This post was written in collaboration with many of the team members at Koii Labs (koii.network) and in particular Avi Pillay, our intrepid scrum master and often question-answerer.

Many of these ideas are also inspired by words from my mentor, Taylor Gerring, who learned them first hand in the early days of Ethereum, Bitcoin, and the broader decentralization-libertarian revolution from 2010 to 2015, and patiently imparted these lessons to me and others.

The new generation of decentralized organizations are horizontal. We learn together, we earn together, and we can beat incumbants in any industry if we do it right. This new breed of business shares the wealth and the risks, so that we can all win together.

Inspiration

For decades, traditional business models have poisoned the well of innovation. They reward mediocrity, stifle independence, and reduce the individual to a cog in a corporate machine. They train employees to wait—wait for instructions, wait for permission, wait for someone else to think for them. It’s a hierarchy of helplessness.

But the world is changing, and so must organizations. At Koii, we’re leading a revolution where waiting is the enemy and action is the only currency that matters. If you can’t think for yourself, you’re not just useless—you’re holding everyone else back. Decentralized organizations require more than just followers. We need self-sovereign, independent thinkers who act without asking and embrace the consequences.

Let’s start with The Ten Commandments for operating in a self-sovereign, horizontal organization—rules that challenge the norms and force you to level up.

The Ten Commandments of Self-Sovereignty

  1. Act without asking – Don’t wait for permission. Take action and see what happens. Fix it later if it’s wrong.
  2. Own your results – You win? That’s all you. You fail? That’s on you, too. No excuses.
  3. Report your progress – Share what you’re doing regularly so others can step in only when needed.
  4. Cut the interruptions – Minimize distractions. Don’t be the person who derails everyone else’s focus.
  5. Research first, ask second – Google it. Dive deep. Exhaust every possibility before you ask for help.
  6. Collaborate in public, not private – No private Slack messages. Use Google Docs or forums where others can jump in.
  7. Every conversation ends with actions – Don’t talk just to talk. Finish every meeting with clear, actionable steps.
  8. Perfect handoffs – When passing work, leave no guesswork. Summarize everything so the next person can pick up where you left off.
  9. Kill dead conversations – If there’s no progress, end the chat. Don’t drag it out.
  10. Respect time like it’s money – Your time, their time. Don’t waste it. Treat every minute like it’s precious.

Now, let’s get real about why traditional business models are broken beyond repair and how they’ve set us up for failure.

The Flaws of Traditional Business Models

In traditional companies, people learn to wait. The culture revolves around pleasing the higher-ups, playing it safe, and never taking responsibility. This approach creates a hierarchy of helplessness:

  • The higher you go, the more you control—and the less you actually do.
  • The lower you go, the more you wait—and the less value you create.

Traditional businesses reward inaction and punish risk. Instead of encouraging independence, they train employees to seek validation, approval, and permission at every turn. This isn’t just bad for business—it’s a disaster for the individual.

Here’s the brutal truth:

  • Sucking up won’t get you far. If you’re always asking, you’re not thinking. If you’re not thinking, you’re never growing, and you’ll be worthless in the decentralized world that’s coming next.
  • Top-down authority stifles creativity. The higher-ups rarely understand the problems at ground level, yet they make all the decisions. This makes organizations slow, ineffective, and blind to innovation.

Key Losses in Traditional Models – Time and Innovation

The biggest losses in traditional organizations? Time and innovation. Let’s break it down:

  • Time wasted: When people spend their days asking for permission, every action is delayed. Management gets bogged down in micromanaging, while employees waste hours waiting for approval.

    Result? Nothing gets done quickly. The pace of innovation slows to a crawl.

  • Innovation killed: Fear of failure means people are too afraid to try anything new. In these environments, risk-taking is discouraged, and creativity is suffocated.

    Result? The organization stays stuck in old ways of thinking, and true innovation never happens.

The Solution: Act First, Own Your Decisions

In a decentralized organization, the solution is simple: act first, fix it later. Here’s how we do it:

  • Take action without asking: Don’t sit around waiting for approval. If a decision is reversible, make it and move on. You’re trusted to use your judgment—use it.

  • Embrace mistakes: Failure isn’t something to avoid—it’s how you learn. When people feel free to make mistakes, they push boundaries and explore new solutions.

  • Own your decisions: You succeed? Celebrate. You fail? Learn. Either way, take full responsibility for your actions and keep moving forward.

This way of thinking unlocks creativity, speed, and innovation. Instead of spending time getting approvals, individuals act independently and learn from the results. The entire organization moves faster, and innovation flourishes.

Key Losses in Traditional Models – Collective Power

Another crippling loss in traditional business models? Collective power.

In traditional models:

  • Decision-making is centralized: A few at the top control the fate of the entire organization, leaving most people powerless.

    Result? You end up with a bunch of disengaged employees waiting to be told what to do. The potential of the workforce is wasted.

  • Creativity is crushed: By relying on the ideas of a few, the organization misses out on the diverse insights and solutions that could come from the broader team.

    Result? Organizations fail to adapt and stagnate in outdated practices.

The Solution: Collaborate Transparently and Share Progress

The antidote to this loss of power is transparency and asynchronous collaboration. Here’s how we do it at Koii:

  • Share progress regularly: Whether through Git check-ins or living documents, keep your work visible. When your progress is out in the open, others can offer feedback without needing to jump on a call or get an invitation.

  • Asynchronous collaboration: No need to waste time coordinating meetings for every update. Use platforms where others can jump in and out as needed.

  • Unlock collective intelligence: When everyone’s ideas are out in the open, the team can move faster and smarter. The power isn’t in the hands of a few—it’s spread across the entire organization.

This approach ensures that everyone has a voice, and no one is waiting for someone else’s approval to move forward. The organization harnesses the power of many minds, not just a few.

Key Losses in Traditional Models – Accountability and Ownership

Finally, let’s talk about accountability—or the lack thereof—in traditional models. In most organizations:

  • Managers are responsible for everything: When decisions fail, it’s management that takes the hit, while employees are shielded from the consequences.

    Result? Employees feel disconnected from outcomes, and accountability is practically non-existent.

  • Employees avoid responsibility: When all the decisions are made above, employees become passive. Why should they care about the results if they had no say in the decision?

    Result? Mediocrity spreads like a virus. Nobody steps up, and nobody takes ownership.

The Solution: Own Your Work, End Conversations with Action

In a decentralized organization, everyone is accountable. You can’t hide behind management. Here’s how we handle it at Koii:

  • Every conversation ends with action: No vague discussions. No wasted words. Every conversation ends with clear action items or learning objectives. No one leaves a meeting wondering what to do next.

  • Handoffs are seamless: When you pass work on, it’s your job to make sure the next person knows exactly where things stand. Don’t dump work on others without context.

  • Everyone is accountable: When you make a decision, own it. When you take on a task, it’s yours to finish. No excuses, no passing the buck.

This level of accountability means that everyone is invested in the organization’s success. There are no passive participants, only active contributors.

The Future of Work: Self-Sovereign Organizations

The future of work is self-sovereignty. In traditional models, you’re just another cog in the wheel—waiting for orders, deferring your value to someone else, and taking the safe path. But decentralized organizations are proving that real progress comes when individuals are free to act, take risks, and own their work.

This shift to self-sovereign systems will do more than just improve businesses—it will transform society. As more people are empowered to take control of their work, they’ll also begin to take control of their lives. They’ll become more engaged, more innovative, and more capable of shaping their own futures.

The path ahead isn’t easy, but it’s the only path that leads to true freedom, innovation, and success. By adopting these practices, we’re not just building better organizations—we’re building a better world.