into a deeper harmony with all
living things, the air, the water, and the spirits of creation.

He wishes to find a place in Truckee to have a monthly series of
meetings to speak of his vision and to find individuals who wish to join
him in his search for the 10,000 Chiefs who will lead the creation of a
global nation based on ancient principals, but using new corporate
tools. He was hoping that For Goodness Sake might be a welcome host to
the manifestation of this dream.

With Hope and Determination,

Michael Rogers
Communications Manager
A New Ism Project
m@anewism.org
530-587-5160

[FWD: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter]

A New Ism has to celebrate the organizational expertise of such organizations.  It is about identifying great leaders, then giving them the resources and autonomy to met clearly articulated goals.  It is also about the individual excellence that a resume like yours typifies.  Most progressive economic initiatives tend to celebrate the collective over individual effort and the division of labor that complex collaboration requires.

Again, I look to the American Revolution for inspiration.  In the book "The Genius of America" the authors make the case that the success of the American Experiment, verses so many other failed efforts to improve government, was that it was lead by people who loved government.  Whereas, the people who lead almost every other revolution in the history of the world hated government and saw it as, at best, a necessary evil.  A New Ism, to be practical and successful, needs to come from a love of a well run, efficient incorporation of the diverse talents of skilled and masterful individuals.  That is the "gold standard" for economic success.  What we suggest is that by adding the layer of structural, institutional support of leaders who are the advocates and champions of their people (which I would suggest the leaders in your best organizations were) that those great leaders will be free to take their teams even further -- rather than always having to fight upper management who tend to believe that people are widgets that can be used hard, not maintained, and easily replaced when broken.

A New Ism will most likely not start with building rocket engines, as almost no new company could either.  Those companies have hundreds of years of experience.  But businesses like banking and insurance that would greatly benefit from better customer service, more community mindedness, and a more committed workforce (with the hiring of good experienced individuals in all work areas) are more practical first efforts.  Industries like software that are more highly dependent on the skills of its workers (over the machinery, multi-departmental processes, and the political connections needed in the industries you reference) could be very attractive options.  Music, Film, and Television are industries where highly politically and socially activated workers (mostly Democrats) are the "factories" -- one Matt Damon or Brad Pitt could green light a film project based on their involvement alone.  Also, promising startups, where the founders are looking at giving up control to venture capitalists in order to move their ideas forward, would be extremely open to a proposal from A New Ism venture fund, where the ideals are building an interdependent team and keeping skilled leadership in place.  Startup founders may not be open to accountable leadership, and the possibility of getting fired if they no longer are the best person for the job, however they face this with typical venture capital anyway and may find a more open democratic process more appealing than the caprice of one or two economic monarchs making the decision (for democratic processes have a higher probability of being lead by logic and truth rather than by whim, prejudice, or inflated self egos).

It is exactly masterful individuals like yourself that will be key to the success of A New Ism.  And, it is exactly this quality that is missing from Socialism and Communism.  Looking to the indigenous model, it was the Chiefs and Skilled Warriors and the Expert Women who lead the tribe -- not the brash young neophyte with little or no experience.  And yet, they did have a part to play in a Headman, Headwoman or Elder Council's strategy, but they rarely were allow to participate in the deliberations that produced that strategy.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, January 05, 2011 5:05 pm
To: <m@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I asked these questions, because I have worked for some world class employers, such as the Rocketdyne and Autonetics divisions of North American Aviation, the TDK systems division of TDK Japan, the Grass Valley Group division of Tektronix and Nevada Bell Telephone, division of AT&T.  I can tell you that they are continually changing and evolving in order  to stay at the head of the pack.  When working for North American Aviation, I tested the Gemini space craft engines and the Lunar Descent Module rocket engine.  While I worked for TDK, they sent me to Finland to deal with Nokia and to Cannes France to deal with a division of Rockwell.  While working for the Grass Valley Group, NASA solicited us to provide 10 million dollars worth of video switching systems for the Kennedy Space Center (which I proposed and delivered), after which we furnished large systems to Oak Ridge and Savannah river.  When I worked for Nevada Bell Telephone, we provided the communications to Area 51 for  the testing of the Blackbird.  The Grass Valley Group designed and manufactured  the world's best video switching systems and Tektronix designed and manufactured the world's best oscilloscopes.

 

                If your new ISM is going to compete with firms like the ones I worked for, you have a very rough road ahead of you.  The best way to break into this game is to invent and or design something new, which the world wants and needs.  Doing so requires attracting and hiring some very intelligent and high priced talent.  I have a BS in Physics, a BSEE and all the course credits for a PhD in Electrical Engineering.  I am also a Registered Professional Engineer.  NASA required me to submit my resume before they would negotiate with us for the systems which were provided.

 

                Frank

 

From: m@sumpeople.org [mailto:m@sumpeople.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 10:36 AM
To: Frank Way
Subject: 1/5/2011 Letter

 

Dear Frank,

Thank you for spending your time listening to us last night.  Art George is his name (or Mountain Eagle that Soars over the Valleys). 

I guess my quick answer to your question is "Better".  More efficiently, more effectively, cheaper, with less environmental impacts, and with more autonomy giving to skilled engineers and key experts who are able to coordinate their areas with all other areas of these complex enterprises successfully.

In fact, when these types of operations are best is when they express the key principles of this New Ism that we are researching and trying to articulate.  There was a recent story of a mortality rate comparison between well managed hospitals and poorly managed ones. 

http://worldmanagementsurvey.org/wp-content/images/2010/10/Management_in_Healthcare_Report_2010.pdf  

These researchers discovered key factors to good management. 

1. Skilled knowledgeable managers (this was the element of mastery in leadership we mentioned last night).
2. Broad autonomy given to these key managers (this is the element of decentralized but coordinated systems that we mentioned last night).
3. Competition (Again, decentralized, market driven systems are what are imagined within an effective New Ism).
4. Bigger is better (We did not touch on this last night, but the thought is that small enterprises are probably best as authoritarian, centralized (capitalistic) enterprises as the small business owners of these enterprises put in far more effort and energy into the enterprises than typical employees, and not only deserve the bulk of the benefits of enterprise, but also should have the decision making control to give the enterprise the best chance of survival in difficult times.  A New Ism will need to be focused on the structure of big business in my opinion and theory suggests that it will make those enterprises more nimble, more efficient, and better managed.  
5. Their final finding was that private hospitals were better managed than public.  I have several questions about this finding such as "Who paid for the study?", and "Did the private hospitals have more money to work with per patient?"  But the work of Elinor Ostrom suggests that with proper "design parameters" that the third way of "common pool resource management" offers even better outcomes that either public or private, so the fact that private is better managed than public does not mean that private is de facto the best option.

Underlying your questions is another bigger question which is "can people self manage themselves better than authoritarian management can manage them?"  This same question was at the heart of the American Revolution.  The Tories and Loyalists of the time argued that the "rabble" could never govern a nation and that the firm hand of the monarch was needed to maintain order.  We now know that the argument was false in the case of government.  In fact, no large industrialized nation can be managed as a monarchy because of the structural design limitations of authoritarian government -- just as you cannot build a skyscraper with wood frame construction.  It turns out that non-authoritarian, collaborative organizational structures are the only ones capable of the complex, epic projects that you suggest.  In fact, the space program, and large construction projects, exemplify the very principals that we are trying to identify in a New Ism.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Your new Ism
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, January 05, 2011 9:24 am
To: <m@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I enjoyed listening to you and Art last night.  By the way, what is Art's last name, and his email address?

 

                After thinking about what you are proposing, I must ask  you several questions.

 

                How would your new Ism have put the first man on the moon?

 

                How would it have designed  and produced the latest Boeing passenger Jet?

 

                How would it have designed and built one of the newest cruise ships?

 

                How would it compete with major corporations in the world markets?

 

 

                Please forward this to Art.

 

                Frank Way