Why Decentralization loses to teamwork in 2020

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Decentralization loses to teamwork. Thanks, David Stern.

David Stern was a 5’9 titan of the NBA.

David Stern was a Jewish lawyer from Manhattan, whose love of basketball never had him dribble a ball. The seeds that became the legend of David Stern were planted in 1984 when Stern took the helm of the nearly bankrupt National Basketball Association (NBA) as Commissioner. Today, we could not imagine that the global, billion dollar a year sports, entertainment and business behemoth that is the NBA could have been on the verge of insolvency. But in 1984, the legends of the NBA had yet to take the floor and Stern had yet to implement his vision of taking a failing organization global.

Today from the All-Star weekends, to the 108 international players from 38 countries represented in the NBA, to the WNBA, it’s hard to imagine the NBA as anything less than what we know it to be today. Too, it is not hyperbole to say that without David Stern’s vision, leadership and drive, the NBA wouldn’t be what it is today and potentially may not have survived the ‘80s. In reflecting on the development and growth of the NBA, the obvious dawned on me.

“Decentralization loses to teamwork.”

In basketball, as in other sports, the players on the court garner the attention and fame. But in truth, creating a championship team starts years before the title, in the far recesses of the back office. When we talk about a “league” such as the NBA, the health, wealth and resiliency of the league isn’t determined on the court but in the vision of its leaders. David Stern served as Commissioner of the NBA for 30 years before retiring in 2014.

Though David Stern passed away on January 1, 2020 he left a resounding legacy on and off the court. Most notable in his legacy is that “teamwork makes the dream work”. Its funny that the most obvious thing needed to build world class organizations, championship teams and dynasties is the pariah of blockchain – teamwork.

Decentralization vs Teamwork

Decentralization is a recurring theme in blockchain. For those lucky humans who have been living under a rock the last few years, blockchain is technology that does something. What blockchain does isn’t important. Lots of people believe blockchain will change the world and that basically means it’s true until it’s not.

de·cen·tral·i·za·tion

/?d??sentr?l??z?SH(?)n/

noun

1. the transfer of authority from central to local government.
   “efforts to promote decentralization and reform of the national political party”

the movement of departments of a large organization away from a single administrative center to other locations.
“the decentralization of business services”

What blockchain technology allows is for the decentralization of power, vision and intent away from a central body, authority or government. In reflecting on what “decentralization” means and how it is implemented in the real world, history will showcase decentralization as a novel idea that failed to stand the test of winning. As ultimately, we can not win without “we”.

The Future of Blockchain & the Meaning of Decentralization

The companies and startups who will “win” in the application of blockchain will have their own David Sterns. Strong leaders whose vision, realpolitik and risk appetite inspires and empowers individual players to be superstars (e.g.: the NBA wouldn’t be what it is without Jordan and the team rivalries of Lakers/Celtics, Piston/Bulls, etc…). Additionally, just as Stern did for the NBA taking it from the backwaters of TV ratings to the Olympics, Canada, China and globally, the visionary leaders of this generation of blockchain-enabled businesses won’t seek to achieve the status quo but continually push it.

After all, what did Stern do once he had established the NBA as a global force? He widened the marketplace for basketball as a whole by helping create the WNBA. Which protocol or business will not only achieve global dominance but take the next step by expanding the very meaning of blockchain to include deeper revenue streams and more diverse championships?

It is obvious that the future of blockchain will be determined by the health, wealth and competitive ability of startups, business and governmental agencies to pivot forward to meet market (and cyber-security) needs yet to be discovered. In order to do this effectively the future will be decentralized, just not how you think. Think of decentralization as how the NBA functions.

There are 30 teams in the NBA who have reached an agreement to function as a single entity, the NBA. However, day to day operations of each team are left to individual owners, with the League itself only rarely providing guidance / helping the teams come to a consensus. Yes, I know it’s ironic that the future of decentralization looks eerily similar to how things are run today. But isn’t agreeing to repeat history the essence of consensus?

Conclusion – Don’t be afraid to lead.

Thank you, David Stern. Without your vision and commitment to building a world class organization, the NBA would be just another footnote in the annals of sports history and dare I say we’d be left to the guises of FIFA or worse, Major League Baseball. For today’s leaders reading this and more importantly for the leaders of tomorrow, don’t be afraid to lead. Leading doesn’t mean you know exactly where you’re going or what the outcome will be. If you knew where exactly you would end up, that isn’t leading.

You’d be following someone or some directions. In the fields of emerging technology such as blockchain, 5G, machine learning, voice (Hey Google, Alexa, Siri, etc…), the Cloud, AI and whatever comes next, leading is going to be fraught with personal, reputational and business peril. Many will falter and fail. But in order to be a great leader you must first overcome great adversity. That adversity is most often your own fear of failing. 2020 is calling. Fail fast. Fail hard. Fail forward.

Ps – The world doesn’t need 3000 currencies when Dogecoin works just fine. The future of blockchain isn’t cryptocurrencies, it’s infrastructure and data management and security. Just don’t let the FAANGs write the rule book and the world should be fine. #TeamWorkMakesTheDreamWork

PPS – If you’re wondering where this rant came from, you can thank Jose Arrieta, the Chief Information Officer at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The other day on LinkedIn Jose Arrieta asked, “2nd law of thermodynamics. Blockchain and the ocean ?. Any ideas ? Lol :)” and tagged me along with a few other thinkers in the blockchain space. And so, presented with a puzzle I responded with prose as though I was at an open mic night for recovering poets.

Knowing more about Mars than the depths of the ocean, technology as a whole is the microscope by which we peer into tomorrow’s possibilities. Blockchain, 5G, Big Data, AI, The Cloud and the rest of the buzzwords come together for, what we’ll colloquially call, the “free flow” of data.

And much like the waves wiped by the wind, the real movers in society are the tidal forces of who owns that data, has access to that data, and filters the rawness from the data to monetize the delivery of pristine cisterns of intelligence.

How intelligent will policy makers be with said intelligence? Like a monkey with a shotgun peering down the barrel of democracy one tweet at a time. Guess who pulled the trigger? The entropy of the status quo.

In conclusion, we don’t need new tech. We need leadership who isn’t shaped like cookies.

Blockchain needs a David Stern. #RIP As tech doesn’t solve human problems, only humans can.

#SeanManionMiracles

And so, be careful when you ask an open ended question on social media. You never know what the tides will wash up on curiosity’s shore.

Thank you for reading my article. Please feel free to leave a comment below or a voicemail at 202-642-1660 or schedule a call at http://bit.ly/34PHO1x to be on my podcast, “This Call is Being Recorded” to discuss your burning questions or comments.

About Samson Williams

Samson is an internationally recognized anthropologist and leader in operations, emerging technology, finance and organizational change management driven by FinTech innovation. Samson is ranked among the globe’s top innovative technology professionals for his cutting-edge research and applications in crowdfunding, tokenomics and digital securities. Samson is the co-creator of the University of New Hampshire School of Law’s Blockchain, Cryptocurrency & The Law Certification Program, adjunct professor at Columbia University in NYC, a Board Member of the Crowdfunding Professional Association, contributor at the Blockchain Business Magazine, podcast host of This Call Is Being Recorded and Principal consultant at Axes and Eggs. For business inquiries Samson can be reached at samson@axesandeggs.com

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