Networked Organizations...part 1 of what will be many...

While attending the interview between Dan Pink and Alan Webber about his new book, "Rules of Thumb: 52 principles for winning at business without losing yourself," I asked Alan about his views on what an 'organization' would look like in the networked economy.

The hierarchical organizational chart that you've seen many times over seems to be to be represented for an industrial era model when communication had to flow "down the line" since cost-effective 1:many or many:many communication wasn't possible.

Of course, that's not the situation anymore and, as they say, "networks subvert hierarchies," so in building out Never Stop Marketing, I am really struggling with the question of "how to scale" while maintaining quality of service.

One option, of course, is to scale by raising prices.

Another is through having more junior people follow a process (at least in the traditional way.)

I'm wondering if there is a third, however.

Regardless, there is a serious need for direction and discipline (as in we have to meet a client deadline). That can't be ignored.

I tell people that the world of social media is like a dinner party in terms of participation, but a dinner party has a host who can exert "friendly control" on the overall experience to edit/curate it in a general direction.

I think there may be something there and I'll continue this stream of consciousness in a future post.