Come superare i modelli verticali: la Multifactory | Lorenza Salati & Giulio Focardi | TEDxMantova
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmteIC-4MxE Video ID: fmteIC-4MxE ============================================================ Translator: Claudia Lattanzi Reviewer: Michele Gianella Lorenza Salati: It was 2011. We met each other in a shared workspace of artisans freelancers, small businesses and artists. They were very different kinds of people not only working together but sharing ideas, experience and tips. And the more they cooperated, the more they worked: the cooperation was fueled by the system. Giulio Focardi: However, how did this system work? Lorenza wanted to do a documentary - LS: And Giulio, a system analysis. GF: So a morning of November 2012 we brought our methods together. We decided to make a documentary based on open interviews when we would approach people and ask them what they thought about work, money, and the meaning of life From such a diverse people, we were likewise expecting diverse answers LS: Identical, the answers were almost interchangeable. Perhaps they were influencing each other: Therefore, we decided to completely change the frame. We went to South Italy, to the Pollino; we asked the same questions; and received the same answers. Was it maybe about a new economic paradigm taking shape? And if it were, were we standing before the beginning of a structural shift in the way we understand work, then well, it couldn't take place in Italy alone. We moved to London, we put the same questions to Bloqs, an artisans working space which was just opening at that moment in London's far northern suburbs, up in Tottenham And even there, we got the same identical answers So we understood we were onto something, we extended our research and set off to Germany first: Berlin, then Potsdam. Then Spain, Portugal. Everywhere people were telling us the very same things. They talked about sharing, they talked about collaboration. They talked about their desire to make the world a better place, through their own profession. And the incredible thing was wasn't only that the answers were always identical: but that those people didn't know each other! They couldn't know each other, they hardly could. Also, because some concepts that are commonplace today were really unheard of. Consider a common word that we all use today, as "co-working" - today any small town has a small co-working space - Back then, mind you, there were in the whole world less than 2000 of them. LF: So we invested our whole energy and resources From then on, we visited more than 190 shared workspaces all over the world. Those people were actually realizing what the majority of people deems impossible, because we were taught that work is competition. GF: already from our childhood we are "drilled" into competition: they teach us to beat others they teach us to desire exclusive services we want to be part of exclusive Clubs: we pay more to exclude! They taught us, the world of work operates as a pyramid with those who cannot, or doesn't want to give more, at the bottom; and those who instead want to have an impact try to climb the famous pyramid. Ironically, this is presented as an equal system: we can all join! But this is a lie! Because this pyramid is in fact not a real pyramid: this pyramid is a funnel with a large base, a far-away top, and the walls are basically vertical. it's almost impossible to reach the top of the pyramid starting from the base: those on top always were. And even if it was possible, to get to the top starting from the base, the system would not be a bit more equal! We worry so much today about giving everyone an equal starting point, and may the best win. But who cares who wins if the winner, even with a merit, takes it all, not leaving anything to the others? It's an unjust system! Can we still imagine today such a system where up there lies somebody who has everything, and a huge base of people with nothing at the bottom? LS: We could see all the advantages of horizontal organisations. they are more stable, more secure, they can renew themselves over time. They create working spaces which heartfully convey what they do. But we could also see these spaces were all repeating the same mistakes. And that was a shame: they were losing time, losing impact! So we realised, it was necessary to create a model. Think of a bar Bars are all alike - and all different, also. however, they all follow the same bar concept. Thus we wanted a model for spaces of collaborative work. GF: Indeed, the multifactory model. We came to realise that all the spaces we had visited underwent seven phases, seven transitional moments. They were also seven phases which appeared as time landmarks for the evolution of such spaces. After six months, the same thing happened; after one, two years - the issues to address were always the same: the relationships with the property, with the media, with the institutions, the same problems resurfaced at some point, between the founders and those who came later, between old and new members Not all the solutions found by the different spaces were equally effective Therefore, we simply figured out of adopting the best solutions to successfully go through these phases and integrate them into a model. And that's how was born the multifactory model, which is basically a model for anyone who wants to start a shared workspace, based on the principles of heterogeneity, collaboration, circular aid and horizontal governance. All members, in other words, are equally in charge of the decision making: there's no boss, no top, everybody decides and everyone is commited to carrying out what's decided by the community. Roughly 30% of the model, at the end of the day, comes from what we've seen in Northern and Central Europe. All the experiences of sociocracies, the consensus method. Another 30% comes from what we've seen in the Californian West Coast: the do-ocracy in particular, which is a system to praise the role of the individual within a collective project 40%, on the other hand, comes from we've seen in the rest of the world: North Africa, Middle East, Asia, South America. Indeed, we've also added some bits ourselves. LS: And then, we did apply the model! In 2017, Multifactory r84 was born in Mantova; In 2019 Multifactory, Risma11 was born in Alzano Lombardo; in 2021, Multifactory Infatti9 was born in Biassono. They are all actual spaces. You can go there and find inside: an employment consultant to your left; a communication studio to your right; Go up the stairs, and you'll find a plumber, a podcast producer, a counselor. And finally, a common kitchen. GF: And what do these people do in these spaces? They work! Every day, they make a living for themselves and for their own families. And they contribute, as everybody else, to the community's development and well-being. But in the process, every day they search, experiment, implement solutions to make their own profession more sustainable, more equal, more accessible, fairer. They strive to imagine and experiment today the world of tomorrow. LS: Because, you know, changing the world takes an enormous amount of energy. And where do we channel most of our best energies? Into work! Work is where we have more impact, for good or bad. So if we want to change the world, we need to start by changing the world of work. GF: Because you don't change the world with Saturday Night's activism, you don't change the world by buying bio avocado. You change the world day by day. And that's exactly the goal of r84, Risma11, and Infatti9 members: the members of multifactories that just came to be and of those which soon will: they are changing the world. And we are so proud and honored to being along these people who every day, far from the noise and the spotlight of a stage are truly making the difference. Thank you. (Applause)