THE 20TH CENTURY WAS WRONG
... in one very important respect, namely the concept of people as mass

What really bugs me...
Some people see social technology and
networked culture as dangerous and “new”
They prefer the “proven” technology and
“safe” organisational culture of the
Twentieth Century.
I disagree

What did the C20th get Wrong?
The Twentieth century took the ideas of the
industrial revolution & applied them to people.
Mass production. Mass marketing. Massacre.
A century of extremes.

Progress, but inequality

Progress, but inequality

Progress, but inequality

The Age of Nations and ‘ISMs’
Number of States in the World
200
150
100
50
1900
0
2000
Source: http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=900003&contentID=252023

Nationalism

Communism

Fascism

Capitalism

= PEOPLE AS OBJECTS / MASS

Mass(acre)
Abstract ideas and identities valued over human life
Processing people as objects - the logic of the camps
Two acts of genocide in the final 8 years of the century

1900: Kroonstad

1940: Auschwitz

1992: Omarska

FROM TRENCHES TO CUBICLES

Mass Mobilisation

Mass Production

Mass Marketing

The Corporation

The ‘IT’ Department

IT WAS NOT ALWAYS LIKE THIS

Traditional Trading Networks

Guilds, Professions, Networks

Management vs Co-ordination
Millennium Challenge ’02 - biggest combined US military
exercise in the Gulf - took years to plan
Retired Lieutenant General Paul Van Riper defeated
the US military with a low-tech, traditional strategy

BACK TO THE FUTURE ?

LET’S PLAY IT SAFE

Trust is cheaper than control

Traditional Mode of Organisation?

Network-based models are proven
Aggregation & links beat coercion
Let’s stick to what works

Next time...
Next time somebody tells you social networks
or network-centric business are new and
risky, tell them to read a history book
“Those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it” - George Santayana

Picture Credits
• www.gapminder.org
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/daquellamanera/1242771346/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/rodrigogalindez/2993101142/sizes/l/
• http://www.worldalmanac.com/blog/ww_ustroops_rest_01.jpg
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/cirque-du-pablo/2991939174/
• http://www.carbodydesign.com/archive/2008/05/15-virtual-painting-at-ford/1914-Ford-Model-T-Painting-lg.jpg
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/irene2005/2761697172/sizes/l/
• http://lh6.ggpht.com/_uYeCdeWUudM/RquSSy_X2oI/AAAAAAAAADU/OuYTkaNKa3w/flyover.jpg
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/wills/119744777/sizes/l/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_irish/2379958609/sizes/l/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/305410323/sizes/l/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamoker/349341149/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/cote/54408562/sizes/l/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/52581560/sizes/l/
• http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?q=boer+camps&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dboer%2Bcamps%26imgsz
%3Dxxlarge%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa
%3DN&imgurl=1bd538634793cfa0