Early this morning I was reflecting on how different today’s world is from the world I grew up in.
You see, I was born during World War II. Complexity had not been discovered. Computers had not been invented. Frederick Taylor was revered. It was a tidier world. Everything was logical. A simpler time.
Thirty years ago things began to get fuzzy. We realized that everything in the universe is connected to everything else. The future’s unpredictable. Networks rule. Shit happens.
We live in the midst of a phase change in how we humans understand the world. The dying embers of the Industrial Age are growing cold. The Network Era is very much alive. Connections matter; individuals are powerless without them. People aren’t tools; they’re what creates value. Control is illusory. Complexity rules.
Businesses that think it’s cautious go retreat back to basics discover that yesterday’s rules of thumb don’t work in today’s game.
This marvelous presentation by Niels Pflaeging explains what’s going on.
Check out BetaCodex for lots of similarly astute thinking.
Pingback: A guide to complexity and organizations | Harold Jarche
I found the presentation delightful. We evolve with technology and most probably we will continue to evolve as technology will become more complex and influence our lives even more. It’s only natural that the working environment will change also.
Networking age and global business has given rise to complexity. Online connectivity has become the necessity of the hour to make complex terms more simplified.
Pingback: Internet Time Alliance | A guide to complexity and organizations