Networked Decision Making

Networked Decision Making, Weinberger, Too Big To Know, 2012

 

1. Networked decision making scales up better than top down: Covering extremely large projects is much easier. 

 

2. Excels when decisions require a great deal of local knowledge, but not when there are workflow dependencies and strict process

 

3. Networks can encourage energy and participation: They do not dampen differences, but there is still a need for common purpose. 

 

4.When decisions are distributed, more local knowledge can be applied. Less risk to whole. 

 

5. Local decisions are likely to express interests of participants (who volunteer): this can solve cooperation problems

 

6. Hierarchical organizations are not as resilient as distributed organizations

 

7. Hierarchical organizations require reduction of knowledge as it filters up: misses details and only deals in summaries 

 

 

 

Decisions in hierarchies are looking more like networks, less like pyramids. This is why leadership is less of a function about the skills of the leader then it is about the group that is being lead. 

 

Weinberger's view of network decisions line up very well with "loosely coupled systems."