Hi, I'm Sam Birmingham

Erick Sermon & Rick Ross “Ain’t Me”

From Julian Bialowas’ awesome 365Q project

A little over one week later and I still can’t get enough of this mixtape…

3 MC’s And Some DJ: DL’s Tribute To The Beastie Boys RIP MCA

Gilles Peterson’s Havana Cultura Band “Orisa”

The Cognitive Limit of Organizations

In the early days, life was simple. We did important things like make spears and arrowheads. The amount of knowledge needed to make these items, however, was small enough that a single person could master their production. There was no need for a large division of labor and new knowledge was extremely precious. If you got new knowledge, you did not want to share it. After all, in a world where most knowledge can fit in someone’s head, stealing ideas is easy, and appropriating the value of the ideas you generate is hard.

At some point, however, the amount of knowledge required to make things began to exceed the cognitive limit of a single human being. Things could only be done in teams, and sharing information among team members was required to build these complex items. Organizations were born as our social skills began to compensate for our limited cognitive skills. Society, however, kept on accruing more and more knowledge, and the cognitive limit of organizations, just like that of the spearmaker, was ultimately reached.

When the Media Lab was founded 25 years ago, many products were still single-company products and most, if not all, of the intellectual property was contained in a single company. Today, however, most products are combinations of knowledge and intellectual property that resides in different organizations. Our world is less and less about the single pieces of intellectual property and more and more about the networks that help connect these pieces. The total stock of information used in these ecosystems exceeds the capacity of single organizations because doubling the size of huge organizations does not double the capacity of that organization to hold knowledge and put it into productive use. 

In a world in which implementing the next generation of ideas will increasingly require pulling resources from different organizations, barriers to collaboration will be a crucial constraint limiting the development of firms. Agility, context, and a strong network are becoming the survival traits where assets, control, and power used to rule. John Seely Brown refers to this as the “Power of Pull.”

The Media Lab and its members need to adapt to this world by focusing on creating a platform that can help all of us navigate this new landscape. Together, we are more likely to find niches in the complex and dynamic industrial ecosystem of the 20th century. Openness and engagement will be key in this journey.

I suspect that some people find it frustrating at times, but I would like to think that asking why is one of my strengths.

And if it’s good enough for Seth Godin then it’s good enough for me!

“Why?” is the most important question, not asked nearly enough.

Hint: “Because I said so,” is not a valid answer.

• Why does it work this way?
• Why is that our goal?
• Why did you say no?
• Why are we treating people differently?
• Why is this our policy?
• Why don’t we enter this market?
• Why did you change your mind?
• Why are we having this meeting?
• Why not?

Passion Pit “Take A Walk”

*sigh* I don’t want work. I want life’s work…

brycedotvc:

Apple’s welcome letter for new hires.

Can the same be said of the company you’re building?

Thom Janusz “Crystals”

Dilla

As a long-time crate-digger and trainspotter, this article made for an awesome read.

Blues historian Robert Palmer once asked, “How much history can be transmitted by pressure on a guitar string?” For record collectors, the question might be posed one degree further out, “pressure on a guitar string” replaced by “a needle tracing a groove.” Or, since records have long been enjoyed as both material objects and carriers of sound, by “vinyl and cardboard sitting on a shelf.” The collections of two eccentric, passionate record geeks— BBC DJ John Peel and experimental rap producer J Dilla— both made news in the last couple of weeks, raising a question that only seems to dissipate as digital code further envelops music: How does a legacy become embedded in thousands of cheaply produced artifacts? 

Beastie Boys “Fight For Your Right To Party” (Coldplay Cover)

I still think you’re a snivelling wanker, Chris Martin, but Coldplay’s RIP MCA tribute is pretty darn sweet.

Props to the Beastie Boys for connecting the dots from punk to rap, and helping rhythmless white boys like myself understand and appreciate hip hop in the process

Beastie Boys “Shake Your Rump”

RIP MCA

pitchfork:

Beastie Boys‘ Adam Yauch, aka MCA, has passed away due to cancer. He was 47 years old.