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This is the second of my recent comments over at the Online Social Networks Conference, a response to a question from Nathan Wilcox:
I think there are two limiting factors impeding the development of true “extreme democracy:”
1) Human Nature — people like to be led. The success of authoritarians everywhere is the strongest testiment to this trait. This is the biggest limiting factor to self-organizing.
Nathan, I don’t think this is a barrier, it’s at the very heart of the opportunity for small groups who demonstrate the ability to get projects going (not tech, but organizing projects) and win a following. Extreme democracy is about the fact that with all these tools at hand, anyone with some nerve, a little self-discipline and either techie friends or the willingness to learn how to use the tools can start a movement. It’s not going to be big, at first, but the scope is limited only by the leadership abilities of the people who start things.
This leads to another critical phase in any project, which we know from the business world, as well: There comes a time in every project/small movement’s existence when it is time to join a larger movement (to decide to follow) or to take the lead among other small project teams and movements (to consolidate leadership). Here’s where my experience in caucus systems has consistently shown me that leadership is the essential ingredient and that leadership sometimes involves trading absolute control of the direction of a larger movement for concessions, promises or binding agreements that the priorities of a smaller movement will be integrated into and respected by the larger movement. Knowing when to step aside and let others lead is at least as important as know how to lead; and knowing how to get what you want out of that moment of concession is the art of politics.
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