The Exploration Group has discovered three kinds of people: Settlers, Explorers and Traders.
For societies to work, all three are needed. Let me start with some basic definitions.
Settlers. These are the people of the land, typically inland. They lived and focused on one place. They lived on farms, in cities, towns and places where life had a continuity to it. Continuity is a positive; it is the stabilizing force in a society.
Explorers. In times past explorers were the people that roamed and discovered. They went from place to place by boat, by horseback, by Conestoga wagon. They covered the miles to see what had not yet been found. They were always on the go, coming here or going there. Today they may be in a laboratory looking for the Boson Higgs particles or working on a spaceship that will go to Mars.
Traders. These were the people in the "ports". They were at the stage coach station and in the cities and towns where the Explorers came to exchange their goods and where the settlers came to purchase goods and trade. Traders were the brokers that exchanged goods. They were the assigners of value for the products and for the skills that created them.
In bygone eras the actors described above interacted with one another, but did not live and work in proximity with each other. Each had their role, and by living out their roles they brought symbiotic value to each other. All were needed and all worked together. They knew each other, but did not work together on a daily basis.
Today our transportation, communication and technology vehicles have advanced and connected the world. The relationships outlined above are now interacting more than ever. That brings new value, but now the relational dynamics of these differing skill sets come into play.
Today's Settlers, Explorers and Traders can easily get frustrated as they work together in close proximity. Their personalities and problem solving processes are very different. When put side by side their unique skills are often incompatible.
The opportunity today is rediscovering and freshly engaging the value Settlers, Traders and Explorers bring to the economy. By creating new value chains of discovery we expand the horizons of what is possible for all of us.