Rich Decibels represents a unique bridge between traditional community organizing and emerging decentralized governance models. As co-founder of Loomio (collaborative decision-making software), Enspiral (a self-managing collective), Microsolidarity (mutual-aid community networks), and The Hum (organizational design consultancy), Richard D. Bartlett has spent over a decade developing practical frameworks for non-hierarchical coordination. His work stands out in the decentralized space for its emphasis on social dynamics and lived experience rather than purely technical solutions, offering seasoned wisdom about the human challenges that arise when groups attempt to organize without traditional power structures.
Key Highlights
- Practitioner-Researcher Integration: Unlike purely academic or purely technical approaches, Rich combines hands-on experience building successful decentralized organizations (Enspiral, Loomio) with systematic pattern documentation, creating resources grounded in real-world implementation challenges and successes.
- Social Dynamics Focus: His work emphasizes the subtle interpersonal and group dynamics that determine whether decentralized organizations thrive or struggle, addressing questions like trust-building, conflict navigation, decision-making psychology, and the emotional labor of coordination that technical frameworks often overlook.
- Pattern Language Approach: Through “Patterns for Decentralised Organising” and “The Handbook of Handbooks,” Rich has developed reusable frameworks that groups can adapt to their specific contexts rather than prescriptive methodologies, recognizing that effective governance emerges from cultural and contextual factors.
- Mutual Aid and Care Networks: His Microsolidarity project explores how to build resilient support networks that function as alternatives to both state and market systems, offering practical models for community care that complement formal governance structures.
- Cross-Sector Bridge Building: Rich’s work connects movements and sectors that don’t typically share resources—from tech startups to activist collectives to worker cooperatives—creating shared vocabulary and practices across diverse organizing contexts.
- Hospitality as Sacred Practice: Through Casa Tilo retreat center, Rich explores how intentional hospitality and gathering practices create the social foundation necessary for effective collaboration, treating relationship-building as infrastructure rather than byproduct.
Practical Applications
Rich’s resource hub and methodologies can be applied across multiple organizational contexts:
- New collectives and cooperatives can use his pattern library to navigate common challenges like decision-making bottlenecks, accountability structures, and conflict resolution without reinventing solutions that have been tested elsewhere
- DAOs and web3 projects can learn from his experience with digital-first coordination to understand how technical governance tools interact with social dynamics, avoiding common pitfalls around tokenized voting and community management
- Social movement organizations can apply his frameworks for maintaining decentralized coordination while scaling impact, particularly his work on rhythm, communication protocols, and distributed leadership
- Traditional organizations exploring participatory management can use his systematic approach to transition from hierarchical to self-managing structures, with clear guidance on sequencing changes and managing cultural shifts
- Community organizers can integrate his mutual aid and microsolidarity frameworks to build resilient support networks that sustain long-term activism and social change work
His approach is particularly valuable for groups that want to move beyond theoretical discussions about decentralization into concrete implementation with attention to both technical and social infrastructure.
Connection With SuperBenefit
- Bridges traditional community organizing wisdom with web3 governance innovation, aligning with SuperBenefit’s approach to building on existing social movement infrastructure rather than starting from scratch.
- His pattern-based organizational design methodology resonates with SuperBenefit’s work on group state primitives and reusable coordination frameworks.
- Emphasis on mutual aid and care networks directly supports SuperBenefit’s regenerative economics approach, offering practical models for community resilience that complement financial and governance innovations.
- His focus on social dynamics and relationship-building as foundational infrastructure reflects SuperBenefit’s understanding that sustainable coordination requires attention to both technical and human systems.