One From Many
Click here to buy the book.🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences
One From Many offers a first-hand account of Visa's founding, sharing the founder’s journey and the innovative thinking that brought the company to life.
The author explores how the traditional structure of industrial-age institutions, which dominate most organizations today, is failing both their members and society.
Ultimately, One From Many serves as a guide to creating a Chaordic organization, reflecting on the successes and challenges faced during Visa's establishment.
🧠 Key Takeaways
Life itself is an endless journey of growth, change, and constant transformation. Without this 'perpetual becoming,' life loses its essence and meaning. However, the ways in which we navigate this transformation cannot be fully understood, directed, or manipulated. It's a natural and organic process that unfolds on its own.
Whether it's a government failing to perform its inherent duties, a corporation straying from its core mission, or a school failing to actually educate, it's clear that many institutions are missing their mark. Despite this, these institutions keep getting bigger, using up resources—money and people—without delivering worthwhile benefits or outcomes. This institutional failure deeply affects people's lives and morale. When institutions let down the people they're supposed to serve, it can leave the constituents (and those inside the institution) feeling disillusioned, indifferent, or worse.
The structure of the modern education system is unlike anything found in nature. In nature, there's no hierarchical structure to dictate rules and curriculum like in a school where there's a principal, teachers, and students.
The family is the foundational unit of society. It is the smallest and most intimate form of community, consisting of individuals bound together by non-monetary values.
Initially, when organizations are founded, they typically have a clear purpose or goal. However, as they grow and evolve, especially during the industrial age where efficiency and standardization were front and center, the focus often shifts towards the processes themselves rather than the original purpose or goal.
You cannot be a leader without followers, and you are only a follower if you are doing so at your own, voluntary will. Any coercion alters the dynamic from leader/follower to some form of superior/subordinate.
Success without failure can lead to arrogance. Failure is essential in keeping you grounded and humble, and can ultimately lead to success if you learn from it, persevere, and try again.
Humans are not objects or commodities to be controlled, categorized, traded, or exploited for the benefit of others. Instead, they are complex and dynamic beings, each containing a universe of experiences, emotions, and potentials within themselves.
Healthy organizations are made up of individuals who voluntarily choose to support and advance the organization's mission. This alignment stems from their shared belief in the organization's hopes, vision, values, and purpose. In contrast, unhealthy organizations often rely on coercion or obligation, rather than genuine commitment, to achieve their goals. This is why they are inherently destructive.
An organization thrives when its members genuinely believe in and work towards a common goal. However, when this shared vision is lost, the community within the organization begins to lose its sense of purpose and cohesion, even though it isn’t immediately noticeable from the outside.
Each of us sees the world through different lenses shaped by our unique experiences, creating a reality based on our habits, customs, preferences, beliefs, and biases. Sometimes, this perspective can be difficult to change. We become rigid in our ways and views, and even if those views are well-constructed and seem rational, we need to keep them malleable and open to change.
The cost—in terms of energy, resources, and capital—of handling information is minuscule compared to handling physical matter. By increasing the informational (digital) content within goods and services, we can reduce the need for physical products. For example, instead of physical DVDs, CDs, or books, we can access the same media digitally through streaming services, drastically reducing physical production, transportation, and storage needs.
✍️ Memorable Quotes
“Life is not about control. It’s not about getting. It’s not about having. It’s not about knowing. It’s not even about being. Life is eternal, perpetual becoming, or it is nothing. Becoming is not a thing to be known, commanded, or controlled. It is a magnificent, mysterious odyssey to be experienced.”
As the saying goes, “the only constant is change.”
Life is an endless journey of growth, transformation, and continuous evolution. Without this 'perpetual becoming,' life loses its essence and meaning.
However, the way we navigate this transformation can’t be fully understood, controlled, or manipulated. It’s a natural and organic process that unfolds on its own.
True fulfillment comes from experiencing and embracing this process, rather than trying to control or possess it. This is what makes life so interesting.
“Today, it doesn’t take much thought to realize we’re in the midst of a global epidemic of institutional failure. Not just failure in the sense of collapse, such as might occur to a building or a business, but the more common and pernicious form: organizations increasingly unable to achieve the purpose for which they were created, yet continuing to expand as they devour resources, demean the human spirit, and destroy the environment.”
Whether it’s a government failing to fulfill its duties, a corporation drifting from its core mission, or a school falling short of truly educating, it’s clear that many institutions are missing the mark.
Yet, despite these shortcomings, these institutions continue to grow, consuming more resources—both money and people—without delivering meaningful results.
This failure has a profound impact on people’s lives and morale. When institutions let down those they’re meant to serve, it can leave everyone involved—both the constituents and those within the institution—feeling disillusioned, indifferent, or worse.
“Chaordic: The behavior of any self-organizing and self-governing organism, organization, or system that harmoniously blends characteristics of chaos and order. Characteristic of the fundamental, organizing principle of nature.”
Hock’s definition of Chaordic, which he thinks is a better type of institution compared to the “industrial age” institutions that currently exist en masse.
Come to think about it, the Discord group acts in a Chaordic state. There is no structured hierarchy, and the group more-or-less manages and self-governs itself. This is the way I like it, and it seems to work really well.
“Nothing in nature feels like church or school. There’s no black bird “principal” pecking away at the rest of the flock. There’s no “super” frog telling the others how to croak. There’s no “teacher” tree lining up the saplings and telling them how to grow. Something’s crazy! Is it me? I can’t begin to think about it in a coherent way, let alone understand the resentment, confusion, and doubt. But the sense that something has gone awry is powerful.”
The modern education system is far from anything you'd find in nature. In the natural world, there’s no rigid hierarchy dictating what we should learn or how we should behave, unlike in schools where principals, teachers, and students are all locked into their roles.
Schools today feel more like conveyor belts than places of true learning. The focus is on standardization and uniformity rather than on actually helping students discover and understand the world around them.
Test scores and grades become the end-all, be-all, leaving little room for creativity, curiosity, or the kind of learning that feels unforced.
“Throughout history, the basic community, the fundamental social building block, has always been the family. It is there that the greatest non-monetary exchange of value takes place. It is there that the most powerful nonmaterial values are created and exchanged. It is from this community called family, for better or worse, that all other communities are formed.”
The family is the foundational unit of society. It is the smallest and most intimate form of community, consisting of individuals bound together by non-monetary values.
Just as a building relies on its foundation for stability, society relies on the family for its structure and cohesion. Individuals learn social dynamics, communication skills, and values within their families, which get carried into other social groups such as friendships, workplaces, and the rest of society.
“In Industrial age organizations, purpose slowly erodes into process. Procedure takes precedence over product. The doing of the doing is why nothing gets done.”
Initially, when organizations are founded, they typically have a clear purpose or goal. However, as they grow and evolve, especially during the industrial age where efficiency and standardization were front and center, the focus often shifts towards the processes themselves rather than the original purpose or goal.
As a result, employees become more focused on adhering to protocols, guidelines, and procedures rather than innovating, creating, or following through on the original mission.
The "doing of the doing" refers to an excessive emphasis on doing things just for the sake of following protocol, which often occurs without questioning the relevance or effectiveness of the protocol.
“Leader presumes follower. Follower presumes choice. One who is coerced to the purposes, objectives, or preferences of another, is not a follower in any true sense of the word, but an object of manipulation. Nor is the relationship materially altered if both parties, except the dominance and coercion, the terms, leader, and follower imply, the continual freedom in independent judgment of both, true leader cannot be bound to lead. A true follower cannot be bound to follow. The moment they are bound they are no longer leader or follower. If the behavior of either is compelled, whether by force, economic necessity or contractual arrangement, the relationship is altered to one of superior/subordinate, manager/employee, master/servant, or owner/slave. Such relationships are material different than leader/follower.”
Put simply, you cannot be a leader without followers, and you are only a follower if you are doing so at your own, voluntary will. Any coercion alters the dynamic from leader/follower to some form of superior/subordinate.
“Success, while it may provide encouragement, build confidence, and be joyful indeed, often teaches an insidious lesson—to have too high an opinion of self. It is from failure that amazing growth and grace so often come, provided only that one can recognize it, admit it, learn from it, rise above it, and try again.”
Success without failure can lead to arrogance. Failure is essential in keeping you grounded and humble, and can ultimately lead to success if you learn from it, persevere, and try again.
“People are not “things” to be manipulated, labeled, boxed, bought, and sold. Above all else, they are not “human resources.” We are entire human beings, containing the whole of the evolving universe. We must examine the concept of superior and subordinate with increasing skepticism. We must examine the concept of management and labor with new beliefs. We must examine the concept of leader and follower with new perspectives. Above all else, we must examine the nature of organizations that demand such distinctions with new consciousness.”
Humans are not objects or commodities to be controlled, categorized, traded, or exploited for the benefit of others. Instead, they are complex and dynamic beings, each containing a universe of experiences, emotions, and potentials within themselves.
“Healthy organizations are a mental concept of relationship to which people are drawn by hope, vision, values, and meaning, along with liberty to cooperatively pursue them. Healthy organizations educe behavior. Educed behavior is inherently constructive. Unhealthy organizations are no less a mental concept of relationship, but one to which people are compelled by accident of birth, necessity, or force. Unhealthy organizations compel behavior. Compelled behavior is inherently destructive.”
Healthy organizations are made up of individuals who voluntarily choose to support and advance the organization's mission. This alignment stems from their shared belief in the organization's hopes, vision, values, and purpose. In contrast, unhealthy organizations often rely on coercion or obligation, rather than genuine commitment, to achieve their goals. This is why they are inherently destructive.
“When an organization loses its shared vision and principles, its sense of community, its meaning and values, it is already in process of decay and dissolution, even though it may linger with the outward appearance of success for some time. Businesses, as well as nations, races, and tribes die out not when defeated or suppressed, but when they become despairing and lose excitement and hope about the future. Without deeply held, commonly shared purpose that gives meaning to their lives; without deeply held, commonly shared ethical values and beliefs about conduct in the pursuit of that purpose that all may trust and rely upon, communities steadily disintegrate, and organizations progressively become instruments of tyranny.”
An organization thrives when its members genuinely believe in and work towards a common goal. However, when this shared vision is lost, the community within the organization begins to lose its sense of purpose and cohesion, even though it isn’t immediately noticeable from the outside.
In such cases, the organization may resort to coercion or obligation to maintain unity, rather than relying on voluntary commitment. This shift can transform the organization into an "instrument of tyranny," as it becomes desperate to keep itself intact.
“Out of the lumber of things we are taught, the gravel and cement of our experience and the nails of the things we observe, we slowly erect an edifice, an unconscious, internal temple of reality, gradually filling it with the furniture of habit, custom, preference, belief, and bias. We get comfortable there. It’s our sanctuary. Through its windows, small though they may be, we view society and the world. Our internal model of reality is how we make sense of the world. And it can be a badly built place indeed. Even if it is well constructed, it may have become archaic. Everything that gave rise to it may have changed. Society and the natural world are never stagnant. They are constantly becoming.”
Each of us sees the world through different lenses shaped by our unique experiences, creating a reality based on our habits, customs, preferences, beliefs, and biases.
Sometimes, this perspective can be difficult to change. We become rigid in our ways and views, and even if those views are well-constructed and seem rational, we need to stay open to change.
The world is never stagnant; it is constantly evolving. Therefore, we need to maintain a flexible view of reality and embrace change as it happens.
“Information is a miser of energy. It can endlessly replicate, move ubiquitously at the speed of light, and massively condense in minute space, all at minuscule expense of energy, in other words, cost. In countless ways, it is becoming a replacement for our present enormously wasteful use of matter. To the extent that we increase the value of the mental content of goods and services, we can reduce the value of the physical content. We can make them lighter, more durable, more recyclable, more versatile, and more transportable.”
The cost of handling information—in terms of energy, resources, and capital—is a fraction of what it takes to handle physical goods.
By increasing the digital content in our products and services, we can cut down on the need for physical items. Take, for instance, DVDs, CDs, or books: instead of producing, transporting, and storing these physical items, we can access the same content digitally through streaming services, which drastically reduces the demand for physical resources.
When it comes to Visa, the information they transfer and store is incredibly small compared to platforms like YouTube, where files can be several gigabytes in size. This efficiency is Visa’s "secret sauce," allowing them to operate smoothly and cost-effectively in the digital world.
“The emergence of this new age based on information, whatever we choose to label it, calls into question virtually every concept of societal organization, management, and conduct on which we have come to rely.”
Think about how we communicate today: email, social media, Zoom, and other digital platforms have become the go-to ways of working and connecting. These methods rely on information exchange rather than physical presence, reducing the need for physical space.
As a result, organizations and communities are no longer tied to specific locations. For example—there is a thriving community of dividend investors online, allowing investors to connect and share knowledge regardless of where they live.
This digital connectivity has enabled people like me to build a sustainable living in a global community, breaking free from traditional career paths.
We no longer need to follow conventional organizations, management structures, or occupational norms. Instead, we can forge our own paths by sharing our unique thoughts and insights with the world.