📖 Power of Giving Away Power - Matthew Barzun

Pyramid Mindset - Each member conforms for the sake of leaders vision.

• "We fit people into functions, at work and in general." - Conform for the sake of the whole
• Eliminate uncertainty, focused on destination, hierarchical by nature, and myopic (obscures our ability to see outside the sharp lines it imposes)

Constellation Mindset - Each member transforms the whole in pursuit of possibilities.

• "motion towards possibilities, not toward a set destination, allowing for many branching paths. Possibility attracts the energy of like-minded individuals. Engagement (Enrollment) is voluntary. Leadership flows as dictated by evolving needs. With vision and reciprocal commitment, power is given away, then grows, then more is given back."

Both offer freedom but of very different kinds.

Pyramid mindset offers freedom FROM - Fear driven - Scarcity Mindset

• "We become our own self-contained mini-pyramids
• A false sense of control - "free, we imagine, from everything.

Constellation mindset offers freedom WITH - Hope (Possibility) driven - Abundance Mindset.

• This offers choice and autonomy with a different kind of security and stability.
• The "gravity" or "gravitas" are the "shared principles, habits and sentiments."

You can’t control The Constellation - you can only Cultivate. Let it grow.

The key idea is that we don’t make things grow - we can only support its growth. We can support it by planting seeds (that bear fruit and more seeds), cultivate the soil (tone and pattern), and fertilize (invest) to grow a movement.

• Planting Seeds - Not all the seeds will take root but we must continue to spread the seeds. The seeds are an invitation to interdependence by giving away power.
• Cultivate the Soil (Tone and Pattern) - A transformative special relationships where everyone can stand out and fit in. Unity without Uniformity.
• Fertilize (Invest) - Leveraging the energy of uncertainty to create more energy from possibilities. Creating power by giving away power.

Change the strategy from Hunting/Fishing to Farming - inspired by Seth Godin

• Hunting gives you a subset. “It is division.” - marketing funnel (closed set)
• Farming gives you growth. “It is multiplication.” - movement model (open set)

The Constellation, on the other hand, is not a “model” at all. It’s nature’s playbook. It’s life itself.”

A joke requires the interdependence of the comedian and the audience. Leadership is the same.

Jimmy Carr, Comedian - If no one laughs, it’s just a sentence.

• “You know, Matthew, jokes are funny things. I mean they are strange things,” he said. “Think about it; If you play a song and no one likes it, it’s still a song. If you write a play and everyone walks out, it’s still a play. BUT IF YOUR TELL A JOKE AND NO ONE LAUGHS, IT’S JUST A SENTENCE.”
• “To me, that was profound. A JOKE ISN’T JUST THE DELIVERY OF THE WORDS. IT’S THE CONNECTION - A COMPLETED CIRCUIT. The comedian does his or her part; the audience does theirs. And together THEY CREATE SOMETHING NEW. It’s no longer just you and me. IT IS US. Engaged. Otherwise, it’s just a sentence.”

NPR evaluated 350 commencement speeches to rank top 5 message themes. All focused on the individual, the one person rather than the interdependence needed as they graduate into “real life”.

• “Change the World” to “Change Your Mindset”
• “Listen to Your Inner Voice” to “Share Your Inner Voice”
• “Work Hard” to “Work through Hard Things Together”
• “Don’t Give Up” to “Give up Power to Make More”
• “Embrace Failure” to “Embrace Uncertainty”

Fractals | Self-Similar Patterns

• “One of the reasons this kind of fractal growth is so successful - in trees, for instance - is that it can CREATE something incredibly COMPLEX without a complex “master plan”.
• “Instead, it begins with a successful pattern (called a “seed pattern” in fractal speak) and repeats it. Trees use energy to create Y branches capable of capturing even greater energy from sunlight by covering more space and creating more surface area.”