How - Dov Seidman [23]
THE INFORMATION JINNI IS OUT OF THE LAMP
The free flow of information has irrevocably changed the ways we interrelate, both for the positive and the negative. According to a recent Pew study, for example, 40 percent of the 11 million people who use instant messaging at work feel it increases teamwork, but 32 percent say it encourages gossip, 29 percent say it has been distracting, and 11 percent say it has added stress to their lives.21 Unquestionably, communications technology has upended centuries of traditional practice, weakening the effectiveness of many habits that used to make us strong. It has changed the structure of how businesses operate and how people in businesses interoperate.
And we can’t go back.
We will never become less connected. We will never become less transparent. The information jinni is out of the lamp and he’s paying attention to no one’s wishes. Tired of living in the dark recesses of a tarnished copper fixture, he’s built himself a new house, one with transparent and permeable walls, framed by the new realities we’ve discussed in these two chapters: the destruction of the fortress, the flattening of the world, the rise of the business ecosystem, the fractured nature of virtual discourse, uncontrollable transparency, the destructive power of accusation, and the importance of reputation. With all these changes to the way we live, connect, and conduct our professional and personal lives, the questions become: How do we now thrive? How can we turn these challenges into strengths? We’ll answer these questions in the chapters ahead, but first there are a few more important issues to consider: changes in what society values, trusts, and relies on for stability in times of uncertainty.
CHAPTER 3
The Journey to HOW
It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.
—John Wooden, Hall of Fame basketball coach
Information is king, hyperconnectedness puts that information in the hands of the many, and transparency reveals all: this is our new reality. Thus far, we’ve looked at some of the external forces working upon us as we struggle to adapt to changing times. There are other forces at work, though, powerful internal shifts that affect how we feel about ourselves as individuals, companies, and any group of which we are a part. The new needs and perceptions bred by these changes also exert a powerful influence on our future business success. To fully consider the rapid changes to the geography of business, then, we must also open our minds to how these strong forces have created a new playing field for success.
JUST DO IT
At the end of the twentieth century, new conditions left little doubt that we were but a mouse click away from having everything about us—good, bad, and indifferent—revealed. From our hobbies to our bank account information, personal identification numbers to details about what we spend or owe, lots of facts we might not feel comfortable discussing with friends routinely find their way to the public eye without us being able to stop them. Increased exposure brought increased unease, vulnerability that has affected us in ways many of us have not yet had time to fully consider. With all the looking that became possible, we began to look more, and at different things. We began to question whether the world in which we lived matched the values we held most dear. That’s when things began to change.
In 1996, writer/director Cameron Crowe made a film that insight-fully captured the values of the go-go 1990s, Jerry Maguire. In the film, Tom Cruise plays an amoral sports agent who wakes up in the middle of the