Technological and global
trends suggest the traditional organizations are facing systemic challenges
today. Uber and Airbnb have clearly overturned the transportation and hotel
industries worldwide. Google is not just a search engine, and Amazon is not
just an online bookstore. Google has changed the reading and researching habits
of peoples around the world, while Amazon has forced brick and mortar
bookstores to close and is seeping into every nook and cranny of modern life. One
venture of Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin, is leading the transition to private space.
When equipped with digital
devices, workers and their methods of work seem to undergo shifts never
imagined before. In close observation, there appears to be a hidden structure
that brings out the unexpected in these systems. Their strategies seem to be
transparent, yet unpredictable. These organizations are continuously evolving, and
their ecosystems appear to be self-organizing. There is a purposefulness behind
their efforts taking them to new directions more often than expected.
The evolution of biological
ecosystems demonstrates this process of emergence. The changes that occur when
a caterpillar turns into a butterfly are one of the best metaphors to explain the
systemic change. The cells in the caterpillar’s body are somehow responsible
for a total transformation or metamorphosis. This same process is useful to
understand how organized groups of producers and consumers a transformed into a
new economic ecosystem. Where clusters form, there is a swarm effect. It is
easy to trace such patterns of intense swarm activity in mobile, smartphone, and
instant messaging systems like Twitter to find a medical epidemic or a
political crisis.
Highly transparent systems
allow for the emergence of structure and the unexpected even in conditions of chaos.
To meet the most pressing needs of their audience, there seems to be no place
for what is not pragmatic in the new order, and they give rise to new,
unpredicted systems. For instance, social media permits understanding the
untold stories of how immigrants survive in new lands, which in turn can reduce
crime, create better city designs and help assimilate a foreign culture. The
key to driving evolution and emergence is in having a deeper grasp of the inherent
structure at the ecosystem level.
The authors of “The Dragonfly Effect” highlight the power of digitalization
to dramatically reorganize a social system. When large numbers of Asians were struggling
with almost certain death sentences from leukemia,
the Sameer and Vinay research
team used social media to start a drive to increase the availability of bone
marrow registrants. The results were of seismic magnitude. By focusing on goals, grabbing attention and
engaging people to take action, a flood of bone marrow transplants solved the
problem in a remarkably short period and at an unprecedented scale. This ability to move quickly in any direction
is what the authors called “the dragonfly effect.” (Aaker, Jennifer & Smith,
Andy, 2010)
In learner-centered environments
of the digital world, facilitating discussions results in uncovering the
learning patterns of students. Students normally tend to do what they are told,
and faculty adhere to the course objectives. But in carefully crafted and
facilitated environments, the overall rhythm of a course can emerge into areas
that change the curriculum and teaching methods to focus on what matters to students
based on their daily work life. Recognizing the value of new knowledge
and practice, as well as learner preference, requires thinking in frameworks
that don’t limit the student’s abilities and potential to grasp beyond teaching
in the classroom.
This expanded mission of a university
to foster creative work environments converts resistance into the emergence of
new learning and teaching models. That newfound ability has permitted Massive
Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to come a long way from the older MIT Open Course
Ware to Coursera and Udemy of today. It is not surprising to see individuals
passionate about creating schools that cover a much wider range of social topics
not addressed by a traditional curriculum.
In modern workplaces, it is
common to observe the emergence of work structures leading to unforeseen methods
and root causes that require attention. An equipped, smart, mobile worker
requires an organization that supports communication from the site to his desk
and allows the integration of work and attending to personal needs. GPS navigation
systems help a FedEx or UPS worker take the most optimized routes for delivery
and pickup. An airplane contractor independently schedules cleaning and
catering systems that adhere to stringent regulations. Emergence is dynamic by
nature. Being watchful is meant to bring governance back to the core that
matters, change work structure from the bottom up, and lead to new decisions
from the top.
The
shift in perspectives and thinking is the key to adaptive behavior. It is
required by any organization that fosters innovative practices as a norm rather
than an exception. Trying to practice this only when a need arises is
impossible. It leaves out those who don’t dare to take on the journey and can
also lead to disastrous outcomes. A child who questions can be seen as an annoyance
who disturbs order in the home. One can also view the inquisitive child on a journey
to new horizons. Understanding these issues of digital emergence needs to take
center stage in organizations today.
To be continued in Part II.
Note:
https://www.techcastglobal.com/techcast-publication/the-dragonfly-effect-emergence-of-digital-ecosystems-part-i/?p_id=592
https://www.techcastglobal.com/techcast-publication/the-dragonfly-effect-emergence-of-digital-ecosystems-part-i/?p_id=592
References:
. (© 2015). Future smart: managing the
game-changing trends that will transform your world.
Aaker, Jennifer & Smith,
Andy. (© 2010). The dragonfly effect: quick, effective, and
powerful ways to use social media to drive social change.
