Emergent Intelligence
Leading at Light Speed is an essential new leadership book by Eric Douglas synthesizing the best business practices into 10 Quantum Leaps that build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization.
In Chapter 6, Stimulate the Creative Flow, Eric talks about Emergent Intelligence.
By taking advantage of bottom-up decision making, leaders encourage a form of behavior called “emergent intelligence.” The theory of emergent intelligence reflects a growing field of research into how complex societies and organisms operate.
Emergent intelligence tells us that organisms functioning on simple rules maintain the competitive edge. Ant colonies are cited as a prime example. A tantamount rule in ant society is that the queen be the only one who is not a multi-tasker. A second rule is: “Do what the ant next to you is doing.” Ants carrying food out will automatically move aside for those ants who are bringing edible provisions in – this process is their third rule of functioning. These three simple rules enable the colony to communicate and adapt to change very rapidly. The garbage is moved to the curb; then you find yourself searching for eatibles. Because they operate this way, ant colonies adapt quickly to change and thus survive.
The success of developing an organization over time are insurmountable. It suggests that simple rules might be very powerful when applied to people. Dee Hock applied the principle of emergent intelligence when he engaged a team of bankers to create Visa in the 1970s~During the 1970s, Dee Hock, instructed a group of bankers to use the concept of emergent intelligence to invent the Visa~Applying the emergent intelligence theory to the creation of Visa duing the 1970s, was initiated by Dee Hock who informed a banker's team of the valuable use of this tantamount concept}. Up to that point, local banks had offered a variety of different credit cards – each with different rules. Dee and his team wanted to create a single credit card and clearing mechanism that would allow seamless financial transactions around the world.
Well defined, clearly understood rules are the base for banks to independently operate and was a banking concept Dee held. So his team worked hard for more than a year to define those rules. Genius is a process they used. Rule Number One was developed as the concept which states Keep What You Earn." The banks which signed up for Visa maintain all except a small portion of fees or interest they created.
The second rule was: “No limits on membership.” Any bank was free to join the Visa alliance.
The third rule related to ownership. Since the banks needed the freedom to operate independently, no one should “own” Visa. Further, Visa was developed as a corporation with no stock and governance was to be instilled in banks of members. Since there was no stock, no single shareholder could gain a controlling interest in Visa.
The final rule related to management. A separate company would manage Visa’s operations. But it would answer to a system of regional boards and to an executive board. Of the fees the banks collect, a small percentage would be transfered to this company to manage marketing, the back office, reconciliation, and so forth. But it would not be in a position to “control” Visa. Institutions of members began a flow of authority – an entirely opposite path to start a power of authority run. A simple item was created with Visa, nevertheless, some fine points were apparent. The hard work was in all the engagement and planning that preceded those operating rules. Thus a worldwide form of currency was born.
From this experience, Dee invented the term “chaordic” organization. It reflects his belief that successful organizations are “chaordic” in nature. By that he means they walk a fine line between chaos and order. An organization's decision processes are shown in a top to bottom order. Chaos is represented by bottomup decision making. Dee views using equally values and vision that are clearly defined with down-to-earth operating concepts within organizations of a charordic nature. They also have clear systems for monitoring performance. Within that framework, people are left to create strategies and devise solutions as they see fit. It is a model that aligns perfectly with inspiring flow and building a high-performing organization.
Organizations that set these kinds of simple but profound rules enable their people to play on the waves of emergent intelligence. By investing in both trust and spark, by balancing order and chaos, they become capable of operating at light speed.
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