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Prosocial: Using Evolutionary Science to Build Productive, Equitable, and Collaborative Groups
A groundbreaking, comprehensive program for designing effective and socially equitable groups of all sizes—from businesses and social justice groups to global organizations.
Whether you work in business or schools, volunteer in neighborhoods or church organizations, or are involved in social justice and activism, you understand the enormous power of groups to enact powerful and lasting change in the world. But how exactly do you design, build, and sustain effective groups?
Based on the work of Nobel Prize winning economist Elinor Ostrom and grounded in contextual behavioral science, evolutionary science, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), Prosocial presents a practical, step-by-step approach to help you energize and strengthen your business or organization. Using the Prosocial model, you’ll learn to design groups that are more harmonious, have better member or employee retention, have better relationships with other groups or business partners, and have more success and longevity.
Most importantly, you’ll learn to target the characteristics that foster cooperation and collaboration—key ingredients for any effective group.
274 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2019
104 people are currently reading
417 people want to read
About the author
Paul W.B. Atkins
2 books5 followersPaul W.B. Atkins, PhD, is director of the Prosocial Institute, and senior research fellow with the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education at Australian Catholic University (ACU). His career has combined research and practice helping groups to thrive. His research has been published in the world’s leading management and psychology journals. As a facilitator and coach, he has helped thousands of managers and leaders to improve their team leadership, conflict resolution, situational awareness, and well-being.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 6, 2021
Prosocial is a collaborative joint by positive psychology researcher Paul W.B. Atkins, evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson, and functional/contextual science god Steven C. Hayes.
Essentially, Prosocial is a theoretical and practical framework for designing, building, managing and sustaining effective, collaborative and socially equitable groups (and groups of groups, and groups of groups of groups, ad-infinitum) including (but not limited to) businesses, schools, volunteer groups, social justice activist groups and community based organizations.
Prosocial is based on the work of Nobel Prize winning economist Elinor Ostrom, smashed up with the principals of evolutionary science, contextual behavioral science and acceptance and commitment therapy.
So what the fuck is all of that?
I’m glad you asked...
Positive psychology (PS) is a branch of psychology that focuses on understanding and promoting factors for enhanced performance and human flourishing (think good to great), as opposed to solely focusing on understanding and ameliorating psychopathology.
Evolutionary science (ES) assumes that populations of organisms evolve over generations (evolutionary timescales) via processes of variation, selection and retention of genotypic and phenotypic traits that are adaptive to survival and reproduction pressures in a given environmental neich.
Contextual behavioral science (CBS) is a branch of the behavioral sciences that assumes that an individual organisms behavior evolves via analogous evolutionary processes of variation, selection, and retention via contingencies of reinforcement (and meaning for us language adapted primates) enacted in context, and acquired across lifespan.
Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) is a mindfulness based variant of cognitive behavioral therapy that integrates aspects of the behaviorist, humanistic and existential traditions to promote psychological flexibility in the service of values congruent action.
And finally, Elinor Ostrom (1933 –2012) was an American political economist who was the first woman to recieve the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, awarded for her analysis of economic governance on commons.
Classical economics assumes that rational self-interested individuals competing in free economic markets will ultimately elicit better results than those produced within socially engineered and/or artificially regulated markets.
The 'tragedy of the commons’ refers to a contrary situation whereby rational individuals (people like you and me right?), who have open and unrestricted access to a limited common resource (like the planet earth), acting independently according to their own self-interest (as in free market capitalism), inevitably cause depletion of the limited resource through their uncoordinated action (like us here and now, on planet earth), contrary to the common good of all users (as in were all fucked).
Did I forget to mention that were all fucked because of free market capitalism?
If I did, then I just want to say that were all fucked because of free market capitalism.
Anyway...
Elinor Ostrom’s work posited that common resources can be effectively regulated (governed) via a set of principles (not rules mind you) designed to enhance cooperation and accountability (if this sounds fishy to you, than please calm the fuck down, go watch Fox News or some shit, and leave the smart nice people alone so we can try to work together to dig ourselves out of this shit pile).
Ostrom’s principles are as follows:
1: Commons need to have clearly defined boundaries. In particular, who is entitled to access to what? Unless there’s a specified community of benefit, it becomes a free for all, and that’s not how commons work.
2: Rules should fit local circumstances. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to common resource management. Rules should be dictated by local people and local ecological needs.
3: Participatory decision-making is vital.There are all kinds of ways to make it happen, but people will be more likely to follow the rules if they had a hand in writing them. Involve as many people as possible in decision-making.
4: Commons must be monitored. Once rules have been set, communities need a way of checking that people are keeping them. Commons don’t run on good will, but on accountability.
5: Sanctions for those who abuse the commons should be graduated. Ostrom observed that the commons that worked best didn’t just ban people who broke the rules. That tended to create resentment. Instead, they had systems of warnings and fines, as well as informal repetitional consequences in the community.
6: Conflict resolution should be easily accessible. When issues come up, resolving them should be informal, cheap and straightforward. That means that anyone can take their problems for mediation, and nobody is shut out. Problems are solved rather than ignoring them because nobody wants to pay legal fees.
7: Commons need the right to organize. Your commons rules won’t count for anything if a higher local authority doesn’t recognize them as legitimate.
8: Commons work best when nested within larger networks. Some things can be managed locally, but some might need wider regional cooperation – for example an irrigation network might depend on a river that others also draw on upstream.
NOTE:
I just copy and pasted that last section (see principles 1-8).
And I forget the source.
So…
It’s plagiarism.
Anyway…
Prosocial is a framework of 8 “design principles” for improving the efficacy, cooperatively, transparency and equity within and between groups, based on Ostrom’s principles, with a dash of PS, ES, CBS and ACT tossed in for good measure.
The eight core Prosocial design principles are as follows:
1: Strong group identity and understanding of purpose (this is accomplished via clarification of and commitment to enact group values #YassQween).
2: Fair distribution of costs and benefits (um.., imagine if people at your job got paid fairly…).
3: Fair and inclusive decision-making (again. Y A S S Q W E E N !).
4: Monitoring agreed-upon behaviors (wait…accountability? - thats fucking un American… in the good way).
5: Graduated sanctions for misbehaviors (that just means chill out and warn people before you fuck them).
6: Fast and fair conflict resolution (promptly fuck over others as you would have them fuck over on to you).
7: Authority to self-govern (power to the P E O P L E - but please, please, please let me keep my Land Rover)
8: Appropriate relations with other groups (workers of the mother fuckin’ world U N I T E !)
NOTE:
I embellished some of that (see 1-8).
And I’m not sure y’all are better of than when I plagiarize.
But what ever.
Prosocial is a FUCKING great book by a powerful squad of science GODS.
I loved it.
Please world.
Get a clue.
It’s all here.
Please read it.
Essentially, Prosocial is a theoretical and practical framework for designing, building, managing and sustaining effective, collaborative and socially equitable groups (and groups of groups, and groups of groups of groups, ad-infinitum) including (but not limited to) businesses, schools, volunteer groups, social justice activist groups and community based organizations.
Prosocial is based on the work of Nobel Prize winning economist Elinor Ostrom, smashed up with the principals of evolutionary science, contextual behavioral science and acceptance and commitment therapy.
So what the fuck is all of that?
I’m glad you asked...
Positive psychology (PS) is a branch of psychology that focuses on understanding and promoting factors for enhanced performance and human flourishing (think good to great), as opposed to solely focusing on understanding and ameliorating psychopathology.
Evolutionary science (ES) assumes that populations of organisms evolve over generations (evolutionary timescales) via processes of variation, selection and retention of genotypic and phenotypic traits that are adaptive to survival and reproduction pressures in a given environmental neich.
Contextual behavioral science (CBS) is a branch of the behavioral sciences that assumes that an individual organisms behavior evolves via analogous evolutionary processes of variation, selection, and retention via contingencies of reinforcement (and meaning for us language adapted primates) enacted in context, and acquired across lifespan.
Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) is a mindfulness based variant of cognitive behavioral therapy that integrates aspects of the behaviorist, humanistic and existential traditions to promote psychological flexibility in the service of values congruent action.
And finally, Elinor Ostrom (1933 –2012) was an American political economist who was the first woman to recieve the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, awarded for her analysis of economic governance on commons.
Classical economics assumes that rational self-interested individuals competing in free economic markets will ultimately elicit better results than those produced within socially engineered and/or artificially regulated markets.
The 'tragedy of the commons’ refers to a contrary situation whereby rational individuals (people like you and me right?), who have open and unrestricted access to a limited common resource (like the planet earth), acting independently according to their own self-interest (as in free market capitalism), inevitably cause depletion of the limited resource through their uncoordinated action (like us here and now, on planet earth), contrary to the common good of all users (as in were all fucked).
Did I forget to mention that were all fucked because of free market capitalism?
If I did, then I just want to say that were all fucked because of free market capitalism.
Anyway...
Elinor Ostrom’s work posited that common resources can be effectively regulated (governed) via a set of principles (not rules mind you) designed to enhance cooperation and accountability (if this sounds fishy to you, than please calm the fuck down, go watch Fox News or some shit, and leave the smart nice people alone so we can try to work together to dig ourselves out of this shit pile).
Ostrom’s principles are as follows:
1: Commons need to have clearly defined boundaries. In particular, who is entitled to access to what? Unless there’s a specified community of benefit, it becomes a free for all, and that’s not how commons work.
2: Rules should fit local circumstances. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to common resource management. Rules should be dictated by local people and local ecological needs.
3: Participatory decision-making is vital.There are all kinds of ways to make it happen, but people will be more likely to follow the rules if they had a hand in writing them. Involve as many people as possible in decision-making.
4: Commons must be monitored. Once rules have been set, communities need a way of checking that people are keeping them. Commons don’t run on good will, but on accountability.
5: Sanctions for those who abuse the commons should be graduated. Ostrom observed that the commons that worked best didn’t just ban people who broke the rules. That tended to create resentment. Instead, they had systems of warnings and fines, as well as informal repetitional consequences in the community.
6: Conflict resolution should be easily accessible. When issues come up, resolving them should be informal, cheap and straightforward. That means that anyone can take their problems for mediation, and nobody is shut out. Problems are solved rather than ignoring them because nobody wants to pay legal fees.
7: Commons need the right to organize. Your commons rules won’t count for anything if a higher local authority doesn’t recognize them as legitimate.
8: Commons work best when nested within larger networks. Some things can be managed locally, but some might need wider regional cooperation – for example an irrigation network might depend on a river that others also draw on upstream.
NOTE:
I just copy and pasted that last section (see principles 1-8).
And I forget the source.
So…
It’s plagiarism.
Anyway…
Prosocial is a framework of 8 “design principles” for improving the efficacy, cooperatively, transparency and equity within and between groups, based on Ostrom’s principles, with a dash of PS, ES, CBS and ACT tossed in for good measure.
The eight core Prosocial design principles are as follows:
1: Strong group identity and understanding of purpose (this is accomplished via clarification of and commitment to enact group values #YassQween).
2: Fair distribution of costs and benefits (um.., imagine if people at your job got paid fairly…).
3: Fair and inclusive decision-making (again. Y A S S Q W E E N !).
4: Monitoring agreed-upon behaviors (wait…accountability? - thats fucking un American… in the good way).
5: Graduated sanctions for misbehaviors (that just means chill out and warn people before you fuck them).
6: Fast and fair conflict resolution (promptly fuck over others as you would have them fuck over on to you).
7: Authority to self-govern (power to the P E O P L E - but please, please, please let me keep my Land Rover)
8: Appropriate relations with other groups (workers of the mother fuckin’ world U N I T E !)
NOTE:
I embellished some of that (see 1-8).
And I’m not sure y’all are better of than when I plagiarize.
But what ever.
Prosocial is a FUCKING great book by a powerful squad of science GODS.
I loved it.
Please world.
Get a clue.
It’s all here.
Please read it.
July 1, 2020
Just getting started reading, but have skimmed the rest and already love it. The book is about the way that communities and groups can work together in high performance, prosocial ways.
It's based on the group design principles that won Elinor Ostrom the Nobel Prize in economics. She looked at how groups with limited resources could work together and solve complex problems. She also did detailed research on how that kind of prosocial group behavior is more common than we're often told.
Evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wislon, who's known for championing multi-level selection, applies Ostrim's principles and principles of evolutionary biology to prosociality.
Steve Hayes is Psychologist, creator of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Relational Frame Theory, and fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Sciences. He brings in contextual behavioral science to handle all of the issues that come up for people in implementing a system like this.
It's an amazing look at how things like autonomy and values show up in really concrete frameworks like defining group boundaries, making sure all stakeholders have a say, bottom up management, creating graduated sanctions for rule breakers.
I think that anyone who has any desire to create better and more equitable groups, that increase the well-being and performance of all members, should read this book.
It's based on the group design principles that won Elinor Ostrom the Nobel Prize in economics. She looked at how groups with limited resources could work together and solve complex problems. She also did detailed research on how that kind of prosocial group behavior is more common than we're often told.
Evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wislon, who's known for championing multi-level selection, applies Ostrim's principles and principles of evolutionary biology to prosociality.
Steve Hayes is Psychologist, creator of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Relational Frame Theory, and fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Sciences. He brings in contextual behavioral science to handle all of the issues that come up for people in implementing a system like this.
It's an amazing look at how things like autonomy and values show up in really concrete frameworks like defining group boundaries, making sure all stakeholders have a say, bottom up management, creating graduated sanctions for rule breakers.
I think that anyone who has any desire to create better and more equitable groups, that increase the well-being and performance of all members, should read this book.
August 14, 2019
This was new for me, because I am not well versed with Evolutionary science and the first thing I did as I started reading this book was look up Ostrom's Principles. It's an insightful book especially for anyone working with groups in whichever context- and for me, communities in rural areas.
The book attempts to answer how exactly do you design, build, and sustain effective groups? It's an interesting approach, one that I believe anyone who is new to evolutionary science would find interesting. Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.
The book attempts to answer how exactly do you design, build, and sustain effective groups? It's an interesting approach, one that I believe anyone who is new to evolutionary science would find interesting. Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.
November 30, 2022
Elaborating on core design principles, providing theoretical and real-world examples, and offering practical applications, tools, and resources, the prosocial process outlined will be of interest to leaders and team members seeking to strengthen and enhance collaboration within and between groups.
August 16, 2020
This is a combination of being a very good management technique book, based upon the Nobel prize winner Elinor Ostrom's work, and a sales pitch to sell this method to you by persons who are manufacturing the Kool-Aid of part of the ACT cult.
If you have a management background and are not a narcissist, this will make sense and you will be translating the ACT-influenced talk to whatever your background (most likely you yuppie from business indoctrination of the 90's and early 00's). If you were middle-management for most of your adulthood (because you cared too much about your team and did not ascend past the level of that incompetence--Peter Principal joke for you Gen-Xer's), you rolled your eyes a lot during the reading because THIS IS WHAT YOU HAD BEEN TRYING TO TELL THEM.
Close to 10 years ago a federal agency was using a training program that most likely cost them huge money from another world renowned organization that rhymes with Pisney. They would have done much better following Prosocial.
It is a win-win book. Talk to the workers, get their ideas on what they want from work and their lives. Talk to the varying levels of bosses regarding the same. Do a blend that will have all working towards that goal as well as not screwing over customers, the environment, other people outside the organization (rest of the world). For some it will seem like socialist speak--which it is, in essence.
It's 225 pages, outside of the references. If you have to get this rolling within an organization, it would be worthwhile to have a core team go to a training and hire a consultant. If you have a smaller group to work with and you have a management background, you could do this--there's a website and enough instruction. On your own, you'd still be better off than not using it. Readers with a social work, education, medical background, and lower level clergy/religious (many others I cannot think of before the first cup of coffee is finished) will see this as very common sense. I purchased and read it because I am moving to a different team and have clients who are a few clicks away from ASPD as a diagnosis.
Therapies have vocabularies they use to keep readers/users in alignment to the core theme. A glossary would have been a little helpful for those who do not have immediate references to a similar protocol. These are listed early on and then you are either keeping a cheat sheet or flipping back a few pages to see 'what does CDP mean?' Lots of that here. There's explanations on behavior theory for individuals and groups, discussions on how to get people out of thought processes (tied to cultural and/or generational influences) and focusing on individual and common values. Chapter 5 brings out an ACT matrix--which works and is the colored, full sugar part of the Kool-Aid. Chapter 6 goes through how to do measurements, work the matrix with individuals and groups, review the core design principles, set goals, measure/evaluate change, and keep on track. Then the book goes through each principle again in more detail. Chapter 7 gives guidance on how to keep the group going--motivation and authority to self-govern. You will find yourself marking with a highlighter, making notes in the margin.
The book was published in October 2019. You can do a 10 week virtual training course for between $750--$1,000. And that's where the rub comes in, that sort of makes me want to do 4 stars. A lot of people who would benefit from having this training are not going to have that kind of money. The student rate is much less and most people who would hugely benefit--are not students. But the review is on the book, not the whole shebang. The book is excellently written and you would not expect less from the ACT team.
If you have a management background and are not a narcissist, this will make sense and you will be translating the ACT-influenced talk to whatever your background (most likely you yuppie from business indoctrination of the 90's and early 00's). If you were middle-management for most of your adulthood (because you cared too much about your team and did not ascend past the level of that incompetence--Peter Principal joke for you Gen-Xer's), you rolled your eyes a lot during the reading because THIS IS WHAT YOU HAD BEEN TRYING TO TELL THEM.
Close to 10 years ago a federal agency was using a training program that most likely cost them huge money from another world renowned organization that rhymes with Pisney. They would have done much better following Prosocial.
It is a win-win book. Talk to the workers, get their ideas on what they want from work and their lives. Talk to the varying levels of bosses regarding the same. Do a blend that will have all working towards that goal as well as not screwing over customers, the environment, other people outside the organization (rest of the world). For some it will seem like socialist speak--which it is, in essence.
It's 225 pages, outside of the references. If you have to get this rolling within an organization, it would be worthwhile to have a core team go to a training and hire a consultant. If you have a smaller group to work with and you have a management background, you could do this--there's a website and enough instruction. On your own, you'd still be better off than not using it. Readers with a social work, education, medical background, and lower level clergy/religious (many others I cannot think of before the first cup of coffee is finished) will see this as very common sense. I purchased and read it because I am moving to a different team and have clients who are a few clicks away from ASPD as a diagnosis.
Therapies have vocabularies they use to keep readers/users in alignment to the core theme. A glossary would have been a little helpful for those who do not have immediate references to a similar protocol. These are listed early on and then you are either keeping a cheat sheet or flipping back a few pages to see 'what does CDP mean?' Lots of that here. There's explanations on behavior theory for individuals and groups, discussions on how to get people out of thought processes (tied to cultural and/or generational influences) and focusing on individual and common values. Chapter 5 brings out an ACT matrix--which works and is the colored, full sugar part of the Kool-Aid. Chapter 6 goes through how to do measurements, work the matrix with individuals and groups, review the core design principles, set goals, measure/evaluate change, and keep on track. Then the book goes through each principle again in more detail. Chapter 7 gives guidance on how to keep the group going--motivation and authority to self-govern. You will find yourself marking with a highlighter, making notes in the margin.
The book was published in October 2019. You can do a 10 week virtual training course for between $750--$1,000. And that's where the rub comes in, that sort of makes me want to do 4 stars. A lot of people who would benefit from having this training are not going to have that kind of money. The student rate is much less and most people who would hugely benefit--are not students. But the review is on the book, not the whole shebang. The book is excellently written and you would not expect less from the ACT team.
June 13, 2022
A great model for building group buy in, though it argues for an evolutionary approach and then doesn't support it from anything other than a psychological justification for the majority of the strategic portion of the book.
The beginning gives you the sense that it will be a book centered on physical and biological systems, the meat of the book focuses mostly on management technique, which while helpful and well-defined, isn't supported by examples outside of the social stratum of human inter-personal relations.
The beginning gives you the sense that it will be a book centered on physical and biological systems, the meat of the book focuses mostly on management technique, which while helpful and well-defined, isn't supported by examples outside of the social stratum of human inter-personal relations.
November 27, 2019
Disclosure: I am a Prosocial facilitator. Prosocial was identified as the perhaps most promising framework to match the organizational complexities I studied in my PhD-work, and I subsequently learned the method from (mainly) P.A, one of the authors. I was kindly asked to contribute with an honest review of this book, and got a free copy to do so.
A scalable, flexible, approach with a succinct behaviour change component to work with the variables of greatest importance to perform in a complex modern work environment – that is what the authors of “Prosocial – using evolutionary science to build productive, equitable and collaborative groups” offer. The book is part popular science, part “how-to” and therefor the perfect introduction to the Prosocial framework. It outlines precisely the main theory, practical tools and procedures to get going to evolve groups one cares about. Focus on effectiveness as well as on cooperation and sustainability will be welcome in most places. A strength of Prosocial is that it represents a lot of solid and/or progressive theory packed into a very comprehensible and deliverable method. While integrating economic/political science, psychological science and evolution science in an innovative way, the straightforwardness of the “doing-part” promises to accelerate implementation efforts. This will be the defining volume for anyone wishing to stay up-to-date with the most promising organizational approach in one of the most progressive psychological domains (contextual behavioural science). Being a cutting-edge method, empirical evaluation of Prosocial lies largely ahead of us. It is advisable to use Prosocial primarily along with some kind of independent evaluation effort. Evaluating the method critically will also evolve the method. Implementation of contextual behavioral science at times has been accused of running ahead of data. In keeping with the Prosocial-spirit, we should all together use this volume wisely as a resource for rapidly accumulating more research data to compare this particular configuration of theory and practice in relation to existing organizational methods. The choice of the authors to put the method out there - making it a common - also underscores the need for anyone intent on using it to reflect on the own capacity to deal with group processes, especially when the method is used professionally. That said, find a facilitator, design your evaluation method, and start evolving “…the more beautiful world that our hearts know is possible (p. 218)”! /Gustaf Waxegård, PhD
A scalable, flexible, approach with a succinct behaviour change component to work with the variables of greatest importance to perform in a complex modern work environment – that is what the authors of “Prosocial – using evolutionary science to build productive, equitable and collaborative groups” offer. The book is part popular science, part “how-to” and therefor the perfect introduction to the Prosocial framework. It outlines precisely the main theory, practical tools and procedures to get going to evolve groups one cares about. Focus on effectiveness as well as on cooperation and sustainability will be welcome in most places. A strength of Prosocial is that it represents a lot of solid and/or progressive theory packed into a very comprehensible and deliverable method. While integrating economic/political science, psychological science and evolution science in an innovative way, the straightforwardness of the “doing-part” promises to accelerate implementation efforts. This will be the defining volume for anyone wishing to stay up-to-date with the most promising organizational approach in one of the most progressive psychological domains (contextual behavioural science). Being a cutting-edge method, empirical evaluation of Prosocial lies largely ahead of us. It is advisable to use Prosocial primarily along with some kind of independent evaluation effort. Evaluating the method critically will also evolve the method. Implementation of contextual behavioral science at times has been accused of running ahead of data. In keeping with the Prosocial-spirit, we should all together use this volume wisely as a resource for rapidly accumulating more research data to compare this particular configuration of theory and practice in relation to existing organizational methods. The choice of the authors to put the method out there - making it a common - also underscores the need for anyone intent on using it to reflect on the own capacity to deal with group processes, especially when the method is used professionally. That said, find a facilitator, design your evaluation method, and start evolving “…the more beautiful world that our hearts know is possible (p. 218)”! /Gustaf Waxegård, PhD
July 26, 2019
** Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review **
Libro muy interesante, para quienes lideren grupos principalmente, pero también para quienes no, ya que es importante formarnos, para poder tener una mejor conciencia de nuestro desempeño en los grupos de los que tomamos parte. Los conceptos están bien explicados, desde los más básicos, y es interesante que ademas de los conceptos teóricos, podamos ver aspectos más prácticos para llevar adelante. Personalmente, me interesa el enfoque empresarial que puede dársele al tema, pero lo bueno es que no se limita a eso.
Libro muy interesante, para quienes lideren grupos principalmente, pero también para quienes no, ya que es importante formarnos, para poder tener una mejor conciencia de nuestro desempeño en los grupos de los que tomamos parte. Los conceptos están bien explicados, desde los más básicos, y es interesante que ademas de los conceptos teóricos, podamos ver aspectos más prácticos para llevar adelante. Personalmente, me interesa el enfoque empresarial que puede dársele al tema, pero lo bueno es que no se limita a eso.
November 22, 2023
Most of have heard of the “The Tragedy of the Commons”. How many are aware that managing the commons is a solved problem?
Turns out a little known Nobel Laureate, Elinor Ostrum, showed that communities around the world have successfully managed common resources. She identified eight principles that enable success. These principles provide a framework for groups to improve their communication and decision-making.
Prosocial makes the methods accessible. Let’s hope it has a big impact on improving how groups and groups of groups collaborate.
May 24, 2020
I learned a lot from this book and continue to learn from it. This book is a guide into the evolutionary science that explains how groups can thrive and work well with other groups. It has a lot of great examples and takes you step-by-step through the process of implementing prosocial with any kind of group. Check out The Prosocial Path @ http://prosocial.world to get free online tools that can help you implement prosocial as you go through this book.
June 14, 2021
FULL REVIEW TO COME
I felt such joy and invigoration reading this book, imagining what its suggestions will do for the groups I work with. I rate it 4.49⭐ - excellent content, well-supported arguments, moderately dry writing style.
I felt such joy and invigoration reading this book, imagining what its suggestions will do for the groups I work with. I rate it 4.49⭐ - excellent content, well-supported arguments, moderately dry writing style.
December 28, 2021
Think innovation-education-collaboration and you will understand the importance of this book in your work-a-day lives no matter what profession you find yourself. Always think about See-Judge-Act and always in collaboration with our associates and we will grow and accomplish our plans.
November 9, 2019
An interesting application of Ostrom’s principles!
May 7, 2020
Reads more like a textbook, authors often takes long-winded approaches to explaining things.
January 13, 2022
An incredible book that give you hope and the tools to keep the hope going on !
November 6, 2023
Comprehensive outline and process.
February 8, 2025
Interesting. Applies biological evolution, and how it is relevant to our cultural evolution. We should be promoting cooperation versus competition, in our societies and at work.
September 13, 2024
Prosocial has many contributions for several audiences. As someone looking for more theory and knowledge in the evolutionary, social science field, I found the first third of the book to be fantastic. I got some value out of the rest of the book, but it definitely grew more boring as it dove into great detail about specific applications of the theory for professionals. I can see myself returning to the application sections when I am looking to improve group meetings and general coordination in the workplace, but otherwise would recommend the first few chapters to those looking for a refreshing and optimistic perspective on the nature of human collaboration.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews