Organisational Man O'War: A Tribute to Dee Hock

This Thursday Thought is dedicated to the great Dee Hock, founder and CEO Emeritus of VISA and phenomenal human being, an inspiration for organisations and individuals. At great personal expense, he always chose the correct path. He was a true pioneer and was prepared to take the arrows. He has left us with many important messages that should never be forgotten. One of which is the focus of this Thursday's Thought. Dee Hock, rest in peace.

The Portuguese Man O'War

Although it superficially resembles a jellyfish, the Portuguese man o' war is in fact a siphonophore. A siphonophore appears to be a single organism but is actually composed of small individual organisms called zooids that have their own special function for survival. Zooids are attached to one another and physiologically integrated, to the extent that they cannot survive independently, creating a symbiotic relationship, requiring each one to work together and function as an individual animal. The individual organisms make the whole to ensure their longer-term survival.

Our bodies work in a similar manner, we are a collection of trillions of cells, each competing for nourishment and oxygen, but each collaborating for the survival of the whole. While each cell is inherently interested in its own survival, cells understand that selfishness will lead to the death of the whole and are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good. Apoptosis or "cellular suicide," is the process of cellular self-destruction. At a very high level, cells are pre-programmed to commit cellular suicide if they become infected or experience a trauma such as frostbite or a heart attack. Even though it involves cellular death, apoptosis is an essential process for cellular life.

Life is not linear, it is a state of constant evolution, as Dee Hock says, it is a constant becoming. Embracing evolution is really the only way to survive. This is equally true in a business context, organisations and industries that resist evolution are only accelerating their demise. An excellent example comes from the 7-part documentary on the Innovation show with the late founder and CEO Emeritus of VISA, Dee Hock. Dee said in that documentary, "When is the last time evolution called and asked were you ready?"

A House of Cards - United we Stand

"Competition and cooperation are not contraries. They have no opposite meaning. They are complementary. In every aspect of life, we do both. Schools are highly cooperative endeavours within which scholars vigorously compete. The Olympic Games combine immense cooperation in structure and rules with intense competition in events. As the runners leap from the blocks, competition and cooperation are occurring in a single, indistinguishable blur. Every cell in our bodies vigorously competes for every atom of nutrient we swallow and every atom of oxygen we breathe, yet every cell can sense when the good of the whole requires they cooperate by relinquishing their demands when the need of other cells is greater. Life cannot reach its highest  .potential, in fact, cannot exist without a harmonious blend of competition and cooperation. Only in a harmonious, oscillating dance of both competition and cooperation can the extremes of control and chaos be avoided and peaceful, constructive societal order be found." - Dee Hock

When it began, the nascent credit card industry was in absolute chaos. Drawing on Greek legend, Life Magazine, then in its glory days, ran a famous cover story depicting banks as Icarus flying to the sun on wings of plastic, one a Bank Americard (VISA), the other a Master Charge (Mastercard). Below Icarus was a blood-red sea labelled “losses.” The magazine predicted banks would soon plunge down, wings melted, and drown in a sea of red ink.

Dee emerged as the leader of what would become VISA. His goal was to convince the leadership of competing banks that together they would be stronger, that yes they can compete, but equally, they can collaborate. He first did this VISA in the USA and then extended this marvellous feat to form VISA international. His guiding goal was inspired by lessons from nature that “Competition and cooperation are not contraries. They have no opposite meaning. They are complementary.” It was this mindset that saved a flailing industry and by embracing principles of collaboration and co-opetiton Dee Hock led VISA to become the world’s first trillion-dollar business.

So many other industries might have been saved if they had adopted such a mindset.

Think what might have been if newspapers collaborated to ring-fence content behind paywalls. Then, if Google and Facebook wanted to access content (via crawlers or link sharing), they would have to pay the publisher and not the other way around. Such co-opetition might have saved that industry from the long kiss goodnight that it is experiencing.

Think what might have been if the music industry collaborated to create their own version of iTunes or Spotify. They would have spared themselves years of pain and learned how to navigate their own digital future rather than outsourcing it to a neutral party.

Alas, competitors would rather let a third party do the work than collaborate with each other. (When this is allowed to happen, a new gatekeeper is born).

The global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the climate crisis and many other thorny problems face us today. Perhaps it is the beginning of new world order, where countries collaborate, where organisations work together in a circular economy and where the people within organisations work together under a common purpose. The alternative is akin to the fate of Atlantis.

The pandemic forced some people to collaborate to fight a common enemy and it forced others to reinvent their business models. For some, it was the nudge we needed to leave a soul-sucking job, a toxic boss, a dysfunctional relationship. One thing is sure, fighting each other whether that be that irritating co-worker up the hall or the competitor who is taking your customers is a waste of energy. That same energy can be redeployed for creation rather than destruction. We need that energy now more than ever. As the author of "Framers", Kenneth Cukier said in the recent episode of The Innovation Show: "Normally species go extinct because they cannot adapt to their circumstances. Human beings could be the first species that has everything we need to adapt but perishes because we did not use it— not because we have no other choice but because we failed to make the right choices.”

I leave the final word with Dee Hock, however,

"We know that we must do better. We know that we must do it together. And we must come to understand that such “together” must transcend all present boundaries and allow self-organization and governance at every scale, from the smallest form of life to the living Earth itself.

It will take time. It will require great respect for the past, vast understanding and tolerance of the present, and even greater belief and trust in the future. It is an odyssey that calls out to the best in us, one and all."

Dee Hock, rest in peace!

And Kenneth Cukier complements Dee's message beautifully