Management in a Facebook World
I’ve been reading Clay Shirky’s latest book Here Comes Everybody and thinking a lot about how organizations, and specifically the power base behind organizational influence, is evolving right before our eyes. (More on the book in a future post) And then someone points me toward a great article by Gary Hamel out on the Wall Street Journal blog site that outlines this exact shift, and I had to share. Gary compiled “a list of 12 work-relevant characteristics of online life” that I’ve included below. Follow the link to the article for the entire narrative around each:
- All ideas compete on an equal footing.
- Contribution counts for more than credentials.
- Hierarchies are natural, not prescribed.
- Leaders serve rather than preside.
- Tasks are chosen, not assigned.
- Groups are self-defining and -organizing.
- Resources get attracted, not allocated.
- Power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it.
- Opinions compound and decisions are peer-reviewed.
- Users can veto most policy decisions.
- Intrinsic rewards matter most.
- Hackers are heroes.
Mr. Hamel, you nailed it.