This directory helps bridge theory and practice by showing how primitives and patterns apply in different organizational contexts.

This directory houses the practical application of the DAO Primitives conceptual framework, guiding you through the phases and scales of organizational development while providing fundamental building blocks for designing decentralized organizations. The theoretical model is described in artifacts/guides/dao-primitives-framework/dao-primitives-framework.md.

Understanding Organizational Context: Phase, Scale, State, and Primitives

This framework helps you understand and navigate the complexities of organizational development by focusing on four key aspects:

  • Phase: The stage of development your group is currently in. This influences the tools, practices, and approaches that will be most effective. The phases are: Conversation, Formation, Organization, Coordination, and Completion. group-phase/ contains detailed documentation for each phase.

  • Scale: The size and complexity of your group. Different scales require different strategies and approaches. The scales are: Collaboration, Coordination, Constituency, and Network. group-scale/ provides detailed analysis for each scale.

  • State: The overall properties and characteristics of your organization at a given point in time. Understanding your organization’s state is crucial for making informed decisions and planning for future growth. artifacts/guides/dao-primitives-framework/group-state.md provides a comprehensive overview of group states and transitions.

  • Primitives: The fundamental building blocks used to create purpose-aligned networks of small autonomous teams. These primitives - DAOs, Cells, Roles, and Tasks - can be combined in various ways to create organizational systems tailored to specific contexts. group-primitives/ contains detailed documentation for each primitive.

Using the Framework: A Practical Roadmap

This framework offers a practical roadmap for building and managing effective organizations. It guides you through:

  1. Diagnosing Your Current State: Identifying your group’s current phase and scale.
  2. Selecting Appropriate Building Blocks: Choosing the primitives and patterns best suited to your context.
  3. Planning for Growth: Anticipating and planning for upcoming transitions.
  4. Maintaining Coordination: Ensuring effective coordination as your organization evolves.

Example: Contextualizing Phase and Scale

A group in the Conversation Phase at a Collaboration Scale will have vastly different needs and priorities than a group in the Coordination Phase at a Network Scale. This framework helps clarify these distinctions, guiding you towards the most effective strategies and organizational primitives.

Framework Components

Core Dimensional Lenses

  • artifacts/guides/dao-primitives-framework/group-phase/group-phase.md: Understanding the five phases of group development - Conversation, Formation, Organization, Coordination, and Completion.

  • artifacts/guides/dao-primitives-framework/group-scale/group-scale.md: Understanding the four scales of organization - Collaboration, Coordination, Constituency, and Network.

  • artifacts/guides/dao-primitives-framework/group-state.md: Documentation of Purpose, Practice, and Progress that enables decentralized coordination.

Organizational Building Blocks

  • artifacts/guides/dao-primitives-framework/group-primitives/group-primitives.md: The four fundamental organizational structures - DAOs, Cells, Roles, and Tasks - that can be combined to create tailored governance and operational systems.

Getting Started with Implementation

  • artifacts/guides/dao-primitives-framework/group-facilitation.md: A comprehensive guide for facilitators to navigate the framework and support groups in developing decentralized governance and operational structures through Discovery, Design, and Implementation phases.

  • artifacts/guides/dao-primitives-framework/dao-primitives-framework.md: Deep dive into the theoretical foundations and practical applications of the dimensional lenses and organizational primitives.

Further Resources

  • Implementation Guides: See dao-primitives-implemention/ for detailed implementation processes.
  • Pattern Library: See patterns/ for reusable solutions to common coordination challenges.
  • Documentation Standards: See types/ for contribution guidelines.