Common Source is open source plus people sharing. An organization releases its knowledge as a public good and also makes the people who are skilled in it available to the wider ecosystem.
How the word moved
I first used the phrase in April 2023. In March 2025 I defined it properly in Wystems Thinking 7, as a little equation. By October 2026 it had become part of infrastructure for agency.
In my words
"Common Source = Open Source + People Sharing"
from Wystems Thinking 7: Common Source, 31 Mar 2025
Related
- Related Wystem - the organizational model it belongs to.
- Related Infrastructure for Agency - sharing knowledge along with the expertise.
- Related Public Intelligence - the same commons approach, applied to AI.