I’ve been reading a fascinating book called, The Starfish and The Spider, which is about the power of leaderless organizations.
Take for example Wikipedia or Craigslist. These are two great organizations that are essentially run and directed by the users themselves. People who have bought and sold things on Craigslist get a sense of the community that is created there, and part of the appeal is that the company hasn’t sold out to advertisers but maintains a simple look and feel and allows the users to direct the flow of the site. Wikipedia is basically an online encyclopedia that is written by and enforced by the users of this online community. People police themselves and are free to edit and add to any entry as they see necessary.
The book examines why these systems work and they pointed out a simple principle that is so true:
Everyone wants to contribute, and everyone has something to contribute somewhere.
What a great thought! I paused after I read that and began to consider those ideas for myself. What do I have to contribute and where am I going to make that contribution? And the same question is true for you…
What are you contributing?
