CPH127

“The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete“. A SPOT ON article about what we are facing right now. A reconstruction of what we believe was the answer…

The real challenge, as I see it, is that the more we use the internet and other technologies the more information is created out there, and the more to search. The genius of the few is replaced with crowdsourcing. Its about sense making, its about navigating between simple, complicated, complex and chaotic fields of problems. It’s about the ability to respond on flexible responsive processes.

That is the challenge for individuals, organisations and societies.

Some of us can navigate between, forwards and backwards these problemdomains, other can’t. They don’t know how to respond on the transformation, this paradigm shift. So who are the they who should help creating sense? Economist? Engineers, or maybe designers?

I think the most of you know that I’m a true believer in what Enterprise2-0-technology/mindset/adoption can do for companies ability to stay competitive/alive, and my professional career is all about exactly that.

Sometimes I face the challenge, that people ask me why all this is happening exactly now - what are the signs and trends, why is Enterprise2.0 an answer.

Any thoughts? Perspectives?

I see a few my self….

1. Complexity
2. Globalization
3. Open Source

What do you see? And how?

Do you live in NYC and like art exibitions?

I think you should consider to visit “Design and the Elastic Mind”.

“The exhibition highlights designers’ ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and history—changes that demand or reflect major adjustments in human behaviour—and translate them into objects that people can actually understand and use.

Doesn’t that sound interesting? One of the important roles of the designer reveals it self: The role as an Sensemaking Catalyst.

…or what do you say?

Two years ago I had the pleasure to have a conversation with Russ Ackoff, aka Russel L. Ackoff. I meet him during a course at Wharton where I together with aprox. 30 other Danes joined a course on Complexity, Leadership & Innovation.

The program was well arranged but I lacked enough time for reflection. I do in a stressed up working life. I don’t with you but sometimes the “the moment of truth”, the crucial learning point’s come to me quite a while after the actual conversation/learning situation.

I just came by his blog again and had the possibility to read up some of his work:

Transformations not only require recognition of the difference between what is practiced and what is preached - a transformation called for years ago by Donald Schon (1971) - it also requires a transformation in the way we think (…) I believe the pattern of thought that is required is systemic (…) Systemic thinking is holistic versus reductionist thinking, synthetic versus analytic. Reductionist and analytic thinking derive properties of wholes from the sum of their parts. Holistic and synthetic thinking derive properties of parts from properties of the whole that contains them (…) In general, those who make public policy and engage in public decision-making do not understand that improvement in the performance of parts of a system taken separately may not, and usually does not, improve the performance of the system as a whole. In fact, it may make system performance worse, or even destroy it.

This is key. Indeed, from my experience, I can testify that the obstacles to introducing knowledge sharing and collaboration have little to do with the lack of management support, lack of time, or lack of ROI metrics that knowledge managers tend to complain about. They also have little to do with so-called “mental models” of hierarchies vs. social networks and the like. In the end, what makes it difficult is exactly what Ackoff discusses in his paper: the inability of some key managers to move away from analytical thinking.

What do you think?

Few weeks ago the online version of the economist included the following figure on membership growth of facebook. It appears that growth rates have somewhat peaked.

Do you agree, do you see the same movement? I my self got my FB-profile 5 months ago, and I must admit that I got one because of curiousness, and because a few clients asked me about the potential. Do you have a FB-profile? Why?

Last week I went to a course on Complexity, Knowledge Management and future Innovation - gosh it was interesting. Maybe you already know Dave Snowden - a real thought-leader in that specific field. And he knows…

Nevertheless Dave and Cognitive Edge is on the track of something “new” and VERY interesting. The Cynefin-framework is outstanding when it comes to some sort of explanation of what is happening in the intersection between traditionel Knowledge Management, Technology and future growth and Innovation. As a true believer in proper use of Social Technologies - aka Web2.0 - internally in companies, I strongly believe that the flow of information between people is THE way to enhance innovation capacity, not by putting everything into a rigid data structure on a server.

Dave describes the development by setting up opposites:

Interesting - in Wemind we see that every day and try to advice our clients to move away from the old paradigm of thinking. It’s a tough call, a mental journey for most people.

Last week I was educated as a Accredited Practitioner in The Cynefin framework and I would love to have a conversation with you on how to cope with complexity in an internal organizational setting an still manage to make positive bottom lines.

If you are interested in further reading - and in Dave Snowden’ thoughts - you may be interested in these podcasts:

KM Australia 2007 Keynote
Jon Husband interview with Dave Snowden on Web 2.0
KM World 2007
KM Asia 2007 Keynote
Oil & Gas Exchange Houston September 2007

or the blogsposts:

Reporting on sin…
sense-making & path-finding
Safe-fail probes
Whence goeth KM?
Natural numbers, networks & communities
Volunteer not conscript
If the world is flat, seek out the bumpy bits
Good judgement comes from experiences. Experience comes from bad judgement
Confusing story telling with narrative

How to you see the challenges in management of today - is the cure to find in the books written around the time of the industrial revolution or is there by any chance new insights hidden in areas where we haven’t looked, yet? What do you think, and which implications does that have on our view on how to conceive business and companies?