What are we talking about when we talk about Coordination?

In modern society, coordination is everywhere. Whether it is the choice of friends to have a meal together or the formulation of cross-border policies, coordination plays an indispensable role in it. From cooperation between people, to collaboration between groups, to cross-chain operations in the blockchain world, coordination is a basic force that runs through different scenarios. However, coordination is not always smooth, especially when the goals are unclear, the mechanisms are not transparent, or there is a lack of consensus, it often evolves into interest disputes or disordered "collusion". This article will explore the definition, types and application of coordination in the blockchain ecosystem, analyze the culture and practice behind it, and provide some suggestions for achieving efficient coordination.

01 Understanding Coordination

Definition of Coordination

Coordination is a way for a large number of participants to work together for the same goal. Coordination is an extremely widespread behavior. In daily life, from small things like friends deciding which restaurant to go to tonight to big things like decision-making between countries, it is a manifestation of coordination. Coordination is the most powerful force in the universe. Good coordination can bring people together and promote the achievement of a great cause.

Good coordination can lead to the birth of some great causes, such as the research and development of disease drugs by different departments, and provide basic relief services for the general public. Bad coordination can make a stable order chaotic, such as the Russian-Ukrainian war, where some people launched a war between countries because of conflicts of interest, causing many people to lose their lives. For example, the recent unrest in the South Korean government, this kind of internal discord and the failure of coordination in collective decision-making are important factors leading to social division and trust crisis.

Antonym of coordination

The antonym of coordination is unreasonable coordination, which we often describe as "collusion". The more dangerous coordination is that a person only coordinates with a small group of people, but not with others, which leads to falling into the abyss, such as bribery in a small circle, a small group of people discuss some interests that are beneficial to a small group, thereby damaging the interests of the wider public. We often describe this result as "collusion".

02 Coordination Practice in Blockchain

1. Coordination between people: working together

When you work with your colleagues, there will be many coordination problems. How do team members determine the workload, how do different positions in a team coordinate their work, and how do people agree on something through a certain mechanism? This part of coordination is the coordination between people, including governance, working together, and distribution.

Some coordination tools in the blockchain world

• Coordinape: A protocol that rewards contributors based on appreciative behavior, suitable for decentralized teams.

• CharmVerse: A management tool for building relationships and co-creating projects, helping team members synchronize tasks and progress.

• FairSharing: An on-chain contribution distribution protocol that can distribute rewards in a transparent and trustless manner.

2. Coordination between communities: Cooperation

When one group negotiates with another, there will also be some coordination issues, such as how different communities can cooperate, how to determine the same goal, how to jointly host a hackathon, etc. The goal of cooperation is usually to achieve a win-win situation by combining resources, sharing experiences, or solving common problems.

Some coordination cases in the blockchain field

• Hackathon cooperation: Gitcoin often holds cross-community hackathons to encourage talents from different communities to share knowledge and resources.

• Joint governance protocols: Such as joint proposals between protocols (such as multi-chain DAO voting), making cooperation between communities more efficient.

3. Coordination between chains: cross-chain

Coordination between chains is also a way of coordination, how different chains use the same set of cross-chain standards, how information between chains is transmitted, and how chains have better interoperability.

• Ethereum Interoperability Forum (EIF): A milestone event took place during this year's Devcon - the Ethereum Interoperability Forum (EIF). This gathering brought together key players from the entire Ethereum ecosystem, who put aside competition and focused on a common mission: to make Ethereum truly interoperable.

The core of coordination is clarity, transparency and consensus

Whether it is coordination between people, cooperation between communities, or interoperability between chains, the essence of coordination lies in establishing clear goals, transparent mechanisms and reaching broad consensus. Through appropriate tools and methods, coordination can not only reduce friction costs, but also create greater value for all parties.

How to define a coordination standard

The core of coordination is clarity, transparency and consensus, although we cannot define a unified coordination standard, there are some paths that we can gradually achieve a coordination standard. Although we cannot define a unified coordination standard, we can gradually achieve it through the following paths:

1. Transparent governance: Ensure that the decision-making process is open and visible to enhance the trust of participants. Use tools such as Snapshot and CharmVerse to achieve on-chain governance and improve transparency.

2. Reasonable resource allocation: Allocate resources based on contribution or demand to avoid resource waste and unfairness. For example, apply tools such as Coordinape and FairSharing to provide a data-driven allocation mechanism.

3. Effective feedback: Establish a clear feedback channel so that each member understands the impact of their work on the whole. Use tools (such as Discord, governance forums) for open discussions and optimize decision-making.

Conflicts are inevitable in the coordination process

The antonym of coordination is "unreasonable coordination", which we usually call "collusion", that is, a small group of people join together to make decisions and make behaviors that are detrimental to the interests of the larger group. This situation is prone to occur when coordination fails.

In reality, different people or groups have different judgment standards, so conflicts are inevitable during the coordination process. When faced with conflicts, we need to solve the problem in the following ways:

Establish common standards: Establish clear processes to reduce differences caused by subjective judgment

Listen and negotiate: Let all stakeholders fully express their opinions and find a balance between the two parties through discussion

The last choice: Fork

• When conflicts cannot be resolved through coordination, the blockchain world provides a unique mechanism of "fork", which allows the divergent parties to follow their own vision and avoid continuous confrontation caused by compromise.

For example, after The DAO incident, the community had different opinions on how to deal with it. Some people chose to roll back the chain data, which eventually formed Ethereum; others insisted on the principle that the chain cannot be tampered with, and continued Ethereum Classic.

The fork of Steem and Hive Sun Yuchen's acquisition of the Steem community triggered a governance crisis. Some community members were dissatisfied with the new management and eventually chose to fork and create the Hive community.

03 Culture and coordination: Choices for different ecosystems

Interestingly, the cultural perspective is also an important consideration for community coordination, similar to the Ethereum and Bitcoin communities

Bitcoin's coordination method

• Anyone can join and quit at any time

• If you disagree with the current status of Bitcoin, you can modify the client and fork out

• If you disagree with a certain upgrade, you can choose not to upgrade the client and you are still in the Bitcoin network

Ethereum's coordination method

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  Ethereum prefers to solve problems through open discussions and technological innovations, attracting diverse participants. Bitcoin is more concerned with maintaining the integrity of existing rules and avoiding too many changes.

  From the comparison between Bitcoin and Ethereum, we can see that communities from different cultural backgrounds have chosen a coordination method that is in line with their own goals and values.

  • Bitcoin's rules are simple and solid, suitable for the ecology of long-term value storage.

  • Ethereum's flexibility and innovation make it an ideal platform for technology experiments and application development.

  04 Summary

  Whether it is cross-chain operations in blockchain or cooperation between different communities, the core of coordination always lies in clear goals, transparent mechanisms and broad consensus. By combining appropriate tools and cultural cognition, we can find a balance in conflicts and create greater value in collaboration. Understanding and applying the essence of coordination is an important way to achieve continuous progress.