Dr. Bob Johansen, author of Leaders Make the Future, spoke to members of the Supply Chain Management Center and the Center for Customer Insight and Marketing Solutions at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Johansen is affiliated with the Institute for the Future (IFTF).
29. 29 Power Laws and the Pyramid of Participation ENGAGEMENT ECONOMY “The most active participant is generally much more active than the participant in the number two slot, and far more active than average. A common power-law distribution across all emerging participatory systems.”-Clay Shirky, NYU
31. 31 CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING • think of products as stories • engage and react, but don’t exploit • become quietly transparent • you can’t control the conversation 31
43. Superstruct Su`per*struct" v. t. [L. superstructus, p. p. of superstruere to build upon; super over + struere to build. See Super-, and Structure.] To build (grow) over or upon another structure (life form); to erect (plant) upon a foundation (ecology)… Challenge for leaders: to superstruct in the clouds… 43
44. Anything that’s happening somewhere else on the net—beyond your device. “The network is the computer” will finally come true within the next 10 years. Cloud Computing:
45. Networks that get better the more people who use them. “If you try for just the cream, you will get nothing.” Cloud Computing:
46. Recognition (patterns) Mining (matching and curating patterns) Synthesis (new models, simulations, renderings) Cloud Computing:
47. The leading organizations will be highly interconnected thru global cloud computing. The more connections and combinations, the more innovation and the more potential value. HYPOTHESIS:
48. Superstructing tends to reject traditional forms of security and boundary-based protections…reciprocity is the currency of the cloud. HYPOTHESIS:
49. Superstructing is an inherently creative endeavor that emphasizes design, connections, and combinations. “Combinatorial innovation” Will Dunbar’s Number increase? hypothesis: HYPOTHESIS:
58. Extreme groups tend to be very skilled users of digital media Extreme uncertainty will lead to more extreme groups Dilemma: the more a brand tries to look and feel trustworthy, the more suspicious some consumers will become Some will say about brands: “the nicer they are, the worse they are”
59.
60.
61. The Global Health Economy Cosmetics Fashion TraditionalHealthcare Food andsupplements Retail Security Buildingsupplies Wellness Financialservices Consumerelectronics Information
71. The Global Health Economy Includes Sustainability Cosmetics Fashion TraditionalHealthcare Food andsupplements Retail Security Buildingsupplies Wellness Financialservices Consumerelectronics Information
88. New commons: Leverage small resources in the wider world More people means more value Build relationships with stakeholders in good times—not just in response to crises.
96. New Commons: checklist for success Evolvability: give everyone freedom to make improvements Scale: take advantage of everyone’s contribution Relevance: offer ambient information to visitors Abundance: reverse scarcity through use of social capital Adaptive emotions: harness awe and wonder Optimism: amplify hope … and make it FUN!
103. What if you wanted to … … accelerate the growth of medical knowledge?
104.
105. IBM Corporate Service Corps Immersion in strategic emerging markets Work at the intersection of business, technology and society Global teaming and leadership development Exposure to diverse cultures Outside the traditional office Problem-solving in a challenging, ambiguous environment Members of IBM CSC Ghana Team 1 in Kumasi, Ghana (July–Aug 2008)
Numerous social scientists, including Clay Shirky, have shown that “there is a steep decline from a few wildly active participants to a large group of barely active participants … this is the general pattern in social media. The most active participant is gener- ally much more active than the participant in the number two slot, and far more active than average. A common power-law distribution across all emerging participatory systems.”17 To the uninitiated, a large number of people barely doing anything could seem like a mark of failure. But systems can effectively account for, and capitalize on, this variation. Are there micro- tasks or one-off tasks requiring minimal effort that individuals at the bottom of the distribution curve can successfully complete? Are there large-scale, more ambitious tasks that the top users can tackle to more effectively channel their extreme enthusiasm for the project? Crucially, all levels of participants are needed, not just the peak users. Those all-stars are performing for the barely active users, and enjoying the experience of leading the moderately active users. In this way, the community resembles a pyramid of participation, which is a term first coined by game company 42 Entertainment and now frequently used by many online game designers to describe their participation models.18 Emotionally, the base of the pyramid actively supports the top, even if they are making far fewer concrete contributions. But effectively, the peak supports the entire community and the larger goals of the project, by accepting the weight of the majority of contributions.
Numerous social scientists, including Clay Shirky, have shown that “there is a steep decline from a few wildly active participants to a large group of barely active participants … this is the general pattern in social media. The most active participant is gener- ally much more active than the participant in the number two slot, and far more active than average. A common power-law distribution across all emerging participatory systems.”17 To the uninitiated, a large number of people barely doing anything could seem like a mark of failure. But systems can effectively account for, and capitalize on, this variation. Are there micro- tasks or one-off tasks requiring minimal effort that individuals at the bottom of the distribution curve can successfully complete? Are there large-scale, more ambitious tasks that the top users can tackle to more effectively channel their extreme enthusiasm for the project? Crucially, all levels of participants are needed, not just the peak users. Those all-stars are performing for the barely active users, and enjoying the experience of leading the moderately active users. In this way, the community resembles a pyramid of participation, which is a term first coined by game company 42 Entertainment and now frequently used by many online game designers to describe their participation models.18 Emotionally, the base of the pyramid actively supports the top, even if they are making far fewer concrete contributions. But effectively, the peak supports the entire community and the larger goals of the project, by accepting the weight of the majority of contributions.
One clear lesson for developers of participatory systems, of course, is to design feel-good tasks that can be accomplished quickly and easily. It is less important at the onset to make some- thing interesting or challenging than it is to make something easy. Stanford researcher BJ Fogg backs this theory up in his work on a “Behavior Change Framework,” a theoretical framework that is designed to explain how to use technologies to get someone to actually do or contribute something. “You can either give people more ability by training, education, or tools—but none of these is easy. Or you can make the target behavior simpler—the right first step.”14 In the economy of engagement, the fastest way to turn attention to action may be to provide the user with a single, simple, feel-good task. Similarly, as Castranova notes, participation mechanics should be “minimally conceived and exquisitely polished.”15
Numerous social scientists, including Clay Shirky, have shown that “there is a steep decline from a few wildly active participants to a large group of barely active participants … this is the general pattern in social media. The most active participant is gener- ally much more active than the participant in the number two slot, and far more active than average. A common power-law distribution across all emerging participatory systems.”17 To the uninitiated, a large number of people barely doing anything could seem like a mark of failure. But systems can effectively account for, and capitalize on, this variation. Are there micro- tasks or one-off tasks requiring minimal effort that individuals at the bottom of the distribution curve can successfully complete? Are there large-scale, more ambitious tasks that the top users can tackle to more effectively channel their extreme enthusiasm for the project? Crucially, all levels of participants are needed, not just the peak users. Those all-stars are performing for the barely active users, and enjoying the experience of leading the moderately active users. In this way, the community resembles a pyramid of participation, which is a term first coined by game company 42 Entertainment and now frequently used by many online game designers to describe their participation models.18 Emotionally, the base of the pyramid actively supports the top, even if they are making far fewer concrete contributions. But effectively, the peak supports the entire community and the larger goals of the project, by accepting the weight of the majority of contributions.