Calling All Deadheads!

Pre-Internet, the Grateful Dead created and maintained a distributed and decentralized, yet deeply committed community. What can we learn?

I'm just a dude that really likes the Grateful Dead.

In Dor's recent interview with Proof of Africa (well done all around, btw!), he laments on our lack of examples to follow. He mentions that although there have been small experiments with distributed decision-making in the history of mankind, they have all tended to quickly converge on very centralized solutions.

I'd like to respectfully disagree and invite the community to "Come Hear Uncle John's Band!"

In his introduction to Everything I Know About Business, I Learned From The Grateful Dead, Barry Barnes observers:

"The Dead understood the world of the Internet before the Internet existed: they helped nurture a 'virtual community,' the Deadheads, dispersed geographically yet deeply committed to one another, they created an interactive relationship with their fans / customers, soliciting feedback and acting on it."

Sound familiar?

In one of their few business documents, the Dead had this to say about their organizational processes:

"To define the 'flexible group process' is to lose it. Its value lies in the spontaneity which comes from acknowledgement of it and openness to the unknown next point of invention."

I strongly believe that the Catalyst community could learn much by studying the example of the Grateful Dead and the Deadhead community. As a starting point, I highly recommend the book already mentioned above. The first two chapters are titled: "Strategic Improvisation: How the Dead Learned to Plan and Act at the Same Time" and "Live Your Values: How the Dead Did Well by Doing Good."

Taking it a step further, I would like to propose that the Catalyst community make intentional efforts to connect with and learn from the Grateful Dead community, specifically those that played a role or have insight into the distributed decision-making processes of the band.

Not only could we learn from these elders of decentralized and distributed decision-making, but we might also leverage a partnership to tap into the massive and committed Grateful Dead fan base that exists to this day. The Deadhead community has always supported good causes - let's help them find ours!

Use of Funds

The requested funds would be used to compensate community members for outreach efforts in addition to paying any kind of fees for securing speaking engagements. I will happily work on this passion project without compensation, provided I get a seat at the table when (not if!) we catch the attention of Bobby and the boys :)

Is this a joke? Well… maybe a little bit. But who says Catalyst always has to be serious? Whatever the outcome on this proposal, here's to the start of a "long, strange trip" together. Cheers, Team Catalyst!