Self-Organization and The Hierarchy of Institutions

The occupations around the world do not rely on the bureaucratic organizational schemes that Weber described, and they actively fight against the increasing expansion of Ellulian technique. The occupations are self-organizing, they are rhizomatic, and they do not rely on individual office-holders or positions. The #ows vocabulary has words for groups (e.g. General Assembly, working group) and for organizing procedure (e.g. point of information, blocking concern) but there are no words that describe individuals. Everyone is an occupier. Whereas hierarchical institutions rely on predictable environments and hierarchies of power and resource-allocation, self-organizing systems rely on distributed resources and relatively autonomous actors.

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#OWS and the Formation of Rhizomatic Associations

A lot of ink has been spilled over whether our digital connections pull us together into a global community or push us apart into our own highly specialized tribes. I do not find either to be very convincing- as they mostly fall into the trap of digital dualism. I would rather point to the wide-spread solidarity created by and through the Occupy Wall Street movement and show that as long as the bits keep flowing, we will have the ability to create new kinds of voluntary associations. These new augmented voluntary associations are rhizomatic, that is, they run horizontal instead of vertical, provide multiple points of entry, can mobilize large groups into collective action, or pit them against one-another in partisan confrontation. Whatever the outcome of the Occupation movements, it is important that we recognize the power of these new associational patterns and use them in the most inclusive and productive way possible.

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Collective Intelligence Literacy – Pierre Lévy

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For my book in progress on social media literacies, I talked to Pierre Lévy about his specialty, collective intelligence. Howard Rheingold

Youth Empowerment: The Building Blocks to a More Just and Sustainable Future

“I am completely convinced that youth can and do change the world, everyday. We just have to give them the opportunity,” says Christopher Fontana, Executive Director and co-founder of Global Visionaries.

Global Visionaries operates under the core belief that youth can change their communities for the better if they are given the inspiration, experience and passion for promoting a better world. Leadership should not be a responsibility given only to adults with fancy degrees and job titles. Leading can come from anyone who has been empowered to make change.

In the same spirit of collaboration and goodwill, GV partners with other nonprofits to form a network of like-minded organizations who are dedicated to creating a more harmonious socio-environmental ecosystem through youth empowerment. Unlike other youth leadership programs, GV is not interested in existing only for the sake of boosting a student’s résumé for college recruiters.

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Complexity Leadership: An Overview and Key Limitations

An overview of the complexity leadership literature is provided. This includes a history of complexity theory and its core concepts, the central propositions of complexity leadership, a review of six prominent frameworks, and a summary of practitioner guidelines. The article also discusses two key limitations to complexity theory: the need to supplement it with other epistemologies and leadership approaches, and the importance of recognizing that its sustained execution likely requires a developmentally mature meaning-making system. The conclusion is that complexity leadership offers a fresh and important way of perceiving and engaging in the management of complex organizational behavior, one which may help leaders to address the most pressing and complex social, economic, and environmental challenges faced globally today.

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Understanding the rise of China – Martin Jacques

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Read also: Cross-Cultural Leadership: How Will China Influence The World?