Comments on: How Much Longer Before It Dawns on “Everybody” ?

By: Jon Husband

Jon Husband — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:02:54 +0000

Re: agile programming, I agree. I remember when agile was in its infancy and realizing and discussing with colleagues then, and since, that the approach had incorporated org dev and learning-from-feedback-loops principles into the work design and the the team communications and interaction dynamics. A small form of democracy in action !

Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.

By: Eric Grandeo

Eric Grandeo — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:51:43 +0000

Great Post, Jon…seems like Deloitte is seeing what most of us who are social media evangelists already know. I can’t help, however, but notice the similarities of Agile project methodologies to the democratization trends discussed above. One may think of an agile project as a small scale social media experiment, which many organizations are very familiar with. Lessons learned from these smaller experiences can help enterprises adapt to the inevitable wave of media democratization.
An Agile approach is the democratization of a project, where team members drive the needs and planning of the project with the assistance of a “coach,” noticeably absent is the term manager or leader. The statement “will lead to some major changes in the practice of leadership and management” cannot be truer. Anyone familiar with Agile will tell you project managers in an Agile environment are not managers, or leaders; they are facilitators and coaches. They will also tell you this role change does not come without its share of growing pains, and resistance from traditional hierarchical team members. But when that agile team goes beyond self-organizing into running like a well oiled machine, they will accomplish more, innovate more, and operate faster than ever.
Yes we are in the early stages of “media democracy” now, but there will be some growing pains and resistance before the enterprise reaches the peak.
Thanks for the great thoughts, Jon!

By: Jon Husband

Jon Husband — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:27:23 +0000

Bill and Harold … indeed.

If you will foregive the blatatnt self-promotion, here’s something I wrote back in 2000, wherein I imagined that as long as the pipes remain neutral and the PTB don’t try to control access, content and flow-through (censorship and net neutrality), democratisation seems (ed) very likely. But of course there have already been significant attemots at control, and the eventual winning siode, if you will is far from clear.

11. There’s so much information and knowledge available that filters (both intelligent and social) are required to manage the double-feedback loop that includes executives, managers, customers and employees.

12. This fundamental shift in power and control will (eventually) necessitate more open and fluid organizational structures and dynamics (organizations will have to be more open and more focused at the same time).

13. The logical conclusion to this shift is a new paradigm or principle called Wirearchy.

14. Over time (the next 5 – 10 years ?), the evolution of Wirearchy implies that certain patterns of decision-making will work their way into peoples’ daily lives – both work and personal. These patterns will be embedded in software, the Internet and the personal tools used by people (such as clothes, appliances, vehicles, and personal and work spaces).

15. This interconnected electronic ‘atmosphere’ will continuously become smarter and more useful.

This in turn will lead to patterns of behavior, and the use of knowledge and decision-making tools and processes, that will drive a real evolution of both conscious and unconscious dynamics.

These major changes will accumulate and reinforce the buildup of control and power embedded in the interconnected capabilities of the Internet.

This will be both good and bad for us. But it will be real.

By: Harold Jarche

Harold Jarche — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:09:29 +0000

We are in a media democracy as long as the pipes remain neutral and the playing field stays relatively flat; two factors that I don’t take for granted. The shift to more democratic workplaces is going to make some people with a lot of influence very unhappy. However, I sure hope that these shifts happen and am doing my small part to encourage them. I think it’s up to all of us to create the future we envision and not leave it up to the existing power structure.

By: Bill Ives

Bill Ives — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:44:48 +0000

Jon – Thanks for expanding on what I wrote. I agree that an increasing democratic and open workplace will be the result of enterprise 2.0. The firms that recognize and support their employees will be the winners. I was struck recently by a very old example of how treating your workers can make the difference. As depicted in the movie, Mongol, the ancient Mongolian culture was one of very top down control, with the khan having absolute power of life and death over his followers. However, there was also bottom-up pressures and the khan had to conform to certain traditions. Most importantly, the Mongols had a right to choose their masters and to switch masters. Genghis Khan used this to his advantage by treating his warriors better than anyone else, he gave a greater share of the plunder among other things. This caused loyalty in his army and defections in his rivals. He also brought the ordinary warriors of defeated armies into his own army, a practice not done then. These innovations, along with his ability to handle long distance supply logistics were the reason for his success. Bill

By: Hylton Jolliffe

Hylton Jolliffe — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:00:01 +0000

Jayson, thanks much for the heads up. A Wordpress upgrade had knocked down the RSS feed but all set now. thanks.

By: Jon Husband

Jon Husband — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:45:41 +0000

Thanks for the heads-up, Jayson. I will advise the people who look after the mechanics-and-plumbing of the blog site.

By: Jayson Ambrose

Jayson Ambrose — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:28:31 +0000

Your RSS link seems to be broken…