The technologies of Cooperation

From the website of the Cooperation Commons - a joint project of the Institute for the Future and Howard Rheingold/
Resources — CooperationCommons
Technologies of cooperation each reflect an important shift in the structural qualities of cooperative organizations—a shift from explicit design of systems to providing platforms for tool creation and system emergence. Wikipedia, eBay, FreeCycle,
Open Source, synchronous swarms, and smart mobs were not designed, but rather they emerged from the intentional creation of tools and platforms for interaction and value exchange.

This is an important distinction because it also shifts the role of leadership and management from an authority who explicitly shapes direction to a catalyst and periodic intervener who sets conditions and frameworks for interactions.