Dymaxion Thinking

By Jim Cathcart

The Acorn Principle

R. Buckminster Fuller, called by some the Leonardo da Vinci of the twentieth century, was an inventor, engineer, architect, poet, philosopher, scientist, and more. He coined the term dymaxion. It means, simply maximum performance with minimum materials—doing more with less.

This concept is present in his creations, such as the strong yet lightweight geodesic dome, the most prominent of which sits at the entrance of Disney's EPCOT Center in Florida. Another application is the World Energy Grid, a plan for the linking of all the world's renewable energy sources to produce abundant electricity affordably for all major population centers on earth indefinitely.

Fuller's goal was to find ways to make the world work for 100 percent of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone. Today, Fuller's work is being carried on by Peter Meisen, a friend of mine who formed Global Energy Network Institute (GENI) in 1986. This nonprofit effort has led Peter around the world and caused him to meet and collaborate with numerous world leaders.

As a result of Peter's quest to open the global mind to this cooperative venture, former adversaries have laid down their arms while laying electrical cables to replace them.

This has resulted in linking energy sources across borders and time zones to provide inexpensive, off-peak energy production to areas that most need it. It's easy to see the effect this can have on world peace. You don't bomb your own energy plants, nor do you terrorize places where you have branch offices.

Peter Meisen was a young man with an engineering background and a profound personal concern for the world's welfare. He did not know "the right people" or have access to a large trust fund when he started GENI. He didn't have the language skills, knowledge of diplomacy and protocol, or a position of scientific prominence. He wasn't one of the top authorities on his topic. He merely had a sincere desire to make a difference.

By choosing this path, Peter Meisen had also committed himself to a life of personal growth. Like Walt Disney when he was a cartoonist dreaming of Disneyland, Peter's goal was bigger than Peter. If he didn't grow, the goal wouldn't show.

So Peter began to identify his own strengths and find people with differing abilities. He sought connections with anyone who could, even temporarily, become excited about his goals. He built alliances, helped others, sought mentors, and grew a root system (resource network) of enormous proportions.

He is a voracious student in his field, but he doesn't try to master everything. He respects and aligns with the strengths and passions in others. And the Global Energy Network is rapidly becoming a reality.

The official ending of the Cold War was the destruction of Berlin Wall in 1989 after forty years of tension and missiles pointed at each other. Two months later, East and West Germany began the interconnection of their electrical grids because it made such good economic sense. When King Hussein of Jordan and Yitzhak Rabin of Israel signed the Washington Declaration for peace, the first two infrastructure projects included the interconnection of telephone lines and power grids. The geographic distance was small, and the technology had existed for years. It just took diplomacy and mutual economic benefit to enable the engineers to build a physical link that will help both countries. Today, many former enemies are following suit: Chile and Argentina, Turkey and Iran, India and Pakistan. If these nations can move from conflict to cooperation, so can they all.

Now back to the person behind all of this. Based on what I have just told you about him, do an Acorn Profile of Peter Meisen. The clues are all there. What are his highest values? How do you know? What is his velocity? Has his background seemed to help or not? What are his greatest smarts? What is his bandwidth? His behavioral style? Write out your answers before reading more. See how well you are noticing more.

Peter's velocity is very high. He has taken on the biggest of all causes, saving the world. His commitment and empathy values are so high they are off the chart. He also has a high knowledge value. His wealth value is relatively low. His background is neutral. His smarts are picture, math/logic, and people smarts. He has a conceptual bandwidth. I didn't give you enough information to know his behavioral style; it is director. Look back over the description of Peter and link these observations to the information available to you.

With his profile it is fairly easy to see how his current role provides the meaning and purpose that suit him. Our ideas of what is or is not meaningful are usually an out growth of our Acorn Profile. We are drawn toward that for which we are well suited. "Desire is possibility seeking fulfillment."

You are like Peter Meisen in many ways. Through your profile may be very different from his, there are things you are greatly concerned about. You possess strengths that, once matched with others, could really make a difference in your company, community, or would. You contain the seeds of a forest of mighty oaks.

The key to tapping this growth potential is beginning the process. Take the first steps; act on your impulses. Find ways to enhance the world through your actions. Don't start by looking at yourself; start by looking around you. What are you concerned about? How would you change the world if you could?

Growth doesn't occur without reaching out. Reaching out to help stimulates a simultaneous outreach for resources—branches and roots. As you need them, somehow the resources seem happily to appear. Not always where you suspected they would be, but there nonetheless.

Your job is not fully to understand the world but simply to enhance it. Make it better because you were here—whether that be through an entertaining performance, a beautiful sculpture, a simpler solution, a kind gesture, or a global movement. Grow where you are planted and branch out to connect with and serve the world.