It's Alive: The Coming Convergence of Information, Biology, and Business

ReaderStrength™

Resources for Leaders

Vol. #10 10/15/03, Deanne G. Bryce, editor

ReaderStrength™ is published monthly

©LeaderStrength Systems, Inc. 2003

Predicting the future would be ideal for any leader who wants new results. A recently published book called It’s Alive: The Coming Convergence of Information, Biology, and Business by Christopher Meyer and Stan Davis provides a profound glimpse of the future of business in two areas: the foundation for our future economy and the needed management approach.

Future Economy

According to Meyer and Davis, significant discoveries are currently taking place on the lab benches of biotechnology and nanotechnology firms. They compare this work with revolutionary work being done at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in the early seventies. The average person at that time wasn’t aware that those researchers were formulating information and ideas that would change the future – not just of technology but of all business and personal computing by the end of the century. Here is an example of the new discoveries that the authors site.

"A company called Metabolix produces biodegradable plastics using “microbial factories.” By modifying these microorganisms’ metabolisms, researchers are growing plastics rather than manufacturing them. A similar approach creates toxin-loving organisms for environmental cleanup. These developments have significant implications for the chemical industry."

Meyer and Davis hypothesize that the impact of the scientific discoveries like this will

show up in our next economic life cycle. They describe a four-quarter economic life cycle using that of the Industrial Economy:

Q1: Science

Q2: Technology

Q3: Business

Q4: Organization

These same four quarters showed up in the next economy, the Information Economy, which is now entering the fourth quarter. At the same time, a new economy is underway and is in its second quarter. Meyer and Davis call this economy the Molecular Economy. The Molecular Economy will move into the third quarter as the ideas spread beyond the technology businesses that create them to impact every business in the same way computers spread in the last two decades.

Management Approach

The authors overload us with details about how fast things are changing. This isn’t exactly new information. Pick up almost any leadership book or article and we read about the acceleration of change. Meyer and Davis wrap this information in the context of adaptive management. To deal with the rapid pace of change, we can’t plan and strategize - we need to sense and respond. They point the way without leading us directly to the answer in this quote:

"A key principle of general evolution is that the bottom-up interactions of agents create adaptive systems. The agent we are most concerned about in business systems is the individual. . . This means unpacking corporate behavior into the specific rules that drive individuals’ choices in order to affect the larger structures that emerge."

Meyer and Davis are referring to complexity theory. It is a theory from science that describes how individual elements of a complex adaptive system interact to create change from the bottom up. Thought leaders in science, and to some extent in business, are starting to recognize that our organizations, the ones we work and live in, are complex adaptive systems. The principles of success are very different from those for traditional top-down approaches that we have currently been applying in our organizations. In this quote, the authors point the way by suggesting that leaders should recognize that the ordinary worker is at the center stage as the agent of whatever change the leader hopes to bring about.

Recommendation

ReaderStrength recommends this book because it provides a framework for leaders in understanding what’s needed to respond to current technology and the speed of change. Since it is not likely that any one leader can predict the future, we support leaders in creating a flexible organization that can “sense and respond” quickly. We help our clients understand one of the most basic complex adaptive systems - the human brain - how change at the individual level in each agent (employee) can impact the overall change in the organization. As you read this book, recognize that Meyer and Davis still have a missing link: the human brain and how it interacts in cultural communities. Then give us a call or drop us an e-mail so we can talk about the implications for the work you do as a leader. We want to hear your thoughts.

About ReaderStrength™

We humans have been writing about leadership for more than 2000 years. Is there anything new and exciting to be said about the subject? Perhaps not, but still we hunger for information and inspiration. ReaderStrength is an e-publication that adds value to your busy life as a leader by pointing you toward books to fuel your inspiration as you lead yourself and others. Send us your ideas and favorite leadership books so that we can share them with others.

Each issue is archived at www.leaderstrength.com/Reader.htm

Are you intrigued by this topic? We will be presenting this information at the Philadelphia Region Organizational Development Network in November. Check out their website for more information.

dbryce@leaderstrength.com • Leader Strength Systems