[p2p-research] Fwd: The Beckstrom Starfish Report - June 09

[Michel Bauwens]

korean story is especially worth reading,

Michel

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rod Beckstrom <newsletter at beckstrom.com>
Date: Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 2:55 PM
Subject: The Beckstrom Starfish Report - June 09
To: michelsub2004 at gmail.com


       Having trouble reading this email? View it in your
browser.<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8545&F=H>



        What Rod's Been Up To

Rod has gone through some major changes since the last newsletter was sent
out in January 2008.

On March 20, 2008, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff swore in Rod
as the founding director of the U.S. National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC).
The government established the NCSC as a new organization within Homeland
Security, charged with helping to protect and defend U.S. cyber networks.
Rod reported directly to Secretary Chertoff and Secretary Napolitano,
respectively in his new role, but was also responsible for supporting the
Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General.

Rod's appointment was announced in a DHS press
release<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8556&F=H>
.

Rod exemplified the Starfish catalyst model, triggering a DC and nationwide
discussion about the appropriate role of various civilian and intelligence
agencies engaged in cybersecurity, when his resignation letter was leaked to
the media and went viral on the internet in March. Here's the story in his
own words:

*Dear Friends, *

*I have moved from Washington, DC back to Palo Alto and just wanted to
provide a quick personal update. *

*First, I am extremely happy to be back home. I have never appreciated my
precious family more than I do now after having worked on the opposite coast
for a year. *

*Quick background. I’ve left the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) where
I led the new National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC), the top U.S. body
charged with coordinating the nation’s cyber defenses across civilian,
government, military, and intelligence networks. In that role I reported to
the Secretary of DHS and supported the Secretaries of Defense, the DNI and
the Attorney General, as well as the National Security Council. This was a
rare opportunity to work at a high level on a critical mission. Despite the
inherent challenges in creating new collaboration bodies inside a
stove-piped Federal system, we succeeded in getting the group started and
our plans were formally approved by the Cabinet and President. *

*It was an incredible experience and I felt honored to have the opportunity
to serve both the Bush and Obama Administrations. In addition to getting the
basics done, a few surprises happened. While working on the economics of
cybersecurity, I invented a new economic model for valuing any network
(Beckstrom’s Law). I was also able to introduce game theory to
cyber-diplomacy and had some great discussions and working sessions with my
colleagues at State Department. I was able to help advocate Web 2.0
technologies in different pockets across government. *

*When I left, I sent a resignation
letter<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8548&F=H>describing
where things stood to the Cabinet members I worked for and
supported. The unexpected viral spread of the resignation letter across the
Internet focused more limelight on me than I was ready for. But in the end,
it felt like a relief to express some concerns and I was pleased to help
catalyze a new dialogue about where the nation should go in cybersecurity
and what the relative roles of the civilian, military, and intelligence
communities should be in that solution. *

*I am now happily back in the private sector, continuing my professional
speaking on leadership and starfish concepts, as well as cybersecurity,
where I have some great stories to share. I have decided to take a few
months off to do some research before deciding what path of service to
pursue next. *

*If you want to keep up to date on what I’m up to, you can follow me on
Twitter at www.twitter.com/rodbeckstrom. *

*Warmly,
Rod *


Rod’s resignation letter has been downloaded an estimated 3 million times
since it became public. The letter provoked a media storm, concurrent with a
congressional investigation regarding the state of cybersecurity. At the
conclusion of the investigation, President Obama announced his creation of a
new "Cyber Czar" position. CNN and the BBC asked Rod to comment following
the president's announcement. Follow the press coverage
here<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8549&F=H>
.



[image: star]





   June 2009


In this Month's Newsletter...

   - What Rod's Been Up To <#121af6a73bf77281_1>
   - What People Are Saying <#121af6a73bf77281_3>
   - Share Your Starfish Story <#121af6a73bf77281_4>
   - Starfish Principles at Work <#121af6a73bf77281_5>
   - Maria Sipka's Column <#121af6a73bf77281_6>
   - Eco Corner <#121af6a73bf77281_7>
   - Starfish Tip of the Month <#121af6a73bf77281_8>
   - Who We Are <#121af6a73bf77281_10>

Welcome to this issue of The Beckstrom Starfish Report. You are receiving
this because you have expressed an interest in information about Rod
Beckstrom, his activities, and how the powerful concepts in his book, *The
Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations*,
are affecting the business world and society. If you don't wish to receive
future issues of this newsletter, just go to the bottom of this page where
you can quickly and easily opt out.

Please forward this newsletter to anyone you know who would benefit from
knowing about the power of decentralized networks and the effectiveness CEOs
can achieve when shifting to a Catalyst leadership model.
  What People Are Saying



"The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless
Organizations*, by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom (Portfolio, 2006),
argues that networked organizations – including al Qaeda, Alcoholics
Anonymous, the Wikipedia Foundation, and open source consortia like those
forming around Linux – have certain built-in advantages over more
traditional command-and-control hierarchies like the U.S. military. Although
perhaps true in theory, this argument is less than fair to current U.S.
military practice. *

*The thinking of the Pentagon hierarchy can be linear at times, but the
behavior of U.S. and allied troops in the field is, by necessity, much less
so. Field units are trained and empowered to make quick decisions and to act
on them. In fact, U.S. military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan rely heavily
on the use of Special Forces specifically designed and trained to function
autonomously. Military leaders understand that the way to combat enemy
networks is with networks of their own. "*
—Excerpted from “A Military of Millennials” by Art Fritzson, Lloyd W. Howell
Jr., and Dov S. Zakheim Defense Industry
Daily<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8550&F=H>

In a blog post to the Small Wars Journal on May 10, General Martin E.
Dempsey, Commanding General of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command,
discussed *The Starfish and the Spider* in terms of how decentralized open
systems mutate, and related this to challenges the military faces from
hybrid, networked threats. He explains that military threats aren’t confined
to a single operational theme, because the enemy adapts to leverage their
strengths and exploit our military’s weaknesses. General Dempsey advocates
that we adapt our institutions and develop our leaders to handle the
complexity and decentralization that will occur in future operations. Read
his post here<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8551&F=H>
.

Along these lines, Bob King, an instructor at the U.S. Army Command and
General Staff College, occasionally uses *The Starfish and the Spider*, and
Beckstrom videos, for U.S. Army leader training classes. View a classroom
photo here<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8555&F=H>
.


*Rod's Other Activities *

In April, Fortune Magazine honored the Environmental Defense Fund as one of
the 7 Most Powerful Boards in the World. Rod is honored to be a Board Member
of this important organization, and shares the following photo, taken with
his fellow board members (Rod is 5th from the left, in yellow jacket).


See the Fortune Magazine article
here<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8552&F=H>
.



*What Rod's Been Reading:* * Outliers: The Story of
Success*<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8547&F=H>by
Malcolm Gladwell

*How Korean Air Spiders turned into Starfish in the Cockpit*

Gladwell is a wonderful researcher and writer and this is his best book to
date. The book reviews social and personal factors that lead to great
success.  Much success is due to timing. Most of the titans of the railroad
industry were born in the 1830’s. They were born early enough to have the
creative energy to build a new generation of companies when the time was
right, yet they were not so young that they missed the birthing of the
railroad industry and all the opportunity that came with it. The same is
true of the computer era. Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Steve Jobs were all
born in 1954-55, as were many other tech leaders. Timing counts. So does
hard work and 10,000 hours of practice. The Beatles became great performers
after playing in Hamburg strip joints, 8 hours a day, 7 days a week.  “8
days a week…” and many other great Beatles songs came out of the crucible of
that intense practice and work.

Tucked inside this excellent book is a jewel of a starfish story. In Chapter
7 Gladwell shares “The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes.” You see, Korean Air
had one of the worst safety records in the world. So many airplanes were
crashing that in 1999 Delta Airlines and Air France both suspended their
partnerships with Korean Air.

The problem? The majority of airplane crashes occur when the captain is king
and no one feels comfortable questioning him (or her). Analyses of airplane
accidents demonstrate that most fatal crashes occur after a series of human
errors. This series of errors often takes place because of a failure to
communicate: a first officer unwilling to share direct concerns with the
spider-like captain, or a captain who does not listen. It is dangerous to
have a spider in the cockpit. A hierarchy in the cockpit is a bad thing—it
creates a “power distance” between the captain and others and blocks the
flow of vital and possibly negative information both to the captain flying
the plane and to the control tower responsible for helping the plane land
safely.

The solution to this dilemma? Turn the spiders in the cockpit into starfish.
After years of accidents, in 2000 Korean Air hired American David Greenberg
to run its flight operations. Greenberg found deficiencies in the English
skills of the Korean pilots. He hired English trainers and introduced
language courses. He even demanded that all flight operations in the cockpit
be handled in English, because mastering English for radio communications
with flight control towers is essential for safety. A surprising and
unintended side benefit occurred. When the pilots spoke Korean, they
consistently acted within the boundaries of their native hierarchical and
deferential culture. However, when they spoke English, they operated in a
different and more casual culture. The result? The hierarchy faded away.
First officers and others became comfortable sharing with the captain
important and even negative information. The language change sparked a
cultural shift, turning the cockpit from a spider-like to a more
starfish-like environment. As a result, the safety record of Korean Air
soared.

For safety’s sake, the next time you’re on a flight, let’s hope there are a
few good starfish and not one domineering spider in the cockpit.


  Share Your Starfish Story

*Alex Brown Racing: A Horse Welfare Community *

*The following story was sent in by Alex Brown, founder of Alex Brown
Racing.*

Alex Brown Racing<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8553&F=H>is
home to Fans of Barbaro, which took shape as a consequence of the
tragic
accident, and subsequent death, of the great racehorse Barbaro. Barbaro had
a strong following, and many wanted his legacy to be a spotlight on horse
welfare issues, including horse slaughter. Fans of Barbaro have been
pursuing Barbaro's legacy now for well over two years. In that time they
have raised more than $1 million to rescue horses from slaughter, raised
awareness of the horse slaughter issue, actively lobbied to end the practice
of horse slaughter and participated in myriad other horse welfare issues.
The group achieved this without the structure of a traditional organization.

Alex Brown established a blog for Barbaro updates, which ultimately evolved
into Alex Brown Racing. It now includes a blog with more than 10 million
page views, a discussion board with close to a million posts, a wiki with
more than 2 million page views, and both a Facebook Group and a YouTube
Group.
   *Barbaro, before the Preakness, Lydia Williams*

Many projects run simultaneously within the community. Fans of Barbaro lead
individual initiatives. Some are successful and some are not. But in general
the “organization” works very well. A million dollars has been raised to
rescue horses heading for slaughter using the eBay model. Alex Brown Racing
itself raises no money. Individual fundraisers are offered on the discussion
board and Fans of Barbaro decide what members want to support. The role of
Alex Brown is to stay out of the way, while observing everything. Alex also
researches new technologies to strengthen the community and expand its
reach, and works with the media for wider exposure. Most important, the role
of Alex Brown is not to mess things up.

Why is this a starfish organization? It’s not an organization in any
traditional sense. The only thing that could be considered organizational is
a Mission Statement. Yet this statement has been essential, for it knits
together this group of people around a common cause. Barbaro is the catalyst
that binds them together, and technology allows the members to engage with
one another and expand the group. New members join daily, despite Barbaro
passing more than two years ago, on Jan. 29, 2007. Members leave, too. There
is no official count. The community does not rely on one member's
leadership. Although Alex Brown started this, if he left it might simply
take a different form.

Reading *The Starfish and the Spider* has been useful in terms of
rationalizing why the "organization" Alex Brown Racing works. It provides a
road map, where a road map did not formerly exist for such a nontraditional
organization.

Back to top <#121af6a73bf77281_top>


 Starfish Principles at Work

*Emergence: Beyond networks to how life really changes*

We were very interested to learn of some new thinking that expands on the
principle of the power of decentralized networks, presented in *Fieldnotes*,
published by The Shambhala Institute for Authentic Leadership. The article’s
authors, Margaret Wheatley and Debbie Frieze, explain the concept of
emergence, stating that, “As networks grow and transform into active,
collaborative communities, we discover how life truly changes, which is
through emergence.”

The emergence concept is based on the idea that the world doesn’t change one
person at a time, but rather through networks of relationships that form
among people with common interests and passions who share a vision of what
is possible. When these networks develop into communities that work to
accomplish change, a new system that goes beyond the network can suddenly
and surprisingly emerge at a greater level of scale: a *system of influence*
.

As Wheatley and Frieze explain, “This system of influence possesses
qualities and capacities that were unknown in the individuals. It isn’t that
they were hidden; they simply don’t exist until the system emerges. They are
properties of the system, not the individual, but once there, individuals
possess them.” The authors also believe that these spontaneously emerging
systems contain more power and influence than would be possible through
planned, incremental change.

There’s nothing new about networks as a form of organizing. But they are
only now being widely recognized as researchers and society remove the old
paradigm blinders that look for hierarchy and control as the only way that
organizations form, through human will and intervention. Uncontrolled
(decentralized) networks are evident everywhere, in the form of
self-organizing networks such as social activist groups, terrorists groups,
drug cartels, street gangs, and web-based interest groups.

The authors claim that self-organizing networks are the only form of
organization used by living systems on the planet, and their interdependence
are based on the recognition by individuals or species. These networks
support the diversity and viability of all members.

Wheatley and Frieze have observed that, “Emergence violates so many of our
Western assumptions of how change happens that it often takes quite a while
to understand it. In nature, change never happens as a result of top-down,
pre-conceived strategic plans, or from the mandate of any single individual
or boss. Change begins as local actions spring up simultaneously in many
different areas.”

The authors emphasize the importance of understanding that emergence always
results in systems that have much more power than their individual parts.
“This aspect of emergence has profound implications for social
entrepreneurs. Instead of developing them individually as leaders and
skillful practitioners, we would do better to connect them to like-minded
others and create the conditions for emergence. The skills and capacities
needed by them will be found in the system that emerges, not in better
training programs,” the authors say.

*About the authors: Margaret Wheatley* is president emerita of the Berkana
Institute, author of *Leadership and the New Science* and other
groundbreaking books, and a presenter at the Shambhala Institute’s Authentic
Leadership Summer Programs. *Debbie Frieze* is co-president of the Berkana
Institute and co-director of the Berkana Exchange. Debbie also works with
The Mastery Foundation, which is committed to peace and reconciliation in
divided communities

Back to top <#121af6a73bf77281_top>



    Maria Sipka's Column

*Decentralized Public Transport: Communal Bicycles in Barcelona*

Barcelona is a vibrant, colorful city, bustling with people, especially at
rush hour. The roads are bumper to bumper, and bus lanes are jammed.

Last year the city government launched a new initiative called “bicing” to
ease congestion. Bicing is a decentralized communal bicycle system. The
Barcelona City Council wanted to take the next step towards prioritising its
sustainable policy and the promotion of public transport within the city
centre.

Over 100 bicycle stations house up to 3,000 cute white and red bicycles. A
user subscribes to this service online and in less than one week an access
card arrives in the post. More than 100,000 subscribers now ride the
bicycles. From men and women in suits to grungy teenagers, you’ll see all
ages scooting around town. The service has been used over 3 million times
since its launch in March 2007.

My husband and I decided to venture into the heart of Barcelona one weekend,
curious to explore the exotic parts of this city where it’s generally not
safe to walk. We set off on our journey by finding the closest bicycle
station to our home. To unlock a vacant bicycle the card is swiped on an
access pad secured to a welcoming pole. The first 30 minutes are free and
then a small fee is deducted from the user’s account for each additional
hour. The purpose is not to keep the bicycles for any longer than two hours
so the cost increases significantly the longer it takes for the bicycle to
be returned.

The bicycles are evenly distributed throughout the city. The system is
completely decentralized. The users collect and drop off the bicycles at any
docking station when their journey ends, consistently circulating the
bicycles.

Throughout the day, we docked our bicycles three times at various bicing
stations around the city to take a break or explore by foot. And each time
we swiped our card and grabbed a new bicycle. Some stations were full and
others were empty. The computer system would notify you where you could
collect the nearest vacant bicycle or dock your bicycle if the rack was
full.

If the bicycles are faulty or the user experiences a problem, customer
service is a phone call away. The bikes are provided with an anti-vandalism
mechanism and the pieces are not compatible with other bikes on the market.

Photo by JC Duarte

Maria Sipka is CEO and co-founder of
Linqia<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8546&F=H>,
the Social Network Marketplace that connects commercial partners to social
networks through Linqia's online marketplace.

Back to top <#121af6a73bf77281_top>
 Eco Corner

*China's role in global warming
*

Rod interviewed Dan Dudek, Chief Economist of the Environmental Defense
Fund, who was one of the co-authors of the Kyoto Protocol, and a leading
expert on environmental markets and how to shape them, design them, and use
them to create workable policies. As far as we know, this is the first time
Dan has granted such an interview, so we are very pleased to share the
following excerpt from their 2008 interview:

*Rod:* Maybe you can start off by telling us a little bit about on what
you’re working on these days.

*Dan:* I think the big story on everyone’s mind is China. What’s happening
in China? Is China actually going to get control of not only its economy,
but more importantly of its environment?

The United States, at long last, seems like it is getting serious about
global warming. I recently took a group of senior Chinese government
officials, including the top official responsible for climate, to Capitol
Hill. They were told there that it’s a certainty the United States will have
effective cap and trade, greenhouse gas, control legislation by 2010.
Legislation will be introduced this session, and probably not pass, but
definitely in the next Congress. So the U.S. is moving. That will leave
China as the last major country not to join the global environmental
movement.

China’s already number one in greenhouse gases, but we’re number two,
dubious distinctions at best, and the numbers are large. I’m sure the
differences between them are pretty small, but China will be feeling, I
think, significant pressure internationally, as well as from its own
population, to be able to deal with not only the more conventional pollutant
problems it has, like sulfur oxide and causing acid rain, but also with
problems with ozone and smog in its major cities, and with particulates
which travel across the ocean and reach California and Arizona. Also, I
think, very important from a global perspective is this issue about the
greenhouse gases and China’s contribution to the changing of the world’s
climate.

*Rod:* What are the attitudes of China like, politically, about the global
warming issue these days?

*Dan:* That’s a really interesting question. I think the conventional wisdom
in the United States is that China doesn’t care and that China’s not doing
anything. The reality is, when you look at what China has put on the table,
they’re actually doing more than we are. Of course, I discount the claim by
the Administration that the United States is doing more than anybody because
we’re investing so much into future technologies.

But putting that aside, China is still a country in transition, so it has a
5-year planning process. This current 5-year plan, which runs from 2006 to
2010, has a very interesting target in it. That target is a 20% reduction in
the energy intensity of its economy. That means 20% reduction in CO2
(because energy is primarily fossil fuel based in China) per unit GDP by
2010. Now, if China’s successful in hitting that goal, that would mean they
would avoid approximately one and a half billion tons of CO2. That’s a
pretty dramatic number. So the Chinese have something real on the table.

They are also the first of the developing countries to actually complete a
national assessment of the impacts of climate change on the country. That
was completed in the spring of this year. I think they did a very creditable
and realistic job, within the limits of current science, of portraying the
regional impacts on China. There are serious impacts on water supply.
There’s a persistent drought in the northern part of China. There are
already big plans to move water from the south to the north, to address the
problem of the disappearance of the glaciers in the head waters in many of
the major rivers in China.

The government set up a leading group on climate, and an advisory body of 12
eminent scientists to report to the government on what it ought to do.
They’ve established targets on renewable energy. Right now, they’re at about
7 1/2% photo-regeneration from renewable sources. By 2010, they’ll move that
up to 10% and by 2020 to 15%. Nuclear is a big part of China’s solution as
well. They’re at about 8 gigawatts total nuclear now. They’ll move that to
40 gigawatts by 2020, and they have a goal of 30% of China to be forested.

So when you add this up, these are all fairly significant measures and
targets that would significantly reduce greenhouse gases. Of course, the
real question for China is . . . can they deliver on all this?

*In future editions of* The Beckstrom Starfish Report *we will share Dan’s
explanation of how pollution markets work, how the Kyoto Protocol was set
up, and why Dan holds hope that we can turn global warming around.*

Back to top <#121af6a73bf77281_top>



 Starfish Tip of the Month

*Ping.fm*

Ping.fm<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=8554&F=H>is
a simple and free service that makes it easy to update your social
networks.

You can send your messages to ping.fm via mobile phone, SMS, MMS, email,
instant messsage, 3rd party apps, or developer API.

Ping.fm will post your messages wherever you want within the 40 social
networking sites it supports.


Back to top <#121af6a73bf77281_top>
 Who We Are

Rod Beckstrom is an author, speaker, and the former director of the National
Cybersecurity Center. He founded CATS Software Inc., which he took public as
CEO. Rod serves on the boards of Environmental Defense and Jamii Bora Africa
Ltd. He is also on the board of the Pacific Council of Foreign Relations and
on the Kiva.org Board of Advisors. Rod holds a BA and an MBA from Stanford
and was a Fulbright Scholar. He lives in Palo Alto, California and can be
contacted through
BECKSTROM.COM<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/link.php?M=4146&N=28&L=16&F=H>
.

The team at BECKSTROM.COM supports Rod with his writing, speaking
engagements and web presence. To inquire about booking Rod for a speaking
engagement, contact speaking at beckstrom.com. To schedule an interview with
Rod for your publication or blog, contact sandra at beckstrom.com.

© 2009 WWW.BECKSTROM.COM

Back to top <#121af6a73bf77281_top>



Unsubscribe<http://beckstromwiki.com/starfishreport/unsubscribe.php?M=4146&C=6a1ad495bebcb2671cc215e82862db93&L=1&N=28>





-- 
Working at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University -
http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html -
http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI

Volunteering at the P2P Foundation:
http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net -
http://p2pfoundation.ning.com

Monitor updates at http://del.icio.us/mbauwens

The work of the P2P Foundation is supported by SHIFTN,
http://www.shiftn.com/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/attachments/20090605/3ede057d/attachment-0001.html>