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by
Ori Brafman
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October 2 - October 7, 2021
a decentralized society—flexibility, shared power, ambiguity—made the Apaches immune to attacks that would have destroyed a centralized society.
This is the first major principle of decentralization: when attacked, a decentralized organization tends to become even more open and decentralized.
for the starfish to move, one of the arms must convince the other arms that it’s a good idea to do so.
the second principle of decentralization: it’s easy to mistake starfish for spiders.
At Alcoholics Anonymous, no one’s in charge. And yet, at the same time, everyone’s in charge. It’s Nevins’s open system in action. The organization functions just like a starfish.
The one thing that does remain constant is the recovery principle—the famous twelve steps.
There’s no application form, and nobody owns AA. Nobody owns AA.
It’s not that open systems necessarily make better decisions. It’s just that they’re able to respond more quickly because each member has access to knowledge and the ability to make direct use of it.
This brings us to the third principle of decentralization: an open system doesn’t have central intelligence; the intelligence is spread throughout the system.
The fourth principle of decentralization is that open systems can easily mutate.
As soon as an outside force presents itself, the decentralized organization quickly mutates to meet the new challenge or need.
the decentralized organization sneaks up on you. Because the decentralized organization mutates so quickly, it can also grow incredibly quickly.
This is the sixth principle of decentralization: as industries become decentralized, overall profits decrease.
Is there a person in charge?
Are there headquarters?
If you thump it on the head, will it die?
Is there a clear division of roles?
If you take out a unit, is the organization harmed?
Are knowledge and power concentrated or distributed?
Is the organization flexible or rigid?
Can you count the employees or participants?
Are working groups funded by the organization, or are they self-funding?
Do working groups communicate directly or through intermediaries?
people don’t notice or care whether they’re interacting with a spider or with a starfish. As long as they’re given freedom, as long as they can do what they want to do, they’re happy.
the seventh principle of decentralization: put people into an open system and they’ll automatically want to contribute.
A decentralized organization stands on five legs. As with the starfish, it can lose a leg or two and still survive. But when you have all the legs working together, a decentralized organization can really take off.
LEG 1: Circles
Each Apache group resembled a circle: independent and autonomous.
membership in an Apache circle was rather exclusive. The only way for outsiders to join a circle, in fact, was to be taken in battle. But once brought into a circle, members were accepted as Apache—whether by birth, adoption, or capture. That’s the thing about circles: once you join, you’re an equal. It’s then up to you to contribute to the best of your ability.
On the other hand, when circles take on more than fourteen or so members, the bond breaks down. Members become more anonymous, and that opens the door to free-riding or destructive behavior. No longer does everyone have to pull their weight.
Because circles don’t have hierarchy and structure, it’s hard to maintain rules within them; no one really has the power to enforce them. But circles aren’t lawless. Instead of rules, they depend on norms. AA has norms about confidentiality and support. Wikipedia has norms for editing entries. The Apache software has norms for developing code. Burning Man has norms for maintaining a gift economy.
The norms, in fact, become the backbone of the circle.
virtual circles have become more anonymous, they’re still based on trust.
“Wikipedia proves that people are basically good.”
LEG 2: The Catalyst
In open organizations, a catalyst is the person who initiates a circle and then fades away into the background.
The creator of eMule is the ultimate catalyst. No one knows who he or she is, and he or she has certainly ceded control: the source code for the program is right there for anyone to use.
makes me think of btc
In letting go of the leadership role, the catalyst transfers ownership and responsibility to the circle.
A catalyst isn’t usually in it for praise and accolades. When his or her job is done, a catalyst knows it’s time to move on.
Once the catalyst leaves, however, his or her presence is still felt. The catalyst is an inspirational fig...
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A catalyst is like the architect of a house: he’s essential to the long-term structural integrity, but he doesn’t move in.
LEG 3: Ideology
The engineers at Apache don’t get paid a penny. They’re motivated by a desire to create a better product. They believe in an open system and respect one another’s contributions—not because they have to but because they want to.
Ideology is the glue that holds decentralized organizations together.
LEG 4: The Preexisting Network
The Quakers had over twenty thousand members in England alone. They were already well versed in working together in circles and shared a common ideology. For eighteen years, Sharp went around England trying to win over the public and the courts. But without an army, the effort was quixotic. It was too difficult to build a brand-new decentralized organization, especially with the vast majority of people supporting slavery. But the Quakers gave the movement a platform.
Almost every decentralized organization that has made it big was launched from a preexisting platform.
As soon as eth hits mainstream, the world will become more decentralized, faster.
centralized organizations aren’t set up to launch decentralized movements.
Without circles, there isn’t the infrastructure for people to get involved and take ownership of an idea.
In Sharp’s day, decentralized organizations were a rarity and entrance into them was difficult, but today the Internet serves as an open platform on the back of which a wide variety of starfish organizations can be launched.
Though internet is centralized to a few compankes owning the infraatructure
