“Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.”
– Patrick Lencioni
Our Approach:
The Pneuma approach to building great things is based around a few core tenants:
- Create, foster and strengthen relationships
- Build the team
- Enable a system of systems approach for citizens of our DAO
Create, foster and strengthen relationships
Pneuma is part of a whole-of-DAO ecosystem working to advance the success, capabilities, capacities, governance and economic opportunity in our neighborhood.
The integration, alignment and unification of our efforts is critical to our DAO collective success. Close relationships, built on trust and results, facilitate our efforts to increase Pneuma DAO capacity and respond to new opportunities.
Build the team
The Thomas Hobbes book Leviathan posits the natural state of man as “Nasty, brutish and short”. As almost anyone who has tried to realize a dream without access to a trust fund can attest, this phrase applies to a startup. Endless roadblocks, unforeseen requirements, systematic failures quickly change the focus from revolutionary change to survival and compliance. Administratium quickly becomes Lord of new ideas, bleeding them out slowly and deliberately.
The Pneuma DAO takes a different approach to addressing this ‘nasty, brutish and short’ issue for our neighbors; we use our individual, collective and institutional knowledge and intuition to provide sustainable Maps, Models and Structures that provide a safe path with the net effect of more successes, more ideas realized and a better quality of life for our neighbors and those they serve.
Said another way, we bring the team: we bring the Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel (including access to intellectual and fiscal capital), Leadership/Mentoring, Education, Personnel, Facilities and Policy (DOTMLPF-P) of the Pneuma DAO to help our neighbors realize their idea – we leverage our deep cross-organizational experience to remove many of the issues that kill ideas before they leave the cradle.
Collectively, knowledge (actually, understanding how data, information, knowledge and understanding impact the lifecycle of an idea) is critical. In addition addressing DOTMLPF-P, understanding history, culture and inclusiveness is essential to building the team at all levels (individual, collective and institutionally). The Pneuma DAO operates from a foundation of trust, unity of effort and shared understanding. We embrace innovation, accountability and the perspective of continuous improvement over marketing and obfuscation.
Enable a system of systems approach for citizens of our DAO
We have found that using a system of systems approach for new ideas, starting at day 0, reduces risk and increases the enjoyment of the experience for our DAO neighbors.
Going back to the concept of sustainable Maps, Models and structures, we collectively work with our DAO neighbors on finding a story or path that works best for their idea. Although each story is unique, most of the template is generally the same:
Act I – Hero & Ordinary World – call to adventure — plot point
Act II, Pt 1 – Enemies & Allies, Trials & Tribulations, earning Respect & Legitimacy, Battles, Forces of evil, Ultimatums
Act II, Pt 2 – Baddies close in, more Battles & Conflicts, Failures & Revelations
Act III – (snatching victory from the jaws of defeat) Giving up, Inspiration, Final Battle, and Rebirth
Each story is unique and we curate our approach to best fit our neighbors goals and visions.
Sustainment
Another key component of the Pneuma DAO approach is a continuous focus on sustainment for the lifecycle of the idea or story. Collectively, we develop a proven (but flexible), programmatically based model that helps our neighbors realize the greatest value and experience.