Harvard Business Review

Dear Prof. Hamel,

The explosive growth of the Internet and the consequent impact on business is perhaps one of the truly revolutionary kinds of changes that we have witnessed in recent years. Osborne's observation some two decades back that we would all be knowledge workers in the twenty-first century has already become a reality in many areas.

And yet, some paradoxes remain:

1. Your observation that fewer than 20% of employees around the world are truly engaged in their work takes us back to the Pareto Principle as modified to today's organizations - 80% of the work is accomplished by 20% of people. The first challenge therefore is to energize a significant proportion of the 80% (it may be utopian to attempt a complete transformation) to be value creators.

2. The second, and perhaps bigger, challenge is to simultaneously amplify and aggregate human capabilities. Amplifying human capabilities propels an organization towards what Tom Peters calls chaos - or what Jack Welch called the boundary-less organization. Aggregating human capabilities on the other hand requires order and systems. How does one manage both chaos and system at the same time? Does a normal human being have the agility to switch roles rapidly as the context or situation warrants? Again, passion and creativity (amplification dimension) are primarily processes of internalization while sequencing and integration (aggregation dimension) are driven by external stimuli. Would an attempt to move outward on both dimensions not have the potential for confusion if not conflict? The Network concept illustrated in Figure 2 has been adopted successfully only by a handful of organizations. The complexity of human interactions renders this structure extremely difficult to implement except in highly evolved organizations comprised of people who have probably reached the self-actualization stage in the Maslowian hierarchy.

3. The web, from a technology perspective does hold out sufficient hope for these anomalies to be addressed adequately. The problem however is that technology by itself cannot deliver. Human beings have to use the technology and although life cycles are being compressed in products (computers, mobile phones) a similar compression is not apparent in services. Not all of Internet applications are amenable for user-friendliness. Bandwidth would continue to be a thorn in more than half the world. Security and privacy issues compound the issue further. Can we hope to overcome all these challenges and leverage the power of the Internet? One has to be optimistic but the failure of great Internet ventures to replicate their success in a brick-and mortar venture, and vice-versa indicates that we still have a long way to go.

4. Finally, optimization is a nebulous concept. As Herbert Simon has demonstrated, optimization may not be possible in the real world. We may settle for satisficing solutions on both axes thus thwarting the outward movement that you have illustrated so profoundly. It would require the collective will of a sizeable section of stakeholders to make it work. Let us hope, for the sake of humanity, that we will be able to see this miracle in the not-too-distant future.

Warm regards

Dear Prof. Hamel,

Might the conceptualization of the two fundamental tasks of management, individual amplification and aggregation, as two conflicting or, in the extreme, mutually exclusive ideas be a way of thinking about how to advance management that creates a false dilemma? There is little doubt that the "either-or" paradigm is pervasive in that even in your article, you present a graph (Figure 1) that looks very much like the production possibilities curve we all learned in undergraduate economics. This curve shape implies that every unit of energy managers devote to individual amplification is one taken from the task of talent aggregation. You argue that the Internet will shift this "management possibilities curve" outward, in effect making the bigger. However, this solution still operates within a schema that implies that managers make a binary decision to find the optimal allocation between two warring camps.
Here, it would be useful to introduce the concept of emergent network properties. Far from being a holistic management fad, this phenomenon has been noted in many areas of both basic and social science. Briefly, chaotic networks spontaneously aggregate in the most efficient form when confronted with adequately stimulating problems. In this case amplifying individual talent promotes the aggregation of that talent. Trusting the fate of a company to chaos is far from prudent, but it would be wise to consider that the most complex things on earth arose without a management team.

It was quite interesting to read this article. At the same time it was confusing because it does not say anything about practical implementation. In the lighter sense it gives a feeling that we can stretch this idea and say that Web is a solution for everything; just change Something to Something 2.0 and it becomes The thing.

Thanks,

Internet has the big title of the last century: The "must partner" of almost every business, but...who pays for the cybermistakes??? and for the "24/7 nobody cares" cyberthieves "???

Dear Professor Hamel
I do not think the internet can help motivate the underengaged 80%: only mutual and self trust will.
This however raises questions on corporate ethics, fairness, meaningfulness, solidarity, desire to learn, right to fail, all highly problematic matters in today's business world.
Concerning the power of networks, it is certainly great but building and actioning effective networks is an art than not even the engaged 20% can ever hope to master! It is the privilege of a small number of highly talented individuals.
Finally, networks do not replace bureaucracies and markets but co-exist with them, further adding to the difficulty.
This co-existence has been the object of my studies in the past years and I'm sad to say that the more I think of it, the more challenging it appears to me ;-) My belief, at this point, is that only a profound cultural change can do the trick.
With all my consideration and respect.
Véronique Bouchard
Professor of Strategy
EM LYON

Dear Prof. Hamel,

Greetings;

Thank you indeed for sharing your thoughts on the subject and provoking a fluid in our minds to bring new thoughts on the subject. Additionally bringing to our attention about the said thought that has certainly enabled and equipped us to be professionally conscious of these phenomena and can align our actions and reactions by bringing out a balancing act in our commercial and social engagements. However, like all other human works, this does carry a potential of critique and disagreement. However, I will not indulge in any of these and rather bring another perspective to the subject.

Rightly pointed out in your article that there is no denying to the fact that the impact of internet/web has been colossal and it has almost touched every facet in which today’s human is engaged. However, its impact remains variable to different humans, industries, functions and territories. For e.g. in my view the bombshell impact is on military where see more precisions, less engagements of humans and more reliance on equipment. The second major impact is on the single human’s brain and body. The lesser impact is on agriculture. Similarly the territorial landscape also depicts a variation in its implementation and a subsequent impact.

What is this impact all about?

The resultant impact is the speed and physical disengagements or more engagements with machines. The quick happening of the actions and reactions has increased by leaps and bounds at an individual level. You ask a person for certain information and he gets it extracted in minutes for which in an analog age would take may be days. On country level, responses to epidemics or calamities or any other matter is again in hours. The responses of corporate to competition are again in hours because of quick flow of information and quick analysis for a resolution, quick availability of factors and tools to make speedier decisions.

Human interaction amongst is more through machines or mechanical gadgets. Humans have moved from Gold standard to Information standard and from analog age to digital age.

What has been the intensity of impact?

Again an analysis depicts that it has a variable impact but wherever it has impacted more, it has brought a multiplier impact. For e.g. flow of information that has erupted in many folds and now the world is already talking the flow of information management.

One thing is for sure that the places where the web technology is developed, progression and growth of itself and its impact on others has shown leaps and bounds. The so far extent seen by this world is that there now exist a huge gap which has resulted by application of this in our lives. Many countries in the world are struggling with basic of life and with no engagements or less engagements with this technology, their progression is regression.

Why modest impact?

Yes, your are quite right that there is a zone both tangible and intangible where the impact is modest or I would say quite less. Three factors have and still continue to contribute in its prevailing. They are:

• Funds
• Education levels
• Barrier to change ( Adoption and Updating)

These three barriers are scarce in third world, developing countries or poor countries but certain of degree of it also exist in developed or industrialized worlds also.

What if this web tools wre not there?

The output from the human mind facilitated by this technology in the last ten decade or so in one theory can be equated with the rest of human history’s output. In my opinion and it is getting proved also day by day that human mind has been made for all actions and reactions that were, are and will be possible till the end of this mankind. The humans were supposed to adopt a modus operandi to discover those possibilities and web application is in that direction of unfolding human mind. Cultivation of Being Mutual mind from the beginning and continuous engagement will help to unfold the actions and reactions that are based on consciousness, imagination and meaning seeking. These three traits of humans keep humans distinct and apart from animals.

Continuity of an impact?

The human civilization will continue with the deployment of the web based tool as the human race is gradually moving from globalization to universalization. The management of environmental issues if looked deep into actually reveals that its is universal issue. We not only have to protect earth but if damage process is not reversed, will affect the performance of other planets also. Humans are gearing up to explore life on other planets.

The most impact full features of web tools that I foresee are:

• The machines will get humanized as humans would want machines to perform many human functions.
• More engagements of humans with machines. It’s like humans vs machines.
• From the commercial perspective HR will get disengaged from the offices and working may relocate to homes initially and later move to more pleasant and tailored office places for a more flexible environment. We might see parks.

Conclusion:

In light of the above SASTI (Situation and Solution To It) analysis, it is concluded that the emerging spirit of the management will be unconventional i.e doing things otherwise to the established norms. The basic task of the future managers will be to “get more out of the technical gadgets”

The future leaders have to ensure that the above stipulated barriers are reduced if not eliminated and the technology gets transgressed and transcended across the globe and the impact gets neutralized for a more human production in the benefit of humans and universe.

With warm regards,

Farooq Ahmed
Director Marketing
fa_wll@hotmail.com

Hello Prof Hamel,

Thanks for the thought provoking article. After reading your incisive note I can now clearly appreciate that the primary tasks of management in the current times are amplifying human capabilities and aggregating individual efforts. Also the internet has provided each one of us a wider canvas to unleash our potential and experiment. With the internet gradually unfolding its myriad possibilities, we look forward to the future with great anticipation.

But I was not able to comprehend the full implications of the Figure 2 [“But now, thanks to the power of the Web, there may be an opportunity to transcend the market-versus-hierarchy trade-offs that have long bedeviled human beings”]. How to correlate in the figure the variables with Markets, Hierarchies, and Networks?

Shall be grateful to hear from you on this or may be more on this in your Part 2.

Regards,
Jagannath Oleti
Chennai, INDIA
joleti@rediffmail.com

Dear All,

Internet and IT infrastructure have developed vastly throughout the world.

People who used internet or IT Facility have first hand information and standby knowledge dbase whenever people forgotten certain layer of knowledge.

IT infrastructure with internet have proven its worth but at the price of inflation since the cycle of goods and lifecycle of goods have spanned over time tremendeously on a rapid rate.

The maturity and saturation point of each goods in market have been shorthen.

The cost of technological churned products that are new getting expensive whereas slightly older products have been shelved or dump to other less developed countries as new products at higher prices causing spiral inflation at each regions.

Have a nice thinker of mankind before heavy commercialisation at the expense of mankind and earth lifespan.

Take care AMIGOS.

Best Regards,

Alan Goh ACMA,UK
Chartered Management Accountant
Available for appointment in MALAYSIA to take charge of finance & operations.contact:alangoh75@yahoo.com

No one have been predict the impact of internet on today's business; the thing is who knows, It is not the ends but may be the beginning of something more powerfull.

The internet has brought a transformation in many aspects of life. It is one of the biggest contributors in making the world into a global village.
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