Reimagining Innovation: A Commons-Based Approach to Research

The Research Commons

The Research Commons

Research, at its core, is a Commons—something that did not exist before humans began systematically exploring their world, that we collectively brought into existence, and whose emergence creates more possibilities for life. Like soil building upon itself through feedback loops, knowledge builds upon previous discoveries in spiraling cycles of understanding. Yet our current research paradigm often treats knowledge as a private resource to be enclosed rather than a Commons to be cultivated.

System Structures That Shape Research

Following Donella Meadows' framework of leverage points, we can examine how current research systems limit collective innovation:

Parameters and Numbers (Least Effective)

• Grant amounts

• Publication requirements

• Citation metrics

These surface-level metrics shape behavior but don't address deeper systemic issues.

Buffer Stocks

The traditional academic system creates artificial scarcity of:

• Research funding

• Publication access

• Institutional positions This scarcity mindset reduces the system's resilience and ability to innovate.

Stock-and-Flow Structures

Knowledge currently flows primarily through:

• Peer-reviewed journals

• Academic conferences

• Institutional partnerships These restricted channels create bottlenecks that slow the circulation of ideas.

Feedback Loops

Current research systems are dominated by reinforcing feedback loops that concentrate resources and authority:

• Prestigious institutions attract more funding

• Established researchers gain more citations

• Successful grant recipients receive more grants These loops create power law distributions that limit diversity and innovation.

Time Lags and the Research Commons

One of the most critical insights from Commons thinking is understanding time lags between actions and consequences. The current "publish or perish" mentality creates several problematic time lags:

1. Short-term metrics driving long-term research directions

2. Pressure for quick results preventing deeper exploration

3. Delayed recognition of emerging problems until they become crises

4. Loss of traditional knowledge before its value is recognized

Like the water cycle that life has evolved to slow down and recycle, we need research systems that can:

• Allow knowledge to "soak in" rather than rushing to conclusions

• Create feedback loops that enrich rather than extract

• Build upon rather than erode existing knowledge Commons

Image pulled from a 1922 issue of Bell Telephone Magazine. The image, portraying the switching development department, was used in an article explaining how “systems engineering has played a dominant part in every aspect of Bell Laboratories work”. Courtesy of FreakTakes.

Information Flows and Rules

Higher on Meadows' leverage points are information flows and rules. Current research systems restrict both:

Information Flows

• Paywalled journals limit access

• Specialized language creates barriers

• Institutional boundaries prevent cross-pollination

Rules

• Credential requirements exclude many voices

• Funding criteria narrow research scope

• Intellectual property laws privatize knowledge

Self-Organization

Even higher on Meadows' leverage points is the power of self-organization. A Commons-based research system would:

• Enable communities to define their own research priorities

• Allow methodologies to emerge from practice rather than prescription

• Support distributed experimentation and learning

• Create conditions for "happy accidents" through diverse interactions

Goals and Paradigms

At the highest leverage points, we find system goals and paradigms. Current research operates under paradigms of:

• Expert authority

• Controlled experimentation

• Predetermined outcomes

• Individual achievement

A Commons-based paradigm would instead emphasize:

• Distributed wisdom

• Emergent discovery

• Process over outcomes

• Collective advancement

Creating Upward Spirals

Like the natural Commons that create more possibilities through feedback spirals, research can create upward spirals of possibility when:

1. Knowledge remains accessible to all

2. Different forms of knowing are valued

3. Feedback loops enrich rather than extract

4. Time horizons match natural learning cycles

5. Innovation can emerge from unexpected places

Practical Implications

This Commons-based understanding suggests several interventions:

High Leverage

• Shift funding from predetermined outcomes to problem exploration

• Create new ownership models for intellectual property

• Develop metrics that value collective advancement

• Build platforms for knowledge sharing across boundaries

Medium Leverage

• Support long-term research without immediate deliverables

• Create spaces for cross-disciplinary interaction

• Develop new peer review models

• Enable distributed experimentation

Low Leverage

• Increase grant amounts

• Modify publication requirements

• Adjust institutional metrics

Beyond Parameters to Paradigms

The most powerful change comes from shifting the fundamental paradigm of research from a private good to a Commons. This means:

1. Recognizing knowledge as something we cultivate together

2. Valuing process as much as outcomes

3. Creating conditions for emergence rather than control

4. Building systems that enrich rather than extract

5. Understanding time lags and feedback loops

Final Thoughts

Just as life has created the Commons that make Earth uniquely habitable, humans can create research Commons that expand possibilities for all. This requires moving beyond current paradigms to understand research as a collective process of discovery, one that creates upward spirals of possibility when properly structured.

The future of research lies not in tighter control but in creating conditions where innovation can emerge naturally from our collective wisdom and creativity. By understanding research as a Commons and applying insights from systems thinking, we can build research systems that enrich rather than extract, that create rather than control, and that expand possibilities for all life

Source inspo material I remixed

Paul Krafel - Toward a Commons Culture

Donella Meadows - Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System

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