Three perspectives on disruption, and strategies for surviving it | Delaney Turner, IBM Software Blog Is disruption the new normal? It seems like it lately, as my social feeds serve up the ongoing speculation about Apple’s future , the devastation wrought by tropical storm Irene and the continuing gloomy outlook for the world economy. Luckily, though, my feeds have also served up three great reads about how to manage through disruption as well. I’ve summarized them and explained why I think they’re important. Whitney Johnson: “No idea what will come next”The first is Whitney Johnson’s post in the Harvard Business Review blog, entitled “Disrupt Yourself.” A former investment banker, Johnson describes the risks and fear involved in walking away from a seven-figure salary to become an entrepreneur and shares the lessons she’s learned in the six years since. Briefly, they are as follows:If it feels scary and lonely, you’re probably on the right track Be assured that you have no idea what will come next Throw out the performance metrics you’ve always relied on Your odds of success will improve when you pursue a disruptive course Marc Andreessen: “Even books are software”The second read is Marc Andreessen’s Wall Street Journal piece, “Why Software is Eating the World.” Andreessen’s is a voice for optimism in a stream of gloomy economic news. Shunning the speculation of another “internet bubble,” he sees companies like Facebook, Zynga and Foursquare building high-growth, high-margin and highly defensible businesses. He explains: My own theory is that we are in the middle of a dramatic and broad technological and economic shift in which software companies are poised to take over large swathes of the economy/ […] More and more major businesses and industries are being run on software and delivered as online services—from movies to agriculture to national defense. Many of the winners are Silicon Valley-style entrepreneurial technology companies that are invading and overturning established industry structures. Over the next 10 years, I expect many more industries to be disrupted by software, with new world-beating Silicon Valley companies doing the disruption in more cases than not […] Today, the world’s largest bookseller, Amazon, is a software company—its core capability is its amazing software engine for selling virtually everything online, no retail stores necessary. On top of that, while Borders was thrashing in the throes of impending bankruptcy, Amazon rearranged its web site to promote its Kindle digital books over physical books for the first time. Now even the books themselves are software.

Three perspectives on disruption, and strategies for surviving it | Delaney Turner, IBM Software Blog

Is disruption the new normal? It seems like it lately, as my social feeds serve up the ongoing speculation about Apple’s future

, the devastation wrought by tropical storm Irene and the continuing gloomy outlook for the world economy.

Luckily, though, my feeds have also served up three great reads about how to manage through disruption as well. I’ve summarized them and explained why I think they’re important.

Whitney Johnson: “No idea what will come next”

The first is Whitney Johnson’s post in the Harvard Business Review blog, entitled “Disrupt Yourself.” A former investment banker, Johnson describes the risks and fear involved in walking away from a seven-figure salary to become an entrepreneur and shares the lessons she’s learned in the six years since. Briefly, they are as follows:

  • If it feels scary and lonely, you’re probably on the right track
  • Be assured that you have no idea what will come next
  • Throw out the performance metrics you’ve always relied on
  • Your odds of success will improve when you pursue a disruptive course

Marc Andreessen: “Even books are software”

The second read is Marc Andreessen’s Wall Street Journal piece, “Why Software is Eating the World.” Andreessen’s is a voice for optimism in a stream of gloomy economic news. Shunning the speculation of another “internet bubble,” he sees companies like Facebook, Zynga and Foursquare building high-growth, high-margin and highly defensible businesses. He explains:
 
My own theory is that we are in the middle of a dramatic and broad technological and economic shift in which software companies are poised to take over large swathes of the economy/ […] More and more major businesses and industries are being run on software and delivered as online services—from movies to agriculture to national defense. Many of the winners are Silicon Valley-style entrepreneurial technology companies that are invading and overturning established industry structures. Over the next 10 years, I expect many more industries to be disrupted by software, with new world-beating Silicon Valley companies doing the disruption in more cases than not […] Today, the world’s largest bookseller, Amazon, is a software company—its core capability is its amazing software engine for selling virtually everything online, no retail stores necessary. On top of that, while Borders was thrashing in the throes of impending bankruptcy, Amazon rearranged its web site to promote its Kindle digital books over physical books for the first time. Now even the books themselves are software.

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Lovely Day Blog: Taking Back the Term "Social"

That means that “social innovation” is not necessarily just the provision of water systems to local farmers, but models like Kickstarter and micro-consignment that allow people to create value through social means. Unlocking the creative and innovative potential of people – through anything from the volunteer corps at giant companies like IBM to the facilitation of craft and commerce through platforms like Etsy — is the new face of “social innovation”. 

Many recent trends point to this more participatory and creative definition of  ”social”: hacker culture, DIY platforms, open innovation, etc. and we’ll talk about that in more detail elsewhere. The thing to remember is not to let the industrial era thinking creep in. The best social innovation is exactly that which strengthens us: that which enables creation in a way that benefits the collective while strengthening it at the same time. A good example might be Neighborgoods, a service barter and exchange startup for home goods. Whereas they might have just systematized the process, the incorporation of actually meeting your neighbors as part of the barter and exchange process makes ‘us’ stronger.

via lovelydayblog:

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The Grass Ceiling: Limits to grassroots initiatives and what to do about them | johnstepper Social media platforms are great for enabling grassroots efforts. But within the enterprise, grassroots efforts tend to be all sound and fury with limited results. Here are 3 ways to remedy that, and transform opinionated crowds into effective enterprise movements. The grass is greener People within large firms are eager for change. They’re eager to do things differently and eliminate the waste and bureaucracy they see around them. And they see social business as an alternative to the dystopian present. But, too often, social business is cast as a revolution of sorts. And the term “grassroots” is invoked as it often is in political change campaigns. “The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures.” Such movements are indeed excellent ways to find out what people really think. And for like-minded people to connect. The problem comes when they try to effect change.

The Grass Ceiling: Limits to grassroots initiatives and what to do about them | johnstepper

Social media platforms are great for enabling grassroots efforts. But within the enterprise, grassroots efforts tend to be all sound and fury with limited results.

Here are 3 ways to remedy that, and transform opinionated crowds into effective enterprise movements.

The grass is greener

People within large firms are eager for change. They’re eager to do things differently and eliminate the waste and bureaucracy they see around them. And they see social business as an alternative to the dystopian present.

But, too often, social business is cast as a revolution of sorts. And the term “grassroots” is invoked as it often is in political change campaigns.

“The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures.”

Such movements are indeed excellent ways to find out what people really think. And for like-minded people to connect.

The problem comes when they try to effect change.

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Social Business Design | Dachis Group

Challenges to Organizational Transformation

Legacy Structures

New trends, no matter how revolutionary, must still overcome the limitations of the past before becoming fully adopted. In organizations, legacy systems and platforms, cultural elements, and governance requirements all work to limit the willingness to experiment and innovate.

  • Information Should Empower: Increased openness and better communication can empower employees of an organization and directly improve results, but managers still fight to retain control. When replicated across a business, this develops into an organizational inertia that can stymie growth.
  • The IT / Marketing Disconnect: IT controls the technology infrastructure used to deploy and manage organizational information. Marketing manages the external communications that rely on said infrastructure. Yet these two organizations are often forced to compete for headcount and resources, reducing the ability and willingness to collaborate and improve processes.
  • “Us” Vs. “Them.” Competitive strategy drives businesses to hunker down behind the physical walls of an office and the virtual walls of a brand. Customers are seen as “targets” whose participation is limited to handing over money. Competitors are seen as “enemies.” Suppliers are viewed as “necessary evils.” This approach to business may produce short-term results, but at the expense of true collaboration and long-term results – everyone benefits when these relationships are viewed as an ecosystem of related collaborators rather than competing interests.

In order to meet these looming challenges, businesses need to fully understand the legacy structures in place within an organization and determine how to leverage these structures while implementing new processes to improve results.

(Source: dachisgroup.com)

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Social Media and Revolution: Clay Shirky on Brian Lehrer Show

Clay Shirky, internet guru, professor at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU and author ofCognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age, discusses the how social media tools are affecting political power structures, especially in the case of the turmoil in Tunisia.

→ Read More and Join the Conversation at It’s A Free Country

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Love for Earth: How can I make a difference?

goforgreen:

I used to ponder this question all the time, still do actually. I started by making donations here and there to key organizations, such as The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Federation, etc., but money can only go so far. We actually have to do something.

But I’m…

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