Decentralized organizations emerge from networks

Existing decentralized networks “provide circles and an empowered membership and typically have a higher tolerance for innovation”[1] which is why they are fertile soil for the emergence of decentralized organizations.

Put together a close-knit community with shared values and add a belief that everyone’s equal, and what do you get? Decentralization. The Quakers weren’t just decentralized themselves: they served as the decentralized platform upon which the antislavery movement was built.[2]

#decentralization #networks

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, 97. The authors observe that “Almost every decentralized organization that has made it big was launched from a preexisting platform.” ↩︎

  2. Ibid., 96. ↩︎