We are living in confusing times (and I don't rant in all my blogs. Apologies if it appears so). During the time when our folks were working, things were so much simpler. There was a clearly defined hierarchy and the higher you were in the hierarchy decided how many subordinates you had, the size of your cubicle (and its amenities. I have heard of cases where the tea and cookies bettered with each level up) and the degree to which the security guard would bow to your regard. The higher you were, the more networked you were within and outside the system. The weightier the title, the shorter the duration of the work to be completed. Each one was happy in his or her little world aspiring to gradually move up the ladder for getting into bigger cubicles and additional amenities. Bureaucracy was comfortably and deeply embedded in the systems and personal relations mattered a lot.
Of course, times have changed.
Blame it on google (to begin with). It empowered everybody. People dependency reduced and proximity to free information increased multifold. Sitting on my desk, I no longer had to depend on my manager or super boss for information. Linkedin could get me to networks, which were earlier so closely guarded by a selected few. Irrespective of my title, I have access to all the information (any maybe more) which my CEO has accumulated over the years. But with that also increased my challenge. My little world has suddenly expanded to the reach of the search engine which, fortunately or unfortunately, reaches the remotest part of the world. I am aware of what I can achieve just beyond a hierarchy and that perhaps my title is, after all, not proportional to what I know. What I know is not enough, I need to know more and when I know more, that what I know, is already obsolete so I need to catch up. And I need to be networked. The larger my network circle , the higher my influence quotient.
I need to connect with my colleagues and try to replicate their networks. If I share and collaborate, I can quickly ramp up what I know. Conversations help effective and lasting learnings in times when we are so short of time and have so much to do.
While organizations realize these changes, some still are uncomfortable to drop hierarchies, silos and continue to enforce restrictions on conversations (and block social networking sites while creative individuals find unique ways to bypass these enforcements). Lot of the organizations are leveraging from empowered individuals and conversations. Few organizations are hesitatingly changing in the fear of rotting in old ways.
Whether organizations evolve or not, individuals are evolving fast and moving out of systems which curb their evolution.
