BDFxing, Or Post-Charismatic Distributed Leadership
AI summary of the linked articleBDFxing, a leadership pattern where a leader is time-boxed as a "Benevolent Dictator for x," is presented as a better alternative to charismatic leadership in distributed organizations. The author argues that leadership is needed only sporadically, that a leader should steer only briefly and then yield, and that leaders should step back when they are wrong. The post says BDFxing emerged in crypto and Discord-based groups and that chatty, bottom-heavy organizations are better suited to it. It also claims that such organizations outcompete siloed ones wherever they face head-to-head competition. |
1 comment  I loved this post and I do strongly believe in having a single ultimate authority to lead a project at a time. I‘ve tried as a group already and in flat hierarchies and I think it is crucial for being alive. I also found this idea really interesting: I previously argued that CEOs don’t steer, but provide high-momentum, orientation-locked dead reckoning in a stable direction. That when a leader turns out to be wrong, the right move is usually not for them to steer and course correct, but to step back and yield to someone else whose sense of direction seems better for the changed circumstances. |
