The implementation guide: from pyramid to network
What leaders need to DO now to thrive in the age of distributed intelligence
Are you evolving with reality or admiring the problem?
My high school basketball coach used to grouse that there are three kinds of people:
Those that make things happen
Those that watch things happen
Those that say, “what happened?”
I've been writing about adaptive work for a while (and working on it for far longer). The reasons to move are becoming clearer by the day. We're in a seismic shift in the way we work, and leaders, customers, and laid-off employees are living it.
What we haven't discussed as much is "how." What I'm sharing here is what you can do—with or without help—to move beyond noticing into doing something about it.
The numbers don't lie
Freelancers in the U.S. grew 90% between 2020 and 2024. By 2027, 86.5 million Americans will be freelancing—more than half the workforce. On-site job postings dropped from 83% to 66% in just 2023.
You might think it's about remote work. It's bigger than that—it's about how humans organize around work itself. Half of Gen Z is already freelancing. After layoffs in 2023-2024, 69% of employers hired freelancers, with 99% planning to in 2025.
The workforce is voting with their feet: the pyramid model isn't just slow—it's incompatible with how work gets done when AI moves at the speed of thought and talent flows like water.
Why most "transformation" efforts miss the point
Most change efforts train managers to be better hierarchical leaders. They implement Scrum or OKRs. They create "flatter" hierarchies. But they're still pyramids.
Buckminster Fuller said it best: "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."
Aaron Dignan gets it right: organizations aren't machines to be controlled—they're complex human systems waiting to be unleashed. Rod Collins is even more direct: hierarchies assume the smartest people are at the top. But the world changes faster than any single person can absorb.
You don't fix the pyramid. You outgrow it.
You've already started this work
Before we dive into implementation, let's acknowledge something: you've probably experienced decentralization already. Good delegation extends power outward. Coaching empowers people to improve. Building culture helps people do their best work.
You've tried some of these tools. What's different now is creating decentralization with more coherence and intention—combining independence, diversity, and information flow in ways that actually work at scale.
How we're implementing this right now
I'm working with leaders on two fronts:
Adaptive coaching: I've shifted most of my coaching to voice notes that hit leaders exactly when they need insight. No more calendar Tetris. No more waiting a week to get unstuck. Just the right perspective delivered to the point of need. Leadership development needs to move at the speed of business, not the speed of scheduled meetings.
Distributed intelligence pilots: These have taken off faster than I expected—our first pilot was running three weeks after we announced it. We help companies increase velocity and tap into collective wisdom while activating communities that were already there but dormant. We're not creating something new. We're unleashing what already exists.
The two-track strategy
Track 1: Reimagine leadership development
Traditional leadership development is built for a slower world. The old model—scheduled sessions, formal curricula, top-down wisdom transfer—can't keep up.
What works: Leadership support that meets people where they are, when they need it. Teams making strategic decisions instead of waiting for the person at the top. Leaders who ask better questions instead of having all the answers.
Real leadership integrity means trusting the collective intelligence of your team.
Try this: Next strategic decision, let the team make it. Even if you disagree. Especially if you disagree. Be the learner in the room.
Track 2: Activate distributed intelligence
Most organizations have untapped intelligence scattered throughout. People closest to problems often have the best solutions. But hierarchies block this flow.
Start simple: Ask "What gets in the way of your best work?" Responses start tentative. But when leaders show they'll actually act on input, people start talking.
Try this: Form a small team around one persistent problem. Give them real authority to experiment. Report back in 30 days on what they learned, not just what they accomplished.
The 30-day experiment: From sensing to structure
Week 1: Listen to what's already happening
Start with signals already present. Map how information and decisions actually flow (not how the org chart says they should). Find where energy pools and where it leaks. Ask: "What's trying to emerge that we're not seeing?"
Week 2: Form your pilot group
Gather 3-5 people who naturally influence others. Create lightweight operating agreements. Focus on purpose-driven roles rather than job descriptions. Go slow to go far.
Week 3: Install sensing rhythms
Replace prediction with responsiveness. Create regular pulse checks that surface what's working and what wants to change. Practice making reversible decisions quickly. Let roles shift based on what the work needs.
Week 4: Push authority toward competence
Identify decisions that can happen closer to the work. Start small—let teams resolve customer issues without approval, make design choices, adjust processes. Set clear boundaries so people know their scope.
This is where most people expect it to get complicated. It doesn't. It gets simpler.
What success looks like
Companies making this shift report the same things: decisions happen faster, people feel ownership over outcomes instead of just tasks, solutions emerge closer to customer needs, diverse perspectives combine in unexpected ways.
One client said: "We went from responding to change to creating change."
That's the difference. You stop reacting to the world and start shaping it.
This is happening right now
Two-thirds of U.S. firms now offer work location flexibility. Ninety percent of companies founded since 2011 offer flexibility. The organizations that learn to organize around distributed intelligence instead of fighting it will have huge advantages.
Your organization will become more networked and adaptive. The workforce already voted. What you get to decide is whether you'll lead the transition or get dragged through it.
Bucky Fuller once again: "We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims."
Your next move
This week: Pick one chronic problem—something that keeps surfacing in meetings but never gets solved. Don't form another committee. Try this:
Find 4-5 people closest to the problem (not necessarily highest on the org chart)
Give them 30 days and real authority to experiment
Ask them to report what they learned, not just what they accomplished
Let what emerges inform your next move
This month: Start sensing what your people actually need to do their best work. Not what you think they need. What they say they need.
This quarter: Run the 30-day experiment with one part of your organization. Make it voluntary. Make it visible. Let success create momentum.
The future of work isn't coming—it's here. The organizations that get this won't just survive the transition. They'll shape what comes next.
And that's the real opportunity: not just adapting to change, but becoming the kind of organization that creates the change you want to see.
You get to be the kind of person who makes things happen. But you have to move.