Every community is a complex adaptive system. A complex adaptive system is any system composed of many autonomous parts, where each part may act independently of every other part, but each part’s actions will influence the actions of the parts immediately around it setting up a self-organizing iterated feedback system within the whole.
Because human beings are hardwired to be status-seeking individuals, every human community will self-organize according to three simple rules of attraction, avoidance, and alignment.
- Attraction: follow the one in front of you.
- Avoidance: stay in front of the one behind you.
- Alignment: stay next to the one beside you.
How these rules get applied will depend upon the context of power relationships within the community. There are two basic types of power relationships – unequal power relationships and equal power relationships. Of course power is equated with status, so whoever possesses power possesses status. This sets up the dynamic of power relationships in a complex adaptive system, and how the rules will be applied.
An unequal power relationship is one where there is a position of high power and high status related to positions of low power and low status. Only the person with high power or status possesses the privilege to speak, and those in the low power and status positions must only listen and obey. So the person in the position of high power feels entitled to monopolize information, control decision-making, and command obedience from those in low power positions. The persons in positions of low power feel obligated to obey without dissent or question those in high power positions.
Leadership by its very definition sets up relationships of unequal power. The essence of the relationship between leader and follower is one of high power and status to low power and status. This relationship cannot be avoided no matter how benevolent and well intentioned is the leader or follower. It is a self-organizing dynamic set up by the very nature of human beings in community.
In leader-based communities the content of the three simple rules become:
- Rule of Attraction: tell the person above you what you think they want to hear.
- Rule of Avoidance: tell the persons beneath you only what you think they need to know.
- Rule of Alignment: conform to the gossip around you in either praising or blaming the leaders or followers for the community’s problems.
Because of this inevitable dynamic in leader-based communities, there will always be a corrupt culture of secrecy, inequality, and inauthentic communication resulting in abuse of power.
Equal power relationships are where there are no high or low power or status positions. Each person possesses the equal privilege to speak and shares the equal and reciprocal obligation to listen. So power must be shared and distributed. Decision-making must be collaborative and participatory. The community is characterized by openness and transparency with information. Accountability to one another replaces blind obedience to those in leadership positions above you. Shared competence of all replaces the command and control of the many by the few.
In the absence of unequal power relationships and with the presence of equal power relationships, the content of the three simple rules of self-organizing communities will be:
- Rule of Attraction: seek out people with the competence and expertise you need to assist you in making your own contribution to the well being of the community.
- Rule of Avoidance: be open and transparent with others because you want them to be open and transparent with you. (Avoid secrecy and hidden agendas.)
- Rule of Alignment: cooperate with others in assisting them in satisfying their own private interests as they assist you in satisfying your own.
This will naturally occur, you don’t have to force this behavior. Just organize without unequal power relationships and trust the dynamics of self-organizing complex adaptive systems. If you can successfully organize a community without leaders and so without the self-organizing dynamic of unequal power relationships, people will naturally cooperate with one another to achieve successfully the goals of the leaderless community with greater equity and fairness. The dignity of each person will be equally respected and the needs of each person equally met.
Of course this is difficult to do because we have for so long assumed that whenever you get a group of people together as a community or to accomplish some task, you must place someone in charge. As soon as you do this – place someone in in charge – you’ve created a leader-based community of unequal power relationships and will eventually reap the consequences of social injustice, corruption, and abuse of power. This is inevitable given the unwavering dynamic of self-organizing complex adaptive systems. It also isn’t enough just to create a context of equal power relationships and allow the trusted system dynamics to take over.
Every community, or group of people, committed to some purpose, to be successful, must accomplish certain administrative tasks or management functions. Otherwise there will be chaos. The five basic management functions are:
· Strategic – Vision – See it (what it is the community wants to accomplish)
· Operational – Planning – Plan it (how the community will accomplish it)
· Tactical – Doing – Do it
· Resource – Funding – Energize it
· People – Culture – Make it meaningful
So how does a community perform these essential tasks without creating a leadership hierarchy? How can these essential functions be managed without leaders in a leaderless community? No one has yet been able to figure out how to do this intentionally, so every great and noble revolution and reform movement has eventually collapsed into some leadership hierarchy and betrayed the goals that inspired the movement in the beginning and been absorbed by the corrupt rank-based system it was trying to replace.
Each revolution starts out as an authentic voice against unequal power relationships. But failing to understand the self-organizing dynamics of communities, they create leadership positions and before you know it they have reinstituted the same old relationships of unequal power they were fighting against. Only now different people hold the positions of high power and status. This does not need to happen.
I believe a community, or revolution can succeed without leaders if they organize to perform the above functions through peer-based, or leaderless management vehicles; namely, peer councils, rotational stewardship positions, and mentors.
Peer Councils (See pages 127ff of Myth of Leadership)
Peer councils are composed from all individuals within the community. With peer councils, a greater sense of community is developed that fosters increased competency in all members of the community. Councils provide the vehicle for this development by creating a space of genuine dialogue. The goals of peer-based councils are as follows:
· To foster a sense of equal standing and genuine communication among all persons
· To allow everyone in the community to contribute to decision-making in the five functions of management
· To ensure that everyone in the community begins to think and act like a valued and important contributor
· To provide everyone in the community the opportunity to discover, develop, and increase their own unique set of competencies and abilities
Rotational Stewardship Positions (See pages 142ff of Myth of Leadership)
Obviously, not every decision can or should be brought before the entire council. Day-to-day and routine decision-making can be delegated to administrative positions within each council. The essence of rotational stewardship positions is those in administrative positions within the councils have definite term limits to fill their management assignment. These administrative positions are responsible to the council out of which they were selected. These stewardship positions are for individuals, teams, or task forces. After their time is up, other individuals will be chosen and the rotation continues. This will keep the energy flow through the community generative. Rotating who has important positions on a regular basis is a very important to prevent any sense of leadership entitlement or permanency. Rotating stewardship positions on a regular basis will give more people a greater chance at participation and contribution. Also, the fact that people share in the ownership of carrying out important tasks means that they also share in the burden of communicating knowledge and information to others. This improves teamwork and knowledge sharing in a manner that makes communities self-correcting.
Mentoring (See pages 107ff of Myth of Leadership)
Mentors play the crucial role of linking the various peer councils with one another. They create the network. In many ways, mentoring replaces leading, and mentors replace leaders in peer-based, leaderless communities. A leader leads followers, and the implication, given the myth of leadership, is that this leadership is “over” others. It is the command and control of others using rank-based authority. A mentor advises and counsels others. A mentor may possess greater expertise, knowledge, and experience and shares this with members of the community who are lacking in these areas. It is a relationship, not of rank, but alongside of the one being mentored. The difference in symbolism is very important. A mentor is a person committed to the improvement of self and others. The commitment is an essential part of the mentor’s body, heart, and mind. With the body, the mentor models; with the heart, the mentor counsels; and with the mind, the mentor teaches. To the true mentor, the physical and emotional needs of others become his or her spiritual need.
The mentor teaches with the mind, not by lecturing, but by asking the right questions. Examples of mentoring questions are:
What do you care most about?
How are you being affected personally?
What do you believe is the main problem or issue?
What do you believe should be done?
What do you think others would say?
What do you hope for?
The mentor counsels with the heart through sincere, empathic listening. The mentor models with the body by being an example of the peer attitudes and values in interactions with others. Mentors counsel councils and rotational stewardship positions, but they do not vote or take an active part in the decision-making process of the community.
