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What DAOs can learn from coliving communities

7 Lessons from 6 years

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Caution: Dating a behavioral scientist

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What if social connection was like buying things on the internet?

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What if social connection was like candy at the checkout aisle?

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RGB

2015 - Present

11 people, San Francisco

Radish

2018 - Present

15 people, Oakland

Duck Cloud

2021 - Present

14 people, Big Sur

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Project

Radish

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  • 5 building compound in Oakland
  • ~15-20 residents
  • Co-owned (13 owners)
  • Collaboratively built and designed

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1. Be reciprocal, not transactional

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How to thank a friend for helping you move

Hand them a $10 bill

Buy them a $10 box of chocolates

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2. Practice Do-ocracy

"Non-contribution is a greater risk than wrong-contribution"

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Principles of do-ocracy

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You declare yourself the leader: “I am now king of the garden”

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You can do anything, as long as …

  • Your actions must be (mostly) reversible
  • There is not concentrated harm on an individual (or group of individuals)
  • Cost is < $X (e.g. $75)

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100 things happen, 80 good and 20 bad

100 things happen:

80 good, 20 bad

10 things happen:

10 good, 0 bad

Do-ocracy

Management

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Do-ocracy

Failure modes

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  • Tyranny of the Proactive: Compounding influence/context for proactive people

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  • Multiplayer mode: Harder to coordinate parties

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  • Utilitarianism: Hard to solve do-ocracy problems with negative impact on others

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3. Normalize Bragging

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#Bilbo-Braggins

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4. Straw Polls �(soft governance)

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  • Dr. Robert Waldinger

(Head of Harvard Happiness Study)

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5. Defining decision frameworks

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  • Dr. Robert Waldinger

(Head of Harvard Happiness Study)

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  • Dr. Robert Waldinger

(Head of Harvard Happiness Study)

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  • Dr. Robert Waldinger

(Head of Harvard Happiness Study)

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  • Dr. Robert Waldinger

(Head of Harvard Happiness Study)

Almost every decision

Very few decisions

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6. The culture is the product

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7. Concentric community circles

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Radish founders (2)

Radish residents

(15)

“Radellites + former residents”

(100)

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ExE

Extrinsic

rewards

Intrinsic

reward

dsffd

“I will get paid $5”

“I will be publicly recognized” (reputation)

“This is my idea and I will see it brought to life”

Why do things?

“I am a good, helpful person”

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