science

The Intention Economy

The Intention Economy is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Intention Economy rather than just read about it. In short: In April 2012, Doc Searls' book The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge was published. Searls coined the term intention economy in a March 2006 article for Linux Journal.

Key takeaways

The Intention Economy belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Intention Economy to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Intention Economy from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In April 2012, Doc Searls' book The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge was published. Searls coined the term intention economy in a March 2006 article for Linux Journal. He wrote: "The Intention Economy grows around buyers, not sellers. It leverages the simple fact that buyers are the first source of money, and that they come ready-made. You don't need advertising to make them." The book forecasts changes to the economy as customers obtain more power through tools of their own, rather than just through allowances by sellers. Many of those tools have been fostered through Searls' work with ProjectVRM, at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, where he served as a fellow from 2006–2010, and where the project continues under his direction. VRM stands for Vendor relationship management, which is the customer-side counterpart of Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, a familiar business function and software category. The term "intention economy" was first coined by Searls in a 2006 article in Linux Journal, and has come into more general use since.

Notes

External links Roberts, Russ (March 11, 2013). "Searls on the Intention Economy". EconTalk. Library of Economics and Liberty.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Intention Economy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Intention Economy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Intention Economy before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Intention Economy ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Intention Economy

In research: The Intention Economy appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Intention Economy in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Intention Economy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2012 English-language non-fiction books, 2012 non-fiction books, Business book stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Intention Economy outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Intention Economy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Intention Economy means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Intention Economy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Intention Economy in simple terms?

In April 2012, Doc Searls' book The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge was published. Searls coined the term intention economy in a March 2006 article for Linux Journal.

Why does The Intention Economy matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Intention Economy?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Intention Economy.