Giant Pacific Octopus

Giant Pacific octopuses can reach 16 feet across and 110 pounds - the largest octopus species - while maintaining the distributed intelligence that defines cephalopods. Two-thirds of their 500 million neurons reside in their arms rather than central brain. Each arm can taste, touch, and make independent decisions while remaining coordinated with the whole. A severed arm will continue to respond to stimuli for hours, demonstrating how much processing occurs outside central control.

The scale amplifies distributed intelligence challenges. More arms mean more coordination problems. More neurons mean more potential for conflicting decisions. Giant Pacific octopuses solve this through hierarchical distribution: the central brain sets goals, arm ganglia manage local execution, and sucker-level circuits handle immediate sensing. Each level has appropriate authority. The brain doesn't micromanage sucker positions; suckers don't set hunting strategy.

For business, giant Pacific octopuses demonstrate that distributed intelligence scales with appropriate hierarchical structure. Large distributed organizations (franchises, multinational corporations, platform ecosystems) can maintain coherent action if authority is distributed to appropriate levels. Central headquarters sets strategy; regional managers adapt to local conditions; frontline workers handle immediate customer interactions. The failure mode is authority mismatch - headquarters trying to manage sucker-level decisions, or suckers trying to set hunting strategy. Scale requires hierarchy within distribution.