The Penguin and the Leviathan: How Cooperation Triumphs over Self-Interest [Hardcover]

Yochai Benkler (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 9, 2011

What do Wikipedia, Zip Car’s business model, Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and a small group of lobster fishermen have in common? They all show the power and promise of human cooperation in transforming our businesses, our government, and our society at large. Because today, when the costs of collaborating are lower than ever before, there are no limits to what we can achieve by working together.

For centuries, we as a society have operated according to a very unflattering view of human nature:  that, humans are universally and inherently selfish creatures. As a result, our most deeply entrenched social structures – our top-down business models, our punitive legal systems, our market-based approaches to everything from education reform to environmental regulation - have been built on the premise that humans are driven only by self interest, programmed to respond only to the invisible hand of the free markets or the iron fist of a controlling government.
 
In the last decade, however, this fallacy has finally begun to unravel, as hundreds of studies conducted across dozens of cultures have found that most people will act far more cooperatively than previously believed.  Here, Harvard University Professor Yochai Benkler draws on cutting-edge findings from neuroscience, economics, sociology, evolutionary biology, political science, and a wealth of real world examples to debunk this long-held myth and reveal how we can harness the power of human cooperation to improve business processes, design smarter technology, reform our economic systems, maximize volunteer contributions to science, reduce crime, improve the efficacy of civic movements, and more.
 
For example, he describes how:
 


   • By building on countless voluntary contributions, open-source software communities have developed some of the most important infrastructure on which the World Wide Web runs
   • Experiments with pay-as-you-wish pricing in the music industry reveal that fans will voluntarily pay far more for their favorite music than economic models would ever predic
   • Many self-regulating communities, from the lobster fishermen of Maine to farmers in Spain, live within self-regulating system for sharing and allocating communal resources
   • Despite recent setbacks, Toyota’s collaborative shop-floor, supply chain, and management structure contributed to its meteoric rise above its American counterparts for over a quarter century.
   • Police precincts across the nation have managed to reduce crime in tough neighborhoods through collaborative, trust-based, community partnerships.
 
A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the dynamics of cooperation in 21st century life, The Penguin and the Leviathan not only challenges so many of the ways in which we live and work, it forces us to rethink our entire view of human nature.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"For the last several centuries, many of our deeply held beliefs have been shaped by the view that human beings are fundamentally motivated by self-interest. In his latest work, Benkler (The Wealth of Networks) challenges this long-held view, asserting that the spirit of human cooperation is stronger than selfishness a view that will likely revolutionize business, economics, technology, government, and human interaction in the future... His pertinent examples bring his ideas to life."
—Publishers Weekly

"Yochai Benkler is the smartest thinker we have on the effects of the internet on society. In The Penguin and the Leviathan, he lays out the ways that larger, looser, freer collaborations are transforming how we think about work and about the value we give and get from each other."
—Clay Shirky, bestselling author of Here Come Everybody and Cognitive Surplus

"Benkler speaks the truth on every page -- presenting a brighter vision of human nature that we keep insist on denying for no good reason." 
—Tim Wu, bestselling author of The Master Switch and professor, Columbia Law School

"...a solid swipe at blind adherence to "free market" dogma. Comprehensive and provocative."
-Kirkus

About the Author

Yochai Benkler is the Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard University. Since the 1990s, he has been a leading scholar in the role of collaboration in information technology, business, society, and culture, and his work has been featured in The Economist, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Time Magazine. His previous book, The Wealth of Networks, was named best business book about the future by Strategy + Business Magazine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business; 1 edition (August 9, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385525761
• ISBN-13: 978-0385525763
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #450,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Examples, So So Execution December 24, 2011

By L. King

Format:Hardcover

The book's thesis is that the historical pattern of our society of swinging between the extremes of Hobbe's "rule of law" Leviathan and Adam Smith's laissez fair The Invisible Hand of economic maximization doesn't work in the long term. Appealing to the open source model used in the computer industry he uses the Linux symbol of Tux the Penguin to advocate for a third way, that of encouraging social mechanisms in the market that allow favour cooperation over coercion and control.

Much of the illustrative material involves simulations including the well known "Prisoners Dilemna" where participants are give a choice of either cooperating or selling out for different levels of reward, and variations on the "Community Game" where participants are given a sum of money and a set of rules for keeping and distributing money in order to test the level of their generousity. What researchers found was that the framing of the activity had a great deal to do with the outcome. Individuals who either met with or were shown pictures and given backgrounds to the other person or persons in their group had greater empathy and were more likely to share than less. Similarly when an individual was told that they could be punished (monetarily) for not sharing, but were assured that under no circumstances would that occur, the tendency was to share more than in situations where this was not made clear. Reframing the "Community Game" as the "Wall Street Game" encouraged a more selfish mode of behaviour.

Benqler also invokes anecdotes from real world behaviour, citing the skunk works emergence of Zongshen Motorcycles out of a group of parts suppliers who cooperatively banded together in economic self defence against government run production facilities and GM's highly productive NUMMI plant in California, handed over to Toyota to manage using kaizan principles. Anti-smoking campaigns framed as the danger of second hand smoke appealed to our altruistic side and worked better than those that weighed in on the personal risk. Wikipedia, Facebook and other Web 2.0 media are based on our willingness to share and all for social not monetary benefits. And the success of Barack Obama's 2008 election campaign was largely based on empowering the grass roots organizations to contribute, innovate and share.

According to the author research across the board shows that 70% of the population are willing to share to some degree and 30% will tend towards selfishness and this appears to be a constant over time and different cultures. Benqler argues that properly structured incentivism and volunteerism can co-exist. One of the findings is that the biggest aid to helpful behaviour is the lowering the cost of sharing. The other is establishing a community of practice where the contributors feel valued and not exploited.

On the downside the book lacks footnotes or a bibliography for referencing the original material on which the studies are based, so I'm not entirely convinced of the conclusions, esp the constancy of the 70/30 rule. Secondly, altruistic behaviour is nothing new - in fact it's the norm within families and many social groups. Benqler is also weak regarding arguments for contrary points of view. He pits the penguin against the extremes of Thomas Hobbes and Adam Smith, which I agree are unhealthy, however I'd argue that Tux merely represents a third extreme, albeit it's one that I like and as an avocate for quality improvement and learning organizations one that I've tried to encourage. A vibrant society is one that keeps changing its POV.

Lastly I'm disappointed that the author missed the seminal and well cited work The Evolution of Cooperation (1984). IMV Axelrod's research would be extremely supportive of Benqler's conclusion with the exception that Axelrod found that a purely cooperative approach is highly vulnerable to groups who favour a strategy of selfishness, and a policy of trust but verify is indicated. In the long run the strategy of "Tit for Tat" or "Tit for 2 Tats" appears to be more effective that pure cooperation. I would add, nor are the motives of non-selfish individuals necessarily for the good - China has used social media to publish images of protestors asking that they be identified anonymously on the web - essentially crowd-sourcing surveillance.

As a long term advocate for improving product quality I've always believed in of encouraging, partnerships, assisting others and information sharing between departments, supply chains, customers and even in certain areas with competitors - pure competition is rare IMHO and one can always find common interests if one looks for them. People need to feel appreciated, but also obligated out of a sense of what's right to volunteer to fill where needed independent of external rewards, so I did enjoy the book. . Overall it's a quick read (the typesetting is double spaced) and the examples are good fodder for motivating groups, in the workplace, the schoolroom and in society at large.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 30 Second Book Review: A well argued book about how being unselfish does matter for business and life December 21, 2011

By Rohit Bhargava

Format:Hardcover

I first uncovered this book thanks to a short excerpt from the Harvard Business Review and I must admit I was already predisposed to agree with the author's premise that we are inherently more cooperative and less selfish than the literature and research would have us believe. Still I was curious to see how the author would make the argument in a convincing way for the more analytical or traditional minds among us.

Back in 1964 Ayn Rand argued in her book The Virtue of Selfishness that the highest purpose in each of our lives should be to pursue our own happiness. In The Penguin and the Leviathan, Benkler successfully digs into all the research from naysayers in the past (Richard Dawkins, etc.) and explains their arguments. As he is telling the stories of their work, you can sense that he is preparing you for his argument by making sure you understand the arguments of those who have come before him and argued the exact opposite. As an author, I appreciate this effort because it shows that he took the time and thought about how people might argue against him.

Ultimately it makes the book stronger. Moving from the research of political scientists to the more recent examples of co-created sites like Wikipedia and Yelp where people share their thoughts altruistically - Benkler paints a convincing picture of a world that may be more selfless and collaborative than the social scientists have ever realized.

In our world filled with corporate greed and signs of profiteering at any costs, it is nice to know that we all have it in our power to be inherently cooperative and altruistic. Now we just need more people to choose to exercise that power.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Good Book on Cooperation July 14, 2012

By J. Gomez TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

The Penguin and the Leviathan by Yochai Benkler

"The Penguin and the Leviathan" it's the interesting book about the dynamics of cooperation and working in collaboration in the 21st Century. The main thesis of this book is to debunk the notion of a selfish human nature and how this knowledge can better serve our societies. Israeli-American author and professor of Law, Yochai Benkler, uses the latest in multiple converging scientific fields and a variety of examples to illustrate the power of cooperation. This 272-page is composed of the following ten chapters: 1. The Penguin vs. the Leviathan, 2. Nature vs. Culture, 3. Stubborn Children, New York City Doormen and Why Obesity Is Contagious: Psychological and Social Influences on Cooperation, 4. I/You, Us/Them: Empathy and Group Identity in Human Cooperation, 5. Why Don't We Sit Down and Talk About It?, 6. Equal Halves: Fairness in Cooperation, 7. What's Right Is Right -- or at Least Normal: Morals and Norms in Cooperation, 8. For Love or Money: Rewards, Punishments, and Motivation, 9. The Business of Cooperation and 10. How to Raise a Penguin.

Positives:
1. The very interesting and practical topic of cooperation applied to many facets of the human experience.
2. The author's positive outlook is refreshing and his personality comes through in the narrative.
3. Despite making use of the latest in various scientific fields the book is very accessible.
4. The author does a wonderful job of describing the Leviathan approach to society and why there are better methods now.
5. The strongest strength of this book is the many practical examples of cooperation in the many endeavors of the human experience. Excellent examples that clearly show the advantages of a more progressive approach to cooperation in business, government and society as a whole.
6. The shift from an authoritarian to a more humane and collaborative approach.
7. The science behind our innate predisposition to cooperate. Good use of neuroscience and biology (evolution). "In practically, no human society examined under controlled conditions have the majority of people consistently behaved selfishly". Good stuff.
8. Debunks the myth of self-interest. A look at why the myth persisted.
9. Collaboration in the animal kingdom.
10. Social influences on cooperation. What fosters cooperation. Fascinating studies.
11. Neuroscience and the biological foundations for empathy.
12. Communication, communication, communication. Mediation as a model of conflict resolution.
13. The importance of fairness in cooperation in economics, politics and social psychology.
14. The importance of morals and standards in establishing norms that lead to cooperation. Many great examples.
15. Debunking the notion that self-interest is the main driver behind our behavior. Very interesting and thought provoking.
16. The most important factors in determining compliance.
17. The success of free and open-source software. An interesting discussion.
18. Three major factors why executive compensation fails in enhancing company performance.
19. The business of cooperation is an interesting chapter that covers high-performance organizations that thrive on cooperation. Even military applications. The music industry.
20. The future of cooperation. Benkler provides a list of levers to be the key ingredients of successful, practical and cooperative systems.

Negatives:
1. Overall, the book is stuck on one theme: cooperation versus self-interest which is not necessarily bad but the transition between sub topics is executed poorly.
2. I would have liked to have seen the author support his arguments against stronger opposing views instead of less practical extreme views of Thomas Hobbes.
3. I think a better title would serve this book better. Ironically, the author provides examples on how framing certain studies have a direct impact on the results. The author's lack of name recognition can't overcome the book's vague title. How many more book would have been sold with a better cover and title?
4. Some of the game theory will throw some readers off.
5. The author shows how open-source software works but never once mentions Apple that takes an opposing view.
6. A misspell here and there, commonweal instead of commonwealth. Nitpicky...
7. No bibliography, notes or source material.

In summary, I enjoyed reading this book. As an engineer and manager, I have been trained in the archaic robotic business philosophy of Just-In-Time(JIT)and other similar top-down approaches to the now more flexible and cooperative styles, so the book's many practical examples resonated with me. Benkler succeeds in driving home his main thesis of cooperation over self interest by providing many interesting examples throughout the book. The lack of source material and references hurts those of us who would like to pursue some of the topics in more depth. That being said, Benkler provides a very useful and positive outlook on how to improve societies via a cooperative approach that does not necessarily disregard elements of self interest. If you want to learn more about the power of cooperation, this is a recommended book.

Further suggestions: "Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters" by Richard P. Rumelt, "What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets" by Michael J. Sandel, "Human: The Science Behind What Makes Your Brain Unique" by Michael S. Gazzaniga, "50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True" by Guy P. Harrison, "Lying (Kindle Single)" by Sam Harris, "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined" and "The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature" by Steven Pinker, "The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good" David J. Linden, "Hardwired Behavior: What Neuroscience Reveals about Morality" by Laurence Tancredi and "Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts" by Carol Tavris.