Dreamfish Humanifesto
The purpose of this humanifesto is to rally our energy and creativity to bring forth a shared vision of a thriving world of work for everyone, everywhere.
1. We are co-entrepreneurs.
As independents and entrepreneurs, we can make a sustainable world of work by working together. We all bring value to the collaboration. Who are we? We are young, stretching wide. We are elders, contributing experience. We are professionals, learning out of the box skills. We are homeless, gaining confidence. We are investors and philanthropists, contributing to what matters. We are women gaining capital, moving families out of poverty, work in open source. We are men, finding meaningful work. We are people in recovery. We are making our world of work.
2. We are welcoming.
We are welcoming. You may speak Urdu, Spanish, English or Chinese. You may identify as a woman or a man, some blend of both, or neither. You may wear a baby sling, hijab, a kippah, a suit, leather, piercings, a pentacle, a political badge, a rainbow, a rosary, tattoos, or something we can only dream of. We welcome people who want to change the world, people who want to do business, people who want to keep in touch, people who want to make great art. We welcome Internet beginners.
3. We are diverse at our core.
We thrive with biodiversity here as we are part of the biodiversity of our planet. We believe accessibility for people with disabilities is a priority, not an afterthought. We think neurodiversity is a feature, not a bug. As we share the air with each other, our own breath reminds us that the self is common to both humanity and to the earth. We live our Diversity Statement.
4. We learn and grow through working together.
We mutually support our growth and development. As we work together, we develop socially, ethically and professionally. We believe that when we jam with our differences, not against, we innovate and transform. Wondrous results can come when people from different worlds and world-views move as an organizational jam. (More about Jamming )
5. We cultivate sustainability.
We actively make choices that mindfully supports the wellness of projects we work on, our coworkers, the earth and its creatures, our families and ourselves. We believe that embodiment is core to what is sustainable work. Listening to our body, we learn that we are collaborative systems, not silos.
6. We thrive on different kinds of Fishfood.
Everyone has different needs, and so wants different value. Sometimes, currency is what is needed. Sometimes, other kinds of value are sought — food, shelter, learning, accomplishment, or the satisfaction of putting money to work.
7. We practice being open.
We are as open and transparent in our work as possible to be highly collaborative and efficient with resources, and allow more people to benefit from the work created. We work out loud.
8. We practice extraordinary project management.
We want a healthy workplace throughout the whole cycle of work, from the early relationship-forming process through project management to project close outs. Project-based work can be an efficient flexible way to get work done and keep costs low.
9. We practice effective communication.
By giving each other feedback, we can become more aware and more effective at work. Our perspectives are often different from each other. We check our own assumptions out directly with the other person. We strive to own our own interpretations and feelings about the situation. If need be, we ask for help to facilitate.
10. We embrace creativity.
We believe that humans are creative and that nurturing creativity is essential. We support maximum freedom of creative expression, while respect to the whole of our work communities. We will never put a limit on creativity just because it makes someone uncomfortable.
11. We practice respect.
Each contribution to a work community is valuable. We respect people’s time, efforts, and expressions. Regardless of whether work is gifted or paid, we respect our coworkers. We show up and follow through when people rely on us. When we leave or disengage from the project, in whole or in part, we do so in a way that minimises disruption to the project.
12. We can flourish from working in a new way.
As we practice this collaborative way of work, millions of us can create meaningful value and move out of poverty. We want to:
- Create a livelihood for ourselves and others with project work and all the necessary tools to succeed.
- Increase the survival rate of micro-enterprises throughout the world.
- Create real value by actively creating a viable, collaborative economy.
- Reduce environmental footprint with lowering consumption, reusing, repurposing, recycling, working collaboratively, locally and virtually.
- Keep costs low through effective project management.
- Realize our dreams by working on projects that interest us, not the other way around.
- Learn valuable skills for the new world of work.
- Build a strong support network of dynamic, like-minded individuals to exchange ideas and collaborate.
- Grow both personally and professionally through collaboration.
- Share our wealth by mentoring and investing in other dreamfish.
As a practice of diversity, this text is a remix, with much thanks to Dreamwidth for allowing us to repurpose text in their Diversity Statement. This text is usable under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY-SA license.
Dreamfish is possible, because of the participation of thousands of individuals, and a small number of dedicated dreamfishers and organizations that partnered with us. Many thanks to every person who has dreamfished over the last couple years to arrive at where we are now as a work cooperative. We pay special respect to Dreamfish contributors and partners who have given significantly from 2006-2009 to the mission.
this systems know-how in our work is important for an organization that wants to support sustainability. So, we use the arts in our strategic planning processes.