Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication. Media, by altering the environment, evoke in us unique ratios of sense perceptions (seeing, hearing, etc). The extension of any one sense alters the way we think and act, the way we perceive the world. When these ratios change, men change. The alphabet and print technology fostered and encouraged a fragmenting process, a process of specialism and of detachment. Electric technology fosters and encourages unification and involvement. Marshall McLuhan
Somewhere during the last 20 years, we hit a tipping point in man's relationship with technology as media -- active participation became the norm, replacing passive consumption. It had something to do with mass adoption of video camcorders in the late 80's, email and the internet itself in the late 90's, and later from the very odd source called the online role-playing video game. Through these sources, we learned to interact with technology, information, and each other in an active, adaptive, unconstrained way. And, as McLuhan foresaw, this new interaction changed us -- and, I will argue the change opens up a big opportunity for your business.
How different is the internet REALLY as a medium for information?
Well, um, vastly different. Consider how one consumes information in the library (if you can remember what that was like). You search for information clusters (a book) through a rigid category scheme (taxonomy) created and maintained by someone else (librarians), and when you find a cluster (book) you must consume it linearly until its literal, physical end. If you are lucky, the book includes some footnotes regarding related works, from which you can bridge to other clusters -- when the library has the other book! Oh, and you typically do it alone, while being told to ssshhhh by the librarian. It is a process that assumes you are an empty bottle on a conveyor belt, awaiting a spurt of goo to be shot into your head before you move off and make room for the next bottle. There's very little freedom and interaction in this model.
In contrast, information on the internet is classified organically and redundantly. It is hyper-related and instantaneously comparable across clusters. Much of it is user-created and user-administered, particularly the classifications -- which can even be personalized. And, the form of the medium allows for simultaneous consumption and discussion by multiple parties. Compared to using the library, this process makes me feel in control, free, creative, and connected -- all of which encourage me to take more risks, to look in odd places, to consider the unique/different/odd/far-out.
Please don't misunderstand me: I do not believe this is a "youth" thing. Video games, FB, widgets, ipads, youtube, iMovie are changing people -- all the people, young and old -- who use them. We are all becoming accustomed to a holistic, non-linear, participative, evocative experience with content. We expect to be involved, active. We feel a tool or technology is outdated or stifling when it forces us into a rigid, linear, or passive consumption mode. Like, for instance, Powerpoint. ug. Or, how about the monthly revenue results review -- we sit around a table and walk through a scripted presentation by one person following a linear argument. No wonder that people are playing with their iphones under the table. We have been programmed by our personal information technology media TO WANT TO PARTICIPATE, TO WANT TO ACT. Unfortunately, our corporate technology media do not reinforce this drive to act. Yet.
This is where we get to the part about "opportunity."
By fostering active user participation in the medium, Enterprise Collaboration Platforms will translate to greater active participation … IN ACTING. In other words, people will be reprogrammed FROM waiting for orders TO making things happen. If I had a dollar for every CEO who has lamented a lack of initiative among employees, I'd be a rich man. Well, let's do something about that. Implement a collaboration platform, and cultivate a bias toward chiming in, toward stepping out, toward taking chances, toward experimenting, toward acting.
Enterprise Collaboration is NOT about chatter; it's about shaping your culture, getting employees active. It goes beyond improving content, beyond "better information" -- the medium itself will have a profound impact on moving your team from its heels to its toes.
The medium is the massage. Marshall McLuhan
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