Radicants

I think [innovators in the developing world] build kinds of organizations which are really quite different and they scale in a different way. And they are radicants. Radicants are plants like strawberries. So a strawberry does not grow from a central root. A strawberry grows by putting down roots as it grows and drawing on local resources. So, they're more like radicants; they're more like strawberries. They grow in this way that puts down roots and then draws from resources from where they're growing to sustain themselves, because they don't have a big, strong central core. That can be a weakness, but it can also be a strength.

From Charles Leadbeater's RSA talk on the frugal innovator.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDIdoK1ByXc

This reminded me of two things I continue to be interested in. The first is Russell Davies' idea of ruricomp, makerspaces and community supported agriculture. I'm not (yet) a member of a makerspace, but we've recently joined Farnham Local Food. It's an impressive local community that we're just getting to know.