Organizations as systems of collective interactions are as old as mankind itself: We, as humans inheriting planet earth, started in the most rural system there is: the survival of the fittest. Eye in eye, pure physical strength determined power and succession. The winner took it all, the defeated party all too often paid with their life in this wilderness.

However, earth kept changing and mankind with it. Somewhen and somehow people began to wonder: “What if not just the most brutal, the strongest ones out there will succeed, but also the ones who could craft the most useful tools?” The tremendous idea of human cooperation emerged in the people’s mind: “What if we join forces, form groups and mutually trust each other in those newly formed systems?” The idea of forming organizations was born.

Over the following millennia, humans and with them organizations evolved. We went from hunters to gatherers, settled down, founded communities and established a society of human beings living together to find shelter and a sense of belonging. But there was not just the feeling of being a community, there was also a downside, a serious one: the concentration of power. Trying to figure out who is in charge, small frictions became disputes, disputes became conflicts and conflicts saw the seed of mistrust and envy. The concentration of power has risen. Very few became as powerful as the many or even more powerful. Power-centric, unbalanced systems of feudalism, royalty and autocracy emerged and with it powerful organizations cementing the power of the ruling elites.

It would be great to step in now, talking about the democratization of society in modern times, how the people stood up against the ruling elite, fought for their rights and took back power. But this is not the happy ending we earthlings have reached. Not yet. For too many of us democracy and social justice is still unreachable.

But there is hope to make a difference. With the latest technological achievements, in particular the emergence of blockchains and its underlying technologie, humans can interact completely trustless with each other for the first time in history. This is a game changer. Now we have the chance to form a new kind of organization: An organization based on values of openness and equality, which is decentralized and inclusive, in which everyone can participate, rise and shine and in which the power finally lies in the hands of the people who are the heart of the organization.

We, meaning people who are already part of a DAO and people who have just come across this whole new world likewise, can really look forward to what lies ahead of us. This is just the dawn of a new ear, this is the rise of the DAO culture.