The Next Next Common Sense
projects, and intellectual property can be copied without diminishing the original. This abundance suggests territory conflicts should diminish in digital contexts. Yet in practice, digital environments often intensify rather than reduce territorial behavior. When boundaries become less visible, the perceived need to establish and defend them often increases. When work happens in shared digital spaces rather than distinct physical locations, ambiguity about ownership grows. And when recognition increasingly depends on digital visibility, protecting one’s contribution territory becomes more urgent rather than less. This paradox manifests in numerous ways: Knowledge hoarding intensifies when information sharing no lon- ger requires physical exchange. The employee who once kept important documents in desk drawers now maintains private digital folders that colleagues can’t access—technically complying with knowledge man- agement systems while effectively maintaining tight control over crucial information. Credit conflicts escalate when digital systems make contribution at- tribution more explicit. While software developers previously negotiated credit informally, GitHub commit histories create permanent records of who contributed what—intensifying discussions about whose contribu- tion deserves recognition. Platform fiefdoms emerge as different teams adopt specialized digital tools. Marketing adopts one project management platform while Product uses another, creating digital walled gardens that impede cross-functional collaboration despite the technical possibility of integration. Permission barriers proliferate in ostensibly open systems. Shared drives fill with folders requiring special access, collaboration platforms fragment into private channels, and automated workflow systems include approval gates that create digital checkpoints where none existed before. These territorial dynamics don’t emerge because digital technologies inherently encourage defensive behavior. Rather, they reflect underlying human concerns about recognition, identity, security, and control that
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