There is a fundamental tension in all commons governance between culture, or that which defines the group’s shared motivations and visions for the future, and structure, or that which formalizes the group culture into recognizable legal and institutional forms, and enables certain capabilities. Culture and structure are interdependent in a commons, but they also can pull in different directions. Creating resilient, self-organized communities requires an artful balance.

This fluid dialectic between culture and structure that defines all commons. If a DisCO's care orientation is an example of the former, DisCOs also need to encode this into technological and legal structures to ensure that the culture thrives. This is the animating logic behind DisCO Principle 1: Values-Based Design.

The following is extracted from the DisCO Manifesto chapter 6: Open-Value Co-ops for Radical Workplace Democracy:

Balanced in culture and structure: Onchain and offchain dimensions, tacit and explicit knowledge… everyone’s out on the DisCO floor. The algorithm's positive feedback loops won't induce runaway machine tyranny. Rather than falling subject to the tyranny of structurelessness, the good working atmosphere is strengthened by the resilient, accountable and interoperable agreements of the Community Algorithmic Trust.