One of the key concepts explained in the book caught my eye and ignited my attention. The concept is simply Vuja Dé. The reverse of “Déja Vu” obviously, French for “seen already”. This concept implies the possibility to look at the same old things and redefine how we use them.
Or, like Proust, a famous French author of the beginning of the XXth century says in the quote, seeing the same thing with new eyes.
How can we redefine what seems to be an established practice, business, industry through the use of Vuja Dé? Not just improve, but redefine?
This is a word that has the power to change the world, because it names a concept which is truly useful in these times of change. A concept of rupture, of reinvention.
Ready to Vuja Dé your job? Your business? Your industry? Tell me how this word changes your mindset in the comments!
The modern hospital is a Health Factory, and Institution of the Industrial Age. We seek there maximum effect of scale for producing a product called “health”. It is centralized, and even more so that the increasing complexity of modern healthcare, coupled with easier transportation, leads to a concentration of facilities and the disappearance of smaller, more local healthcare centers.
The hospital, the health factory, will be replaced by new institutions
Hospitals are there to solve situations where the sickness or the trauma is already declared. Without asking its opinion to the patient, because doctors have the knowledge of what needs to be done, it brings people into a system designed to be as efficient as possible in healing them. Tools designed by science – efficient medicines- are used.
How will healthcare transform through the Fourth Revolution? Like in other institutions of the Industrial Age, many of its foundations will be shaken and buckle:
through internet, patients know a lot about their conditions and doctors cannot handle patients like they did before – today they need to open a conversation with the patient, listen and convince
the ability to record data on iPads and all sorts of modern communicating devices makes home monitoring much easier than before
the same apps on ubiquitous devices can play an increasing role in prevention and monitoring, thus preventing cases to become so severe that hospitalization is unavoidable.
soft medicines, traditional medicines and other aspects of everyday life like one’s diet are recognized as increasingly important and powerful in preserving health; and they do not happen in hospitals
Where the Industrial Age concentrated health production in a factory called an hospital, the Fourth Revolution will again decentralize the production of health in the palm of everyone’s hand.
The medical world is one of the most conservative. Will they realize that this wave of change is coming to them before the hospital institution succumbs to the crushing forces of the Fourth Revolution?
Yes, what you are doing in this virtual world of social networks increasingly impacts what happens to you in your real life – because of what people – anybody- can know from your virtual life at the touch of a screen.
And I am not just speaking about dating or meeting with people that you’ve met on a social network. Not even about vendors collecting your clicks and maybe even your location to propose to you products that are ideally suited to your habits and your current situation (which is a bit scary but theoretically should be very practical).
How Klout impacts real life... photo by Garry McLeod in Wired (link in the text)
Do you know there is a lot of controversy regarding Klout. It is a service that supposedly measures your online influence. Of course, there is a bit of controversy about how that’s measured (but then the tool is still “beta”). However the biggest issue is how this unique number that measures influence can be used in real life.
This astonishing paper in Wired shows that even if you don’t know what it is, your Klout score might actually already change your life: it might be looked up by prospective employers or even the hotel clerk (to check if you could really damage their reputation). So you’d maybe better want to know what it is!
Of course such a subject unleashes passion: someone computes a score that is publicly available and measures your power of influence or annoyance. This is much more pervading than the recent trend of prospective employers to ask candidates to show them their Facebook page.
The debate on personal data on the internet is now superseded by the debate on those abstract indicators that measure your overall activity – without any hint as to what your activity is. And because these data are available to everyone, increasingly, social network and real life network spaces become intermeshed.
We still need to learn how to benefit from that opportunity while avoiding the main risks. The quest will be long and bumpy. It is unavoidable. The Fourth Revolution is expanding.
I loved reading the book “Drive” by Daniel Pink. We already referred to it a few months ago in the post “what motivates the K.E.E.N.“.
Daniel Pink uses a framework for the evolution of motivation in history that is similar to the ‘fundamental revolutions’ familiar to the readers of this blog:
Motivation 1.0 – 50,000 years ago – survival
Motivation 2.0 – extrinsic motivators: seek reward and avoid punishment (which lead to put some barriers for social life (don’t steal your neighbor’s wife), etc).
Motivation 2.1 – empowerment in organizations, greater autonomy
Motivation 3.0 – intrinsic motivators: autonomy, mastery, purpose. (the drivers of the Collaborative Age)
It is a real revolution to switch from extrinsic to intrinsic motivators. Yet as our live example of the Collaborative Age organization shows, in these organizations, only intrinsic motivation is at work.
How can we change our extrinsic motivation mindset? No, above a certain level, people won’t stay because you pay them more to do the same boring job. They need to find purpose and fulfillment. How can you give it to them? Only by allowing initiative, failure and releasing control. That will be the secret of success of the Collaborative Age organization. Are you ready for it?
(And for those that have not seen the RSA animation drawn from the book, here it is – and if you’ve seen it, watch it again because it is so fundamental:)
I liked the idea of this post of Amber Naslund about thinking about the things that we did believe, but do not believe anymore. She did it in the field of her career.
looking into the rear-view mirror of your life: what do you see?
I’ll do it in the field of the Fourth Revolution’s K.E.E.N.’s (Knowledge Enhancing Exchanging Networker) career. Here are a few things that I believed, but do not believe any more.
Corporate jobs are safe
Corporate jobs are not safe any more, and in particular if you get closer to the top or older. There are many examples on a daily basis. Or, they are not safer than being on your own. Still companies would like us to believe that it is safer to be with them because it simplifies their management.
The only career path is to climb up in a specific function
I had many recommendations to try to be a specialist in a single function, and I used to think that the only career path was upwards; I found much more satisfying occupations when moving side-ways and becoming a generalist. It even increased dramatically my worth and marketability. But for some reason the normal career path is up through a narrow funnel.
Expatriation is just a must-do temporary assignment
Expatriation is generally presented nowadays as a must-do for career development; but at the same time it is not recommended to stay too far from headquarters for too long or be forgotten – the rule is to come back quick!. I found the expatriation experience a life-changing experience; and as a K.E.E.N. now, while I feel that my roots are still in France, I don’t mind continuing to live wherever I can best exercise my talents.
Protect your ground to avoid being eaten up by more ambitious
Lots of the corporate life is made of battles to consolidate one’s chiefdom; and this generates all the internal politics. Collaboration is, on the long term, a much better strategy; the K.E.E.N. exchanges its knowledge and creates conversations to create new, disruptive insights at the interface between specialties and industries.
The corporation needs to defend itself from the outside by all means
The traditional corporation is a closed world with limited relationship with the outside. Discussion with stakeholders is strictly regimented. Social networks are forbidden. Those corporations will be overtaken by the evolution of the world. Openness, creating conversations and a tightly knit network of supporters and followers, is now necessary for the organizations to thrive.
And you, what are the beliefs you had that you don’t believe any more?
Contrary to what you might think, this is not an assertion by some hyped Californian startup leader.
Admiral Gary Roughead on social networks
It is a very serious statement by Adm. Gary Roughead, until recently the Chief of Naval Operations of the US Navy.
Like any other organization, the military finds that it is good to adopt social networks and a proactive social networks policy. Just erecting high walls and prohibiting people from using social networks would be a disaster.
And the Navy has found how social networks like Facebook can bring tremendous value to their action. Compared to official reporting, social networks give a more agile and deeper communication system, allowing to touch people directly, allowing a community to form and help on a local level, complementing the traditional hierarchical system of command.
As an organization, through social networks, the Navy also engages successfully the community of the sailors families, future recruits and any other person concerned by a Navy’s operation.
Adm Roughead goes on to mention three challenges for leaders in the Fourth Revolution:
the limit between work and private life is blurring considerably;
a balance needs to be found between accountability and empowerment;
resist the temptation to make it about you – don’t be ego-driven.
A final quote from Adm Roughead:
“it would be a strategic error of the most basic nature to not do everything you can to empower your workforce to communicate on behalf of the organization”
If the military can open to social networks and even leverage on them to be more effective, why are you still shy of adopting them in your organization?
Social media is trendy. It is where companies can meet consumers, in particular the young generations. A lot of companies launch themselves for marketing purposes. But those who do so half-heartedly, thinking they can just broadcast their message without engaging with the people, are in fact lowering their brand reputation.
Are you overwhelmed by the Corporation?
As this paper “Lessons of the Exterminator: Transforming Your Social Media, One Customer at a Time” argues, nothing makes more of a difference than not responding to consumers complaints and remarks. If you’re claiming you’re social and you don’t react to consumers observations, you’re doomed on the long term. Unhappy consumers that get a response on their twitter or facebook complaints, and are then engaged in a meaningful conversation will, on the contrary, give the company the benefit of the doubt, and might even become one of their most fervent supporters.
There is a famous case-study involving DELL in 2005 (see this article on Dell’s hell as a summary). Dell took an inordinate amount of time to react and could only see the damage to the brand. They’ve taken the initiative since then and have become one of the brands most engaged in social networks (see a paper written late 2011 on “why Dell is still a great case study“), with a dedicated team engaging with customers and most of their employees trained in social network. Today they’ve learnt their lessons and they leverage social media to the benefit of the brand.
That’s why you can’t really engage in public social media half-way. If you are not setup to respond immediately to consumer’s remarks, if you don’t empower your social network team to exceed expectations and give them the power to get the organization to react, you’re doomed.
Still 70% of the companies engaged in social media today don’t get it!
Don’t engage in social media just for the hype and the impression that it is trendy. If you engage, engage completely and be ready for challenge from the outside. A challenge, that taken positively, can lead to substantial improvement in your business and your brand.
Not only services providers are now fully interconnected online today: every business – even those that consider themselves local, brick-and-mortar – should now consider that its clients are also online!
Example: the other day I was looking for a basic printing/copy shop around my place, for high volume, 2-sided printing when I need. Ideally I want to be able to send the files by email and then go to get the print-out. Impossible to find on internet; I had to walk around and discover one by myself. It would have been much easier if they had had an internet presence, and they would probably have much more clients over the entire town (I discovered that they can even deliver to your footstep as part of their standard services!)
online shopping in action
In this brilliant post “Where the customers are“, Mitch Joel argues that even businesses that see themselves primarily as brick and mortar businesses should not underestimate the power of leveraging internet to develop their brands and their sales. And that in fact, in an ever more connected world, it becomes more and more important to have a presence online and connect with potential customers that might be miles away.
It might leverage your business or just increase your brand visibility. In any case it is necessary in a world where in particular the young generations are highly connected to internet and it is where they will look for what they need.
Moreover, every business, whatever its size, should leverage the value of creating a community around its offer, thus leveraging the value of ideas and suggestions from its supporters and followers. Even the small mom-and-pop store!
What do you think? Is that feasible and worthwhile for all businesses?
Finally we come to the last role, the PEOPLE CATALYST. Where the TEAM COACH enhanced the effectiveness of the team, the PEOPLE CATALYST uncovers people’s hidden talents for the benefit of the team and the project.
Project Soft Power: the People Catalyst role
The successful project leader is not only an outstanding team coach, he also knows how to unleash individual people’s talents, and to support the expression of individual’s potential.
His appreciative way of looking at individual’s talents will be sometimes destabilizing, because he will look beyond the conventional professional identity of people to appreciate their overall potential. To the remote observer, strange things will happen as people suddenly start doing activities that are quite distinct from what they would have been expected to do as professionals in a certain field.
Through this appreciative action, the project leader not only releases talents that will ensure the success of the project. He will also create a strong emotional linkage with the person which will last long beyond the completion of the project, and puts the seed of people’s future development in a radically entrepreneurial act.
The People Catalyst role is about developing a deep, appreciative view of people and identify how their talents could support the project. Beyond people’s professional identities, the successful project leader can catalyse evolutions in team member’s roles and identities, bringing them and the project tremendous value.
How much do you catalyze people’s development in your team?
Once upon a time there was a company that had no boss. There were quite more than 100 people in the office, and they just organized themselves fluidly around temporary projects: who has the best idea got the support of others.
Extract from Valve Employee Handbook
Desks had wheels so that project teams can join spontaneously. Just unplug, replug, and there you could work next to your new buddy.
Failure was accepted as a learning opportunity and very quickly, new hires worked directly on the main products where they could wreck havoc so easily!
Employee evaluation was based on peer evaluation; a constant stream of feedback was organized to each employee from the feedback of peers; and even salary increments were based on a peer-review ranking.
Do you think this company exists in another galaxy or is just in the Fourth Revolution’s author imagination? No, it’s a company called Valve and its employee handbook is accessible here. Get a glimpse of how the workplace of the future will look like, it is absolutely eye-opening! A real MUST-READ!
Brace yourself because the workplace is going to look more frequently like that: we will be expected to take initiatives in an unstructured environment and let our contribution shine in the eyes of the others. No more boss, no more instructions. Pure initiative, pure entrepreneurship.
Are you ready for the Fourth Revolution in organizations?
Miracle of the Fourth Revolution, my new book is now out to the world even before I have received the copies from the local printer!
It took less than 10 days to get the title setup on LightningSource and disseminated to all e-bookshop worldwide!!
And I can now announce also the launch of the Project Soft Power website where you can know more about the Project Soft Power concept, find extracts of the book…
Can’t wait? Here are some links to buy the book. Enjoy!
Following the SPIDER role, let’s present the KUNG FU MASTER role.
Breaking Constraints: Kung Fu Master in Action
Like the Kung Fu Master, the successful project leader can practice for hours, days, months and years the disciplines of project leadership. He can focus intensively for hours on a subject, silent and patient, and strike like lightning, suddenly breaking the seemingly unbreakable obstacle with the focused stroke of his bare hands on its rough surface.
Discipline is a key attribute of the successful project leader. It means relentlessly practicing the fundamental disciplines of project management, making sure the underlying processes deliver with the most limited variance possible, week after week, month after month.
Focus is another key tool of the project leader. Success is the result of the project leader focusing intently her attention on the very few important things that drive the project.
Project Soft Power: The Kung Fu Master Role
One outstanding issue for the Project Leader is to identify the few constraints that drive the effective delivery of the project, and concentrate on them attention and effort. A project will be driven by a very limited number of constraints, which are often resources or deliverables for critical convergence points. The key role of the successful project leader is to identify them and focus on overcoming them. Only by overcoming the project constraints through relentless focus will the project be delivered successfully
Discipline and focus of the Kung Fu Master are key to outstanding execution. Relentless discipline of running the basic project management processes. Relentless focus of choosing priorities and effectively stick to them.
Are you a Kung Fu Master? How can you improve your discipline and focus?
