<aside> 💡 Articles in this series: Article #1: Introducing Yam Re-Org | Article #2 What Makes A Good DAO | Article #3: Goals of the Yam Re-Org | Article #4 The New Yam DAO Model
</aside>
This is the second of four articles in the Yam Re-Org series in which we reflect on what makes a good DAO. By asking this essential question and exploring the answers we seek to establish a worthy target to aim for in the reorg of the Yam DAO. Be sure to read Introducing the Yam Re-Org for a good overview of the reorg project.
DAO stands for "Decentralized Autonomous Organization.” What does that mean?
A group of persons, who are capable of acting independently, with distributed functions and powers to complete some goal.
But do DAOs cease being autonomous when human governance and participation are involved? Unlike a typical corporation, human input is self directed and governed by an emergent set of rules. These emergent rules and the resources that are deployed using these rules are the DAO. A more specific definition is:
“A distributed network of autonomous agents coordinating resources and developing rules to complete some goal.”
<aside> 💡 Further reading: What is a DAO?
</aside>
As a DAO grows and becomes more decentralized, scaling participation and reaching consensus on decisions is key to its success. To achieve this we need to know: Who makes decisions? About which issues? And how do they make those decisions?
As you increase the number of decisions and/or increase the complexity of those decisions, the number of participants able to put in the effort shrinks. For maximum token holder participation in the governance process, complexity must be minimized by either limiting the number of decisions or simplifying decision making. Optionally, delegating decision making to a narrower group of participants can increase decision making throughput.