One from Many: VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organizati…

Data, on one end of the spectrum, is separable, objective, linear, mechanistic, and abundant. Wisdom, on the other end of the spectrum, is holistic, subjective, spiritual, conceptual, creative, and scarce. [...] Today we are drowning in a raging flood of new data and information and the raft of wisdom to which we desperately cling is breaking

people with power to write and enforce rules rarely spend much time following them.

By the standards of what Visa ought to be, it would be a lie to deny a sense of failure.

Could such an organization be patterned on biological concepts and methods? [...] What if we quit arguing about the structure of a new institution and tried to think of it as having some sort of genetic code?

Educed behavior is the essence of leader/follower. Compelled behavior is the essence of all the others.

Side by side with a compelling desire to excel in the world as he found it was equal desire to behave in accordance with the world as he wished it to be. Shoulder to shoulder with desire for power, fame, and fortune was longing for solitude and contemplation. Hand in hand with the urge to excitement and action was the call to contemplatio

No part knew the whole, the whole did not know all the parts, and none had any need to.

The instinctive response is that one's time will be consumed managing self, superiors and peers. There will be little or no time left to manage subordinates. Exactly!

the first and primary function of the card was to identify buyer to seller and seller to buyer. [...] The seller would receive good funds in local currency and the buyer would be billed later in the currency of their country. Thus, the second primary function was as guarantor of the value data. Clearly, it warranted to both buyer and sell