I think often about why we’re here – caught up in the Internet movement – how we’re supposed to contribute and shape the world for generations to come. I look back at history to glean insights and help illuminate the path forward…
History shows us that the industrial revolution in manufacturing was driven by cheap energy, reliable transportation, and standardized parts. Railroads brought affordable shipping and distribution systems, enabling remote assembly of products. Production processes were defined and broken into discreet steps, allowing entire work packages to be moved physically outside a company. The workforce became increasingly specialized over time – each worker performing specific tasks. These transformations during both industrial revolutions opened the door for globalization and led to increased worker productivity and scalability of manufacturing. Companies that didn’t adopt these practices went out of business.
For the past 50+ years, there’s been a global trend toward services. In the U.S., services now account for 78% of the GDP. Half of all workers are “knowledge workers” – individuals who are hired for their expertise and experience vs. their ability to perform manual labor. For decades, service companies improved efficiency by reengineering business processes, automating routine tasks, and outsourcing functions such as accounting and customer support. These innovations were made possible by rapid advances in communication and information technologies. Again, companies that didn’t get on-board were acquired or went out of business.
Today, the information economy has been succeeded by a relationship economy. The specialization and division of labor that grew from the industrial revolution have created massive webs of interdependent, global networks. Today’s workers still have specialized roles and report in to organized functions such as marketing, engineering, or operations. It’s quite common for a worker’s success to be dependent on a colleague, partner, or supplier half way around the world. Managing these complex relationships not only requires expertise and experience, but also involves judgment and creativity. Competitive advantage isn’t about the know-what or the know-why; it’s about the know-how – that experiential (or tacit) knowledge that largely relies in individuals’ minds.
So when the history books are written, what will they say about our contributions to innovation and effectiveness. Companies will go out of business if they don't do - what? I believe that the next wave of performance improvements and boosts to worker productivity will be driven by our ability to extract experiential knowledge so that it can be retained, exchanged, and easily expanded upon. Though we are at the very early stages of doing so, we will find a way to easily package people’s experiences and make them available to the right person at the right time. We will be able to effortlessly tap into our trusted networks and relationships for recommendations, referrals, and guidance.
Knowledge is the single largest, untapped, renewable resource in the world. I am humbled by our generation’s opportunity and responsibility to unleash the wealth of knowledge that has been gained from our experiences, yet remains trapped in our minds. It is our vision that Graspr will help make experiential knowledge accessible and affordable to people everywhere. And it is the enormous opportunity we have in doing so – the ability to make a difference in people’s lives – that keeps me fired up and coming to work every day!
Food for thought...
Teresa Phillips
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