Trust often not being transitive is an important point that I had overlooked. Thanks a lot for that.
And I am fascinated with the pros and cons of N:N networks and 1:N networks at the moment. My model for thinking about them have been networks with a common border vs boundryless networks. (I say boundryless networks because 1:N networks will overlap with other 1:N networks creating a sort of diffuse bounryless whole). An upside of N:N is coordination. You can get a lot more done by forging a more definite community—say union, that negotiates on your behalf. But there is a lot of administrative overhead, and a higher risk that the network gets coopted by someone with a hunger for power. 1:N networks are more flexible, and it is easier to shed sociopaths even when large parts of N are fooled by them. And as long as trust is slightly transitive they might scale better, thanks to not having to deal with increasing coordination problems and consensus processes etc.
And yes, my description of companies is highly idealized (sort of based on Lazslo Bock’s descriptions of how they do recruiting at Google). I don’t think most companies fit the description. But compared to individuals, they at least has a mental framework for deliberately thinking about who to grant trust.
Trust often not being transitive is an important point that I had overlooked. Thanks a lot for that.
And I am fascinated with the pros and cons of N:N networks and 1:N networks at the moment. My model for thinking about them have been networks with a common border vs boundryless networks. (I say boundryless networks because 1:N networks will overlap with other 1:N networks creating a sort of diffuse bounryless whole). An upside of N:N is coordination. You can get a lot more done by forging a more definite community—say union, that negotiates on your behalf. But there is a lot of administrative overhead, and a higher risk that the network gets coopted by someone with a hunger for power. 1:N networks are more flexible, and it is easier to shed sociopaths even when large parts of N are fooled by them. And as long as trust is slightly transitive they might scale better, thanks to not having to deal with increasing coordination problems and consensus processes etc.
And yes, my description of companies is highly idealized (sort of based on Lazslo Bock’s descriptions of how they do recruiting at Google). I don’t think most companies fit the description. But compared to individuals, they at least has a mental framework for deliberately thinking about who to grant trust.