Converge and Emerge
Friedman’s
concept of Triple Convergence really emphasizes his idea of the world being
flat. The three convergences (flatteners, business practices, and demographics)
truly bring the world together by making it so companies have to communicate
and work together to make the products society is demanding. It is with this
thought that I think the role of leadership now has shifted more towards the delegation
and experience side of things.
While
it’s great that technology has enhanced several aspects of companies and
provided the opportunity for different departments to communicate, there will
always be a need for a person to oversee everything. I think this leader needs
to have knowledge in all areas of the business, but more importantly, know
exactly who to go to when more information is needed. I see leaders now along the same lines of
general contractors in construction. These people need to know the codes for
the buildings being built, but they do not necessarily need to know how to do
all of the tasks needed to get there. They need to be able to delegate to those
“experts” while remaining informed of the changes and decisions made along the
way. I do not completely agree with Friedman’s idea that there really are no
experts anymore. I definitely think there are experts and that we expect these
people to continue to stay on top of the up and coming technology and
information within that field. The general contractors or leaders need to have
the ability and knowledge to send people to these experts when they are seeking
specific information.
I
also think leaders today need to use the web-based tools like Dropbox and GoTo
Meeting so that different departments can share documents and have meetings.
Dropbox or GoogleDocs would allow these different groups to collaborate and
have access to information they normally would not be privy to. In the
education realm we always say not to “reinvent the wheel” when we are looking
for new activities, worksheets, or quizzes to use. If we had that nice Dropbox
full of these shared activities we would be able to have a much more diverse
classroom. We have already started using GoogleDocs by collaborating together
on writing our second semester final. We were able to continually add to the
questions that others have created and leave comments or questions about them.
If businesses were able to pull up a form or an article that another group used
for their information, the big idea may become much clearer for the reviewers. If
the employees know who to go to for information, they may be more productive as
well, since they would not need to do the research. Sharing all of this
information is a great step towards converging within a business and allows the
leader to keep their work on a broad scale instead of dealing with little
projects all of the time.
Another
role I think leaders will be expected to have in this new age of knowledge
management is that of experience and guidance. Experience alone brings about a
different realm of knowledge besides that found on the internet or in books. For
instance, someone can read all about laws and about being a lawyer, but until
they actually step into a courtroom and deal with real cases, they will not
truly know what it is like and what it takes. Experience allows leaders to
empathize, sympathize, guide, and critique their employees. I think it is with
this personal element that we are able to separate our good leaders from our
great leaders. I realize that I am the one that is usually spouting about how
we need to use technology more and the personal side can drop to the wayside,
but it is with this personal element that I feel leaders stand out. I often
think besides making big decisions, leaders are often asked “what should I do?”
or “what would you do?” by their employees. By having experience, leaders would
then be able to guide their employees in a more appropriate, better informed
direction.
With
all of this being said, I have decided that Friedman’s triple convergence has
brought with it an emergence of better informed employees which has created or
will create better leaders, and therefore more productive companies. By using
the knowledge of the employees, whether in the US or in an outsourced country,
companies are now able to bring the best and brightest together to create those
products that societies demand. It is through this convergence that new
products and ideas emerge.
5/19/2012
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that tomorrow’s leaders will need to be well rounded in their many areas of expertise, I believe leaders are now tapping into new sets of skills that perhaps were not previously as important. I see myself spending more time on strategic planning and vision (big picture) work behind the scenes, and then bringing in various teams to discuss concepts. In problem solving, I find myself asking more questions, nudging people in specific directions, but allowing them to use their individual skills and intellect, to solve ground level problems.
In many industries, the leader will hire and perhaps fire, people with more degrees, more expertise, and perhaps more intelligence, than the actual leaders themselves. I work with many well-educated physicians, but 99% of them don’t have a clue about anything business related. I have proceduralists that are experts at performing highly difficult techniques for dissolving small clots in blood vessels, but much of the time their interpersonal skill sets are lacking. They need and require leadership, to keep them within two standard deviations of what’s acceptable, so to speak…
I do believe that new tools and techniques that are available to us will continue to evolve. We will find better ways to increase our productivity without losing anything such as quality in the wake. Just this morning, I had a “techy” friend of mine call, and say he is showing a new product next week, that I might be interested in for our company. As he described it, it’s a 52” version of an I Pad (equivalent). Everything touch screen, portable, set-up for video conferencing, functions basically like an I Pad, phone and wireless Wi-Fi, you name it, it’s got it he said. I haven’t heard the cost yet, but it sounds like it will have potential from many uses.
Finally, I agree better-informed employees can contribute more. The eras of management by secrecy are gone. We must hire the right people and set their bar high for confidentiality and corporate loyalty. We then utilize their intellect, and we succeed together. I believe successful leaders in the future will have to glean or refine new skills serving as leader, but also as chief consultant and motivator, as well.
When you end up receiving your complementary 52" iPad and your friend needs people to test them out, feel free to send on over!
DeleteI agree with one of your first comments about hiring and firing people that have higher degrees, but as you state, that doesn't mean they have experience in the field you are serving. I still feel experience is incredibly important however in order to relate to these employees. Otherwise you are left on two different playing fields.
I also enjoy your last statement of a leader being a motivator. It is incredibly important for employees to feel their leader supports them and encourages them. I know there are times when each person asks themselves why they are doing what they are doing, and it is at these points the leader can truly make a difference and show the employee how important they are to the company.
As a school district superintendent, I agree with your point about experience being key. I first started my administration career as a 28-year old principal. While I had earned my MA in Educational Administration three years earlier and had served as a designated administrator in the case of my principal's absence, I did not have the experience necessary to be successful in that position.
ReplyDeleteWhile I knew some of the curriculum standards, and had a sense of leadership, I had not worked with enough principals to learn how different styles worked. My superintendent as little help as he was new to his position and struggling more than I was.
While this is common, newly minted administrators have to recognize that they have been thrust into a powerful position and that they may have the experience to be successful.
Fortunately there are organizations and peer groups to help us be better administrators. You are correct, there are still experts out there and we need to use them. Delegation of authority is one thing, but accepting advice is another. Experts are also our peers because as leaders, we are also the experts.
Reading your and Ken's remarks reminded me that the word "expertise" carries new meanings in a wired world. I wonder how often we discount the "expertise" our kids bring to the school?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you mention this. I know of several teachers, myself included at times, that will ask their students what is wrong with their computer or how to fix something. The technology knowledge alone usually surpasses that of their teachers and is often tapped for help. We actually offered a summer position to one of our students that hacked our server. They ask him to help transfer our district to a Mac district and ask him advice on making our server more secure.
DeleteBuschED
I agree with you when you say that leadership will need to transform into more of a delegative role. Further, I would concur that experience and guidance will aid in that process. Not only will an experienced leader provide guidance for staff members that need some vision or training with new technologies, but an experienced provider can identify his or her "go to" people without worrying about having to prove their competency as a leader.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis that leaders will need to know how to delegate to experts, know how to operate web-based tools and to have experience in performing a job. The general contractor metaphor used was something that I appreciated.
ReplyDeleteYet, I would argue that the role of a leader, much like the general contractor, is to offer the client advantages by using his or her service. The ability for the contractor/leader to produce a product that meets the needs, lifestyle, budget and satisfaction of the customer is critical to generating future business. The contractor can only stay in business if he or she creates new clients through a successful demonstration of how the leadership skills he or she possesses is used.
This entails that the leader/contractor will have to possess all three skills that you mentioned and be able to apply them towards some sort of innovation that either reduces the cost of the project, builds the project in less time, constructs the project without sacrificing quality, increases the value of the property for the client once the project has been completed and offers the highest levels of customer service during the entire process.
If you follow your contractor metaphor, then a leader who can provide those items to a customer through innovative methods will be able to generate new customer referrals to help maintain the organization he or she works for. The ability to innovate and market the success of the innovation are two additional skills that are important.
I believe we need to be careful when giving these leaders the ability to steer staff into particular directions regarding information. Sometimes the leader must also be a learner. Many leaders have a shortcoming in believing they got their position in life because they know more than those below them. I do not find this to be true. Some of my employees have been in the industry far longer than myself. Others have a much better understanding of technology than myself.
ReplyDeleteToday's leaders must recognize the ability to delegate authority and allow those who are experts at a particular skill-set to practice unmolested in the workplace. The leaders are mere facilitators and set the agenda for an organization. Being an administrator myself, I expect my staff to already be professional and competent, That is why I hired them in the beginning. Some leaders get overly involved and micro-manage, thus causing staff to shut-down and slow the flow of social learning.