swarms
Team-Led Property 2: Shared Intelligence
Swarms actively develop information through their members, who gather and share it in a decentralized fashion, without hoarding.
When a single queen ant flies in to a territory, it is the result of random wandering. The queen begins a colony with no map of the terrain. Ant colonies and bee hives both survive and prosper with [...]
Decentralization: Influence, not Authority
Power is the ability to do, or cause others to do, what would not otherwise have done. It comes in many forms. Authority is a power granted for a specific purpose within limits. Control is the ability to direct or restrain. Command is the power to make arbitrary decisions and compel obedience. Dominion is sovereign [...]
Decentralization: Communication Standards
Bees have a special dance to indicate the direction and distance to a food source or an enemy. Ants drop scents on a path to food. Sharing quickly, constantly and securely is the lifeblood of a swarm.
Human swarms share with each other too. The editors of the Internet-based open source encyclopedia Wikipedia rely on a [...]
Decentralization: A Brave Structure
We have just enough organization to get the job done
Every organization, whether it is centralized or decentralized, has a structure. Structures make the organization usable and active. Think of a structure as the “skeleton”: without the skeleton in your body, you would not have shape, mobility, or strength.
Bravery arises in part from observed success. Because [...]
Decentralization: Shared Doctrines
Together we develop standards for how each of us should behave.
Decentralized organizations are not a covenant with anarchy. Instead of doing “what is right in their own eyes,” each member does “what is right” according to a shared, mutually agreed set of values—a doctrine.
This doctrine starts with the plausible promise, which points the way to [...]
Decentralization: Promise-Keeping
The swarm has a rational, achievable, measurable goal.
A plausible promise is not a lofty vision. Visions fire the imagination but usually are not directly achievable within a reasonable amount of time. A lofty vision might be “eradicating all disease from the world.”
A plausible promise arises out of a vision. The promise is possible, measurable, and [...]
A dozen case studies of decentralization
Index to Case Studies
• Alcoholics Anonymous. A decentralized organization: anyone can set up a chapter, which follows a standard meeting format in order to accomplish a shared plausible promise (The Starfish and the Spider).
• Apache Indians in the United States. A decentralized state which could not be conquered by the hierarchical armies under the Spanish (The Starfish [...]
Property 1: Decentralized
Swarms are flatly connected small groups of people who share goals and communications with little or no hierarchy or control.
Some groups start by asking, “Who’s in charge?” They have a president, a board of directors, or some other leader who tells everyone what they should do.
In decentralized leadership, no single individual is in charge. In [...]
Team Led Case Study: The Vikings
\In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Celtic monasteries covered the land and had become quite wealthy through their activities. People contributed gold and material goods to the monks for their upkeep. They became rich targets for plundering pirates. The Vikings in their unique longboats began swooping down the coasts of northern and western Europe, [...]
Feature 1: Team Led
If you are near an ant colony, you can try this. Put something sweet out: a bit of candy or a piece of fruit. It won’t take long for the first scouts, walking around randomly, to find it. Once they do, they’ll turn around and head back to the ant hive. You won’t be able to see it, but all along the path they will be dropping a little bit of scent along the path.
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