Having worked for many years and with global corporations, large non-profits and government entities in Washington and Brussels, it seems to me that there is often an inverse correlation between the size of a bureaucracy and its intelligence. I have always been amazed at the cavalier way in which millions, even billions of dollars (and Euros) vaporize daily – in the fog of executive decisions, driven by an obsession with power and position within the bureaucratic subculture.
Organizations usually get big because they were successful: smart, innovative, agile. Then, as they grow, they often get slower, more cautious, and dumber. So I was just thinking about the current economic crisis and the foolish decisions that led to them.
Ever since the Reagan & Thatcher era, legislation has favored growth and bigness over economic sustainability and innovation. Small businesses have been gobbled up at an alarming pace. From farming to banking to manufacturing, the big fish have devoured the small. The large players turn into awkward giants, who can’t respond fast enough to market disruptions until the problem turns catastrophic.
This consolidation has had the unintended but predictable effect of reducing the collective IQ of the business community. In business, as in nature, biodiversity is healthier than monocultures.
In his landmark exposé on the food industry, Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser stated in 2001: “The history of the twentieth century was dominated by the struggle against totalitarian systems of state power. The twenty-first will no doubt be marked by a struggle to curtail excessive corporate power.”
Schlosser was dismayed at the expansion of the industrial food system that limited consumers to increasingly unsustainable choices, despite its impact on our health and on nature. I remember feeling concerned and helpless as I read these words.
I never imagined that, less than a decade later, we would be entering an age where technology can restore the balance of power between producers and consumer. Social and collaborative technologies now empower individuals to speak, buy, and boycott in overwhelming numbers.
For example, a few weeks ago, Facebook changed its format. The changes were not altogether enlightened; perhaps they were perfectly aligned with Facebook’s business goals, but many of their customers didn’t like them. They immediately formed a Facebook group of over 700,000 members who “want the old Facebook back.” It worked. A few days ago, CNN reported that Facebook will make changes in response to user complaints.
For producers, the bad news is: you no longer control your own destiny. However, the good news is: your customers are now your partners, and you have an unprecedented opportunity to satisfy their needs.
