On The Other Side ep 32 - DAO Mini-Series: Marketplaces in self-managing orgs
Primer: How do we allocate resources in a decentralized organization? In this episode of On The Other Side, Chase Chapman speaks with Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans from the Brave New Work Podcast, introducing the concept of internal marketplaces and how human capital and resources self-adjust to the actions of various agents in an ecosystem.
Marketplaces In Self-Managing Organizations
In a traditional workplace, there are clearly assigned tasks for individuals
In decentralized organizations, allocating resources and decision-making has to be done differently
“So if you think about the marketplace of startups and companies, and service providers, and vendors, they all organize to create the economy. They all organize to create the internet, they come together around very simple rules about basically, anyone can engage with anyone and do business with them.”
- Aaron Dignan
The idea of a marketplace entails allowing agents in the system to collaborate and do businesses with one another on their own volition
The Marketplace Model At The Ready
💡 The Ready is a company founded by Aaron and Rodney.
When there is a new project at The Ready, they open it to everyone who is interested to work on it
Roles will be filled from people who volunteered for it
The marketplace decides where the resources and people gets directed to
People with poor reputation as contributors gets self-selected out for consideration by the market
Who Decides Which Volunteers Get Chosen?
Rodney would open the position of project steward to anyone who’s interested
If there are 2 or more interested individuals, she will speak to each of them to identify the best fit in terms of industry experience, availability, etc.
If the 2 or more interested individuals are equally qualified and available, they have to figure out among themselves who would be the lead and 2IC
The project steward’s reputation is important too — people might choose not to work with a project steward if a steward has a bad reputation
What Is An Operating System In A Self-Managing Organization?
Used the term “operating system (OS)” just to get people to think of these interconnected ideas
The OS is the foundational principles and practices. What do you believe in and do around:
Purpose
Authority
Structure
Meetings
Resource allocation
Membership
Feedback
Different organizations have completely different OSs
“It is the encoding of those principles and practices, either by implicit habit and norms, or by actually writing the shit down, that makes an OS happen. And then everything else is built on top of that.”
- Aaron Dignan
Rodney’s Potted Plant Analogy For Tension In The OS
If the pot is too big for the plant, there will be too much water and the roots rot and die
If the pot is too small for the plant, the roots outgrow the pot and the plant dies
OSs have an adjacent body or a superbody (e.g. OS of the marketplace vs OS of the entire DAO)
There needs to be enough constraint or structure for it to thrive
All information presented above is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Summaries are prepared by The Reading Ape. While reasonable efforts are made to provide accurate content, any errors in interpreting and summarizing the source material are ours alone. We disclaim any liability associated with the use of our content.