Because Words Matter, Mochi

(QwwQ) < So…Do you want to tell us what this car battery business is all about?

(n_ll) < No, not really.

(QwwQ) < What? Why not?

(n_ll) < I don’t really care to talk about cars. I don’t own one.

(QwwQ) < How do you manage to get around then?

(n_ll) < Electric scooters. It’s nearly 2020, you know. Welcome to the future.

{QwwQ} < Shudders. Those things scare me. Aren’t you afraid of getting hit out there?

(n_ll) < I suppose that’s a risk, but so is anything fun. You like to have fun don’t you?

(QwwQ) < I don’t go out often, to be honest.

(n_ll) < I see.

(QwwQ) < So, if you don’t want to tell us what batteries have to do with DAOs, then what are we here for today?

(n_ll) < Well, it’s not that I don’t want to talk about that. I just think we should avoid using mechanistic analogies when having discussions about organizations. That’s all.

(QwwQ) < Oh. What kinds of analogies should we use then?

(n_ll) < Organic ones. I mean, just look at the word. Organization. It’s in there, see?

(QwwQ) < Sure, but why does it matter how we talk about organizations? We’re just trying to make them more efficient at the end of the day, no?

(n_ll) < Because words == matter, QwwQ. Never forget that.

And as a matter of fact, no, the raison d’être of an organization is not to achieve pure efficiency. Plus, we’ll never be able to think outside of the box if we keep framing our thoughts with anachronisms taken from the military industrial complex.

(QwwQ) < Yeah, and if we keep using big words too, you nerd. What are you even talking about?

(n_ll) < All I’m saying is terms like company, task force, strategy, tactics, architecture, alignment, re-structuring, triage, units, division — all of these words conjure an image of an organization as some kind of testy teenage war machine set out to conquer the world, despite all the seemingly benign statements about wanting to change it. To be frank, I don’t think these humans have any business “changing the world.” What they should be doing is learning how to better live in harmony with it. And if organizations of the future care about making this world not only habitable, but enjoyable for all life on Earth, they’d do well to start using a vocabulary that more readily wages peace on their natural surroundings.

(QwwQ) < Whoa, whoa. Slow down there partner. Gasoline…Hot polluted air…Battery factory…Scooters…Changing the world… Let me see if I have this right so far:

You think “the World” is going to 💩, so we need to change how car engines, i.e. organizations, run in order to save it. So we need to build a different kind of car. An electric car. Or is it a scooter? Wait, it’s not a machine, because…words…and we aren’t going through puberty anymore? Is that right?

(n_ll) < Precisely.

(QwwQ) < What the #*@! are you smoking, n_ll? DMT?

(n_ll) < What? No. I don’t really go in for that kind of stuff anymore.

(QwwQ) < Are you micro-dosing on the job again? You know that’s just e-cigarettes for psychonauts in denial, right?

(n_ll) < I assure you, I am blind sober these days.

(QwwQ) < Then can you please explain in plain English what in the Sultan Supreme’s name you’re talking about?

(n_ll) < Sure. How about we talk about ATP?

(QwwQ) < ATP? What’s that, the latest bulk white mystery brain powder that you pile into your coffee in the morning?

(n_ll) < No, QwwQ. ATP stands for adenosine triphosphate. It’s a biological molecule, found in these things called “cells.” It’s made by something called an organelle that goes by the name of mitochondria. ATP is known as the energy currency of life. Don’t you remember taking biology in high school?

(QwwQ) < Uhh… No?

(n_ll) < Me neither. I read that on the internet. I guess these mitochondria are referred to as the powerhouse of the cell. They pump out ATP molecules, which power a number of activities in the cell, such as transporting things in and out of it, signaling, and maintenance of the cell’s structure.

(QwwQ) < I see. So mitochondria are like the battery factories of the cell.

(n_ll) < Bingo.

(QwwQ) < And the cell is the organization?

(n_ll) < Yes! Now you’re getting it!

(QwwQ) < And if those mitochondria are the factories…then ATP is like the battery.

(n_ll) < Right, but let’s not get carried aw…

(QwwQ) < And batteries store energy. Wait! You said ATP is the energy currency of life. So this must mean…

(n_ll) < …

(QwwQ) < That means…

(n_ll) < Yes?

(QwwQ) < ATP must be money!

(*-_-) < What? Wait. That’s not what I…

(QwwQ) < Just kidding. ATP has something to do with people doesn’t it?

(*n_-) < What did you just say?

(QwwQ) < ATP is about energizing the activities carried out by people, right? And organelles like mitochondria are like… higher level groups of people or something.

(‘n_ll) < S-s-sure. Hold on...how did you know that?

(QwwQ) < I’m not as dumb as I look you know. I just like taking you for a ride sometimes.

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(n_ll) < You’re not funny.

(QwwQ) < Hey, at least I try. Alright, look — we’ve got cells, mitochondria, and now this adenosine tri-whatshisface. Are you going to ever tell us what any of this has to do with DAOs?

(n_ll) < Yes, if you’d pump the brakes for a second.

(QwwQ) < Whoa. Calm down there, Skittles.

(n_ll) < Fine —how about you and and I calmly agree that we need to make a new engine for the car, I mean a new mitochondria for the cell — forget it, a whole new power source for the organization. And to do that, we need to start by upgrading the way we work on teams, and how those teams motivate people. That’s the first step to making an organization more decentralized and autonomous.

(QwwQ) < Okay, and how do you plan on doing that?

(n_ll) < That, my friend, I’ll…

(QwwQ) < Dude. If you do this again, we’re no longer friends. Got that?

(n_ll) < 💨

(*QwwQ) < Get back here!

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