Author: Jeremie Averous

The mystery of value measurement in the Collaborative Age

One of the biggest issues tackled in the Fourth Revolution book is how to measure value in the Collaborative Age.

Accounting image
Accounting, the Industrial Age value measurement system

Conventional accounting, a practice of the Industrial Age, cannot measure effectively the value creation of loose collaborative networks, of data management and sharing, of the Long Tail.

It gives a much too restrictive view of Value.

It considers people as expenses and inventory as an asset. We know today that’s quite the contrary – yet we still use conventional accounting as a habit.

So, with what should accounting be replaced? Should it be a development of accounting or a total revamp of a value creation system?

How can we estimate the value of Facebook and Google? Their financial results (accounting) probably only measure a very small proportion of the value they create to the world!

Any suggestions?

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Will cities remain in the Collaborative Age?

Cities developed dramatically during the Industrial Age. Cities developed around factories (a large number of workers had to live nearby). Cities were justified by scarce and slow communication capabilities (for information and for people). Significant value was created in cities, as the rubbing of diverse population created a fertile ground for creativity. Costs of living in cities rose in proportion to the value that was created there. Because of poor planning, some cities became congested beyond the bearable.

picture of crowded city
picture of crowded city

Many parameters that made cities indispensable in the Industrial Age are disappearing today. And, indeed, there is a tendency for affluent, highly qualified people to move back to the countryside, with its low cost, high quality of living. They use their internet connection to compensate distance and maintain their network.

Are cities doomed? It is not sure as they are still an extremely effective way of living in terms of resource utilization (land, energy…), as long as they are properly planned and maintained. And face-to-face interaction, the creation of core teams, is still very important in the Collaborative Age; it will remain.

Cities will probably stay but mutate into different animals. They will probably evolve into more sustainable forms where networks of public transportation will irrigate cradles of creativity. The borders with the countryside will blur. And they will be more open, networked.

How do you think cities will evolve?

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Are “charter cities” really the future? Is Paul Romer wrong?

In a talk about charter cities on TED in 2009, Paul Romer explains extremely brilliantly how cities develop their own charter, their own rules, to grow as cities, to create the value of cities as a center of exchange, of creativity. This perspective is very interesting, and applies to a number of cities who have grown with specific rules that did only apply within their limited territory.

In 2011, Paul Romer comes again to TED and announces that a country in Central America has passed a constitutional change to allow a city to grow out of nothing in the middle of the country, with specific rules to be developed for that new territory to foster economic growth.

I doubt that will work. All the examples Paul Romer is drawing upon – Singapore, Hong Kong, are cities that developed thanks to their environment, and not independently of it. Hong Kong was the door to China and thrived on this relationship. Singapore is placed at a key geographical bottleneck of world commerce, and thrived as a logistics and shipping platform. Can one create a city anywhere, with specific rules to promote growth, and hope that the city will expand?

I doubt it. Let’s watch the experiment and hope that there won’t be too much disappointment.

 

 

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How long will corporations still be able to resist to internal social networks?

Lately the pressure increases dramatically for companies to setup internal social networks.

Two main reasons for that:

  • a lot of people can now access internet on their mobile, so that they can access Facebook and the like without being bothered by the futile attempts by companies to block access
  • large commercial social networks become more pushy to propose solutions to companies (whether they like it or not), leveraging on the fact that many employees are on their network

This blog post about how LinkedIn is going to try to leverage its 100 million professional users to move into the enterprise social network market reveals that the pressures on the companies increase dramatically.

Still, corporations continue to resist (read again my blog post on why organizations do resist to social networks). Those that will continue for too long will be overtaken by those that will understand that social networks can unleash unprecedented value.

Stop resisting. Go for it. Start small and learn. And create the value you deserve.

 

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Establishing effective co-located teams is not in contradiction with the Fourth Revolution

There is a misunderstanding hanging around.

The Fourth Revolution allows long-distance communication, the creation of networks and communities across incredible distances.

Yet for the process of creativity to unfold, when something really challenging needs to be done, nothing can beat the geographical co-location of effective teams.

That’s not a contradiction. These are just two complementary ways of connecting.

For challenging work, for emotional work to be done, tight connection is needed, of the kind that can almost only be happening in a face-to-face relationship. This is primordial. And around these temporary, closely linked teams, a wide-ranging network of less involved contributors also helps.

This is the model of the Fourth Revolution. Travel and relocation is not dead. It is even more important. It is necessary. And it comes in complement to virtual, long distance communication.

When do you move closer to a team to produce something really exceptional?

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How algorithms change our world – the Video of the month on the Fourth Revolution website

VIDEO OF THE MONTH: How algorithms shape our world, a TED talk by Kevin Slavin.

Kevin Slavin at TED
Kevin Slavin at TED

A great video that shows how algorithms now change our world – not just virtually but also physically. The insights are fantastic – and sometimes scary. The Fourth Revolution at work, live!

Discover this resource and others in the …Value Creation System resource page… and other resources in the other thematic chapters in the resource center of the Fourth Revolution website!

Thanks: Thanks to Laurent Riesterer for pointing out the video!

 

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Open data hacking: Fourth Revolution value creation in action!

Just stumbled upon a great example of Fourth Revolution value creation through the hacking of open data by… the public, giving new meanings, creating debate and understanding

Read this blog post by David Eaves: Open Source Data Journalism – Happening now at Buzz Data..

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How simple is it to get positive emotions?

Reactions from the readers of the last blog post: so, to get creative and open minded, one just needs to have positive emotions. But my emotional state is what it is, what can I do about it?

Well if you have read the book you know the answer – but never mind let’s reveal here one of the most important secrets.

We all know that emotions have effect on our body posture, our tone of voice… The secret is that the reverse is true. Our posture, our movements, our actions, influence our emotions.

You don’t believe it?

For yourself to smile in front of your computer.

Don’t bother, nobody is looking. Just force yourself to smile.

Hold the smile for 30 seconds no less.

…

How do you feel now? My guess is: happier, more positive, right?

Laughing club in India
Laughing club in India

The ultimate is to practice a healthy daily dose of laughter like these laughing clubs in India meeting every morning to start the day in the most positive manner. Try it. Force yourself to laugh. You’ll see how positive you’ll get.

So, next time you feel down, consciously change your posture, force yourself to smile, laugh even. Your positive mood will be back. And with it your open, creative mind.

Smile again. Hold the smile. You’re part of the Fourth Revolution. You are practicing the holistic practice, involving body and mind. You see, it’s that simple.

Welcome.

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What’s the use of feeling more positive?

I stumbled the other day upon a very interesting question: what are positive emotions for?

The use of negative emotions, and how they change our physiology, is quite well known. Fear mobilizes our main muscles for running, anger brings blood to our arms for fight etc. But what are the physiological changes brought by positive emotions, apart from a nice warm smile?

Interestingly enough, not a lot of people seemed to be interested by the question until the Fourth Revolution was upon us!

open one's mind
open one's mind

Barbara Frederickson, a distinguished psychologist, proposed an explanation in a 1998 article: what good are positive emotions? The paper is a bit long and dry. Though, the basic thesis is quite simple: positive emotions promote an open-mind!

Negative emotions close our mind, so that we focus on the object of the hazard and concentrate on our (survival reaction). Positive emotions and relaxation promote games, learning new things, creativity.

So, if you want to be more creative and open-minded, a key to success in the collaborative age, one simple solution: think positive more often! When do you start?

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Stop disseminating the image of the factory worker as a representation of the economy!

Right now there are a lot of articles and communication in the media about employment and unemployment. I’m really struck how this topic is presented.

picture of a factory worker
picture of a factory worker

Did you remark how much this communication is reinforcing the “Industrial Age” view of employment? And, be it on TV or in the press, the images and videos associated are always showing factory workers.

For example the enclosed picture is just extracted from the New York Times. It was a paper about the Italian economy. But – the Italian economy is never going to recover through more factory employment!!

Let’s stop it! Factory workers are now becoming a minority. It’s not where the value lies, nor where the good paying jobs lie!

The media is still reinforcing the Industrial Age mindset of jobs being factory employment jobs. When will the media show people in a service environment, when will the media show K.E.E.N. at work without a tag mentioning how these are strange animals?

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Emotional attachment is what makes products valuable

Exactly as the value chain of human activities goes from manual work to intellectual work (processing) to emotional work, so does the value chain of products.

iPhone vs normal phone
iPhone vs normal phone

Successful products today are those that bring us to develop an emotional attachment. Product differentiation based only on performance is boring. That is, unless the possession of a highly powered shiny item makes us feel the emotion of ego’s satisfaction!

So why is the iPhone so successful, and at the same time so highly priced? Because it provokes a deep emotional attachment to its content through music and other features, because it is the do-it-all solution solver. The phone on the right does not generate any emotional attachment. It is a commodity. We just want the cheapest.

If you want your product to be successful, there is only one way: create an emotional attachment. When do you review your current products, or what you are doing in the office, in that light?

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