On becoming a starfish: could decentralising develop CDX’s resilience (and has it already begun)?

CDX Board Meeting 21 September 2011 To inspire and to stimulate thinking and discussion

Edited version of paper On becoming a starfish: could decentralising develop CDX’s resilience (and has it already begun)?

Compiled by Lorna Prescott, with comments and contributions from Nick Beddow

The Starfish and the Spider The Starfish and the Spider: the unstoppable power of leaderless organisations is a book

by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom first published in 2006. The following is an overview of the book from wikipedia.

It is an exploration of the implications of the recent rise of decentralized organizations such as Wikipedia, Grokster and YouTube. The book contrasts them to centralized organizations, such as EncyclopĂŚdia Britannica, using compendia of knowledge as examples. The spider and starfish analogy refers to the contrasting biological nature of the respective organisms, starfish having a decentralized neural structure permitting regeneration.

In addition to giving historical examples of decentralized organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous and the Apaches and analyzing their nature in contrast to centralized organizations, the book considers conflict between centralized and decentralized organizations, including the "If you can't beat them, join them" solution of creating hybrid organizations such as Citizendium. A chapter towards the end of the book explores the concept of the "sweet spot", the optimal mix of decentralized and centralized attributes.

The book identifies a set of people the authors call "catalysts", who tend to be skilled at creating decentralized organizations. The authors list several abilities and behaviours (called "The Catalyst's Tools") that "catalysts" have in common, including: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Genuine interest in others.

Numerous loose connections, rather than a small number of close connections.

Skill at social mapping.

Desire to help everyone they meet.

The ability to help people help themselves by listening and understanding, rather than giving advice ("Meet people where they are").

6. Emotional Intelligence.

7. Trust in others and in the decentralized network.

8. Inspiration (to others).

9. Tolerance for ambiguity.

10. A hands-off approach. Catalysts do not interfere with, or try to control the behaviour of the contributing members of the decentralized organization.

11. Ability to let go. After building up a decentralized organization, catalysts move on, rather than trying to take control .

CDX Board Meeting 21 September 2011 To inspire and to stimulate thinking and discussion

This book has some similarities to books like The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, as both identify certain sets of people who are important to change in a society or an organization, and try to define the attributes that people belonging to these sets have in common. The theoretical base draws richly from complexity writers in management, such as Ralph Stacey, Margaret Wheatley, Dee Hock, Doug Griffin, Patricia Shaw, John Holland, and Robert Axelrod among others. The book provides an original and accessible way to see these principles in action.

Five Legs The five legs to a starfish organization: 1. Circles 2. The Catalyst 3. Ideology 4. The Pre-existing Networks 5. The Champion The Major Principles of Decentralization 1. When attacked, a decentralized organization tends to become even more open and decentralized 2. It's easy to mistake starfish for spiders 3. An open system doesn't have central intelligence; the intelligence is spread throughout the system 4. Open systems can easily mutate 5. The decentralized organization sneaks up on you 6. As industries become decentralized, overall profits decrease The Starfish book represents a new analysis of what has already been happening intuitively; the powerful or power-seeking have had to change tack as the old ways got blocked and they had to go round the obstacles by finding a new way. We evolve so slowly in relationships compared to our rapid rate of technological change.

There are links to Alison Gilchrist’s promotion of fluid networks, freely collaborating, and echoes of Negri on the potential power of small scattered points of resistance which can’t be contained easily.

A new set of rules (which I feel CDX is strongly positioned to take advantage of) Just as the telephone changed communications and technology changed warfare, the forces of decentralisation have created a new set of rules.

These rules are described in Chapter 9 of the book and are presented in the extracts below. We added the questions in boxes – which might be useful for CDX trustees to think and talk through

CDX Board Meeting 21 September 2011 To inspire and to stimulate thinking and discussion

Rule 1. Diseconomies of Scale Decentralisation has changed everything. AT&T was huge, had massive infrastructure, and employed tens of thousands. Skype had just a few employees and a handful of PCs to its name. Because Skype didn’t have to support a large payroll, a marketing department, or expensive facilities, it could thrive on minimal revenues. This lean approach, combined with a large, decentralised network of users, enabled it to wreak havoc on the phone industry.

As counterintuitive as this sounds, it can be better to be small…

We have entered a new world where being small can provide a fundamental economic advantage. As diseconomies of scale increase, the cost of entering a new market dramatically decreases.

• • •

Might CDX take advantage of this in terms of working with people from other fields?

What minimal resources does CDX have and need?

What other resources can it tap?

Rule 2. The Network Effect The network effect is the increase in the overall value of the network with the addition of each new member…

Historically creating the network effect could be tough. The fax network had to be built one expensive fax machine at a time. Starfish organisations, however, are particularly well positioned to take advantage of the network effect. For some of the most successful starfish organisations, like Skype and craigslist, it costs absolutely nothing to add a new customer…

Companies like eBay have used the network effect not only to survive but to thrive: buyers and sellers have stayed loyal to the site because of the value of network.

• • • • •

How strong is our current network?

What binds it as valuable to all?

Does adding members cost CDX anything? (e.g. labour of reaching out, processing, ongoing communications) Does adding members add value to CDX? If so, what? (e.g. ideological unity/ diverse debate/ credibility for influence) How can CDX generate loyalty through the value of the network? (e.g. through the network being aware of its own value to each of us – this is less about loyalty to CDX than loyalty to CD allies)

Rule 3. The Power of Chaos … in the decentralised world… it pays to be chaotic. In seemingly chaotic systems, users are free to do whatever they want…

CDX Board Meeting 21 September 2011 To inspire and to stimulate thinking and discussion

Starfish systems are wonderful incubators for creative, destructive*, innovative or crazy ideas. Anything goes. Good ideas will attract more people, and in a circle they’ll execute the plan. Institute order and rigid structure, and while you may achieve standardisation, you’ll also squelch creativity. Where creativity is valuable, learning to accept chaos is a must. [* I’m not certain, but I think that by destructive, the authors here are referring to creative disruption and perhaps disruptive innovation] • •

What balance of order and chaos might work for CDX? Should we be concerned about winners & losers in chaotic conditions – a storm favours the powerful. Order and chaos don’t have to be polarities – a mix of order (state intervenes to ensure equalities) and chaos (grassroots determines needs and priorities and direction)

Rule 4. Knowledge at the Edge In starfish organisations, knowledge is spread throughout the organisation…

Toyota understood this lesson and encouraged its assembly-line workers to innovate and make suggestions, since they knew better than anyone else what was actually happening on the line.

• •

Is there a need for the edge to find a focal point for exchange?

How can CDX better recognise and share the knowledge at the edge?

Rule 5. Everyone Wants to Contribute Not only do people throughout a starfish have knowledge, but they also have a fundamental desire to share and to contribute…. Contributors spend hours editing Wikipedia articles because they want to make the site better… It’s all in the spirit of sharing and contributing.

• • • •

What do CDX members want to contribute to?

How can CDX make it easy for and support members to contribute?

Is there an element of vanity in expertise?

How can we ensure all who contribute have their day in the sun? (e.g. via online networks where contribution is easy and visible?)

Rule 6. Beware the Hydra Response Attack a decentralised organisation and you’ll soon be reminded of Hydra, the manyheaded beast of Greek mythology. If you cut off one head, two more will grow in its place… Cut off the arm of a starfish, and it will grow a whole new body.

CDX Board Meeting 21 September 2011 To inspire and to stimulate thinking and discussion

• •

Is NatCAN a whole new body grown partly from CDX? Is there a possibility that CDX might be a head that gets lopped off, like the Regional CD Networks… so that NatCAN, Campaign for CD, Our Society, ABCD, Changes and others flourish in its place?

Rule 7. Catalysts Rule … Although they don’t conform to the CEO role, catalysts are crucial to decentralised organisations. But it’s not because they run the show. Catalysts are important because… they inspire people to action. … they map out a network, and … they know when to let go.

Catalysts have taken the world by storm. But watch out: if you turn a catalyst into a CEO, the entire network will be in jeopardy.

• • • •

Who are our catalysts?

Do all Board members need to be catalysts too?

Does the CDX CEO need to ensure CEO traditional behaviour is transcended by facilitation and connection, and also challenge (so the chaos doesn’t lead to oppression by powerful circle)?

How could we support catalysts to inspire action and then let go? (e.g. via CD processes and awareness of our role as facilitators, not Leaders - authentic leadership without a L)

Rule 8. The Values Are the Organisation Ideology is the fuel that drives the decentralised organistion…

Most starfish organisations were started with what seemed at the time to be a radical ideology…

If you really want to change a decentralised organisation, the best strategy is to alter the ideology of the members. It’s how Jamii Bora fights terrorism in the slums of Africa, and how Future Generations builds communities in Afghanistan.

• •

CDX has clearly agreed values: does this mean we have a unifying ideology which all subscribe to wholeheartedly?

Should we revist aims and explore this with members at our conference on 22 October?

Rule 9. Measure, Monitor and Manage Just because starfish organisations tend to be ambiguous and chaotic doesn’t mean that we can’t measure their results. But when measuring a decentralised network, it’s better, as the saying goes, to be vaguely right than precisely wrong (ie feel rather than analyse?) .

Even if we could, it wouldn’t really matter if we were able to get a precise count of how many members are in a network. What matters more is looking at circles. How active are

CDX Board Meeting 21 September 2011 To inspire and to stimulate thinking and discussion

they? How distributed are they? Are circles independent? What kind of connections do they have between them?

Likewise, when we monitor a starfish organisation, we ask questions like: How’s the circle’s health. Do members continue participating? Is it spreading? Is it mutating? Is it becoming more or less decentralised?

Most catalysts understand these questions intuitively. They care about the members, but they don’t expect reports or want control. Managing a decentralised network requires someone who can be a cross between an architect, a cheerleader, and an awestruck observer. In a starfish organisation, people will do what they will do. At their best, catalysts connect people to the drumbeat of the ideology.

Some of CDX’s circles (national and local networks in which CDX members are catalysing): • Our Society network – initiated Dec 2010 - 556 members – 34 groups (initiated by members) with discussions ongoing – 66 blog posts to main site • NatCAN network – initiated May 2011– 355 members – 21 groups (initiated by members) with discussions ongoing, some with over 100 posts– 43 blog posts to main site • changes network – initiated February 2010 - 215 members – 10 groups (set up by changes) – 71 blog posts to main site – 7 discussion forums • engaging together - community development based engagement work in Dudley – mailing list of 400 plus – networking events and training sessions attended by over 150 individuals – online networking developing Note: none of these circles existed 2 years ago. They cost CDX nothing. They have already, or have the potential to, increase CDX’s membership and reach.

• • • •

•

It feels as though for years CDX spent money (in staff time) building relationships from the centre to regional CD networks. How can we understand what is left of these by considering them as circles?

How healthy are the individual circles?

What can we do to help them regenerate?

What is the role of CDX staff and trustees in measuring, monitoring and managing? (e.g. spreading the use of intuitive, emotionally intelligent measures based on shared feelings about progress or otherwise – part of our ideological drumbeating against New Labour targets but also against Coalition neglect) How can they best be architects, cheerleaders and awestruck observers?

Rule 10. Flatten or Be Flattened There are ways to fight a decentralised organisation. We can change member’s ideology or try to centralise the organisation. But often the best hope for survival if we can’t beat them is to join them. Increasingly, in order to survive, companies and institutions must take on the hybrid approach…

In the digital world, decentralisation will continue to change the face of industry and society. Fighting the forces of change is at best futile and at worst counterproductive. But

CDX Board Meeting 21 September 2011 To inspire and to stimulate thinking and discussion

these same forces can b harnessed for immense power: just ask the music swappers, the Skype callers, the eBay merchants, the Wikipedia contributors, the craigslist community members, the recovering addicts, or anyone who’s ever used the internet.

Yes, decentralised organisations appear at first glance to be messy and chaotic. But when we begin to appreciate their full potential, what initially looked like entropy turns out to be one of the most powerful forces the world has seen.

Nick draws attention to a potential dilemma in the Starfish thinking: how to ensure we can also have co-ordination in united interest when it becomes necessary. We need to promote active contribution, not just talk (social media is a double-edged sword – like all communication, it doesn’t always enhance action when it falls into egocentric selfpromotion).

Nick feels this is where Starfish’s shared ideology/principles and values become vital – and the role of leaders becomes authentic as beaters of the ideology drum and facilitators of focused communication re: priorities for action (promoting a creative debate/”a thousand flowers blooming”) and co-ordinated action (leaders as catalysts and facilitators). As for traditional leadership, it only has a place when decentralisation is being sabotaged and then it becomes limited to intervention rooted in principle; so we limit its use to whenever participants undermine the shared ideology by pulling us into the existing system rather than in-and-against and outside-and-against the state.

Lorna Prescott and Nick Beddow 11 September 2011