The Dawn of Programmable Organizations
Since the onset of Green Stone we’ve been trying to redefine how our team and partners can better work together. Whether it be new ways to share ideas, to critique one another, to inspire empathy, or achieving a better work/life balance, we’ve made good strides in many places. We’re proud of our experiments with shorter work days, flexible hours, and virtual offices. On the business side we’ve also tried to challenge the constructs of a traditional design organization by asking questions such as:
“What’s a more progressive ownership structure that empowers people to be more committed to the organization?
“How do we calculate fair compensation for our team based on the value they create”
“How do we change the way we charge our clients so it better aligns with their success?”
Acting productively on these types of questions is a lot harder than asking them. We could model and forecast interesting ideas — but how do we make sure we’re compliant with multi-state and country tax laws, and make sure it all works easily within our payroll software? If we wanted to experiment with new forms of equity distribution, monetary models, and ownership structures we needed a means to execute and explore results as simply as prototyping a website.
From Co-Creation to Co-Ownership
Last year, we partnered with a vehicle company that designed and built a self-driving shuttle with the help of engineers and subject matter experts through an open co-creation platform. Harnessing the internet for ideas helped them get to a better product faster from brainstorming accessibility needs to styling the exterior. They engaged their maker community by offering rewards for design and engineering challenges. While this worked, we both saw the opportunity to innovate the compensation model and reward collaboration over individual entries.
Our next question became how can we starting experimenting and pulling levers to turn this into a reality. Can we devise a system to tie contribution value to the financial outcome of the project? How do we encourage people to assist each other, instead of trying to develop and win the competition on their own?
We looked into the effort to design and implement a better equity model but conceded that for the time being there was more value in focusing on immediate needs for the platform. But the seed was planted and conversations started about how Blockchain could help us move towards a more equitable system.
The Blockchain
If you’re familiar with Bitcoin and Blockchain, than you may already know the possibilities. For those that don’t, there are many others that can explain Blockchain better than I am able to. For the sake of simplicity, think of Blockchain as a new internet technology able to store, verify and validate data and transactions out in the open in a secure and transparent manner. Our current Internet infrastructure copies information from one place to another requiring third party verification. Blockchain can securely verify information across it’s network giving the Internet a new layer of functionality. Today, sending money to a merchant requires a third party such as a credit card company because you’re not actually sending money. You’re sending information that the credit card company has to verify, approve, and eventually charge you for. With Blockchain money is sent as cryptocurrency and the verification happens in the network. It’s a better system because there are fewer layers and no need for a middleman to facilitate the transaction. Cryptocurrency is sent quickly and securely. Bitcoin is only one manifestation of how Blockchain can impact our daily lives. Projects such as Ethereum and Economic Space Agency (full disclosure, they’re a client) are enabling new use cases and abilities with Blockchain and now Smart Contracts.
Smart Contracts are to contracts what Bitcoin is to money. Imagine a real world example where I start selling my product before it’s finished and require additional funding for manufacturing. I set up a smart contract stipulating that buyers pay half now and half at time of delivery. There is a delivery clause in the Smart Contract tied to FedEx so that the second half of all payments is not sent until a tracking number is associated with the order. The code to this Smart Contract is subsequently public and cannot be interfered with by any party without alerting the participants. This example demonstrates how people and groups will be able to exchange anything of value in a transparent and conflict-free way without the need for middleman services.
What are people and networks going to exchange?
The possibilities are exciting when traders start exchanging different tokens that represent different functions. Imagine exchanging ownership shares, voting privileges, or the rights to use a service. We’re at the dawn of organizations that can be run by software. When that happens, we’ll be able to quickly prototype and implement the big ideas that may reinvent how members of a design studio become owners. Or a co-creation platform with an easy to understand and verifiable equity arrangement. It’s difficult to predict how and what Blockchain, Smart Contracts, and other technologies will alter in our day to day lives, but they’re likely to flip all the assumptions we have about how things work again.
Thanks to Jeremy Hamman, Charlie Humphries, and Kathryn White
