Champions relentlessly promote a new idea

In order for a decentralized organization to succeed, the Catalyst (initiator and explainer of the idea) cedes leadership to the Champion, who relentlessly promotes the idea and recruits others to join it.

A champion is relentless in promoting a new idea. Catalysts are charismatic, but champions take it to the next level. A catalyst’s charisma … has a subtlety to it. Catalysts inspire and naturally connect people, but there’s nothing subtle about the champion.[1]

#communication #decentralization

The five legs of a decentralized organization:

  1. Leg 1: Circles – Leadership is by circles in decentralized organizations
  2. Leg 2: The Catalyst – A catalyst starts and moves on from a decentralized organization
  3. Leg 3: Ideology – Ideology is the glue that holds decentralized organizations together
  4. Leg 4: The Pre-existing Network – Decentralized organizations emerge from networks
  5. Leg 5: The Champion – Champions relentlessly promote a new idea

See also:

  1. The Starfish and the Spider – Brafman and Beckstrom (2006), ch. 4, 99. ↩︎