This continues our look at the book, The Starfish and the Spider.

The fourth leg that makes the decentralized organization really develop and hum is the preexisting network. Put together a close-knit community with shared values and add a belief that everyone’s equal and what do you get? Decentralization.

Almost every decentralized organization has made it big was launched from a preexisting platform. The new comes out of the old. Unfortunately, centralized organizations are not good platforms to launch decentralized networks. They are not good for the following reasons:

1. If orders come from above, the membership migt follow, but they won’t be inspired to give it their all.
2. Leaders in top-down organizations want to control what’s happening, thus limiting creativity.
3. 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.

Decentralized networks, however, provide the circles and also empower membership and have a higher tolderance for innovation. The way many new open networks are being launched now is the internet. Being a decentralized network itself is the largest decentralized network and the ability to communicate quickly make this a perfect network to launch other networks.

The continued ability to launch new out of old makes a decentralized system perfect for launching movements. The movements in China related to the church is an example. The church planting movements of the SBC’s IMB is another. This now brings into clear focus why they are so disliked by the oligarchy within the denomination, and why the SBC itself is becoming more centralized: they do not like the lack of control and creativity this movement brings.

The way to kill a movement and a decentralized organization is to find a way to centralize it.