The Shared Centre
by Nicholas Gruen
It's time to reawaken the better angels of our nature.
The vast advances in freedom and prosperity of recent centuries were built by choosing leaders – in business, bureaucracy and government – and then holding them accountable.
Sounds simple enough. But success doesn’t come without its shadow side. Systems of accountability are also systems of power, and the winners of those systems are increasingly subverting them to their own ends.
But there is hope. It would take just a few small changes to how these systems function to refashion representation, leadership and community in ways that just might allow us – as if passing through a portal – to turn away from betraying the promise of the last two centuries, and instead to renew it.
The Shared Centre is a book-sized idea, told through bite-sized explainer videos.
Across the series, featuring new music by the legendary Brian Eno, Nicholas explores the decline of public trust in our leaders and institutions, and introduces a set of fundamental ideas and techniques that can put us on a healthier course.
It’s time to put everyday people like you back at the centre of our institutions with mechanisms like a democratic lottery—as used in legal juries. Nicholas also introduces the idea of ‘bottom-up meritocracy’, harnessing the wisdom of crowds to choose the best among us to lead.
Of course, the idea is just the beginning.
Reforming our institutions from the bottom-up will involve the small works of many people. If you’re interested in contributing, or just learning more as these videos are released, please join up below.
About Nicholas Gruen
Described by the FT's Chief Economics Correspondent Martin Wolf as “the most brilliant economist you’ve never heard of”, Nicholas Gruen is a policy economist, entrepreneur and frequent commentator on Australian media and international podcasts.
He is CEO of Lateral Economics, Visiting Professor at Kings College London and Adjunct Professor at UTS Business School. In previous lives he was chair of Kaggle (subsequently acquired by Google), a political advisor, a school teacher and a cartoonist.